Saturday 22nd: I decided I’d done enough packing up and putting things in crates about half an hour ago. It was good timing as the rain has started now and although the crates are protected under the house, it still makes everything feel damp.
Two of the beside cabinets we had made for us are in a crate. Will we be able to fit in the other two, and the basketwork telephone table, and the basket work linen basket, and the trays, and … as well as the household items we want to send home as well. I foresee some hard decisions coming up.
The last week hasn’t shown us the sun very much and I’ve had some fairly messy weather on the three days I was flying this week.
On Wednesday I was supposed to take some pastors to Bak, about 50 minutes flight time (= about 150 miles/240 km) west of Mount Hagen. I was flying with Glenys Watson and as we approached the Bak valley we could see it was covered with a layer of stratus cloud. After descending in the Strickland River valley, we could see the two characteristic V-shaped notches in ridge lines at the end of the valley, but beyond that it was grey, rainy and horrid. We both agreed we didn’t want to go there.
The nearest place to Bak is Tekin, in the adjoining valley, so we thought that they’d prefer there as a second choice. Climbing overhead Tekin a pilot on the ground from Central Aviation (Vern Bell, ex-MAF and with whom Nicki and I and the boys spent our first Christmas in PNG when Vern was based in Tari) heard us and called up on the radio to say not to bother trying. The weather was too bad for him to take off. He did get out eventually, but not until we’d left our passengers at Telefomin, refuelled and were well on our way back to Hagen.
Our next two rounds to Dusin were cancelled because of bad weather.
Thursday was a lot better, at least to start with. Glenys and I had to work quickly because the programme was a long one, but the good weather combined with quick turnarounds enabled us to get everything done. By the last round the weather had gone off.
From Tari we tracked north west to Wanakipa, more or less the opposite direction along the same route we’d just followed to get to Tari not much more than an hour before. This time we had to work around a thunderstorm, then climb above a layer of cloud, before finding a break to come back down in the valley near Wanakipa. Underneath the cloud was fine; it was just getting there that was hard work.
Back to Hagen was back up high again, above the terrain and a fortunately short bounce through some fairly active clouds with a couple of flashes of nearby lightning; then the rest of the way to Hagen in rain.
Come Friday the programme was supposed to be short because the MAF Hagen Christmas celebration was scheduled for the afternoon. The day started with fairly low cloud around Hagen, but easy enough to work around to get out, and to the north, where we were going, the ridges were clear. There was no problem reaching our destination, Gebrau, off-loading all the cargo and passengers and filling up with 34x50kg bags of coffee beans.
After a short turnaround and refuel in Hagen we headed back in much the same direction. Now the ridge lines and mountains were covered in cloud, though we were able to land at our first stop, Sengapi. From there to Simbai, only 10 minutes to the south-east. The airstrip was completely visible and nearly clear of clouds, but the approach up the valley had lots of puffs of cloud in the way. There was rain around as well, and while I felt for the 12 passengers in the back wanting to get home for Christmas, neither Glenys nor I felt inclined to find a way to get down low enough to see if we could, just, get in and land. It’s not just the landing to consider; there’s also the assessment of whether you can take off again afterwards. We went home to Hagen.
The next round to Kol, east of Hagen, was cancelled because of weather. First thing in the morning the agent reported cloud and rain. When we got back from Simbai he said it had cleared up and was fine. The load wasn’t completely ready and we thought it was too questionable to bother with, so we cancelled the flight, which was just as well because not long afterwards another report came through that it was raining and all closed in again.
It’s better to be on the ground wishing you were in the air, than in the air wishing you were on the ground!
It is, after all, the wet season at the moment!
We’re having Christmas Eve as holiday instead of Boxing Day, so that staff can have a long weekend rather than two blocks of two days. Everybody has been working hard recently: the engineers have had a run of maintenance issues to deal with; for Finance, it’s the end of year audit; for pilots it’s the busy Christmas season. A bit of time out is welcome.
Sun 23rd: Some more large items have been fitted into the crates – it’s now a case of making sure that they’re all properly padded to avoid damage in transit, especially the road journey from Hagen to Lae down the very rough and poorly maintained Highlands Highway. After that, providing nobody puts the prongs of a forklift truck through the side of any of the crates, there shouldn’t be too much of a risk.
I’m aware that some people’s Christmas is a sad one. We’re sickened by the murder of the two Norwegian women in Morocco. Here in PNG the eldest son of a Lutheran pastor friend of ours was killed in a road accident last Monday. Two days ago a Wesleyan pastor died and last night and this afternoon I’ve been working out how we can fit in a flight to take his body back to his home community.
Peace and goodwill are part of the Christmas message and hope for the future, but in the meantime we have to work through the mess of human existence where they are far from evident. The banal Christmas decorations of Father Christmas and tinsel don’t do a lot for my sense of celebration. What does is the fact that God has intervened in human affairs with Christ’s first advent, and that there is a certain hope of joy and justice for the future which has infinitely more substance than glitter.
One of my favourite Christmas card banners is: Wise men (and women!) still seek Jesus.
May you have a very happy, joyous and peaceful Christmas.
Two of the beside cabinets we had made for us are in a crate. Will we be able to fit in the other two, and the basketwork telephone table, and the basket work linen basket, and the trays, and … as well as the household items we want to send home as well. I foresee some hard decisions coming up.
***********
The last week hasn’t shown us the sun very much and I’ve had some fairly messy weather on the three days I was flying this week.
On Wednesday I was supposed to take some pastors to Bak, about 50 minutes flight time (= about 150 miles/240 km) west of Mount Hagen. I was flying with Glenys Watson and as we approached the Bak valley we could see it was covered with a layer of stratus cloud. After descending in the Strickland River valley, we could see the two characteristic V-shaped notches in ridge lines at the end of the valley, but beyond that it was grey, rainy and horrid. We both agreed we didn’t want to go there.
The nearest place to Bak is Tekin, in the adjoining valley, so we thought that they’d prefer there as a second choice. Climbing overhead Tekin a pilot on the ground from Central Aviation (Vern Bell, ex-MAF and with whom Nicki and I and the boys spent our first Christmas in PNG when Vern was based in Tari) heard us and called up on the radio to say not to bother trying. The weather was too bad for him to take off. He did get out eventually, but not until we’d left our passengers at Telefomin, refuelled and were well on our way back to Hagen.
Our next two rounds to Dusin were cancelled because of bad weather.
Thursday was a lot better, at least to start with. Glenys and I had to work quickly because the programme was a long one, but the good weather combined with quick turnarounds enabled us to get everything done. By the last round the weather had gone off.
From Tari we tracked north west to Wanakipa, more or less the opposite direction along the same route we’d just followed to get to Tari not much more than an hour before. This time we had to work around a thunderstorm, then climb above a layer of cloud, before finding a break to come back down in the valley near Wanakipa. Underneath the cloud was fine; it was just getting there that was hard work.
Back to Hagen was back up high again, above the terrain and a fortunately short bounce through some fairly active clouds with a couple of flashes of nearby lightning; then the rest of the way to Hagen in rain.
Come Friday the programme was supposed to be short because the MAF Hagen Christmas celebration was scheduled for the afternoon. The day started with fairly low cloud around Hagen, but easy enough to work around to get out, and to the north, where we were going, the ridges were clear. There was no problem reaching our destination, Gebrau, off-loading all the cargo and passengers and filling up with 34x50kg bags of coffee beans.
After a short turnaround and refuel in Hagen we headed back in much the same direction. Now the ridge lines and mountains were covered in cloud, though we were able to land at our first stop, Sengapi. From there to Simbai, only 10 minutes to the south-east. The airstrip was completely visible and nearly clear of clouds, but the approach up the valley had lots of puffs of cloud in the way. There was rain around as well, and while I felt for the 12 passengers in the back wanting to get home for Christmas, neither Glenys nor I felt inclined to find a way to get down low enough to see if we could, just, get in and land. It’s not just the landing to consider; there’s also the assessment of whether you can take off again afterwards. We went home to Hagen.
The next round to Kol, east of Hagen, was cancelled because of weather. First thing in the morning the agent reported cloud and rain. When we got back from Simbai he said it had cleared up and was fine. The load wasn’t completely ready and we thought it was too questionable to bother with, so we cancelled the flight, which was just as well because not long afterwards another report came through that it was raining and all closed in again.
It’s better to be on the ground wishing you were in the air, than in the air wishing you were on the ground!
It is, after all, the wet season at the moment!
***********
We’re having Christmas Eve as holiday instead of Boxing Day, so that staff can have a long weekend rather than two blocks of two days. Everybody has been working hard recently: the engineers have had a run of maintenance issues to deal with; for Finance, it’s the end of year audit; for pilots it’s the busy Christmas season. A bit of time out is welcome.
***********
Sun 23rd: Some more large items have been fitted into the crates – it’s now a case of making sure that they’re all properly padded to avoid damage in transit, especially the road journey from Hagen to Lae down the very rough and poorly maintained Highlands Highway. After that, providing nobody puts the prongs of a forklift truck through the side of any of the crates, there shouldn’t be too much of a risk.
***********
I’m aware that some people’s Christmas is a sad one. We’re sickened by the murder of the two Norwegian women in Morocco. Here in PNG the eldest son of a Lutheran pastor friend of ours was killed in a road accident last Monday. Two days ago a Wesleyan pastor died and last night and this afternoon I’ve been working out how we can fit in a flight to take his body back to his home community.
Peace and goodwill are part of the Christmas message and hope for the future, but in the meantime we have to work through the mess of human existence where they are far from evident. The banal Christmas decorations of Father Christmas and tinsel don’t do a lot for my sense of celebration. What does is the fact that God has intervened in human affairs with Christ’s first advent, and that there is a certain hope of joy and justice for the future which has infinitely more substance than glitter.
One of my favourite Christmas card banners is: Wise men (and women!) still seek Jesus.
May you have a very happy, joyous and peaceful Christmas.
