Around the World with the Woltjers

Our journey always begins with a lot of packing and re-packing. Our luggage allowance with the airlines we flew were five checked bags (that were very light and definitely not full – but we brought all five to have them for our return trip), 5 carry-ons that were only allowed to weigh 7kg (15 lbs) each, no personal items as Air Niugini does not allow them, and Gabriella’s car seat. (Take a look at the picture below to see our luggage.) We definitely struggle with the new 7kg carry-on rule (they have been weighing them at the airport) and no personal item…but we managed to pack our necessities and a small personal “airplane essentials” backpack in the carry-ons.

Now comes the actual journey. It began early in the morning on Tuesday, May 27. We got up, got dressed and ate some breakfast. We then packed up one of the mission cars and headed to “circle time.” This is a special tradition at Kudjip where all the missionaries gather to pray over the person/people leaving – whether for a home assignment or for long-term. After a prayer for traveling mercies and a blessed/restful time in the USA came the HUGS! Everyone lined up (or mobbed us) to give hugs. It was a time of laughter and encouragement, and a very special reminder about the amazing community we get to live and serve with. (No pictures of this time as it was just a routine “circle time” – but just imagine sleepy adults sipping coffee to wake up and kids chasing each other around or picking flowers.) Then comes the “flower send-off.” All the kids (and some adults) line the road with picked flowers and gracefully toss them in fare-well (or throw them as hard as possible if you are the kids).

The next few pictures are at the Mt. Hagen airport. The large windows are always a family favorite as we get to see the MAF (Mission Aviation Fellowship) planes take off to fly to various remote locations, helicopters land, and we keep hoping the weather will cooperate and our flight will make it from Port Moresby (the Air Niugini planes do not stay up in Mt. Hagen.) Loading the plane is always a long process as we walk from the terminal to the airplane. Gabriella was so excited she kept jumping up and down. Then was thrilled she had “something to read” and looked over the safety card multiple times through our journey in between looking out the window at all the clouds.

We are always amazed at the terrain when flying from Mt. Hagen to Port Moresby. The mountains are majestic, and it is incredible to see the tall, pointy, barren slopes to the rolling foot hills. There is also not a lot of infrastructure to see. It is a stark reminder of how hard it is for the majority of the population in our area to reach medical care – and why it is important to have our nine rural clinics and hospital!

We were only slightly delayed taking off from Mt. Hagen, so arrived in Port Moresby around lunch-time (the flight itself is only one hour long). The kids, especially Gabriella, complained about the weather as it is hot and humid since Port Moresby is on the coast. When our waitress at the restaurant found out we were from Mt. Hagen area she exclaimed it is so cold up there…to which we responded it is hot down here. 😊 We spent the night at the Sanctuary hotel – they have a pool and some fun animals to look at. We were sad because we hadn’t seen the deer our first afternoon there, but the next morning on the way to check-out we found him! Lukas’ phone unfortunately stopped working at this time and we still aren’t sure what is wrong with it.

Now for the rest of our travels: We flew Qantas to Brisbane (3 hours) and hung out there for a while as our next flight was delayed. Our kids were looking forward to the Qantas flight from Brisbane to LAX though as they knew there would be an entertainment system on the plane. Unfortunately for them it was after 10 P.M. when we boarded the plane so it was time to sleep for the first chunk of our time on the flight (which was almost 14 hours). When we arrived in LAX we were re-introduced very quickly to the quick pace and large number of people that is normal outside of our small corner of PNG. We were glad to board our last plane to Charlotte, NC at about 11 P.M. This flight was only 4.5 hours, and we were thankfully able to get the kids to sleep for a portion of it.

It was with relief and joy we saw Daniella’s mom at the luggage pick-up. We unfortunately had trouble with our rental car pick-up. BUT we did get to IHOP for breakfast! The boys were thrilled, and we were glad to help fulfill one of their bucket-list items. After some quick shopping, dropping Lukas’ phone off at a phone repair store (it suddenly stopped working in Port Moresby), and lunch at Chipotle (Lukas’ request) we drove to Daniella’s parents’ home. On the way the kids all took naps. Daniella chuckled as Josiah and Gabriella’s poses were pretty much the same.

We were so thankful to be done flying, and just enjoyed time with Daniella’s mom, dad and sister for the afternoon. There were lots of showers, the kids took a four-wheeler ride, we started laundry and then unpacked a bit.

We are excited and slightly overwhelmed with everything we have packed into our time over the next four months. But we are so grateful we can be here and look forward to being able to share about what God is doing in PNG, have quality time with friends and family, and enjoy some fun food (so far it is sandwich meat, different varieties of cheese, smoothies/frozen fruit, and ice-cream).
We want to thank those of you who prayed for us on journey!