The Incredible Journey

 

The start of the journey, Moundridge, Kansas

The fuel tanks installed in the cabin of the plane in order for Simon and Christiaan to fly extended hours over the ocean

Christiaan refueling the plane

and still refueling......

Two of the six Caravan's heading to serve in PNG

Some unique aircraft spotted along the way

On the way to Santa Maria

The tail end of the Grand Canyon

The snow capped Rockies way in the distance

For the pilots out there - 50kt headwind

The essentials!!

The uniform for the next flights will be a wet suit.....PTL they never got wet!!  (sorry a bit dark but they were taking off just before the sun came up)

Goodbye Santa Maria

On the way to Hilo, Hawaii

Almost there.....Simon was FTC ONE

 

There are days in Hawaii where the sun doesn't shine

An extra day in Hawaii meant take a walk to see one of the sights

Unfortunately no time to take a surf day

How the other half travel......

 

On the way to the Marshall Islands

Marshall Islands - The airport is down there some where on that sliver of land

Island hopping

Landed in Majuro, Marshall Island

Simon showing J and Z that he took his very old and worn MAF hat along.  It has travelled everywhere with him during his time with MAF and he is not about to give it up much to J and Z's embarassment.

Approaching Cairns International Airport at sunset

Next morning's flight to Mareeba

Awards 2018

This past week Joshua and Zara had Awards night at school.  The above photo shows their achievements.  Along with their academics Joshua got two awards for basketball, one personal and one team award.  Great to celebrate their perseverance and hard work.

Holiday Fun and new experiences

Joshua and Zara got to do some amazing things during their holidays.  As you can imagine there is a bit of reluctance to going back to school tomorrow.  Below are some of the activities they got up to as well as some time just "hanging out" with their friends.  Gone are the days where they need Mum or Dad to be there for every event.  Definitely a changing season!

  

Zara loves everything to do with animals.  Her goal is life is to own a farm with lots of animals - the saving up has already begun.

Not quite the experience they had in Switzerland in the trees but fun nevertheless.  On this zip line you get to zoom over a crocodile.

Zara was determined to be able to ride this motorbike by herself.  She did it!!  Even Mum had a go too!

This might have been over the crocodile enclosure

J loved every moment of this!

J's first flight lesson with Hans Cools (MAF Flight instructor) - Photos courtesy of Hans Cools :)

Where is the airstrip?

Sure beats sitting in a classroom!

Still amazing to think my wee lad was sitting in the left seat

I did it!!!

"Sandwiched"

Joshua plays on a basketball team called the Panthers.  They are now in the final after winning their game last week.  However, it came at a cost.  Joshua got sandwiched between two players which resulted in a badly swollen arm.  After a trip to the doctors surgery and some x-rays taken we were glad to find out that nothing was broken or fractured.  There was the risk that the swelling could be an issue but thankfully over the weekend it began to go down.  He now has two normal arms again although still not ready for another game.  Thankfully, due to school holidays there are no basketball games on so there is time for it to completely heal.  Grateful for speedy medical services!!

Adventures in PNG Part 2

It takes a team of people to make a flight happen. Thankful for those who serve in different capacities in the PNG Team

Am I going in the right direction?

Uganda or PNG? :)

Thankful for those who assist in the medical evacuations.  I think Simon is too :)

Some new friends along the way

Who needs a desk and an office?

Don't you love this smile!

Simon in his happy place!

Another flight successfully completed

A MAF flight can be a highlight for not only the passengers but for the village also

What an office view!

Looking for a gap in the clouds

Adventures in PNG Part 1

Simon was quite taken with this man and his tree bark hat so just had to have a photo with him

Got to love these smiles :)

A traditional style of cooking food in PNG is called a MUMU.  The meat is prepared and put in a hot pit in the ground with vegetables including potatoes and wrapped in banana leaves.

It is a team effort to get everything prepared for the feast.

People arriving hoping that everything can fit on the plane.  However, in this case it took two trips so a bit of a juggling act as to what stayed and what went.

A gift from one of Simon's passengers

   

Simon and Luke flew into this airstrip where there is a district "hospital".  They dropped off a man here who was suspected of having typhoid. 

This medevac was for a lady who was in a precarious situation in giving birth to her daughter.  Thankfully the baby survived although had some nerve damage to one of its arms

 

This airstrip ends on a cliff edge.  No margin for error on this one.

If you don't hit the airstrip you will know all about it.

 

Definitely a country of extremes.  One minute on the mountaintop and the next in the valley.

More stunning scenery

Massive landslides that took place a couple of months ago.