Friday, July 25, 2014

Wednesday, July 23

 
We're so thankful that our neighbors are willing to help carry our cargo down the hill, and even more thankful that we got to move everything in the daylight!
 

 
As soon as morning prayer was finished, we began carrying boxes wrapped in red plastic bags to waterproof them. 
 
 
We also had a big gas cylinder, lots of backpacks, and an ice chest with food for the journey and for our return to Honiara.  Aaron kept an eye on them down at the beach.


We still didn't know what time to expect the ship, so the kids made a coconut leaf ball and began playing shella coconut with the neighbor kids while my mom and I visited with my friends. 
 
 
My mom loves children and had no problem staying occupied while we waited for the ship.
 
 
At 9:00, I went back up to the house to catch the shipping report which was being relayed to me by another colleague on a different island.  She said that the Kosco didn't report!  But my neighbors had heard that the ship should arrive between 9 and 10.   Sure enough, on the way down the hill, I heard, "Koscoooooo, Koscoooooo!"  And the adrenaline kicked in.


My mom, the backpacks, the kids, and I went in the first canoe load, driven by our faithful friend, Belza.  Aaron and the heavier things came in the second load.  The ship's captain had the crew move all of our things into a cabin that could be locked.  And everybody soon settled in for a long ship ride.  However, when the Kosco left the Russell Islands and hit open seas, the waves kicked up.  I've often read in books about ships shuddering under the impact of the waves, well, now I've felt it. 
 
 
We always felt safe, but we also felt very sick.  Two of us lost our lunch, and the rest of us fought hard not to!  My awesome husband let down the tarps surrounding our upper deck and tied everything securely.  I was really thankful for the tarps and also thankful for the cabin where our things were stored.  The spray was soaking everything, and we were sliding around as the boat rocked back and forth.  Our boxes would have been soaked through if the captain hadn't thought ahead and put our cargo in the cabin.  When we reached the tip of Guadalcanal, the waves calmed down, and we began to feel better.  Just after sunset, we pulled into Honiara's harbor and found our SITAG colleagues waiting for us.  We had to wait a long time for our cargo to be released and for the receipt to be checked, but we finally made it home to SITAG and sat down to a hot supper of spaghetti (lovingly prepared by our SITAG family) around 9:30 p.m. 
 
Thanks for all of the prayers offered up on our behalf as we transitioned back to Honiara!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Who tossed their cookies?!? (Just curious...)

Love,
Liss