Well we have finally arrived. Everything went smoothly on the journey but it was long -39 hours from door to door. At Singapore aiport I had a foot massage which was fun. We were met in Madang - after having poached eggs (still runny), asparagus and Hollandaise sauce on the flight - by Jake and Daniel and taken to Madang Lodge which is on the coast with a pool, restaurant/ bar etc. It is beautiful. Photos to follow. We are to stay there for three weeks while we have in-country training. It's a hard life! We saw dolphins while we were having strawberries, lychees etc for breakfast. I even had a strawberry on my scrambled egg. We have had some heavy rainfall especially at night and the fruit bats made a terrible noise - screeching like seagulls.

The first day we spent planning with 11 education volunteers. It was like England - baseline assessments, observation forms, action plans. It was surreal.

The last two days we have been visiting primary schools. Some of the schools are very basic but the children are very smiley and the teachers have been very welcoming. The children often get the giggles when we appear. I have never shaken so many hands. Tomorrow and Friday we are doing classroom observations to find a starting point for the primary work, although we will be involved in secondary education. The journeys so far have been in a four wheel drive and I have tried not to scream at hairy times! Mike enjoyed the experience though. It's a boys' thing. Yesterday we went over a bridge made of a few planks in the truck at speed. It was wise not to look down.

We have a new mobile now as our old one does not receive a signal here.

Catch up soon.