Jais Aben- one of the places we liked to go snorkeling and swimming and where we got our canoes to go to Pik Island

A gorgeous sunset. Above the clouds you can see a natural phenomenon known around here as a “mother of pearl.”

Canoeing out to the island

Beautiful water

Pictures taken with Luke’s underwater camera

Starfish

Magnificent coral and fish

Hi Nemo

More sea life

And more sea life

Anton and I about to head to the black sands beach

Dr. Steve, Julie, Anton and I in a fantastic rainstorm

The black sands beach

The little prickles that got caught in our bathing suits at another beach. These are just the ones from Dr. Steve’s pocket

Luke’s going-away party with the neighbors

Luke and some of the neighborhood kids. He became so popular in the neighborhood that18 people came to the airport to see him off.

Two more of my favorite Aussies- Mel and Gavin. We got to see quite a bit of them while we were in MadangJ

One of the local villages where the Lutz’s long-time friend Dobikal and his family live

One of the other families in the village

Houses don’t look quite the same as they do in the states

Another house

Dobikal’s grandkids

Dobikal

More family pictures (the reason Fiona’s mouth is so red is because she is chewing buai. I guess it’s comparable to chewing tobacco.

And more family pictures

view as we traveled up the mountain to the location of the Pacific Orientation Course

The Gutnius Guest House in Madang (looking so good with the new screen door)

Our kitchen with it’s new appliances

New curtains thanks to Julie and my handiwork

And more curtains (I promise I won’t show you all 28 panels and 32 valences)

Dr. Steve and Anton’s handiwork where they replaced the holes with new wood panels

The couch Dr. Steve and Anton made

New couch, new cushions, new curtains, new shelves… so much work, but looking oh so good

Me modeling the new curtains in my room before we leave Madang. Check out my curly hair. Can you say humidity?