You'll have to excuse my lack of commitment to adding to this blog over the last couple of weeks. Too much of the below (coffee and hammock) at various times during the day. Luckily the local coffee beans are being kind to us so far, so we can feel like we've got a touch of the Melbourne lifestyle happening here (fortunately not the current climate south of the border though).  

Speaking of generous elements of one's lifestyle, the other day we were the lucky recipients of a home delivery of a different kind. But the kind that is making it seem like this is a special place to live.

8kg of these little critters, fresh from a nearby island. I don't think we'll ever be paying $60 for 8kg of crayfish again! Thank you's go to the 'wantok' system, that we're getting to know up here. Basically it's all about taking care of your 'wantok' (family, friends, colleagues, boss) in PNG. 

But if the crayfish run low, we can always head to the supermarkets in town for an endless supply of......

tinned meat. In many wonderful flavours. I never realised how many flavours. Luckily both supermarkets have their own dedication to the glory of the tinned meat with a whole supermarket aisle to browse down (next to the tinned mackeral aisles).

                                 

the only problem is that Ed gets mobbed everytime we head into any commercial venue. A few weeks ago as we went up and down the aisles, calls of 'hello baby' were the familiar sound. But now it's 'hello Edward' and it seems to be taking longer and longer to get the shopping done as the supermarket employees of Lihir island line up for their weekly greeting/handshake/cuddle. Ed loves it.

Any trip to town is incomplete without a visit to the markets. Just to pop in and see if you'll get lucky with some of the stuff that isn't there all the time. There is never a shortage of sweet potatoes (kau kau), coconuts or bananas to be found here. Ten kina (five dollars) for a big bunch of the sweetest bananas you'll ever try. I'm really addicted and dreading the week that they aren't to be found in any of the stalls. Plenty of local greens to try too, some of which don't look a thing like but have a striking similarity in taste to things like rocket and coriander. But if you're lucky, you'll come across a pumpkin or pineapple. And most of the time you'll find mangoes, eggplant, spring onion, taro, lemongrass and plenty of cucumbers. Not quite the variety of South Melbourne, but I think I'm appreciating special finds even more than I would usually because of that.

And for a little bit of an Ed update, he's very much into grabbing onto anything in reach, and he seems to have suddenly grown out of a whole heap of clothes (which isn't such an issue in a climate where the baby equivalent of the wife beater and stubbies is staple wear). And remember that photo of him as a newborn lying at the end of his cot? Well he's taking up a bit more space these days. Those long legs.

Anyhow, we'll keep you posted with further updates soon. Funny to be living in another country and to be pleasantly reminded of the  one advantage of the Queen also being the head of state here- a long weekend! Happy birthday Lizzy.