Thanks to everyone who expressed concern about Steve’s suspected TIA and our stranding in Wewak. We finally took off a little after 9:15 Sunday morning on a 70-seat Fokker and touched down in Port Moresby at 10:24.  Unfortunately, that was almost an hour after our (rebooked) Philippine Airlines flights to Osaka (via Manila) had departed. Once definite word came Saturday that no plane would leave Wewak, we knew we’d never make the PAL flights, so I spent close to three hours on the phone Saturday afternoon, trying to rebook them yet again. 

But I failed, and choking with frustration, we simply canceled them outright online. (I had paid extra for refundable tickets, though PAL tacks on so many hidden charges and fees we will get back only a bit more than half of what we originally paid.) If anyone out there is waffling over whether they should fly Philippine Airlines anywhere, call me and I’ll give you an earful.

This all meant when we landed in Port Moresby we had NO transport out of PNG, so we had to hustle to look for that. Happily, we found seats on an Air Niugini flight leaving for Manila at 4 pm that afternoon. We also booked a place to sleep in Manila. I’m writing these words from the heavenly bed there now.

As for continuing on to Japan, I was startled to find how few non-stops daily fly between Manila and Osaka — just three. None are good (e.g. Japanese). We finally chose the one (Cebu Pacific) that would allow us to SLEEP IN! Last night before collapsing in bed, we snagged seats on that 1:30 flight and got a hotel at the Osaka airport. If all goes well, we’ll check in there more than 24 hours ahead of when we’d planned. 

Between now and then I’m hoping for time in which I can work on my report on the heart of our PNG experience: our travels in the highlands to the Goroka Festival.