Arrived on the Island

      As you can guess from the title, we are now well into week 4 since we got washed ashore on these southeastern Asian island. The Australian Authorities finally recognized Daniels American license and he was able to finish the last Test which consisted out of an oral exam and a 3 hours flight test. Shortly after he passed we stood with our boarding passes and too much luggage at the Cairns Airport. We arrived in Dili just 3 days after our belongings from Switzerland arrived. They were missent to Indonesia and we have still no clue how they arrived all of a sudden. Must have been a miracle :-)

Bye bye Mareeba

     Our start was quite challenging, Deb arrived with a flu and here asthma was interupting here sleep. Dan got thrown right into action and joined a couple flights as an observer. On the first weekend we had our District Orientation with Mike and Mange. They are missionaries from Papua New Guinea and have been living in Liquica for the past 5 years. People leave really remote and primitive outside the city.They might have power and a satellite dish but their income is limited to a few dollars a day. 

Village house

Street Restaurant, limited to 75Kg per Person ;-)

One man salt factory, 1 basket of salt = 5 Dollar

Us with Mike and Mange, in front of a rice field

     Once back from the district orientation we were able to move into our beach house which just became vacant a couple days ago. It is a one room cabin located in Beto-Tasi, Dili right next to a so-called Beach-Resort. The street to our house leads literally across the airport area and a cemetery.
     Deb started here job as a home school teacher in the same week. She is homeschooling 2 kids just 3 houses down the beach. speaking of a perfect location...
     Flying wise we were quite under pressure. Dan was waiting for his license to arrive so he could start flying and at the same time the Program Manager had a well deserved vacation coming up. The license got issued in record time (within 5 days, normally it takes 4-6 weeks, another miracle?) and Dan spent his second week as ICUS (in command under supervision) and Michael was able to check him out on 6 out of 8 airstrips. From week 3 He was flying by himself and had 2 Medevacs in the first 2 days.

Loading the Patient in Suai

 

our beach house in Beto-Tasi, Dili

from the outside...

The interior desperately needed some paint (and other things ;-)

Our Beach, visitors welcome

click here

Almost Ready to move on...

  unbelievable how fast time flies by when you're busy. We arrived in Australia 3 months ago and finished most of the trainings and courses. First off, Dan was suppose to finish his license conversion within 3 weeks. Now 3 months later, we had to realize that the Australian Government is more laid back than we anticipated but we are awaiting the approval letter anytime soon.

Back to School

    Therefore after the 3 weeks Daniel was only able to finish the 2 written exams but didn't fly at all     : /

   By the end of June we traded the mild Mareeba "winter" for a cold chilly Melbourne breeze. We had 10 days of so called transitioning training and got educated in how to handle different cultures and ourselves. Highlight was the four days trip on "the great Ocean Road" after the training.

What we took away from this course ;-)

The Great Ocean Road / The remains of the 12 apostles

cheeky little parrots

    Back in the far north we started Orientation training in Cairns. During those 2 weeks we learned more about the structure of MAF and how they operate and manage the different programs. After orientation we had a 1 hour drive back to Mareeba where Dan started his standardisation flight training. Standardisation means adapting the company's standard operating procedures like which power setting and airspeed we choose for certain operations, how to take-off from a short runway and land into a narrow airstrip. 

    Deb was busy too, during orientation training we met another Swiss family which lives for the next few years in Mareeba. They have 3 kids and Deb helped out with looking after the youngest while Lilian was homeschooling the 2 older ones. Tom is working as a flight instructor at the MAF Training Center and it was great having another Swiss fella going through the same training as Dan. 

on the "road"

aiming for the right speed and attitude

Last day of Standardisation, I know cliché but I love it... :-)

Deb and Yann

   Now we are waiting for Dan's License approval from the Australian authorities before he can conduct his final check-ride and then we are off to Dili, Timor-Leste. Meanwhile Deb continues to help out Lilian with the kids and Dan is going thorough a maintenance training so he'll be able to change oil, tires etc... Good thing is that we won't get bored anytime soon :-)

Flying for life magazine click here

A new plan..

You can make many plans, but the LORD's purpose will prevail. Proverbs 19:21

A truth we experienced in the past few days and weeks.

The door to Arnhemland, Australia is definitely closed but we can conduct our training in Australia as planned. 3 days ago we landed safely in Cairns where Daniel got his Medical checks... puh so much more complicated than in the States.  Yesterday  we moved to a flat in Mareeba where Daniel will start with his license conversion on Monday. 

Hence Australia won't be our final destination but another door opened up in the past few days. We are very happy to inform you that the first country we will serve in is TIMOR LESTE – east Timor!

Your first reaction may be “häääääääää”, where on earth is east Timor?..  Therefore some facts.

 East Timor is located in the eastern part of Timor, an island in the Indonesian archipelago that lies between the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean. After Indonesia, East Timor's closest neighbour is Australia, 400 mi to the south. The capital city is Dili, where we will be located ones we are in east Timor.

But for now, we are commuting between Cairns, Mareeba and Melbourne...

28.May.15 Somewhere over the Clouds, direction Cairns

View from our Lodge at TreeTops in Cairns.

...We will keep you posted on our future trainings and courses.

Past, present and future....

past....

..is our beautiful wedding day..

..as well as our honeymoon in Sardinia.

Six months of Bible school at Capernwray Hall in England, where we were blessed with new friendships, a lot of knowledge and love, are as well behind us.

What remains is our love for Jesus and the desire to live a life for His glory, a life that is a blessing to others. Remained is also the plan to fly with MAF in a foreign country.

Therefore our present time is filled with packing, making vaccinations, calling a hundred and one offices to get every paper we need, raising our financial support and to say good bye to friends and family. Additional to that, Daniel is learning English grammar for the IELTS test, which he needs to pass, otherwise we can not apply for a working visa. He is also repeating all the aeronautical knowledge. So we do not get bored at the moment:-)

Till last week it was our plan to leave Switzerland on the 26^th of May, to spend three months in Cairns and Melbourne with cultural training and the conversion of Daniel's flying license. While waiting for the working visa we already would have flown to Arnhemland, part of the Northern Territory in Australia, where the Aboriginals are located. We would have moved in our house and got used to our new life there.

But during the last couple of weeks the Australian government decided to change the working visa regulations. Five years of working experience is now demanded. A capability, that Daniel and most of the other pilots applying for the Arnhemland program do not have.

So at the moment we are waiting and praying that God opens a door for us to an other country..   our future is in His hands!