Finally got to an internet connection!!

Hooray! We made it!

Well some of us are here anyway. Barbara, Janet and Sarah left Sydney on Tuesday. We were quite a lot over the weight allowance and after juggling a few items we managed to check in our bags...with our hand luggage mostly out of sight. (and a good thing too because there was lots of it!)

The trip to Singapore was largely uneventful and we had spare seats around us which always makes for a more pleasant flight.

At Singapore we got a shuttle bus out to our stopover hotel and tried to get as much sleep as possible. The bathroom was rather revealing...for at least one of us as the photo shows. The blind was soon pulled on that window! After not enough sleep we headed back to the airport for the short trip to Colombo.

We met up with Danushka and Kenneth who braved the evil Colombo traffic to get us to our little oasis by the beach. We were surrounded on all sides by trucks and three-wheelers but we managed to come out unscathed. We thank God for Kenneth who is a wonderful driver and had devoted himself to driving overseas ministers to dangerous spots throughout Sri Lanka.

We even made it for a quick trip down to the beach to wet our feet in the Indian Ocean - crossing the railway tracks to get there just before the next load of commuters came rattling past...

How would we describe Sri Lanka so far....
Ben - Hot, beautiful, the traffic is very different to New Zealand.
Barbara - people were friendly at the airport, rundown, faded elegance, colourful, narrow streets.
Janet - changed from the last trip, beautiful, more orderly, courteous people.
Tania - variety of sights - a feast for the eyes, chaotic yet orderly.
Sarah - paradoxical - crazy and beautiful. Chaotic and relaxed.

Thank God we got here and our baggage too. We didn't get stopped coming through immigration so we didn't have to explain any of the bizarre items in our bags. Our hotel is beautiful and clean and quiet which is quite a combination for Colombo.

Our plans for Thursday were to spend the day shopping but we have had to change things around because there is a big political rally in Colombo and a 5km journey across town could take up to 4hours. So we are going to take it easy and go shopping this evening.

Friday is our first conference in Negombo. We are meeting the rest of the Sri Lankan team at the conference venue and so it will be pretty crazy meeting everyone and setting up on Friday morning...so it's a good thing to have a quiet day beforehand.