Five Senses Coffee Blog

Sometimes things just feel too hard

I’m on my way to Papua New Guinea. It’s my second attempt in the last couple of weeks. Last Friday I flew out of Perth on the midnight horror only to arrive late into Sydney and as a consequence missed my connection through to Port Moresby. I wasn’t that fussed, it was Saturday morning and I knew if i turned around I’d be home for Fathers Day – so I hopped back on the first plane back to Perth and arrived home early Saturday afternoon.

I’ve probably down played the drama’s when I hit Sydney – those who have travelled will know the feeling when a tight connection is made even tighter by delays. It’s a sprint off the plane to catch the transfer between domestic and international. Then it’s a sprint to the check in counter only to find it’s vacated. Then it’s a sprint to the ticketing counter who hop on to phone to the rep who’s standing at the gate … and it goes on. In the end, knowing that you’ve missed the flight after having done everything in your power to get on is a relief in itself.

Well, it’s eight days later. I’m making another attempt to get into PNG. I’ve had the itinerary tweaked to give me the best possible chance of getting there incident free. Today I fly to Brisbane and tomorrow into Port Moresby and then into Goroka.

It feels wierd heading back to the old stomping ground. It almost feels like a bit of a pilgrimage to the hallowed turf of my coffee birthplace.

I’m really excited about getting back on the ground and catching up with old friends. I know so much more about coffee now than I did nine years ago and because of this I know I’ll see things through completely new eyes.