To God be the glory and honor and praise! The #sigosherts have made it to the Solomons! The 100+ hours it took to get here (34 of which were spent in a hotel in Brisbane) were quite exhausting, but well worth it! We praise God for safe travels and only tiny bumps along the way (like motion sick kids, confusing security checks, and a mixup that led us to the wrong hotel in Brisbane).
We were on the 18th floor.
The 34 hours we spent in Brisbane, Australia 🇦🇺 were very nice. It was great to have the time to get our feet under us while we waited to move on. While waiting in line in Customs, I asked the kids if they could imagine getting on yet another plane to head to the Solomons, after the 30+ we just spent on two planes getting to Brisbane. No one was excited by that thought.
The last flight, to Honiara, Solomon Islands 🇸🇧 was 3 hours and very uneventful. The country came into view as we approached landing and we were all so excited. As we deplaned, the first wave of humidity hit us and we knew it must be real—only God could have done it!
There was an elaborate multi-stage process for entrance to the country, including immigration and customs, but also many additional steps due to COVID. We waited in line only a little bit, however, when someone told us we could move to the front of the line because of Asher. [Another family with a small child was also moved to the front of the line—Solomon Islanders are very considerate of children.]
Next we collected our bags and loaded them into a truck for transport to our hotel where we would be in quarantine for the next three weeks. We joined a caravan led by a police car with it’s sirens 🚨 blaring. Cars pulled over for all of us (I’m guessing maybe 20-30 passengers from our plane came to the same hotel) and everyone couldn’t help but look at as as we flew past. I’m sure we were quite the spectacle! It was quite an exciting way to enter a country!
Our days are now filled with trying new foods, learning Pijin, finding new ways to make living in a quarantine hotel easier, finishing the last few weeks of school, and playing games before bed.
Thank you for all your prayers on our behalf! God is faithful. We feel so blessed to know all of you are praying for us and thinking of us.