Mar 15, 2017 - March 15, 2017 – Cruising the Coral Sea

March 15, 2017 – Cruising the Coral Sea This has been a quiet day. We attended the lecture this morning about Komodo dragons, and that is about as constructive as I’ve been. Patsy went to the needlework group. For lunch we did a progressive tour of the ship starting in the Grand Dining Room with an escargot appetizer for each of us, soup for Patsy and a Boston lettuce salad with blue cheese for Joyce. Next we stopped by the Barrista Coffee bar and picked up some almond biscotti which we took to the Terrace Buffet. There we ate more lunch...

Mar 14, 2017 - March 14, 2017 – Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea

March 14, 2017 – Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea Port Moresby is referred to as the Pom City or just Moresby. It is the capital and largest city in Papua New Guinea. It emerged as a trade center during the 2d half of the 19th century. It was a prime objective of the Japanese Army in 1942-1943. If it could be captured, it would serve as a staging point and air base to cut off Australia from Southeast Asia and the Americas. Here’s the information about it from Wikipedia: The Mountain people of the area now known as Port Moresby traded their...

Mar 13, 2017 - March 13, 2017 – Alotau, Papua New Guinea

March 13, 2017 – Alotau, Papua New Guinea Today, we were in Alotau which is the capital of Milne Bay Province. It is located within the area where the invading Japanese Army suffered its 1st land defeat in 1942. The tour we did today was of the battleground in this area. Today most of the area is palm tree oil plantations which is the biggest industry in this part of Papua New Guinea (PNG). In 1942, this area was swamp and when the Japanese invaded, they got bogged down in the swamps. The Allied Forces were entrenched on the hills/mountains...

Feb 22, 2016 - Ambua - Part 2

It is strange to be on a large scale property and be the only guests. Kind of special. but a bit weird. We walk the property grounds, just Lidia & I, and see many new, different bird species. Asked the staff whether they could arrange a local village visit for us & they did. We visited two different villages. One thing in common is that men & women sleep in different houses; even if married. If a man goes into a 'women' house, even to visit his wife, that infraction of the law will cost him 1,000 kina ! Did not hear of a reciprocal fine...

Feb 19, 2016 - Tari & The Ambua Lodge, Part 1

The lack of technology lately has been a challenge. Frustrating - More So. So, as it takes 30 minutes to upload 12 photos, and Ambua was worthy of a few pics, it shall have two parts. The first scene was worth an unscripted academy award, and as far as I know. no one was paid anything ! Our journey from Hagen to Ambua Lodge begins with a flight to Tari. There's only two gates from the same departure area so everything happens in the same place. The flight departure before ours is going to Port Moresby (POM). Boarding the twin engine...

Feb 15, 2016 - Mt. Hagen & Kumul Lodge

Our flight from POM to Mount Hagen is scheduled to leave at 13:00, and we've been advised to be to the airport two hours before departure. So, we arrange with PAU staff to have the driver pick us up at 10:00 (for the 30 minute ride) so we have a bit of extra time if needed. At 10:30 the driver has still not arrived, AND no one answers any of the university phone numbers we call from the room phone. Luckily a woman staying in an adjacent apartment has a cell phone, knows the 'system', & a couple numbers to call, and the driver appears at...

Feb 11, 2016 - Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea

We spent a couple days in Cairns, Australia before flying up to Port Moresby (POM henceforth), Papua New Guinea (PNG henceforth). Cairns was a hot, humid beach town. So hot that we were not inclined to spend much time outside. Unfortunately the large number of drunks wandering about at night were aboriginals; Cairns had a larger aboriginal population than any city we've seen since Alice Springs. The farmers market was large, well stocked, and had great quality for inexpensive prices. On the last night there I found a great Blues Music bar...

Feb 20, 2014 - Madang, Papua New Guinea

2/20 – 2/21 Another day at sea (576 miles) brought us to Madang, Papua New Guinea. In Madang we took an excellent ship tour. The tour began with a visit to their Culture Center followed by a trip to Bilbil Village. The village was very interesting. We saw some of the local dancing and singing as well as checking out the houses and local crafts. Next the tour went to the sulfur springs. We drove to the Coast Watcher’s Monument/Lighthouse which memorialized the brave coast watchers during the war. Lastly we visited the local craft market and...

Feb 18, 2014 - Alotau, Papua New Guinea

2/18 – 2/19 Only one sea day brought us 575 miles to Alotau, Papua New Guinea. We walked around town checking out the stores and markets. Almost every vender was selling carved pigs. We found that they have a high regard for this animal. The fellow we talked to was so pleasant we bought one of his pigs. We also took a bus to their World War II memorial.

Feb 7, 2014 - Wewak, PNG

Our last stop in Papua New Guinea before crossing the border to Indonesia was Wewak, a coastal port. Although there was a lot of activity in town and in the bay, we could not use the pier and therefore the tender, so it was another "wet" landing. Barry and I got a little nervous when we landed because a group of passengers told us they had been pick pocketed in the market: someone grabbed sunglasses out of his trousers pocket. It was hot and pretty grimy, so we just walked about a bit. We saw lots of PMV's (public transportation vehicles);...

Feb 6, 2014 - Kopar Village, Sepik River, PNG

There are two major rivers in Papua New Guinea, the Fly - which runs from the mountains south to empty into the Gulf of Papua - and the Sepik - which runs 700 miles from the mountains to the Bismark Sea in the north. Our destination today is the village of Kopar, just in the mouth of the Sepik. In fact, the Sea Dream is the first cruise ship to enter the river, and the people will be excited to see us. The overarching theme of the lower Sepik River is the crocodile. Estuarine Crocodiles, growing up to seven meters (23 feet) live in the...

Feb 5, 2014 - Tami Islands, PNG

Our next stop along the way up the coast of PNG was the Tami Islands. If Iwa was minuscule, Tami was a fleck in the ocean. The naturalist described it as a sand cay, created off a reef with the build up of sand which was visited by birds who brought seeds, and vegetation grew. But there is not the same kind of vegetation here that we saw on the prosperous Iwa. When the people set up market, we all felt it was more important to buy something to spread a little money around, whereas the people on Iwa seemed to have all they need. An older...