Mar 5, 2009 - John's Corner: Rabaul, Papau New Guinea

Today we went to Rabaul, PNG. The town sat right next to an active Volcano. There was a constant rain of ash emitted from the volcano and onto Rabaul. It was so thick that all the residents could do was pile it up and build on top of it. We drove out to the edge of what used to be downtown Rabaul, but was now a dessert of ash from the last eruption in 1994. We walked across it climbed through the trenches that were carved by the rain and led to the beach on our right. It was strange how there was no sand, seaweed, or fish in the nearby...

Oct 19, 2007 - Livaboard #2--Papua Niugini Diving

Dive crazy! We have been diving like crazy ever since we got here. We are now deep in the 50's, and taking classes to get our "Master Diver" status. Even so, we still feel like we are just learning about diving and the sea. There is so much to know and do and see here that we are dazzled all the time. The dive resort here has internet, but no phone or TV or other media. (Woo hoo!) Now that it's the dry season it only rains here once a day, in the afternoon. They told us that they get six meters of rain a year here, around ten times what we...

Jul 24, 2007 - Dwarves, Witches & Warriors

We milled along, aiming ourselves more or less toward the PMV—public mini van—stop, Kevin stopping every fifteen feet or so to chat with people he knew. We looped around the perimeter of the green, past the police barracks where the humiliated force sat drawing up another plan, preparing their crowd-control implements, and then past the Lutheran Guesthouse's street. The road began to climb a low mountain and wound sharply so that we were soon overlooking the green. The students could still be heard shouting into their megaphones and the...

Mar 1, 2007 - Rabaul, PAPUA NEW GUINEA

We arrived at Rabaul, Papua New Guinea at 6am this morning on St David's day. The town is on the Bismarck Archipelago and located on the island of New Britain, north east of New Guinea in Papua New Guinea. The ship stood offshore about a mile from Simpson Harbour in a sheltered inlet off Blanche Bay. The area is made fertile by active volcanoes and before world war II Rabaul was the largest European town in the New Guinea region surrounded by numerous European plantations. Rabaul was the capital of New Guinea but in 1941 the capital shifted...

Mar 3, 2005 - Arrived at Finschhafen, Papua New Guinea

Daddy arrived at "Fritchafen," New Guinea on March 3, 1945. A search of the internet did not reveal this place; however, there is a Finschhafen which is in Papua New Guinea (formerly known as New Guinea). Daddy's journal does not list how long he was in Finschhafen or if he got to leave the boat.

Oct 25, 2004 - Photos of P. hollrungii

Hello again, Well now I have time to put up the photos of the most beautiful passiflora in the whole world! It's so pretty. I am really happy that we found it. My work has been difficult here becuase of the communication issues with the people I am working with. Things are different in terms of how people deal with money, and the idea of receipts is a bit different. I have been trying to keep track of the money that I sent here in advance and after a chat today I think things are in better control. I will indeed be flying to Singpore on...

Oct 17, 2004 - On the way to Lae

Hey, I am on the way to Lae today! I am very excited. Roy Banka, my contact, just emailed to let me know he will pick me up at the airport, and that's good, since I was worried I hadn't heard from him. He was in the field. Anyway, I hope to write more, but I may not be able to, so talk to you soon... ? Shawn

Aug 1, 2004 - Bittersweet Bougainville

I fly from Vanimo, the country's westernmost point, to Bougainville, the easternmost. The last time I was in Bougainville was 1997 at the height of 'the crisis' - the brutal 10-year secessionist war. I'd come to Buka with a naïve and misplaced sense of 'adventure'. Buka island was then controlled by the PNG Defence Force, while the Bougainville Revolutionary Army (BRA) controlled most of the Bougainville island. I was soon to realise that a war zone is not adventurous at all, but terribly sad. Buka township was thronged with soldiers...

Jul 26, 2004 - Gone Feral

Seven trips to PNG over 16 years and I've never made it to the Sepik, one of the world's great rivers. This time I won't miss out. My schedule only allows a few days - but it's enough for a taste. I've afforded myself this one indulgence - while tourists are snorkelling, touring hinterlands and visiting villages, guidebook writers are in towns and on duty, checking hotels, restaurants, flight schedules, banks and postal facilities - it's a bit tragic really. In Wewak I contact a Sepik art broker about procuring a guide. She introduces me to...

Jul 18, 2004 - 'Yu raitim buk bilong PNG?'

Working in PNG as an LP author is a different experience from authoring elsewhere. You can't slip into town pretending to be a tourist, and then go checking every hotel in town, writing notes against your knee on the footpath, checking your guidebook map walking apace every street, snapping photos and bailing up shop attendants asking for directions. You are the only tourist in town, everybody's watching - thousands of eyes, everywhere you look. But everybody would be watching whatever you did, so you just get on with it. People approach,...

Jul 11, 2004 - Danger Will Robinson

We take the Ramu Highway south out of Madang. PMVs (Public Motor Vehicles; 15-seater minibuses) in various states of disrepair leave Madang in convoy, crammed with people, pigs and chickens; and cargo-allsorts - bananas, buai (betel nut) and sweet potato - on the roofs. They're headed to Lae on the south coast, or, like us, into the mighty Highlands of PNG's interior. This road is the only 'interstate' in the country, and, despite its extraordinary convolutions and steep pitch in parts, is mostly sealed and in good condition. For this leg...

Jul 6, 2004 - Giant Bats, Flying Fish & Tattooed Ladies

I start out early, about 7.30am. It's gonna get hot so the more I get done before the debilitating midday heat, the better. The couple of days in transit from Melbourne to Madang on PNG's north coast have been beset by torrential tropical rain, delayed flights, long airport queues, bizarre taxi experiences, and a single sleepless Saturday night in Mosbi (Port Moresby) while the club outside my room rocked until 4am. For months I'd been preparing this trip - doctors' vaccination jabs and malarial prophylactics, working through author-brief...