First day in Papua New Guinea

Day 40: Harbour "Cruise"

This morning we woke up, got ready (our shower isn’t working), and shuttled over to the resort to grab our morning boat tour around the area. We had breakfast and then went down to the water to meet our guide, Kiapen, and boat driver, Albas, for our "cruise". The boat was a little fisherman-like motorboat, and since we were the only ones who booked for today, we climbed in for our private tour!

The boat took us out onto the water, and we were introduced to Mount Tavurvur, with smoke bellowing from its open crater. Kiapen told us a lot of history about the area, the villages, and the peoples’ experiences with past volcanic eruptions and earthquakes. We passed by small fishing boats and waved at the fishermen, and also saw remains of shipwrecks and caves from when the Japanese invaded Papua New Guinea and were attacked by the Australians. The boats from that era still remain sunk here, so we could see wrecked and drowned ships all around, as well as some old, rusted cannons.

We found out so much interesting history about the area, which was really amazing to learn. For example, one of the now-dormant volcanoes used to be an island on its own, but it erupted some years ago and basically connected itself to the mainland with a 150-metre new piece of land! We also sailed over an area where there used to be an island but due to a massive earthquake, the island collapsed and sunk leaving behind two tall pillars (known as the “Beehives”). When we looked into the water, there it was, the island underneath our boat… I mean, who knew an island could collapse and sink? Just nuts.

Then we sailed by what was left of the town of Rabaul. Very few things survived the eruption, and Kiapen showed us where things used to be – it was a tragic site to see black ash where there used to be a thriving community.

We made our way along the black coast and reached natural hot springs that were so hot (because of the nearby volcanoes) that the water was actually boiling beneath us. We got off the boat and walked on the black ash sand there, being very careful to try to avoid the ever-moving boiling spots. It was really amazing to be walking in hot springs caused by volcanic activity! Then, a man came walking by out of nowhere selling Megapod eggs (more on that in a minute) and we bought one and he boiled it for us in the boiling volcanic waters!

After spending a while there, we went over to the base of the volcano, where the ash-sand was so soft, our feet just sunk into it when we stepped off the boat. We walked around there for a bit and then went over to our next stop: a place where Megapod birds lay their eggs and bury them in the volcanic ash (which is warm so it serves as an incubator). Knowing this, men come from nearby villages and dig out these eggs – their bodies entirely covered in ash – in order to sell them at the market in town.

Finally, we hopped back into the boat and went over to Pidgin Island, where we snorkeled the coral reef there right off the shore of the island. This was probably the biggest highlight of the cruise. The coral there was like nothing we had ever seen, better than the Caribbean. The millions of fish and water creatures in millions of colours blew our mind away. The Great Barrier Reef had nothing on this. This was what we had been wanting to see! It was so utterly amazing to see all of these colourful creatures just swimming around us, watching us as we watched them. We found lots of “Nemos” who were absolutely stunning. Unfortunately, our camera died soon into our snorkeling expedition, so we had to memorize the beauty of it (not that we would ever forget it)!

Our snorkeling time came to an end too soon, and our cruise time was over, so we had to go back to the hotel. We were so sad to be leaving the coral reef and vowed to try and come back before we left PNG. On our way back, a manatee (we think) came up and dove in the water right next to us in the middle of the ocean! So cool!

We had lunch at the resort and then asked our hotel to drop us off at the Warwagira festival – a traditional song and dance festival – happening close by. Sadly, we arrived just as they went on a several-hour break, so we went back to the hotel and passed some time before going back to the resort for dinner.

So far, we’ve made quite a few friends here, and it’s only been a day. The staff here are so nice and so friendly, and we have already been getting to know them and a bit of the language. We only have such a short time here, but we already feel like we are creating a little family! Tomorrow, the National Mask Festival begins!

Fisherman next to the active volcano

Volcanic hot springs (where we cooked our megapod egg!)

 Black ash where the men dig up megapod eggs

 We found Nemo!

A little glitch in paradise

Day 39: Papua New Guinea

We got up around 2:30am this morning for our very early flight to Papua New Guinea, packed up a little carry-on bag each, and left our luggage at the hotel in Cairns. It’s so great travelling with next to nothing – you really don’t need very much! When we arrived at the airport, it was empty! We were the only dorks who arrived at the suggested time before our flight! When the check-in counter finally opened, we checked in, had some breakfast, and got on our flight.

We arrived in Port Moresby, and went to check in for our next flight, which is when we hit a little glitch in our plan: our onward tickets had been suspended by the airline! Basically, when Rachna had purchased the tickets online, the airline had double-charged her credit card, so she had called the credit card company to cancel the second charge, but this resulted in the airline suspending the valid tickets as well. Rachna finally got someone to unsuspend the tickets on the promise that we would tell the credit card company that it was not a fraudulent charge! Phew – who said a little stress didn’t make you stronger! We spent what remained of our 8-hour layover in a café, waiting for our next flight, thankful we had a next flight to wait for.

Flying over and landing into Kokopo was spectacular – the view of mountains, the ocean, the palm tree forests, the islands – it felt like we were landing in a dream. Kokopo is a little town in the East New Britain island of Papua New Guinea (PNG). The island is surrounded by volcanoes, one of which (Mount Tavurvur) is active. The town of Kokopo actually flourished after a volcanic eruption in 1994 devastated most of nearby Rabaul, which used to be the main town in the area.

We were picked up at the airport by the hotel shuttle, and we met a nice 75-year old man on the shuttle, who had moved to PNG and lived there for 40 years with his wife. He had so many stories to tell us about his life and experiences – it was so interesting! When we got to the hotel, we checked in and got to our room, which was pretty basic at an exorbitant cost, but that was the cheapest one in the town, considering we were here for the National Mask Festival. Luckily, our cheapo hotel was the sister hotel of a resort hotel 5 minutes away, so we took the shuttle and went over there for dinner.

The resort was beautiful, with fabulous amenities, a lounge, bar, and restaurant, and huge traditional masks everywhere. Dinner was great, and we spent some time there and talked to the manager, who helped us plan out and book things for our short stay here. We took the shuttle back to our hotel to sleep, and decided we would only sleep at our hotel, but do everything else at the resort, and get the best of both worlds!

 Flying into Papua New Guinea

Tasmania... um, no

Day 17: Great Ocean Drive

We checked out of our hotel this morning around 5am and lugged out to the airport. When we tried to check in for our flight, we were sent to the customer service desk, where we were told that our flight was cancelled. Why, you may ask? Apparently, a volcano erupted in Chile a week ago, and the volcanic ash has drifted over the Atlantic Ocean, over Africa, over the Indian Ocean, and over the Pacific to create a cloud over southern Australia, Tasmania, and New Zealand. Umm, ok.

After being at a loss about what to do, we decided to go back to our hotel, uncheck out, and at least sleep a few more hours before figuring out what the heck to do! The hotel was nice enough to give us our room back. We slept for a few hours, re-checked out, left our bags there, and decided to look for a car to rent to salvage what we could of the day.

We found a car (and on the way, free internet hotspots!) and decided to head out on our last sight to see around Melbourne. Since our plans were kind of thwarted, we were kind of stressed out. We tried to book some other stuff and finally decided to avoid Tasmania for now, finish up our Melbourne trip, and go to Sydney in two days, instead. We booked our flight out to Sydney, and since we were getting such a late start out of Melbourne, booked a hotel for tonight in a town at the end of Great Ocean Drive so we could start the drive backwards to Melbourne tomorrow. 

The drive was mostly in the dark so we didn’t see much – our goal was just to get out to Warrnambool so we could sleep well tonight and do the drive tomorrow. 

(no pics on this post - didn't do anything today!) 

Volcanoes, Geothermal Areas, Craters... oh my!

Day 6: Rotorua

When we arrived in Rotorua, a distinct “smell” welcomed us. No, it wasn’t us – it was the smell of the minerals in the geothermal waters! The entire town and everything in it smells like sulfur (like rotten eggs, for those who don’t know what sulfur smells like)! It’s quite gross, but after a whole day here, we kind of got used to it. I guess that’s how the people who live here can stand it.

After breakfast, we went to Wai-O-Tapu, one of the many geothermal areas near the town. There, we saw a geyser erupt (when hot water combines with colder water in an hourglass shape inside the earth), but it was induced (with a natural type of detergent), so we almost heckled the guy, but refrained! We hate tourist traps! 

We then headed down a long pathway to see craters and natural mineral pools and terraces – all with boiling, bubbling waters and steam vents (of over 100 degrees celsius) right at our feet! It was a very unique experience to be walking through and surrounded by natural volcanic activity. 

Once we finished the walk through the geothermal park, we spent the next few hours at a spa in town, wading in the mineral pools that boast healing properties. I don’t know if we were healed or not, but it was a nice and relaxing day after our hectic schedule of the last few days.

After the spa, we drove back to Auckland airport and are staying the night at a hotel nearby to catch our early morning flight to Christchurch so we can start on our tour of the South Island. We still can’t believe we’re only on Day 6 of our trip! We still have so many more things to see and places to go – how exciting to know this is only the beginning! North Island was fantastic, and an incredible way to begin our journey. The trip has already exceeded our expectations, and we can’t wait to see what beauty awaits us in South Island! 
 

Standing next to the Lady Knox geyser

 Champagne Pool in the Geothermal area