– David
It’s been a few weeks since our last entry and we’ve been flat out exploring and settling in (our stuff finally arrived!). Times flies when you are having fun, so I’ve neglected to write the latest update. Here’s what you’ve missed:
Time in Moresby or POM as the locals call it, is best spent on, under or at the very least near the water. Escaping South East of the capital takes you down Magi Highway to a little tropical village called Hula. I jumped in with a group to try and catch the last of the south easterly trade winds for a kite surf. A bumpy hour and a half later we arrived in convoy at the village – the vibe was immediately far more relaxed and peaceful than POM. Car windows down, music blaring, wind rustling through the coconut trees, green lawn, lots of fat pet pigs and plenty of smiles all around (including us in the car).
Although the wind was light, I could tell this place was something special! A huge lagoon with a fringing outer reef with plenty of waves rolling over. The relatively shallow sandy bay will be perfect for Lauren to continue to learn to kitesurf! I know we’ll be back here a lot more during our post!
Diving in Moresby is also very accessible! Although we heard mixed reviews about the two dive operators, I’ve had very good experiences with both. Turtles, sharks, huge coral fans, squid, octopus, nudibranch, sea anemones, wrecks…the list of things i’ve seen in a few dives is long! Time to keep encouraging Lauren to get her diving ticket!
There are also plenty of keen fishermen around – although I’m not much of one myself, I can see the appeal in bringing home bigpela tunas, sail fish, mackerel and emperors for dinner. The fish are abundant and with a little local know-how I can see myself acquiring a few bits of fishing gear soon…
Still on the topic of water sports – wakeboarding, wake surfing and surf foiling are also high on most peoples activity list! Depending on the weather, there’s always someone heading out…did someone suggest buying a boat? No. Considering the number of broken down boats we’ve been on, seen, helped – I’m not sure this idea has legs just yet…
Of course the Expat life is also filled with plenty of activities out of the water. Lauren has made some great friends too so we’ve have a very full social calendar. The annual Ping Pong Throng saw POM’s most glam table tennis stars play for bragging rights in what was a great night. Rob, who arrived a week after us, beat Brett in a high intensity grand final – Lauren providing her umpiring skills.
The competition was fierce and so was the dancefloor!
Poker nights, karaoke, ‘mates who munch’, pool side movie nights and lobster dinners. Yeah it’s been a strange 2020 but really we’ve managed to make the most out of every moment!
Lauren’s birthday was a weeklong affair – dinner, massages and a few surprise pressies before Christmas!
It felt like Christmas came early! We had been tracking our ship the “Jazan” after it departed Sydney early November. It finally arrived and like Santa it stopped in Melbourne, Adelaide, Jakarta, Singapore, Jakarta along the way. His helpers made quick work of the boxes and the presents inside. A whirlwind later and we rediscovered fruits of our Costco labour – sometimes wondering if we really needed to buy what we did…1kg of pickled cornichons anyone?
2020 Christmas was a different one for many Expats here in Moresby. With most people having just returned from their Covid hiatus in Australia, many were happy (or simply unwilling to do all that quarantine) to stay in country. Several orphan Christmas parties were held. Christmas eve we were invited up the hill to a High Commission, gold themed Christmas party. With limited shopping options I think it was safe to say that the ladies out shinned the fellas!
On Christmas day we continued feasting and joined the Port Road 2 (another DFAT compound around the corner) for one almighty lunch and pool party. The smorgasbord had it all – lobster, prawns, hams, lamb, chicken, fish, fresh breads, salads, dips, roast potatoes and of course more ham! Nursing a full belly of food and beers we rolled our selves home to do some of our traditional last minute packing…
It was boxing day! But no time to rest (there was aforementioned last minute packing to do) and we were heading off to New Britain! One of the largest islands off PNG, New Britain is home to some of the best diving in the world! We were also introduced to PNG domestic air travel etiquette – push to the front and don’t look back!
After ‘Final Call’ for our flight to Rabaul rang out across the check in area we finally followed ‘custom’ and pushed through to get our ‘second’ boarding pass and drop our bags, after running through security (figuratively speaking of course) we made it our flight! Rapopo Plantation Resort lies in the Eastern province of New Britain and on the edge of a huge underwater volcanic crater. From the plane we could see the deep blue ocean making way to the fringing reefs, white sand and luscious jungles. Paradise found!
Rabaul is called the Pompeii of the pacific. Not only was it one of the most heavily bombed cities outside of Europe in WW2 it was almost totally destroyed by a major volcanic eruption in 1994. The Volcano is still one of the most active in the country. The area is rich in both natural and human history and we were excited to get out and explore!
After many lobster dinners it was finally time to wave goodbye to the Eastern province and hop on a 45minute flight to Hoskins in the West, easy right(?)! Wrong. Shortly after arriving, and our transfer to Walindi Plantation Resort we got a call from the high commission – have you left for West New Britain? Its going into a Covid19 lockdown….
…too late – 25 of us are here. It was after all the 30th of January and we wanted to celebrate New Years in paradise! With no way to get back to Port Moresby we had no real choice but to half unpack and get on with our holiday.
Walindi felt more remote and isolated than almost anywhere in south America. The diving was incredible – crystal clear water filled to the brim with dolphins, sharks, fish and corals of every variety. Although the diving was expensive, the huge gallery of photos from divers from around the world hung up at the resort is testament to the high quality diving. If you are lucky you can even see Orca’s who visit several times a year!
You are never far from a volcano here – the natural hot springs were impressive and hidden deep in the jungle, albeit through many km’s of palm oil plantation and many plantation villages.
New Years Eve was a quiet affair – with the prospect of having to try and fly out every day it was a little hard to completely settle into a holiday rhythm! An improvised version of ‘catch phrase’ provided hours of spirited competition between teams, it was clear however that the girls had better memories than the boys.
Our original departure day came and went. As the group was so large it meant that the High Commission in Moresby was helping to plan our return. No easy task when the government ‘rules’ were changing daily. In order to return we had to provide a negative Covid test. After a visit from a team from Kimbe’s regional hospital (also where the Covid outbreak was detected) Lauren and Kate accompanied our tests to the airport to ensure they had the best chance of arriving back in Moresby and getting analysed within 24 hours. Thankfully our samples made it and we all came back negative – a relief as who knows what would have happened if one of us a positive.
I’d like to say that returning home was straight forward but of course its PNG, the land of the unexpected. The Air Niugini staff checking us in looked perplexed what all these negative test results were for – and he was only slightly more concerned that the flight was overbooked, three of our group would not be able to fly. Oh and no one else on our flight had bothered to get tested. After check in staff spoke with the pilot, he agreed that children could sit on their parents laps. The now over filled plane finally boarded. We made it back and we didn’t crash. Good news.
One day after our return to Moresby the group chat was once again buzzing. A passenger on our flight had indeed tested positive for Covid19. They were sitting three rows behind us! One week of lockdown for everyone and two for those who were within two rows – lucky us.
Until next time!
Far Away From Home 