This gallery contains 20 photos.
Arrival – after two days at see, we had finally made it to Palau – the last stop for this trip. One highlight was still head of us – a boat trip around and between the Palau Rock Islands. These … Continue reading
We had left Papua New-Guinea and were now on track for Palau, covering a distance of 775 nautical miles. This translated to two days at sea – great for relaxation and processing of all the experiences and adventures of the previous days in PNG.
In the morning of the 21st we crossed the equator; this included the traditional visit of Neptun and a celebration (complete with a bite of fish, champagne and a Linie).
Later in the morning I had the opportunity, to get to see the technical internals of the ship during a chief-engineer-led guided tour. The tour covered the engines, the desalination plant, sewage facilities, garbage management and the laundry. It took us more than 2.5 hours and was getting us well below the waterline (and into areas, that other cruise companies won’t show).
After lunch I made it back ashore. Here I had a long walk along the beach – with a constant eye on the sun – as a partial solar eclipse was about to happen this afternoon. It surely got darker and twilighty (if that word exists). With clouds coming in, there was no way, to catch the eclipse on a photo – however watching it actually worked well – with polarized sun glasses and using the clouds as added cover.
Coming back from the beach, I had another look at town, before heading back to the zodiac landing spot for a final step on Papua New-Guinean soil. Good-bye PNG, I have enjoyed the days spent here.
This gallery contains 16 photos.
Today was our last day in Papua New Guinea. A night journey of 220 nautical miles had brought us to Vanimo – the Northern-most city of PNG, less than 20km from the border to the Indonesian part of the island … Continue reading
This gallery contains 16 photos.
After a lunch break it was back into the zodiacs. This time for a cruise (without shore landing) of roughly two hours. We were first passing by the village, to then enter a small side channel, often barely wide enough … Continue reading
This gallery contains 24 photos.
As mentioned before, my motivation for this trip had been, to get the opportunity to get to see the Sepik River – and today was the day. Over night we had covered the 129 nautical miles from Madang to the … Continue reading
We made it back to Madang and the ship just before sunset. Below my final impressions of town (of which I had not really seen anything – except for the airport) and the sunset over the bay.
After our near-retreat at the mudmen, we made it back to Goroka town for a late lunch at the Bird of Paradise hotel (including the option, to try SP Lager).
After lunch it was on to the local market and the JK Macarthy Museum. The latter featuring (next to other exhibits) plenty of historic photos from the region and a mournig necklace made from a human hand (no kidding). From the museum it was on to the modern airport (now with proper security – though I still wonder, how the souvenir arrows and the hammer made it through) for the half-hour-flight back to sea level.
This gallery contains 19 photos.
We continued our journey along the Highlands Highway to the highlight of the day. Near the Asaro settlement, we left the highway for a side street, heading towards one of the villages of the Asaro Mudmen. Obviously we had another … Continue reading
This gallery contains 20 photos.
After quiet some time at sea level, today was the day, to reach out a bit higher: I was going on an excursion up into the highlands of Papua New-Guinea. Starting point of the day was in Madang, were we … Continue reading