Dec 29 Port Moresby

A second stop in Papua New Guinea, this time at Port Moresby, a location prized by the Japanese during WWII.  There was much fighting in the jungle to the north of PM, and that's where we toured.

Our arrival at the container port in Port Moresby.  We were surprised by the high rise buildings, expecting something simpler like Alotau yesterday.  But PNG is on the rise, literally, hosting the APEC summit in 2018.  There was a lot of construction along the waterfront to our east to prepare for the big event.

We were concerned because crime is a problem in PNG, so we stayed with a ship's tour.  We heard of no problems, so perhaps our fears weren't justified.

 Leonard, our tour guide.  Notice the effects of a lifetime of betel nut chewing.

 We drove from the port towards the Kokoda Track, the passage over the Owen Stanley mountains where the battles were fought.  It was over an hour to get to McDonald's Corner through mountainous switchbacks in a 20-passenger bus.

This is 9-Mile Cemetery, a civilian cemetery.  I don't know where Mile 0 is.

 These are the components of betel nut chewing.  The betel nut is at the bottom, and the husk has to be removed to get at the nut.  The plastic container at the top contains lime, formed by burning, then crushing, coral. (This is also the process for creating cement.) The middle item is a flavorant spice.  You dip the nut in the lime and a spice and it becomes a gum-like substance which you then chew.  It's mildly intoxicating and invigorating.

 McDonald's Corner.  Australian troops were trucked this far, about 20 miles from PM, then walked the rest of the way.  Fighting took place about 60-80 miles up the trail.  We barely got a glimpse of the terrain they had to deal with. Australian troops are nicknamed "Diggers" and so are portrayed here.

 The most thrilling part of the trip was crossing a wooden bridge over a ravine.  This is the ravine.

 This is the bridge.  Our confidence was not improved by the driver's betel nut chewing during the trip.  Although maybe it made it easier for him to cross the bridge.

 Jungle waterfall

 Far wall of the gorge created by the river.  Two things of interest: PNG is volcanic in origin and the rocks on the far side look like columnar basalt, common to volcanic origin.  And, notice how the trees gain foothold in nearly vertical rock and grow.  Nature will find a way.

 The winding road leading to the waterfall overlook.  At the bottom left you can barely make out the remains of a car that apparently did not make the curve above and behind the picture taker.

 An amusement park back in town.

 We stopped at Bomano Cemetery, where over 3700 soldiers from WWII are buried.  This Golden Shower tree guarded the road in.

 Raintree canopy over the grave

 One of the new neighborhoods in PM--all up on stilts

 A pop-up service station along the road.  Perhaps you can purchase a replacement wheel cover for the one you lost near here the other day.  Or gas or oil.  I can't tell if the Coke bottles contain Coke or oil -- insert your own joke here.

 Back near the port, a monument of remembrance.  Originally it was for WWI, then they added the statue for the Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels of WWII.

 The local Melanesian population was drafted into helping the Australian militia and many served in support roles.  This statue recreates a famous photo where a Fuzzy Wuzzy is helping a wounded soldier to the hospital away from the front lines.

The Fuzzy Wuzzies got their name, in that delightfully British way of naming the indigenous peoples of their colonies,  from their tightly curled hair.  Look at the picture of Leonard up above to get the close view.

An interesting, and very hot, stop in PNG.  Two days at sea before a return to Darwin Australia.

Dec 28 Alotau, Papua New Guinea

First time to New Guinea.  Alotau is not a normal cruise ship destination, certainly not like St. Thomas or Martinique.  This year we were the last of 29 cruise ship visits, 27 of them, the guide said, from the P&O line.  PNG is a poor country, comparable to some of the African countries we visited during ATW.  There is abundant biodiversity and most of the population are subsistence farmers who get along quite handily without modern conveniences.  Although the billboards indicate everybody should have Digicel phone service.

Our arrival in port.  Everywhere there were garbage fires burning.  We noticed it in the cabin as we approached the island.  The smoke was omnipresent during our day here.

 The captain did a nice job of parallel parking.  Two women on the sailboat kept a close eye on the process.

 Our four hour tour of the area was to begin in the morning, but there was a dispute among the tour operators and bus drivers.  Our excursion was shortened and delayed until after lunch so we had a nice warm morning to ourselves. We walked towards town from the port.  (BTW, "four hour tour" has three words written almost identically yet pronounced differently.  English must be tough to learn.)

 Many local were carrying their 10- to 20-liter containers to the fuel station at the port.  On the way back they would be about 20-30 pounds.

 There were large crowds of people lounging around under any shade they could find.  They may be attracted to the large market near the port and the bus service that lets them visit from the countryside.

 This is the reception desk of a large hotel catering to the locals.  It seemed to have 16 rooms about 30x30' and everyone pulled up a section of floor and slept there.  Cost was 1Kina/night, which is 40 cents US.  It may be people spending the night for their market visit.  Or they may live there.  We didn't ask.

 The "porch" area of the rooming portion of the hotel.  People were unfailingly nice, most of them saying "Hello" or "Good Morning" as we went by.  Even the shy kids would wave and say "Hi."

 Our van for the afternoon tour.   Windshield and bumper stone guards in place.  Or it's to break up the RPG rounds before they hit the vehicle.

 One of the two guides on the bus.  English is the only language that everyone in the country knows -- they have 852 languages and dialects.  English is taught in primary school.  Everybody chews betel nuts which leaves their mouth red.

 Royal Poinciana, Christmas Tree or Flame Tree growing wild.

 Home are on stilts to allow cool air to circulate underneath.  It was HOT.  We had walked about an hour in the morning to town and back.  I had to wring out my shirt on return, take a shower and sit in the AC for awhile before leaving in the afternoon. In the shade, with a sea breeze, it's not bad, but in the sun you may melt.  We were at 10deg S latitude.

We visited WWII sites from the battle of Milne Bay which took place in 1942.  The Australian Reserves (the Australian Army was in North Africa and the Middle East, fighting to protect other British colonies) fought in New Guinea to keep the Japanese from taking the island and directly threatening Australia.

This is the slipway, one of the areas where they unloaded cargo ships for the Allies.

 A native home.  The walls are constructed by weaving material.  Lots of spaces for breeze to circulate.

 At airfield #3 there's a memorial to the people who fought here. Airfield built by US Seabees

 Flora

 Exit through the gift shop.  At another memorial for the Battle of Milne Bay there was an opportunity to purchase native craft items.

 The dock workers seemed happy to see us leave.

Dec 26 Cairns

Boxing Day, a traditional English holiday, celebrated in Australia with lots of things on sale.  Just like the US.

We gathered again in the rental car and headed north, this time much further up the road.  We passed the sugar cane fields again.  Here's a set of boxcars on the narrow gauge railroad that runs along the plantations to transport the product to market.

Our first stop was Mossman Gorge, a narrow river channel through the Daintree Rainforest.  The visitor center has an interesting rain gutter system, with the rain channels down on the ground.  When it rains it probably comes too fast for anything smaller to handle it.

There's an elevated walkway through the rainforest taking you to the gorge.  You can see the remains of a wooden walkway down below which was the path during what Peter & Jenny refer to as the good old days.

 I don't know.  But definitely male and aggressively defending his territory.

 Rainforest

 

Bridge across the gorge.  Although sturdily built, it undulated as you walked across it.

Due to flash flooding concerns, swimming was not allowed at this time.  About half the people on the shuttle bus had towels and swim suits with them.

Place name translated from native language to English

 A long, winding road leads to the Daintree River which has not been bridged.  Instead, we got to ferry across -- both ways.  Ferry probably holds 20 cars at capacity and takes 5 minutes to go across.  And the captain and traffic controller do it all day long.

 An ocean overlook from the rainforest

 Cape Tribulation, named by Captain Cook after the Great Barrier Reef had put a large hole in the bottom of his boat.  Just north of here, in Cooktown, they beached the boat and repaired the hole so the voyage could continue.  This is the end of the paved road, and where we turned back south.

 We didn't see any crossing, but cassowaries are present in the area.  Based on the statue next to the ferry crossing, they are are near ostrich sized birds and eat large hunks of fruit.  In keeping with the Australian animal tradition, they are the world's most dangerous bird and can kill or maim humans if cornered.

 Overlook on the drive back.  There were miles and miles, excuse me, kilometers and kilometers of undeveloped coastline north of Cairns.  Of course, you can't go INTO the water since the creatures of the sea will try to kill you, but it's nice to look at.

 In a field just north of Cairns, wallabies were feeding.

 And most were smart enough to stay in the shade.  It was HOT.

 In downtown Cairns, right across from the Avis car rental stand, the tree was full of bats.  These guys were big, probably about a foot long from feet to head.  They were constantly moving their wings, perhaps to fan themselves even though there was fair breeze blowing.  They must eat something bigger than insects to grow that big.

 Back aboard at golden hour, the harbor of Cairns

 A great sunset over the hills surrounding the harbor.  If I had included the wider shot you could have appreciated the cement plant and oil storage tanks in the foreground.