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.
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.
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.
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