Papua New Guinea a visual surprise

Another of my husbands bucket list destinations ticked off, must be my turn soon.

9th November 2015 and off we go again…

Who would have thought!! I think we were both surprised as to how beautiful the beaches were.

After recently spending time in Siem Reap, Cambodia, Papua New Guinea is totally different, rather than spending time by the pool we can luxuriate in the warm waters of the Coral Sea.

We had to fly from Melbourne to Sydney to board our ship, the flight was without drama, the drive to the airport easy, customs was the usual drama with my knee implant, we did have a bit of a wait for our bus to the ship and due to an industrial dispute with the border patrol staff it took a bit longer than normal to get onboard.

This ship is totally different to others we have been on and not in a good way. Firstly, when we got to our room the usual personal items were not included, yes, there is a combined shampoo and conditioner in the shower, no body lotion, there was only one towel and no tea and coffee making facilities as on other P & O ships we have been on.

Perhaps we are being a bit critical but even my husband said that he thought it could be a bit of an interesting trip with the people we have come across, plus there are lots of young children, so there is no way you would go in the pool even though there is supposed to be one for families and one for adults, today that certainly wasn’t enforced, and the spas were full of kids.

The dining on this ship is totally different to what we have experienced in the past. There’s one main restaurant for which you have to book a time, they haven’t actually allocated two dining times as in the past and the queue to book is ridiculous. We did find out later that apparently this ship has a new crew who they are training.

There is another area called The Pantry which is like a food court, this has taken the place of the buffet dining which has come about due to the number of people who have been contracting the Noro Virus. There are three other areas to eat for which you have to pay. The Grill sells burgers and pizzas which cost around $5-10, another is an Asian restaurant called Luna which cost $29pp and the upmarket restaurant is Luke Mangan’s Salt Grill which is $49pp.

After dinner we went for a walk down to The Atrium where the shops are and I was looking to see if they had any Body Shop Mango Butter which they were promoting, all they had was Honey Body Rub, why promote something if you don’t have it. Tomorrow I plan to go to the Grand Opening of the Pandora shop, one of the first designated for P & O, I wonder what they will have?

We have now had a couple of days to suss out the ship, and compared to others where we have said even with so many people on board you wonder where they all are, this is totally different, in fact unless you went to an area called The Oasis, every other part of the ship is very noisy. We did find a bar last night for a quiet drink, pleasant surroundings and hardly anyone there. I think the reason being is that the people onboard this cruise are drinking a lot during the day so the ritual of a pre dinner drink doesn’t seem to be necessary.

This morning we arrived in Brisbane, the Capital of Queensland, their docking area for cruise ships is way out of town so we caught a shuttle bus into the city and had a bit of a wander around. We managed to find a couple of bargains, my husband getting a big reduction on some Rockport shoes and for me it was $50 off a pair of slacks. We stopped off at a market which was being held at the top of the main street then returned to to ship for lunch.

We have found out that the pre-paid internet on this ship is only available in certain areas of the vessel unlike on other trips you could use the internet anywhere. I shouldn’t complain I guess as once upon a time when you went on holidays there was no such thing as internet, any contact was by phone or you sent post cards.

We dined at the Asian restaurant Luna and the food was amazing, they served eight courses starting with pickled vegetables, a freshener for the palate, then came a lovely soup, some minced chicken on a stick with sate sauce, there were two other entrees, I can’t remember what they were called and then there were three mains, green curry, pork cheeks and one other which again I can’t recall. This was followed by two desserts.

We have had our sea days which we filled in quite well then finally we arrived at Alotau after getting up at 5am to watch the sail through the China Strait into Milne Bay. There is quite some significance with this area between the Islanders and Australia who fought together during the Second Word War. It was a very pretty trip albeit not the most amazing sunrise.

Whilst at Alotau we did a bus trip out to an area where they did several traditional dances and had items to purchase, mostly carvings and bags, some clothing and a small amount of jewellery. They also had an open air cooker on rocks and leaves. I decided I would like to try it and it was quite tasty, they had yams, sweet potato, bananas, chicken and some greenery a bit like spinach.

Even though it was quite warm we decided we would like to walk back to the ship. It was at least a 45 minute walk, but with a few side steps and chats to the locals and visiting the local market it took a bit longer.

The market had many people there selling mainly fruit and beetle nuts plus fish. It looked everyone who had a mango or banana tree or a vegetable plot was there to sell their produce. We were of the understanding that the chewing of beetle nut had been banned, but it seemed to be that everyone we spoke to, male and female alike had red teeth from chewing these nuts, and of course there was red splatter on the roads and paths where they had spat out the residue, disgusting…

Our next port of call is Kiava Island which is a small island off the main Trobriand Island of Kiriwana. Very primitive, very little eternal influence and certainly no TV or phones.

This was a totally different experience to Alotau, here there were literally hundreds of the locals who had come in for the day to sell their wares, right down to small shells, just to earn a Kina which is their local currency.

They were lined up everywhere we went. We did contribute to the community by me having a ride in a canoe, buying some bananas and donating to the local school, but there was no reason for us to be buying bags, mats, wooden carvings or shells. I have to say though that there are some who have learned very quickly how to get money out of people, nothing for free, even a photograph.

The island beach is beautiful but covered in coral, so great care was needed, the weather gods have been very kind to us and we had a lovely time having a couple of dips in the ocean and just relaxing on the beach.

Tomorrow we will be at Doini Island, no tours, purely a beach day and from a photo I have seen it looks like it could be very similar to where we have been today, but hopefully not so much coral.

What a beautiful place, the beaches were lovely, nice soft sand and very little coral, the water was clear as crystal, not as warm as the day before but that was ok. There were a number of native people on the island doing dances with signs in front of them indicating that they were raising money for their particular school, others with birds and possums, some in cultural costume, all with a basket in front of them for money to be paid for the privilege of taking a photo. Quite a few men and women had baskets, bags, carvings, shells, fruit and jewellery for sale. I noticed a bag which I quite liked, (ok, I did say I did not need to buy one didn’t I?) it had been woven with different coloured cotton, the lady wanted 60 Kina for it which was equivalent to AU$30, I was happy to pay that and plan to hang it up on the wall in my art room. I also bought a shell, coral and pearl necklace, I will need to be careful with it as it doesn’t have a catch and it only just fits over my head.

Well, from initially thinking why would you want to go to PNG I have to say I have been proven wrong. This trip has been really good both culturally and enjoyment wise. We have met some lovely people and avoided others.

We wouldn’t sail on this ship again for a variety of reasons but mainly due to the dining situation and how noisy it was. I guess we were spoilt with P & O Aurora with the two dining rooms, a theatre and plenty of things for us to do and only a few young children, not to say that the children on board have been intrusive, but the demographics of the age group on this trip has been vastly different.

Only one more full day after today and we will be back in Sydney, we have to disembark at 7.30am so it will be an early start for us. Our flight back to Melbourne is at 12 noon. I am looking forward to getting back home and hopefully there has been enough rain so that our plants are looking in better shape than when we returned from Cambodia.

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Next Time … Melbourne to London via the Panama Canal, 52 days of sailing

Thank you for reading “Come Away With Me”

Happy holidays

Sally