Rabaul, Papua New Guinea - February 19

During the early hours we transited the St. George’s Channel which separates the Solomon Sea trough Bismark Sea and proceeded to Rabaul which is a township in East New Britain province, on the island of New Britain, in the country of Papua New Guinea.

It was a pretty sail in and it was a beautiful sunny day.

Greg and I both had issues getting off the ship. We did not attend the mandatory lifeboat drill (needed every 30 days) since we were off the ship between Sydney and Cairns, and it triggered our cruise cards. It took a while to get them to let us off the ship, but finally they did.

There was a group of people from a church that gathered to sing as we all got off the ship.

I had a tour set up with Kabaira Dive & Land Tours www.diveandtoursrabaul.com. Today we are joined by Karen & Steve, Jeff & Julie, Rick & Janie and Bob & Phyllis.

Our tour guide was set up inside of a building and I had a bit of confusion as I saw my name on one sign, but it wasn’t the right company. Greg found my name on another sign and I recognized their company name. Annette is not a common name, but of course there are others out there with my name. It was a bit of a mess in the tour area as it’s a small island that does not get a lot of tourism. They readily took USD, but everything had to be converted from Kina to USD. So, that took a bit of time.

The original person I was dealing with for this port, fell off the face of the earth and stopped returning emails. Their website was down as they were revamping it, but it just said it was no longer available. So, I was getting worried I needed to find a new company. In searching I found a hotel that used that company for their day tours so I emailed them to see what was up and they said everything is fine with them and they contacted them in my behalf and then communication was very good after that. Another person took over and when they confirmed a couple of days before the tour, the price had doubled. I honestly think the original lady only quoted a half day tour and we had a full day tour. I informed the group that there may be a difference in price. It was an inexpensive port and no one was concerned if it was double. However, they honored our original price of $50 per person for the day including lunch. We had to fill out emergency paperwork that normally is only done for divers, not those just snorkeling, but we filled them out and then we were led to our vans. Despite there being room to put us all in one we were split in 2, so it was roomy enough. The island has only a few vans and the ones they used are normally their public transportation.

Our driver was Steven and our guide was Steven. Too funny! We stopped to pick up fins for the 3 people that needed them and then we were off.

This island is beautiful! We had a scenic drive along Tunnel Hill Road through the center of Rabaul, which was smothered by falling ash during a massive volcanic eruption in 1994, leading the island's capital to be moved to Kokopo.

Our first stop was at the Hot Springs at the base of Mount Tavurvur, a sub-vent of the Rabaul Caldera. When this still huffing and puffing volcano erupted in 1937, over 500 people were killed. In 1994, the population was more prepared for the eruption, which went on for 12 days and resulted in only five deaths, one of the which was caused by lightning, a frequent occurrence with volcanic ash clouds. These naturally sizzling pools are heated by a deep underwater volcanic vent that literally brings the water to a boil. The locals call it the "bubbling beach." There were locals selling their wares there and I did buy a magnet.

 the girl I bought the magnet from

We continued to Rabaul Airport, which was destroyed by endless waves of falling ash and smoke during the '94 eruption. Although a new airport was built at Tokua, old Japanese warplanes half-buried in ash still remain.

Our next stop was Betty Bomber, the wreck of the Japanese Betty bomber which was intercepted and shot down by Allied Forces on 18th April 1943. On board that plane was Word War II’s most famous Japanese commander and mastermind of the Pearl Harbor Attack, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto.  He was on an inspection tour of forward positions in the Solomon Islands when his aircraft (a Mitsubishi G4M “Betty” bomber) was shot down during an ambush by American P-38 Lightning fighter planes.)

There was a group of children and adults singing songs and we all paid a buck or two to have our photos taken with them.

Nuigini Club was an interesting stop. There was a small museum there and we saw relics from the war and we saw the shells that are still used for money today in some areas. There were more locals set up with things to sell and I bought a necklace of their flag and some beaded earrings that was their flag. They let me take photos of them. The children were painted for the tourists to see their traditional dress.

 inside the van

 Steve & Nancy at the site

 shell money

 

 we bought trinkets from them

Our next stop was at Admiral Yamamoto’s Bunker. There are tunnels and caverns in the hillsides around Rabaul. We got to go inside and look around and see the writing on the walls. During occupation, the Japanese built over 300 miles of tunnels to conceal ammunition, hospitals, pathways connecting barracks with Japanese headquarters and more.

Moving on we stopped to explore the Japanese Hospital Tunnels (Some of the 580km of tunnels built by the Japanese are still open and aircraft wreckage can be seen beyond the old airport.) They were low ceilings and they provided a flashlight to see where we were walking. Karen used her cell phone to light up as well. From there we walked to see the Japanese Peace Memorial (the main Japanese memorial in the Pacific, is dignified and testament to the forgiveness of the local people.)

 our guide

Our next stop was at the Japanese Barge Tunnels (At Karavia Bay, between Kaluana Point and Vulcan, are a network of tunnels and tracks connecting barges and buildings dating back to the war. In the main tunnel are five barges lined up end to end.) This cavernous, fortified space is part of a complex network of over 300 miles of tunnels constructed during occupation by the Japanese to conceal munitions stores, pathways from barracks to headquarters, and 15 hospitals, including one with the capacity to treat 2,500 patients. Of course more vendors were lined up there selling beautiful things.

It was time for lunch and we drove to the Submarine Base at Tavui Point for a picnic. The Japanese used to provision submarines here during the war. There are tunnel and rail track remnants below and guns and relics in the hills above, but it was a ‘base’ in so far as the Japanese pulled their submarines up to the vertical wall and then surfaced, allowing soldiers to walk off over the reef. This site also makes for a wonderful snorkeling spot; the coral bed is flat and almost horizontal until it drops down a 75m vertical reef wall.

The drivers and guides set up a nice lunch for us on a picnic table. They had cold fruits, spring rolls and sauce, sandwiches, small hot dogs and Asian influenced fried rice and fried chicken. Then, we had plenty of time for snorkeling. There were lots of the blue starfish and yellow-orange ones. The drop off was amazing. Most of our group didn’t snorkel long so we cut it short there. Greg and I could have spent another hour in the water. There were some interesting fish and corals there that we had never seen before. The water was like bath water!

Here is the video Greg took:   Papua New Guinea Snorkel

Continuing on, we soaked up the island's dramatic mountainous terrain and lush flora as we drove to the slopes of the Tovanumbatir (North Daughter), one of eight active vents in the Rabaul caldera, to reach the Volcanolagical Observatory. Established in 1937 after the catastrophic eruptions of two volcanoes destroyed Rabaul, this impressive scientific institute closely monitors Papua New Guinea's 14 active and 23 dormant volcanoes. In addition to learning about the country's tumultuous volcanic history, including the destructive eruption of Tavurvur and Vulcan in 1994, there were awe-inspiring views from the institute, which rests high above beautiful Simpson Harbor, a near perfect circle and excellent venue for shipping. What breathtaking views of Simpson Harbor. WOW! 

Since it was Sunday the markets were closed, but our guide stopped at a local stand and bought some Buai (betel nut) and its condiments, daka (mustard stick) and cumbung (mineral lime, which looks rather like cocaine in its little plastic wraps)                              

Not sure if you can tell from any of the photos, but this nut stains their teeth and mouth an awful red color and does rot their teeth and can cause mouth cancer. It doesn’t make them high or anything, but does contain a type of caffeine. They chew and spit. (you shouldn’t swallow it). We all tried it, but none of us got red teeth. Then they told us you need to also use the condiments to get some color. Jeff was our guinea pig and he tried it. It did manage to make his mouth orange. I’m sure it takes some continued use to get the mouth and permanently stained teeth. It had a bitter taste.

 Jeff

 Julie

 Jeff

 our driver

 ride back to the port

We got back to the ship early since the snorkeling was cut short, so we had time to shower before dinner. We all shared our stories of the day.

 sail away

Despite the port lecturer scaring the daylights out of people, we enjoyed this port very much. They were saying it was just so primitive there. Said there were only dirt roads and no air conditioning in vehicles and that most didn’t have electricity. None of which were true. Many we talked to said they weren’t going to get off the ship. Again, I’m not sure why it’s in Princess’ best interest to talk people out of tours or seeing the places they have chosen to stop at. Many canceled their Great Barrier Reef tours and many chose not to go to Rabaul. What a shame! Most of us travel to experience cultural differences.

Even Frank the cruise director was putting the stop down and making fun of it. (before and after going) I understand letting people know what to expect, but perhaps educating people vs. scaring them out of going would be better options. Embrace the local culture.

Anyway, we enjoyed the stop and the people couldn’t have been nicer. Everyone waved as we drove by. Of course, our tour mates made the day fun. We can be such little kids sometimes. When the guide was talking about the Vulcan Volcano, I made a joke about “as in live long and prosper?” and Karen & I almost at the same time did the Vulcan hand sign. Steve made a joke about falling in an “ash-hole”, so we wore that phrase out. Passing the golf course I said “maybe we could go play 18 ash-holes”. Yes, we know the ash killed many people and we weren’t making fun of that, just being silly. It was the first tour we had with mostly the group of us that met in 2013. Anyway, thanks to them for making the day more fun!

It seemed everyone at our dinner table enjoyed the stop as well. We noticed at dinner that we were supposed to leave at 6:00 and we were still there. An announcement was made that now that the entertainers were on board we could set sail.

Apparently, 2 sets of entertainers were not there. One’s plane was late and made it and the other had the flight canceled. So, they were scrambling trying to put some entertainment together for the next 4 nights. I don’t know the name of the duo that performed since who was in the Patter wasn’t who was on stage, but you could tell they were “filler” type entertainment. They were a couple from the Cook Islands and they performed some Maori traditional music for us.

We skipped the game show to work on the blog and photos. (see the sacrifices we make for you??? ha ha)

Anyway, we have 3 days at sea now before Guam, so I hope to get caught up.