Welcome to my 116th Visit and 111th Run UN Country of Papua New Guinea (PNG) !!!
In this post I move the focus from The Kokoda Track to the city and capital of Port Moresby that I visited alone after my Kokoda trek. My brother Nick was unable to stay and returned to Australia on the 31 May with our nephew Sam Golfin.
PNG (Pop 10,240,000) is a country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and its offshore islands in Melanesia (a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean north of Australia). Surprisingly, PNG is the world's third largest island country, with an area of 462,840 km2 or 6.77 times the size of Tasmania.
There is some evidence that humans first arrived in PNG around 42,000 to 45,000 years ago. They were descendants of migrants out of Africa. About 50,000 years ago these peoples reached Sahul (the supercontinent consisting of present-day Australia and New Guinea). The sea levels rose and isolated New Guinea about 10,000 years ago, but Aboriginal Australians and Papuans diverged from each other genetically earlier, about 37,000 years ago.
Portuguese Dom Jorge de Menezes and Spanish Yñigo Ortiz de Retez, were the first Europeans here in 1545 but never claimed it. Yñigo named it New Guinea because it reminded him of African Guinea which he also discovered.
After being ruled by Germany, England and Australia (1915-1975) since 1884, PNG established its sovereignty in 1975 and joined the British Commonwealth.
There are 839 known languages in PNG, making it one of the most linguistically diverse countries in the world. As of 2019, it is also the most rural, as only 13.25% of its people live in urban centres.
The country is believed to be the home of many undocumented species of plants and animals due to its rugged inaccessibility including the discovery of 3 new mammals in 2010.
PNG is richly endowed with natural resources, including mineral and a large portion of the world's major tuna stocks. Agriculture, for subsistence and cash crops, provides a livelihood for 85% of the population and continues to provide some 30% of GDP. Mineral deposits, including gold, oil, and copper, account for 72% of export earnings. Oil palm production has grown steadily over recent years with palm oil now the main agricultural export just ahead of Coffee.
PNG also had the infamous reputation of cannibal tribes in the highlands not so much for food but for war between tribes. This was outlawed in 1978 but the Korowai tribe (or Kolufu) in south-eastern Papua is known to still practice this ritual.
In the evening of 30 May we all celebrated our Kokoda Track completion with a big dinner at a Korean BBQ restaurant in the Vision City Mall next to our Stanley Hotel. All we wanted and needed was meat !!! And wine. It was a great moment in time and a complete contrast to what we ate and drank on the track. What a sleep that night !!! Out like a light. The following morning Jacob, Sam, Nick and I partook in a sumptuous breakfast – the best breakfast I have ever had. At 11am I said goodbye to Jacob, Sam and Nick and made my signature salute as they sped off in a big black Secret Police style van to the airport.
I was alone again. I booked a hire car for today and tomorrow but they never showed up. I tried ringing them but they would not answer their phone so it was time to enact PLAN B, which involved negotiating with a local taxi driver to take me from the 5-Star Stanley to the 2-Star Hideaway !!! My driver WILLY was a very polite older guy who struggled with English. Willy was also the name of Nick’s porter. After arriving at the Hideaway I spent the rest of the day resting in bed and getting the Kokoda Post ready for you – 1591 photos and clips down to 290 photos and 130 clips – not bad !!! My knees had swollen from a build up of fluid given all that extra movement to avoid mud – my advice to all trekkers is “embrace the mud” !!! Do not worry about getting your shoes and socks wet – just do it – they will end up wet anyway and you will save your knees !!! Willy picked me up at 5pm so I could visit the Vision City Mall and stock up on wine, olives, cheese and food for the next two nights.
Willy picked me up at 9am the next day (Thu 1 June) to drive me to several sites in Port Moresby that I had researched from home and marked in my maps.me app that would guide us to them. Willy loved the app and at one stage said “that women knows Port Moresby good” – the maps.me voice was female as it guided up to each destination !!!
Port Moresby (Pop 401,000) is not a good looker. Geographically it comprises many hills, some of them mined for cement and left open. There are two main centres – the Government Buildings back from the shore and the CBD on the shore. Both are reasonable modern with much of the construction by Ozzie companies. In between these centres and in the suburbs is another world. Street-side stalls, people loitering and just sitting around, garbage everywhere and roads that look like they had been hit by a million meteorites !!! Port Moresby actually reminded me of cities and towns in Africa – the stalls are the main reason.
From 9am to 3pm, I visited the following places: Supreme Court, Parliament House, National Museum & Art Gallery, St Mary's Catholic Church, Port Moresby Nature Park, Waterfront Mall, Paga Hill, St Mary's Cathedral, Ela Beach.
My favourite was the Port Moresby Nature Park. It is a very large park complete with its own river and jungle with multiple aviaries and pits showcasing all the native animals and plants of PNG. It is not a zoo but more like a piece of PNG transplanted to the edge of a city – amazing because when inside you cannot see a single building outside. It is here that I got close up to the national emblem – The Bird of Paradise !!! A beautiful and elegant and colourful creature that we could not see but only hear when on the Kokoda Track. I also got up close to the following creatures: Hornbill, White Cockatoo, Swamp Crocodile, Cassowary, Rainbow Parrot, Cuscus, Boelen Python, Green Python, Rock Python and the Tree Kangaroo. I also invited Willy to walk the park with me and I am glad I did because he could spot all the birds in the trees above us and make me aware of them so I could film and photograph them.
The National Museum & Art Gallery is also a must-visit place. It was first built in 1975 to celebrate the independence of PNG and opened by Queen Elizabeth II in 1979. It was refurbished completely in 2018 and is a work of art – the building and exhibits are immaculate and cover the culture of the PNG from prehistory to modern times. Exhibits include shields, pottery, jewellery, clothing, artwork and even a long-boat.
Ela Beach was a disappointment. Lots of garbage and at low tide it is impossible to swim. Port Moresby is like Kolonia in Pohnpei in Micronesia – no beaches and no places to swim. I was hoping to swim at Ela and even checked up and down the coast but that low tide made it impossible.
As we drove the streets of Port Moresby there were times that Willy pulled my arm into the car and closed the window saying “no good here – they grab your phone” – so the rumours I had heard of Port Moresby seemed true. You cannot walk around in the poorer areas and definitely no walking after dark. Most shops and all government buildings have huge fences around them and most have armed guards. The nicer homes and units are in gated communities much like South Africa and surrounded by guards. Both days in Port Moresby were nice and sunny with plenty of heat and humidity to match. Port Moresby footpaths and roads are covered in red markings – the result of beetlenut chewing !!!
I spent the last afternoon in PNG continuing my blog before enjoying a nice roast chicken with canned veggies in my room to my favourite film CAST AWAY !!! I always watch this at the end of a major trip since for me it is the epitome of adventure travel…
Willy drove me to the airport at 8am on 2 June and it was a very smooth and civilised flight home via Brizzie. I just made my two-hour connection in Brizzie from Air Niugini to Jetstar to take me to Sydney.
This is it. The end of Kokoline and another HUGE adventure. I hope you enjoyed following it as much as I did filming and photographing it. Look out for the film next year… I shall email you with an invite to watch it live.
Until then, this is John “Kokoda” Golfin signing off from KOKOLINE !!!
END OF KOKOLINE
