Adventure World
From the depths of the ocean to the summits of volcanoes, John Borthwick explores the best of PNG’s adventure holidays.
Papua New Guinea and adventure: the two words fit easily together. Australia’s northern neighbour is now an increasingly accessible adventure world, with its unique terrain of mountains, jungles, reefs and rivers offering excursions that deliver a swift boot to the adrenal glands, yet still get us home in one piece.
Australian Diggers battling World War II Japanese invaders along the Kokoda, Wau-Salamaua and other New Guinea trails didn’t call their mud-and-blood experience anything as polite as “trekking”. These days, the trails that still criss-cross the country are far less lethal but, as one as trekking company cautions: “Unless you’re fit, don’t come.”
Getting seriously sweaty is half the fun of PNG trekking; the other half is the traditional villages, war relics and bush camps you’ll encounter on the way. The Kokoda Trail, the country’s most famous track, traverses razorback ranges and can take up to eight days to complete. There are, however, other, less heavily trekked but equally fascinating routes.
The Diggers, retreating hastily from Rabaul in 1942, had to cut an escape route across New Britain’s rugged Gazelle Peninsula. Of the original 1600 men, barely 300 made it home. Today, with an Australian operator, True North Journeys, plus a crew of cheerful Baining guides, you can head into the green crush of jungle on a four-day “Escape from Rabaul” trek. You camp overnight in tiny hamlets, then plunge back into the jungle, hoofing it up and down the ranges and crossing log bridges over rivers. The trip’s climax is also your destination, remote Mondrabat, where the villagers build a huge bonfire and, come nightfall, begin their spectacular fire dance.
The most popular Highlands trek is to PNG’s highest peak, 4509-metre Mount Wilhelm. The two-day trip to the summit isn’t exceptionally arduous but the altitude and weather conditions can’t be underestimated. The summit view is exhilarating: you can see both north and south coasts.
The WWII Black Cat Track, from Wau down to Salamaua on the east coast, is a challenging six-day journey. The track is not for the unfit or inexperienced – however, the sometimes-dangerous trail offers breathtaking scenery, plenty of WWII “leftovers” and a route through isolated villages.
Surfing’s quest for the perfect wave has certainly arrived in PNG. Towns such as Kavieng in New Ireland Province now host an increasing number of surfers. Here, guests from Nusa Island Retreat shuttle out each morning to the half dozen reef-breaks within a few minutes of Kavieng harbour, while others join charter yachts such as Tiki Tu in search of more remote reefs. Down the coast, near Dalom, travelling surfers are romping in clear, clean waves framed by spectacular jungle.
Meanwhile, charter cruises around the Admiralty Islands, pioneered by World Surfaris, have revealed fine waves and few crowds. It’s the same on PNG’s mainland north coast: most notably, at Vanimo, where Lido village boasts a pair of classic right- and left-hand point breaks.
Divers, even snorkellers, in PNG waters sometimes feel like kids in a candy shop, the choice of quality dive sites is so great. The best-known dive areas include Madang, Lae, Kavieng, Wewak, Rabaul and Manus Island. Many still feature submerged WWII bombers, fighters, tanks and boats. Kavieng harbour, for instance, is home to a sunken Japanese sub.
Hoskins, capital of West New Britain Province, is your gateway to some stunning dives. Here, Kimbe Bay is promoted as one of the best diving areas in the world. In the case of Kimbe, with its 700 varieties of coral and 350 species of fish, there’s wide agreement about the validity of the claim. The grand complexity of submarine life here includes jacks, limpets, lace coral, shrimp, and a zillion vivid fish.
Meanwhile, on PNG’s north coast, Madang Harbour’s drop-offs and the Magic Passage coral canyons are dive highlights. For the photographer, this region offers more than fish, fish and more reefs. Its ample WWII wreckage contributes to PNG’s reputation as an underwater photographer’s paradise.
Further north, Kavieng’s Nusa Island Retreat isn’t for surfers alone: it’s also the launch pad for dive excursions on which the skeletons of war and the ebullience of the reefs are equally in evidence. Divers can also go searching on live-aboard dive boats such as MV FeBrina and Star Dancer that cruise the Bismarck Archipelago, and on other boats based around Alotau in Milne Bay.
The Sepik, one of the largest rivers in the world, flows from PNG’s central mountains, leaving in its wake a maze of dead-ends, oxbow lakes and lagoons. From a motorised, 10-metre dugout, you can cruise some 200 kilometres downstream from Ambunti to Angoram. You follow the river’s twists through a dream of water hyacinths, stilt villages, kids paddling on slender dugouts, sago makers, canoe-builders and stunning art. In Korogo village, you might visit the 50-metre-long, two-storied haus tamburan (spirit house) given over to totemic figures, carved birds and crocodiles, and giant masks. Many of these artefacts are for sale, with the Korogo artists keen to generate a cash income.
Your canoe can divert from the main channel into the lush Chambri Lakes and the village of Aibom, noted for its unique bonfire-baked pottery. Farther on, you overnight in a comfortable lodge at Tambanum, one of the largest settlements on the Middle Sepik. These villages’ mixture of art, sorcery, clans, Christianity, satellite communications and even Rugby League make them like no other places on this planet.
Finally, there’s game fishing – one of the best, yet least-publicised PNG adventures. Sailfish, mahi mahi, Spanish mackerel and yellowfin tuna can be caught close to shore, while offshore are bigger fish, particularly blue and black marlin, of up to 200 kilograms each. Coral trout and giant trevally are thick around the reefs, with barramundi and the legendary Papuan black bass lurking in the rivers and estuaries. To make the most of this cornucopia, Madang, Rabaul, Milne Bay and other centres have well set-up facilities, with lodges and quality game-fishing boats. •
Photography by John Borthwick and PNG Tourism
Travel Facts
Getting there
- Air Niugini flies daily from Brisbane and Cairns to Port Moresby, and twice weekly from Sydney. Phone 1300 361 380 or visit www.airniugini.com.pg
- Airlines PNG flies daily from Cairns to Port Moresby and three times a week from Brisbane. Phone 1300 764 696 or visit www.apng.com
- From November 2008, Pacific Blue will operate codeshare flights with Airlines PNG four times a week from Brisbane to Port Moresby. Phone 13 16 45 or visit www.flypacificblue.com.au
Getting around
- Black Cat Trail, e-mail admin@BlackCatTrail.com or visit www.blackcattrail.com
- Escape From Rabaul trek, phone +61 433 512 222 or visit www.truenorthjourneys.com.au
- Kokoda Trail, phone 03 9598 8581 or visit www.noroads.com.au
- Surfing Association of PNG, phone +675 320 0211 or visit www.surfingpapuanewguinea.org.pg
- MV FeBrina (fishing charters), phone +675 983 5441 or visit www.febrina.com
- MV Star Dancer (fishing charters), phone +1 305 669 9391 or visit www.peterhughes.com
- The Papua New Guinea Divers Association, phone or visit www.pngdive.com
- Sepik River journeys, phone 1300850 020 or visit www.nghols.com
- WorldSurfaris, phone 1800 611 163 or 07 5444 4011 or visit www.worldsurfaris.com
- Yacht Tiki Tu, phone +675 984 1301 or visit www.adventuresinparadise.com.pg
Further information
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