16th August - New Britain (PNG) - Kokopo - Rapopo Bay Resort

Tuesday 16^th August 2016

04 degrees 20.524S

152 degrees 18.987E

Mooring at Rapopo Bay Resort

New Britain – PNG

It isn’t all that far from Hobart but it takes a long long time to fly from here to there.  I had many many hours in queues in various airports to New Britain.  No hitches or glitches but a long time sitting, and a long time standing in the aforementioned queues.

Port Moresby from the air

On the Brisbane-Port Moresby leg I had the perfect passenger sitting next to me – a very nice man, entirely silent until we were landing.  I am always very happy to have a conversation for the last five minutes; never very happy to have to converse for a four hour flight… He was on his way to Manus Island, so I tod him about our 24 hours there.  He works, of course, in the detention centre.  I asked if it was true that the refugees detained there are free to work on the island, and to go shopping.  Well…yes and no.  There are 800 people in the centre.  Those who have achieved refugee status have this freedom, and some 25 of them work locally.  The others…are not so free.

At last and finally I got to a small cosy airport at Kokopo (New Britain).  And there was Pete, with Paul from the resort, ready to drive us back to the dinghy, 2XS, and Peter Frappell.  Peter F had been with Pete for four nights; they have had the best time ever, cruising around, laughing, chatting, eating, drinking beer.  Unfortunately Peter had to leave very early this morning, to do the whole long hop skip and jump back to Tasmania, but I did get to see him for one evening at least.  We had a fabulous feast, prepared by Pete H – crayfish, with potato gratin!!  Couldn’t have been better!

Today I am not up to much…I have done a big load of washing and have made a chicken curry.  That is about IT!  Paul came to visit, and allowed me to take a photo of his beautiful long black fingers, next to Pete’s perfectly nice but slightly less beautiful pink ones…

I have found some photos on my camera, taken by Pete and Pete.  They had visitors, on Mioko Island.  And one of these delightful young things stole Pete H’s thongs; another took Pete F’s brand new iPhone… (Or maybe it was other children on another island…I wasn’t there, may have it all wrong.  But they are both very sad and annoyed to have lost their possessions.)