PNG: The Land Time Forgot

lNDlA. CANADA. QUEENSLAND .

Att aboard

for Canada

PAPUA NEW GU|NEA.

AUSTR|A. NEW ZEALAND

The p tlme Expedition cruiser, Rod Eime had no idea what he was doing when he set

out for Papua New Guinea aboard Oceonic Princess

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and that's why he went.

It starts as i low rumble, a distant reverberation that might be ar thunderstorm somewhere <>ver the horiz<ln. But it rises as an ominous crescenclo to the point where I arn looking up through the palrn trees searching the sky I

lm

for the 747s

sure are irbout to pass llm<lst overhead.

Rabrrr,rl is intennittently the star oi the New Engl:rnd and New lrelirnd clistrict: pertect Simpson Harbour and glorious Blanchc Bay frarmecl by ar nrirgnificent lrut

volatile nrountainscrpe are but a sc:rnt irrdicator to its tumultut)us pr1st.

Just the dry beforc', with a technicolor.rr clnwn bre:rking behind us, Captrin Scotty guided Oceanic Princess to our anch<lrage in the port of Rabaul. As we cruised serenely up the bay, clouds sat delicately irtop the high, clistant ridgelines beyorrd Mount Tuvurvur.

As we starred, across the rnirror still waters, our grze was diverted to irn enormous, derrse grc'y plutne of srnoke and ash th:rt rose quickly into the sky.

"BAR-ROOOMM ! ", the thunderclap carle sever:rl seconds after the irppearance of the cloud and quickly brought the rest of the breakfirsting pirssengers ()ut on deck arnid girsps and sw(x)ns.

"Mourrt Tuvurvur," explains Dr N:rncy Sullivln our acconlpilnying cultr-rr:rl

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interpretcr, "hirs been rrcting up like that firr the hst 12 yeirrs - cver since the big one in '94."

The 'big one' was the cirt:rstrophic erupti<>n th:rt lg:rin llicl waste to the town of Rabaul. Again? Ycs, Rabrul has beerr corrprehensively flattened by a series of natural and mirnmade events in tl-re last 60 years arnd, rlthough sorle senrblancc of lit'e hls rctrrrncd ro thc renririning streetst no lirrge scale rcbuilcling is likely to take plrce agrir-r. But today I'm disembarking

rises above stirr-rrtings arrd inspirrtior-r

repllces pcrspi ration.

The uncxpectccl bird-catchcrs of ligurl Atoll, the rresrrcrising Yarnr Harvest d:rncers of Kiriwina arrcl the rrysterious

spirit geyser of Seusculinar on Fergussolr Island blur into head-spinning meclley when I try to recoLlnt them irll :rt once.

Most of the pirssengers hirve elccted t() stily ()n for thc seconcl Ieg oi Ooral Princess (lruises' "The Placc Time Forgot" expcciition voyirge irncl

I'n

honestly

Occanic Prittcess arftcr ten days :rrnongst the romantic lnd supc'rbly isolated islands within :rnd around PNGt Solomon Ser. It's been an intoxic:rting exploration of remote tr()picarl irtolls errd seclr,rded islets,

inspirationirl encoLlnters with reclusivc villagers rnd wonderful exposure to sccret rites and rituals. I'll irlwirys rententber our celebrated landing on rhe island of

Kiriwina am()ngst thc Trobriands, where we weren't surc for a momcnt whether we were beirrg feted or prepared for a feast.

This is the new aclventure; the 2 l st century holiday, whcre travellers transccnd the stereotypical, brochurc-inspired, lazy week besic{e a pool :rnd move into :r wh<lle other wrlrl.ll ,r Pl,rce wlrere experiertcc

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disrppointed t<> be nrissing tlrc lcgcnclarry Sepik River, the tropicrrl fj<>rcis <>f Tufi and the old coloniirl gltmour of Maclang that

looking firrwrrcl to. ()ftt'rr thc sul'ject of urrtlrrtterirrg, pultlicity with disproprtrtiorr:rte :rttenti{

Coral Princess Cruises operate the brand new 76-passenger expedition yacht Ocean/c Discoverer (formerly

they irre clc'arly

Oceanic Prrncess) on a range of 10-13 day itineraries that include the islands of Papua New Guinea, Melanesia and New Zealand. All meals and excursions are included.

)n

in Port Moresby, the of PNG, particularly the or"rtlyir-rg islands, are a bewildering pirtchwork of lirngu ir ges, cLr stonls irr-rd d i verse etl-rn ic groups. My owrr brief, but th<>roughly paid to the urrease rest

enriching experience was onc of genuine

A traditional welcome for visitors.

.

wondcr. Even when I porrdered the glossy brochure, tracirrg the rr>ute

<>f

voyage, I

in rro w:ry prep:rred for the delr.rge of I rern:rrked to Colal Princess Cruises' nrirn:rging director, Tony Briggs, that the prospectus completely undersold the product, he replied candidly, "I know, I kn<>w!" wrls

erperiences in store. When

of expedition proclucts currently 0n offer to South Parcific and ALrstrrlasiirn dc'stinations like the Kimberlcp Vanu:.ttu, thc Sokrrrons, New Ze:rlancl ancl New Crlecl<>nra create .r The array

rlix

th:rt mirkes chr>osing difficult. Yet the innirte nlystery of these perplexing

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"The Land Time Forgot" . 10 Nights Rabaul to Cairns

voyages :rdds great attrilction to

eircl.r

itiner;rry. Expedition Crrrisirrg in its trrrest offers <>nly irn outline of the intendecl trip. The re:rlity is;r ritillirrirrg irnlicipxrion

10 Nights Rabaul to Port Moresby o 10 Nights Alotau to Rabaul.

Prices start at $6950

f<>rrn

thirt irpproximaltes the sensations once only expericncecl by tlre pioneering seafarers

who trail-bl:rzed thror,rgh these unkn<>wn l:rucls many hr-rndreds of ye:rrs :rgo.

As Mount Tuvurvur's latest Iittle eruption subsides :rnd :rnother downpour of fine, gritty ash ensues, I load nry bags int<> the virn for the one-w:ry trip to the :rirport :rnd vow to return irnd conrplete n-ry odyssey in the land l'll never forget.

IWtn-snare.

Bookings Coral Princess Cruises (www. cora pri ncess. com.

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a u )

800 079 545, or

Adventure Associates (www. adventu reassociates/pa

p

ua)

1800 222 141

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