Adelaide Central Market

Okay, so I’ve made a bit of a quantum leap from day #2 to day #8! Hey it’s hard keeping up when there is so much or so little going on, suffice it so say we are in Adelaide. There was one activity high on our list of things to do in Adelaide and that was a tour of the Adelaide Central Market.

Mark Gleeson our market tour guide

The 140 year old Adelaide Central Market, is located in the heart of the Central Business District and some say it is the epicenter of Food, Culture and Lifestyle in South Australia. It is the largest fresh produce market in the Southern Hemisphere, with over 80 specialist Stalls and the most visited tourist destination in South Australia with over 1.3 million visitors per month.

The Market began in Grote Street in 1869 and was known as the City Markets, with its official opening on 22 January 1870. Today the Central Markets are surrounded by the Central Market Arcade, Adelaide China Town, and Market Plaza. The 'centre' of the Central Markets is made up primarily of fresh produce stalls, with the perimeter and arcade shops being mainly cafés, restaurants, and variety stores.

We pre-booked a market tour with Mark Gleeson (Central Market Tour.com.au) starting with a breakfast at 8:30am. Just a note if you are thinking of doing the tour forgo the breakfast as there are so many samples of food and drink offered to you breakfast isn’t necessary.

Stall S66 "Providore"

We met Mark in front of his market stall, he’s only recently rebuilt it so there are no signs but you can download a map from the website. After introductions he took us to a cafe called Tbar where we ordered breakfast and coffee.

Looking back at one of the market lanes from Tbar.

It was such a beautiful morning we decided to sit outside and take in the morning sun. I think Mark’s a pretty busy guy and he disappeared for a while while we had breakfast popping back to make sure we were okay. Today there were two guides on duty so Mark offered to take just Kelly and myself for a personalised tour!

We started the tour at about 9:15 with Mark started by giving us an overview of the market and his role in it. He’s been involved in it from both a stall owner and activist, for 20 years and he’s passionate about the role the market has to play in Adelaide culture. Mark seems determined to do whatever he can to maintain those aspects of the market that give it it’s unique character while others try to homogenise it. I certainly hope he succeeds as it need friends like Mark.

The next hour and a half was a whirlwind of colour, tastes and anecdotes as we travelled up and down the market lanes meeting various stallholders, sampling their wares and finding out a little of their background and history in the market. The following is an introduction to the market stallholders we met and their amazing food we sampled.

Mario - Stall 56 “Greenside Greengrocer”

Mario is one of long time stall holders at the market having been there for over 30 years and in fact I think he is the tenant who’s been here the longest time. He not only sells produce but produces it himself on his farm in Cuddly Creek. Mario gave us some lovely plums that we are still enjoying.

Stefan - Stall 72 “Central Organic”

Stefan, who’s stall is directly opposite Mario’s, is another long time stall holder, and second only to Mario, who sells certified organic produce. Stefan showed us his detailed manifest of produce that he is required to produce and show produce for if questioned by inspectors.

Valdec - Stall 75 “Seven Hill Fine Food”

Valdec came to Australia from Poland, as a political refugee, 27 years ago. His stall is a veritable treasure house of imported foods and local produced small goods.

Friendly staff serving customers between shelves piled high with exotic looking goods

An amazing array of smallgoods hang above the counter

Tony O’Connell - Stall GR 47-49 "O’Connell Meat"

Tony was super busy but he took a moment to show us some of his produce including this beautiful ham.

Sun Mi - Stall S1 “Sunmi’s Sushi”

Sun Mi is the Mother of Korean Food in Adelaide. This ex Olympic sportswoman, she played volleyball for South Korea, has been in the market for 15 years. She treated us to one of her famous vegetarian pancakes with a magic sauce that is to die for.

Next on our tour was Cafe Zedz run by Franjo Novosel, market stall owner and painter.

Neon Sign - Stall S2 "Cafe Zedz"

There is a great feeling of energy around the cafe and Franjo made us up a couple of fresh juices and some sample delicacies. We had a chat, I showed him some of my panoramas and he told me that his website, showing his work, is a 360 virtual tour as well. You can check it out at www.novoselart.com (flash required).

Franjo and Mark checking out my panoramas on the iPad

From the cafe we wandered down to a favourite of mine called “Smelly Cheese”. It’s the companion stall to “Say Cheese” at S46.

Part of the cheese selection - Stall S44 "Smelly Cheese"

What a fantastic array of smelly cheese. We purchased a prosciutto wrapped cheese called “Otto” (you can see it in the top left corner of the picture) that you cook before eating. The prosciutto becomes all crispy while the cheese within melts.

Linda with samples of the goats cheese, not smelly at all

Directly behind Smelly Cheese is Dough where appropriately they bake bread. Here we met Linda’s daughter who was dusting lemon curd tarts with icing sugar.

Stall S45 "Dough" and Linda’s daughter dusting the tarts

Almost to the end of the tour now and we are at Marino Meats. Ricardo was busy preparing an order so we didn’t disturb him but Mark assures us that they are the best Italian butcher in town.

Ricardo hard at work - Stall GO52-54 "Marino Meats"

On the counter is a huge Prosciutto leg proudly displaying a gold medal from the Australian Meat Industry Council for the 2010 SA Smallgoods Competition. It is the winners award for the Dry Cured Products Category.

The Prosciutto Leg

At the end of our tour we were full of wonderful food, with an appreciation for the work these and all the stallholders put into making the market work. We are planning a return trip on Saturday morning early, to stock up on provisions for Christmas Day and to sample Franjo's breakfast special Shak Shuka.

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Yass to Hay

So it's up bright and early and our first day or re-packing up the car, so it takes us forever. We finally check out 10am. The Colonial Lodge staff were great, the rooms clean and tastefully decorated but Kelly found it a bit noisy being so near the road with lots of trucks rumbling by and a very noisy compressor, perhaps on the in-room fridge, going all night. I slept fine :-)

After checking out we drove down to the main shopping area and headed to Post Office to send package I'd forgot to deliver yesterday. Yass is lovely to wander around with lots of old buildings. After the Post Office visit we came upon an old trash and treasure place that had a couple of repro signs that pretty much sum up the sins of most people.

We continued down toward the Yass river and what they call River Walk. We’d noticed the old railway bridge down the river as we drove in last night and were interested to take a closer look. On the way down to the river there is a road bridge spanning the river and parts of the abutment are decorated with Indigenous Art. The art is quite extensive and it’s very unusual to see it presented in this way.

It seems that Eric Bell, is a Yass Aboriginal elder, was instrumental in facilitating the Indigenous Art murals on the abutments to the Hume Bridge in Yass, and is a driving force behind the planned "Interpretive Walk" on the banks of the Yass River through the Riverbank Park.

The river and the park itself is beautifully tended and the river winds under the bridge down to a small weir.

Downriver from the weir is the old railway bridge. Yass was a battleground between the town and the Sydney to Melbourne railway; because of the topography the New South Wales Government Railways wanted to bypass the town by a few kilometers. Naturally, the people of the town wished the railway to pass closer or through it. In 1892, a light railway or tram was built to connect Yass Junction on the main line and Yass Town. This line is now unused and the railway bridge is one of the few reminders left.

From the river we walked back up the main street to a small cafe for breakfast and a much needed coffee. On the way we passed by the Yass Courthouse and imposing building right on the main street.

The current court house replaced an earlier one built in 1837. The last link with the convict past of Yass, the flogging tree, was removed in 1878 to make way for this new building. It was designed by Colonial Architect James Barnet and built by Frederick Horn of Goulburn, at a cost of over £15,000. it was opened in January 1880.

Opposite the Court House there is a beautiful old double story Georgian Building with a large balcony, that dates from 1840 - 1860. It is now part of the National Trust listing and has in it’s past served as both Courier Office and Yass Post Office.

There were a couple of other spots we wanted to see before we left Yass so we did a bit of a drive around the town, getting stuck behind some of the Yass traffic for a while.

i’d read about a striking modernist building (the 'big' church) that was begun in 1954 under the direction of the then Bishop Young, later Archbishop of Hobart. The architect for the church was architects Fowell Mansfield and Maclurcan of Sydney. The builder was James Wallace of 123 Sussex St Sydney.

There are important works of art by renowned Australian sculptor Tom Bass in the Church including the crucifix on the outside of the building.

Opposite the church is an old convent that has some beautiful buildings with a combination of blue stone and other stones. Kelly took this shot of one of the convent walls.

Yass has an impressive and historic main street, with well-preserved 19th century verandah post pubs. One of the old pubs, the Commercial Hotel, currently up for sale and in pretty bad shape at the moment has an impressive old neon sign on its roof.

I’d noticed an old local watching us as we were shooting pictures of the sign and as we walked back to the car I said hi, and said that I’d buy the sign, but not the hotel. He told me that he remembered when he was a kid that it was one of the highlights of the street and a string of lights made it look like champagne was being poured into the glass.

Our final stop in Yass was the Railway Museum, which unfortunately was closed but I did get a couple of shots of the stock in the yard behind the old station including the fully restored 4-4-2 steam locomotive 1307.

The old 4-4-2 steam locomotive 130

The 4-4-2 steam locomotive 1307 was built in 1877 by Beyer, Peacock and Co. of Manchester, England, as an engine with a coal and water tender, to handle general haulage work.In 1910, the locomotive went to Yass, the first 13 class engine to operate on the Yass Tramway which ran between Yass Junction station on the main southern line and Yass township. Check out the “small” picture of the 1307 before restoration.

By now it’s early afternoon and we still have quite a trip to go, 454km to reach Hay and we'd like to be there by early evening. Rather than take the main National Highway we are going to go via Burley Griffin Way, this will take us through the towns of Murrunburrah and Cootamundra down through Junee and across the plains to Narrandera and then Hay.

Murrunburrah is a small town, with a population of about 952 people. The name of the town probably comes from Wiradhuri murrimboola, which can reasonably be translated to "two waterholes". It forms a twin town with Harden.

It’s main street has some interesting buildings so we pull over and stroll along the main street. There is one building in particular that I like, it’s the Murrunburrah Mechanics Institute Hall. Built in 1912 it stands imposingly amongst it’s surroundings.

Opposite the hall Kelly has found a fantastic old mill, with a mix of tin and stone buildings up for lease.

Next on our list is Cootamundra which just happens to be the birthplace of Australia’s greatest cricketer Don Bradman. Neither of us are great fans of the game but it would be amiss of us to not even stop outside and pay our respects.

From Cootamundra it’s a fair drive across to Hay and we arrive there in the early evening. It’s still light and it’s turned into a hot day with temperatures up around 34C. We find our accommodations for the night, the Saltbush Motor Inn.

Once we’ve checking in and dumped the bags from the car we grab the esky and some sandwiches we’d bought in Yass and head for the a small picnic spot on the Murrumbidgee River called Bushy Bend Reserve only 5 minutes from the motel.

You head off the main road into a dirt road in the bush and a few minutes later come out into one of several clearings right by the river with covered tables where you can sit and drink a glass of wine and watch the world go by.

At the spot we decided on there was a large stainless steel sculpture, one of three in the reserve, part of the Long Paddock Sculptural Trail. This particular sculpture is by John Wooler and is called “Murrumbidgee Landscapes. It depicts the meandering rivers in the Shire of Hay, the major ones being the Murrumbidgee and the Lachlan. Over millenia the irregular, unpredictable forces of nature caused the rivers to change course leaving behind billabongs and pools where once they flowed across the flat, sandy plain.

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Sydney to Yass

Kelly and I are off to Adelaide to spend Xmas & New Year with my mother. Unfortunately mum's not too good at the moment and not really able to travel so we are off to visit. We love the wide open plains of Australia and look forward to the three day drive from Sydney to Adelaide.

This time we are going via Yass, Hay and Loxton arriving in Adelaide on the 17th.

Our plan today was to leave by lunchtime. It just goes to show that no matter how many times we go away we are either scrambling to make a plane or else futzing around trying to get everything done in the last minute or two. In our case hours.

Our goal today is to make it to Yass before nightfall, that’s a distance of 283 km from Sydney and for the beginning part it’s mostly freeway from our house to well outside of the city.

It got later and later until finally we were ready to drop off the furkids. Usually they go to kitty camp at Hanrob but the local vet, just down the road, has opened their own camp and the kids are going there. It’s great because they have all the medical history for Rupert and Peanut and they know them.

So we find ourselves in the Cross Town tunnel and as we head for the distributor and shortly after entering it we see flashing , “congestion ahead”, sign. Well that was the understatement of the year. It was congested for the next 50 kilometers, the freeway was just jammed. It wasn’t until we were clear of Campbeltown did it start to clear up. Finally we were free!

It was heading into sunset as we entered the Yass Valley and the views were magnificient. We passed the Yass Wind Farm with it’s giant turbine fans turning slowly in the evening wind. The farm is about 25km east of Yass.

It was quite cloudy but clear and the further into the valley we got and the closer to Yass the more dramatic the sunset got.

We finally arrived in Yass at around 7:30 and checked into the Colonial Lodge Motor Inn where we were given a room on the first floor that had a great view over the town from the top of the stairs.

We had contemplated going out for dinner but after the day we’d just had all we wanted to do was crash. We had a bunch of left over food that we’d grabbed from the fridge on the way out so we headed to Woolies for some crackers and pâté and cracked a Rose of Virginia back in the room before passing out.

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Kokas, McClure Gulf, West Papua Province

We have been sailing all night and at one point had reached the western most point in our journey along the coast of the island of New Guinea. We are on course for McClure Gulf and the village of Kokas in Fak Fak province.Due to a one time transmigration program the government ran for many years in the region, much of the population here is Muslim. We’ve been told that these differences will be evident in their cultural performance today. Also this area is home to some significant rock art, and we are planning to head out in the zodiacs to see what we can find.

We arrive off the village at around 08:30 and the expedition team man the zodiacs and head in to the village to prep the landing site and make sure all is okay for our arrival.

By 09:00 our flotilla of zodiacs is heading for the village. As we approach we can see there is a large crowd waiting to greet us at the wharf where we will disembark.

Once we are all safely back on dry land we head up through the village toward what must be a community centre building where a sheltered seating area has been constructed for us in front of an open square.

Old clumsy me again falls over one more time as I’m climbing up a grassy hill toward the seating area, I have to think this big lens completely does in my sense of balance. Finally I make it and take a spot on the ground facing the open area in front of the building.

All around the square there are people everywhere, some of the kids are dressed up in their costumes all of them eager to get a look at these strangers who’ve come to visit.

The ceremony starts off with a welcome to the village by one of the elders.

Over the next hour we are treated to a wonderful presentation of dancing, singing and performances by men and women of the village and especially by the children.

There’s a bit of a dodgy old sound system that cuts in and out but nobody seems to care as it’s all great fun.

After the ceremony has finished we are offered some local food to sample and invited to walk around the village. As we head off we find ourselves in the company of several children who have taken it upon themselves to be our guides. Which makes for a lot of fun as we can’t really communicate that well.

The village is quite large and there’s a lot to see and take in as we walk around. On one of the walls of a building, not far from where the ceremony was held, is this wonderful frieze, that I think depicts what I think looks like two men watching a cock fight, while others are cooking and a dog and a cat square off over a fish.

Further on we end up in a large field, near the school, where there are a large group of cows and what seems like a million bugs flying all around them.

On the way back to the main village area there are quiet spots where you can just stop and really take in the ambience of this beautiful spot.

We find ourselves on a long avenue that leads back to the wharf and by this time all of our walking groups have attracted quite a following.

Along the way we stop to say hi to and swap pictures with people who seem happy to have us visit and there are always the kids.

In front of one house there is a perch and two beautiful coloured parrots.

As we round a corner at the end of the avenue there are some caves in a rock wall to our left and a military cemetery on our right. The caves are a remnant of the Japanese occupation during World War II and the cemetery is a reminder that conflict has continued in this area and that lives throughout Papua have been lost, even in a small town like Kokas.

We are almost back to the wharf where we landed when Kelly meets this young woman wearing the most beautiful Hijab and carrying a stunning pink parasol. A picture opportunity not to be missed.

As we near the shopping area there is an old man, with what I think is a Loris, showing it off to the kids.

The town is not that big but there are a few motorbikes and other vehicles around so I had to laugh when we came to the local petrol station. I think Bensin Murni translates to Clear Gasoline and with the exchange rate that would be about an Australian dollar a bottle.

We’ve made it back to the wharf and unfortunately it’s time to head back to Orion. There's a crowd gathered around a general store and the women have put fruit and vegetables out for sale.

Kokas General Store

Visiting Kokas has been a wonderful experience, the people have welcomed us warmly and it’s hard to say goodbye. We say our final farewell to our young guide and board the zodiacs for the ride back to Orion.

Once we are all back on board Captain Frank ups anchor and proceeds to reposition the ship to Arguni where we are going in search of Rock Art.

It’s another stunning day in paradise as around 14:00 hours we set out in the zodiacs.

It’s a pretty hot day out there and we are going to be in the zodiacs for almost three hours so it’s important that we put on some good sunscreen, wear a hat and bring lots of water.

The village of Arguni sits in a bay dotted with limestone outcrops and uplifts. These limestone islands are not uncommon throughout Asia/Pacific but what makes these so interesting is that rock art has been painted on them.

We head out into the bay and toward a group of islands, as the zodiacs are manoeuvred under the overhang Mark talks about the rock art and it’s relationship with art from the Northern Australia.

Mark points out the rock art

The exposed rock walls display sprayed pigment from layers of stencilled hands with varying tones of red (from ochre), black (from ash), and white (ground limestone). Predominant designs show hand stencils, fish, birds, angled boomerang-like objects, and depictions of mixed animal-human figures.

It’s quite breathtaking to be out here, on the zodiacs, silently gliding under the overhang past all this beautiful art.

We’ve been out for an hour or so and it’s pretty hot as we move out from around one of the islands we hear the sound of a bell ringing out over the water. In the distance we can see a zodiac that looks like it has an umbrella mounted in it. As we get closer we can see Tracy (hotel manager) waving what looks to be an old school bell and some of the guys from the restaurant holding trays of ice creams. Awesome!

We pull alongside and pick up our ice creams as we head out into the bay again.

As we transverse another small island we can clearly see a white bleached skull sitting on a ledge.

The Papuan people of the McClure Gulf didn’t believe in burying their dead, they were placed in the limestone caves along the cliffs, the same locations that house generations of Rock Art. Legend has it that the original tribes were all but wiped out by tribal war and the bones dumped here. This bloody history also lends its self to the myth that the rock art is painted in the blood of war victims, and that hand stencils were from severed limbs held as stencils celebrating the victory of war.

On our return to the Orion we head past the village of Arguni with it’s silver domed mosque brilliant in the afternoon sun.

As we round the island we see a lone villager out on a large wooden raft hauling in oyster cages.

By about 17:00 we are back on board, exhausted but excited about the wonderful day spent in McClure gulf and the sights and experiences shared today. As the Orion sails for our next destination, the Kai Islands, it’s time to once again take in another beautiful sunset.

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Pulau Gam and Pulau Jerief, Raja Ampat Islands

Our destination today takes us from Mapia Atoll, southwest across the top of the “birdhead” to an island called Pulau Gam in the Raja Ampat, or “Four Kings” archipelago. The archipelago encompasses more than 3.6 million hectares of land and sea off the north-western tip of Indonesia’s West Papua Province.Located in the Coral Triangle, the heart of the world’s coral reef biodiversity, the seas around Raja Ampat possibly hold the richest variety of marine species in the world.

Orion arrives at a small village called Yenwabnor around 08:00 in the morning and the expedition team take off to check on the local conditions and find a good landing spot for the zodiacs.

By about 08:30 we have all gathered at the Delphinus Café ready to board the zodiacs for the short trip to the village. It’s another beautiful morning with bright sunshine and clear skies.

The village is nestled at the base of a large hill, on the shores of a small bay. In the early morning light it looks idyllic and as we head to our landing we pass a welcoming sign out in the bay.

As the zodiacs approach the shore we pass a couple of huts at the end of a long jetty. We find out later these are the visitors huts and that Justin stayed here during his scouting trip.

After we wet land from the zodiacs young girls welcom us and presented us with flowers. We are ushered through a decorated arch to an open area where we take our seats and wait for the welcome ceremony to begin.

A few minutes after we are all settled we hear the sound of flutes and drums. This is quite different from other welcomes as we haven’t seen any flute players before.

As the music gets louder there is a long procession past where we are seated, lead by a number of the flute players and drummers.

In the body of the procession are a young couple and we find that part of the welcome is a wedding ceremony. I'm not sure if it's the real thing or not!

Accompanying them are their friends and relatives who have come to be a part of the ceremony.

After the wedding has been performed it’s time for the feast and the women of the village have a fire pit hot and ready for the meat and vegetables to be added to it. Once they have been added palm leaves are placed over it and water poured on to create the steam to help in the cooking.

While that’s cooking we head off to look around the village. Mike is taking a group up the mountain so we head off with him. Unfortunately I’m wearing a pair of crocs, hmmm not the best things for climbing mountains and I come a cropper about 5 minutes into the hike. Once again I’ve got my large 50-500mm lens of the camera so I’m in a bit of a bad shape as I land pretty hard on some rocky ground. The crocs are toast and I’ve got a few scrapes but I laugh it off and tell them I’ll wait for them to come back.

I spend the time getting over the fall and working on my tan. After that I head down to the village itself and spend a little time walking some of the laneways between the houses. Along a main avenue I spot this local man with a his unique headdress.

Meanwhile Kelly has successfully climbed the mountain and is on the way back. Moomoo has also been on the climb and Kelly got this shot of her looking back over the village.

The village is really neat and laid out in a clearly defined grid, there are chickens and roosters running about and the kids are cautious but definitely interested in you.

As you walk through the village it’s not hard to spot the Orion anchored just off shore.

There are kids playing and fishing from the wharf and life seems pretty good in the village.

At the end of town is a small shop selling pretty much anything. I take a look inside and there’s a young man tending shop, playing his guitar and singing between customers.

I catch up with Kelly and Moomoo and we head back to the landing spot. We have  few bites of the pork from the fire pit and then it’s onto the last zodiac and back to the ship. In a couple of hours, after lunch, Captain Frank is going to reposition Orion near Jerief island where we are going to spend the afternoon swimming and snorkelling.

After lunch the anchors are lifted and we move a few kilometres away from Yenwaupnor toward Pulau Jerief.

I’ll never forget how beautiful and unspoilt it is around New Guinea and Jerief island is no exception. From the ship we can clearly see the long white beach and the thick jungle. Running along parallel to the beach is the reef. Rather than swimming to it from the shore the zodiacs will drop us off at the far right on the ocean side of the reef and we will swim back toward the centre of it.

We may be last back in the zodiacs but when it comes to snorkelling we try and beat the crowd so we find ourselves one of the first groups to make it to the reef. Kelly and I go in from the zodiac and without a doubt this has to be one of the most colourful, densely populated reefs we have seen.

One of the first inhabitants we see is a sea turtle but he’s gone before I get a decent picture of him.

We are lucky to be with Mick and we watch him as he does his thing and dives to the bottom, anchors himself and waits for the perfect shot. I don’t know how he holds his breath for so long.

Kelly and head off up the reef and it’s amazing. I’ve got the Canon D10 underwater camera and I try to emulate Micks, dive, hold, shoot strategy and I manage to get a few shots. I wish Mick was here to tell me what fishes they are.

As we swim further up the reef we can really feel the tug of the tide pulling us back. Just at that moment a huge Angel fish swims by and I turn to get a picture of him. As I turn the current picks me up and without having to swim I’m floating along right next to him. So for the next five minutes it’s just the two of us being pulled along by the current and I manage to get a couple of good pictures

I turn back and head back and as I approach the centre of the reef the current gets much stronger and its sweeping the water, the fish everything back and forward. It’s like being in some giant washing machine in the middle of the cycle. It’s as though two currents are converging at the one spot. It’s very cool.

Unfortunately for some of the passenger the current is a bit strong and they are having trouble swimming against it while they get into position to climb aboard the zodiac. I get into a position near the small ladder, attached to the side, and help them get their goggles and flippers off so they can climb aboard. A couple of the guys from the kitchen staff have come to lend a hand too.

After about 15 minutes everyone is aboard and accounted for and we are dropped off at the beach for a cool drink and a bit of shore time. There’s a wonderful spot where the water is shallow and warm and we just sit and spend the afternoon in a little corner of paradise.

Before we are ready to leave, it’s time to go and the expedition staff almost have to drag us off the island and back into the zodiacs. Oh well, tomorrow is another day and hopefully another island.

Around about 17:00 Orion weighs anchor and we set a course for the McClure Gulf. Justin’s giving a presentation on the wonderful world of the Betel Nut, but I’ve been there and tried it before, bloody awful. So Kelly and I sit up on the deck watching the sunset as we sail away.

Sunset

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Mapia Atoll - Middle of Nowhere

Overnight we have travelled almost due north heading toward Mapia Atoll.  Urbanasi, where we snorkelled yesterday sits at 1˚16’S by 134˚40’E and Mapia Atoll is located at 0˚51’N by 134˚18E, only 22 minutes difference heading West. To those of you taking notice, yes Mapia Atoll is north of the Equator, the first time during this voyage that we have crossed the Equator and all that it implies.

So this little atoll, just north of the Equator, is pretty damn remote and as this is billed as a “Voyage of Discovery” this is going to be the first experience of the island for all of us, I’m not sure that Justin, Orion’s Expedition Program Manager, had even been here before.

In our daily briefing guide, delivered to our stateroom each evening, it says, “We will spend the day in clear waters, snorkelling and swimming or simply relaxing. There is a lighthouse on the atoll, which may or may not be manned during our visit….Mapia Atoll will be ours for the day!” and further on it goes on to say, “Today we will be operating in expedition mode. We will send a scout boat ashore to inspect the local conditions.”

Basically they are letting us know they have no idea what to expect! But hey that’s the fun of it.

Anyway, we are up early, around 06:30 because our fun!!! starts at 07:00. All of us who have never had the pleasure of sailing over the Equator and that includes Kelly and myself have been ordered to pay homage to King Neptune.

So we drag our sorry “slimy Pollywog” (that’s what we how have never crossed the Equator are called) butts up to deck 6 at a very early hour. In attendance are a lot of “Shellbacks” those luck buggers who have been through this before.

Fortunately for us there is medicine to ease the pain in the form of Orange juice and Champagne. Especially handy for these two early risers.

Before long there’s a bit of a hubbub and who should appear on deck, in fearsome regalia, berating us and letting us all know who’s boss in these regions, none other thank King Neptune.

King Neptune (aka Mike) is calling us all to attention and letting us know that we must undergo a ritual to be accepted as a “Shellback”. His assistant places a chair and a large silver jug in front of the Jacuzzi and the first poor unfortunate “Pollywog” is called to sit.

The ritual, it seems, is to be publicly humiliated while having a jug of cold water poured over ones head and then told to go sit in the Jacuzzi.

Joanne had turned up this morning with some crazy Aussie tribute necklace with a flag, chocolate, apples, pear, Koala Bear and inhaler!! Here she is looking a bit soggy for it all.

As there were quite a few of us destined for Neptune’s baptism, the crew thought it would be fun to see if they could break the record for the largest number of people in the Jacuzzi at one time. Mick positioned himself on the Zodiac storage deck so he could look down upon the mayhem and count numbers.

Needless to say we did manage to break the record but for the life of me I can’t remember how many of us there were in there but let me tell you four is just comfortable!

Once Neptune had exhausted his supply of Pollywogs we turned the tables on him and managed to get in a couple of good dousing and lots of laughing. After a quick shower and fresh clothes it was off to breakfast followed by our preparations for arrival at Mapia Atoll.

Around 09:00 we arrived at the Atoll. Once again another beautiful out of the way location. The atoll is surrounded by a reef and the water is a very deep blue, as you move closer to the island the lagoon is clearly visible as a much lighter teal colour. Clearly visible from the boat is a structure and we can see people on the shore, so much for a deserted island. The expedition crew launch the zodiacs and head out to investigate the island and the reef.

After about half an hour we are told that the island is indeed habited and is in fact a military installation. The good news is that we have the go ahead to land on the island and in fact there is a great deal of interest in us from the inhabitants who rarely see strangers let alone a ship of our type.

This morning there are two options available, the first is a landing on the atoll in the morning and a reef snorkel in the afternoon or vice versa. Kelly and I decide to start with a snorkel and finish with the atoll.

While most of the passengers head to the island six of us head out with Mick to the reef. He’s got two zodiacs tethered together and he let’s us know there’s quite a strong current and to be careful not to drift too far.

Without further ado, it’s into the water. Kelly gets her revenge for my close-up snorkel shot by doing the same to me.

Reef Fish

After an hour or so we get called back to the zodiacs by Mick, apparently there’s a problem on the atoll and they need all the zodiacs asap. We climb back onboard and head back to the Orion.

Once back on board, the zodiacs head for the atoll and the few of us who were snorkelling gather on the Delphinus deck to see what’s going on. In the distance we can see a long line of passengers, knee deep in the lagoon, stretching from almost the end of the jetty to the deep water where the zodiac are waiting.

As I mentioned earlier, Orion hadn’t visited the atoll before and no one knew that the receding tide would have such an effect on the zodiac’s ability to get in close to the island shore. This meant that as the tide receded the passengers would have to negotiate a trek through the lagoon to the deeper water where the zodiacs could approach. Unfortunately the coral and rocks of the lagoon made it a bit more difficult than it looks and what with carrying camera gear etc it was a bit tricky to negotiate.

Also one of the requirements on Orion is that we wear life vests, now these life vests are self inflating if they come into contact with water.  I hear a couple of those walking out to the zodiacs accidentally slipped into the water and found out the jackets really do work!

Eventually all of the passengers were back onboard safe and sound. The only bad thing about the tide going out was that there wouldn’t be a second trip to the atoll so we had to be content with our reef snorkel.

If you want more information on the atoll visit Justin’s blog on the Mapia Atoll, where he’s got pictures and stories of the visit.

By 14:00 hours we were underway again and sailing for McClure Gulf. It’s a bit of a quiet afternoon but there is a bit of action as the crew undergo a General Emergency Drill and they are running all over the ship.

There’s a great presentation by Mick entitled “What fish is that?” and I wish I’d paid a lot more attention or had the presence of mind to video the damn thing. Maybe then I’d be able to identify these fish pictures.

It’s a beautiful sunset this evening and the waters are very calm. I head up to deck 6 and spend a bit of time shooting the sunset with my fisheye lens.

Later that evening it’s time for a “South Pacific Island Buffet” on the Delphinus lounge with a fantastic bbq of seafood followed by a bit of wild dancing into the wee hours of the morning.

Arriving back in the stateroom, waiting for us on the bed, are our certificates that prove we are no longer Pollywogs!

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Urbanasi, West Papua - Coral Triangle

When you come across Urbinasi Island, in the Papadio Island group, you know straight away that its one of those classic tiny islands with white sand beaches surrounded by coral. A classic island made famous by Alexander Dumas in Robinson Crusoe.

The area we are in is called the Coral Triangle so named because it refers to a roughly triangular area of the tropical marine waters of Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Solomon Islands and Timor-Leste that contain at least 500 species of reef building corals in each ecoregion. The Coral Triangle comprises the highest coral diversity in the world: 76% (605) of the world’s coral species (798) and we get to snorkel in the reefs today!

The Orion is scheduled to arrive at Urbanasi around 11:00. This is going to be a wet landing as there are no docking facilities of any kind on the island, in fact I think it’s going to be pretty much just us there. From the schedule we are going to have approximately 5 ½ hours on the island and in the water.

Before we arrive Andrew Marshall gives us a presentation entitled “Austronesian Navigation” about the history and migration of people through the Pacific region. It’s fascinating how the cultures and people spread throughout the region.

Pretty much bang on time the Orion pulls within zodiac reach of Urbanasi Island, and what a view it is. The water is a deep blue, the sky is blue, the sand is white and the island looks just what you picture a deserted tropical island to be.

We gear up with all our snorkelling paraphernalia, and head to the Leda Lounge to start boarding. The trip to the island only takes a couple of minutes and it’s not long until we are snorkelling the reef.

It’s incredibly clear and there are fish and coral everywhere. Unfortunately my knowledge of fish isn’t the best, almost nil, so I'm going to try and get Mick Fogg, the leader of the Orion expedition team, to help me with the classification. I do know this strange, somewhat terrifying, underworld creature though, 'wifus-snorkelus'.

What follows are various fish and corals seen on our snorkelling dive.

After a couple of hours in the water, we headed back to shore for a drink and a bit of sun. Neill, Moomoo’s husband and I had quickly become friends on the trip and he’d brought along a new camera that he wasn’t quite sure how to use. It was a Lumix DMC-FZ100, it’s a great little camera with an amazing zoom lens on it, plus it shoots RAW files. I’d been helping him understand the controls and how best to use it so he said I could take it on a walk around the island and try it out. The images that follow have been shot on that camera.

The island look deceptively small from the direction we approached, once you start to walk around it you realise it’s a bit larger than you think. We met some people who’d circumnavigated it in the opposite direction and said it’s about 45 minutes to walk around.

One of the most striking aspects of the island, as you walk around it, is the amount and size of the driftwood that’s been washed up on the shore, from huge trees to small branches. At some points you have to negotiate quite a way out into the sea to get around the piles of logs and branches.

You can hear the sounds of the bird life and there is plenty of activity; high in the trees you can catch glimpses of them.

Not far from a completing a full circle of the island we came across a local fishing boat moored just off the island, we watched it for a while but there seem to be little or no activity going on.

Just before we finished our walk and returned to our starting point we came across some deserted buildings and what looked like an old water tower. There wasn’t any sign on inhabitation and it looks like they had been abandoned quite a while ago.

About 17:00 hours the captain weighed anchor and we departed once again on a new heading and new adventures. I think where ever we go Urbanasi will be one place that I’ll always remember.

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Jayapura, West Papua

During the night we have travelled west from Papua New Guinea to West Papua  and our destination, the city of Jayapura. You know when you are in Jayapura because perched on the top of a mountain in 16 metre high letters are the words JAYAPURA CITY.
The western half of the island of New Guinea is referred to as West Papua and is administered by Indonesia as two provinces, Papua and West Papua. Jayapura City is the Capital of Papua province and is the largest city in the region. It is situated on Yos Sudarso Bay and it’s population is somewhere around 300,000.

As we approach our mooring it’s quite a dramatic change to the villages and small towns we’ve been visiting in Papua New Guinea. There are hundreds of houses and shanty's clinging to the steep cliffs around the bay and ahead of us is an urbanised downtown area.

There’s quite a bit of excitement amongst the crew as a KFC sign can be clearly seen in the downtown area. This is something we experienced on our Gulf of Siam trip, whenever we docked at a town larger enough to be home to a KFC, the crew were quick to take shore leave and return laden with buckets of KFC.

As in other ports of call, large or small, the local performers resplendent in their costumes are waiting for the Orion to dock. This time it was pretty clear who the leader was!

It’s a bit overcast this morning and it has been showering on and off during our arrival but all of the dancers and performers looked amazing with their bodies painted and beautiful bird feather headress's.

Looking at the performers the thing that struck me the most were the women, they looked quite different from the women in Papua New Guinea, being much more asian in their features.

By 08:30 we had disembarked the Orion and we had climed aboard some dodgy old buses for our visit to Jayapura. Our first destination is to an area called the Skyline Hills about half an hour from the wharf. Somewhere along the way we have picked up a police escort and we have motorbikes up front and a police car behind us. It’s remarkable how incident free our journey through town is!

From Skyline in the hills behind the city, one gets a beautiful view of Jayapura, Yo Sudarso Bay and back toward the mountains and Sentani Lake.

At the top of the hill, Jalan Kotaraja, is an impressive Buddhist temple called Vihara Arya Dharma. It has beautiful gardens with lush vegetation and a large number of native plants.

In addition to the gardens the temple is surrounded by lawns with very distinctive dragon sculptures running across them.

We didn’t stop at the temple for very long just enough time to have a quick walk around the temple and gardens before getting back on the buses.

Leaving the temple we drove down the hill and headed east toward Lake Sentani. The drive to the lake took us through some of the outer suburbs of Jayapura. What we saw was in stark contrast to what we had seen in the towns of Papua New Guinea as there was a lot of economic activity going on, plenty of building and trade being undertaken everywhere.

We pull up en mass at a building on the shores of the lake. The building turns out to be an open air restaurant called the Yougwa which has a nice view, albeit through chicken wire, over the lake. Apparently we have the restaurant booked for lunch once we return from a visit to a village called Assei. I think the food at these restaurants generally is Chinese style, although from what I can see there maybe some western items on the menus. I think I heard someone saying it is the Indonesian President,  Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's, favourite restaurant in the region.

With only a quick pit stop we gather down on a small wharf and prepare to board these very narrow wooden boats for our trip across the lake to the village. The boats are powered by an outboard motor, seat about 15 people but you have to be pretty careful getting in because they aren’t very stable.

We are in the last boat, but unfortunately one of the boats that pulled away earlier has been having motor trouble, and everyone in it is stuck offshore so we wait at the wharf. Finally we are away and they have managed to fix the dodgy outboard motor on the other boat os it’s off we go across the lake.

Lake Sentani is one of the biggest lakes in New Guinea and still virtually untouched by tourism. It seems the people who call the shores of this lake home still live in a traditional manner, and are renowned for their woodworking and pottery. We are heading across the lake to the Apayo island, and the village of Assei where we can look around the village, see and meet the local people of the Sentani tribe and buy some of their bark paintings or other crafts.
 
As we approach the village the shore is dotted with, what looks like to me, pretty flimsy and not too stable shacks.

As we motor past the houses, we are certainly the centre of attention and a lot of the kids jump into the water, splashing and waving too us. Others just watch us go by with a cool detached look in their eyes.

We pull up at quite a large wharf where, once again, young men and women in native costume are preparing to welcome us to their home.

As we, carefully, disembark the wooden boats, one of the young men sounds his welcome by blowing through a large shell.

We follow the dancers along the wharf, past a memorial stone topped with a large cross into the village square.

360˚ Panorama of the stone memorial and cross

As we make ourselves comfortable more villages join in and the performance gets underway.

After the performance and when the excitement dies down that’s when we get to the business of shopping. The village is the main centre for Sentani bark paintings. The paintings originally done only on bark clothing for women are now a Sentani art form. There is one building, just off the square where the performance took place, that is decorated in some of the intricate patterns the local artists use in their bark paintings.

There are so many wonderful artifacts to choose from, but we are particularly interested in a set of carved wooden paddles and these are what we end up buying.

It’s getting close to lunch time so laden with our purchases we head toward the wharf where our boats are waiting for us. We thank the villagers for their hospitality and wave goodbye. The trip back across the lake is smooth and uneventful; Andrew and Michael got to travel first class in their own, go faster boat, while we chugged along in ours.

As we were the last boat to leave the island most of our fellow passengers are seated and tucking into lunch by the time we get there but it doesn’t take us long to join them.

The Orion is due to set sail at 14:00 hours so we’ve only got an hour or two until we have to be back onboard. After lunch we all get back on our buses and the expedition team advise us that we are going to stop at a spot called the Loka Budaya Ucen Museum.

The Loka Budaya Uncen Museum is owned and managed by the university Cenderawasih and the complex is located on campus in section of town called Abepura-Jayapura, about 8 kilometers from Jayapura city.

The weather has turned again and by the time we arrive at the museum it’s starting to rain again. We grab some umbrellas and make a dash toward the entrance. There’s a bit of slipping and sliding as the entrance tiles are really slippery wet with the rain; I’m amazed that no ones gone over. Once we are under the shelter of the entrance, guarded by the police who have accompanied us on our trip, we shake the water off our umbrellas and enter the museum.

The museum itself, is a bit ramshackle and is in need of a bit of TLC. The museum was launched in 1973 and has a collection of over 1,800 ethnographic objects from various ethnic papua include kitchen appliances, a means to pay, sacred objects, transport equipment, works of art such as painting the skin, and wood carvings, and equipment associated with the eye livelihoods such as farming equipment, hunting, and fishing.

Though it may be in need of a bit of work, the collection is magnificent and it is well worth a visit if you are in Jayapura. There is one room, curiously the only one air-conditioned, that has a collection of amazing shields. Moomoo is in the room with me and I tell her they are native surfboards, unfortunately someone tells her I’m lying and she whacks me one!

360˚ Panorama of the museum room containing the shields

There’s a great shop in the lobby of the museum and we purchase a rather unique lime bowl and spoon before boarding the buses once more for the trip back to Orion. Once we are all back on board, Captain Frank gives the order to cast off and we start to move away from the dock.

When we first entered Yos Sudarso Bay I saw these ships that looked to me, from a distance, paddle steamers with two large vertical funnels. On the way out of the harbour I got a much better look at them and it turns out that they are huge fishing platforms.

Back on board we’ve taken a break and freshened up and Kelly and I are sitting in the lecture theatre with a cup of coffee and a biscuit waiting for Michael Moore to give a presentation entitled, “Island Biogeography: Wallace to Wilson”. I’d never heard of the Wallace Line but it’s a fascinating boundary that separates the ecozones of Asia and Australia and west of it you will find organisms related to Asiatic species; east of it a mixture of Asian and Australian. For more information check out the Wikipedia entry for the Wallace Line.

We finish the night with a bit of room service and are looking forward to a bit of swimming and snorkelling tomorrow in the Coral Triangle.

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Wewak, Papua New Guinea

After a restful day at sea our arrival at our next port-of-call is imminent and we are just finishing breakfast as we come in sight of our destination, Wewak.

Wewak, located on the northern coast of New Guinea, is the capital of the East Sepik province of Papua New Guinea and it’s the largest town between Madang and Jayapura. Between 1943 and 1945, during World War II, Wewak was the site of the largest Japanese airbase in mainland New Guinea. Directly west of the town centre is a peninsula known as Cape Wom, which was the site of the surrender of Japanese forces in New Guinea.

It’s still early, around 08:00, as we approach the wharf, but there are a few curious locals who want to see what we are up to.

It’s not long until we come alongside our berth at a small wharf not far from the centre of town, Captain Frank manoeuvres the Orion until it gently comes to rest nestled next to the wharf.

As we congregate on deck 6 we can see the local performers assembling to present to us their official welcome to the region. Today their costumes are a riot of yellow flowers and grasses.

The chief is resplendent in an amazing costume of jewellery, headdress, feathers, flowers and beads.

There is, from what I can make out, a symbolic representation of a bird with a beautiful painted mask.

As well as the Chief and the Bird there are many dancers both male and female who are performing for us.

Today is going to be a hectic one as we have quite a lot to see and the ship sails early at approximately 14:00 hours. Our first destination is the Cape Wom Memorial Park at the site of the Japanese surrender.

We head through town in our little bus convoy. It’s Sunday morning and everyone seems to be on their way to church. Cape Wom is about 20 kilometres north west of the town, at one stage the road passes right along the coast through a thick mangrove swamp.

Arriving at the memorial park there is a long colonnade of palm trees leading to a pyramidal cairn which holds a plaque detailing the surrender ceremony. 

At the base of each palm tree is a small concrete block holding a plaque to those who lost their lives here.

Of course there are lots of curious children who show us around and pose for pictures.

Back in the buses, we head back toward town and a spot called Mission Hill and Boy’s Town. Mission Hill is inland from the main town and was settled by Catholic missionaries during 1912 and that’s where it got it’s name.

The area is also known as Boy’s Town, a home for wayward boys founded in 1959 and used until the 1970’s. Today it’s a Catholic retirement centre for missionaries. There is a church at the top of the hill and a Japanese War Memorial.

The memorial has inscriptions in Japanese and English. The memorial reads in English: "In memory of the brave soldiers who paid the supreme sacrifice for their countries Japan, Australia, American and New Guinea during World War 2 From 1941-1945. We sincerely hope that or men will never again engage in war but that a deep spirit of friendship may exist between all"

Leaving Boy’s Town we headed down to where the buses were parked but rather than get aboard we were lead by a couple of guides down a narrow path into the jungle that covers most of the hill. As we trekked down the hill we came across an old Japanese Anti-aircraft gun emplacement that was still in reasonable condition.

Apparently in the jungle around this area there are six emplacements, an old trailer and a fair bit of wartime debris scattered about.
Not much further on we came across another of the emplacements, this time there were a few kids perched up on the gun watching us as we shuffled past.

Kids on the gun - 360 Panorama

After a bit of slipping and sliding we’d climbed back up the hill and this time it was into the buses and back toward town.  As we entered the town and approach the local market there are people everywhere. Now that the church services have finished everyone is out buying food, heading home so the streets are crowded.

We’ve come to the Dagua market, at the west end of the town’s main shopping strip. You enter the market through a small alley between two tin sheds and thread your way past market stalls set up in the alley.

At the end of the alley you come out onto a large open area that is quite colourful and there are multicoloured umbrellas shading a wide range of foods. There are a few small trinkets for sale but primarily it’s a produce market.

Everyone seems a bit surprised to see us but all in all they are very friendly as we make our way around the stalls gawking at the strange foods on display.

Even though it’s a bit overcast it’s still a hot day and climbing around in the jungle makes it feel even hotter.  There’s not much shade in the market itself and the dried fish is looking and smelling a bit ‘ripe’ in the sun.

We’ve been warned about buying and eating local food so we steer clear of trying anything but just as we get back on the buses I see that a couple of people have scored fresh coconuts and I wish I had one.

Our final stop before we head back to the ship is a small artefact market selling lots of bilums (string bags) and sculptures. The bags are all under cover in a small dirt floor shed, hanging from the roof beams. It’s quite funny just to see everyone’s legs sticking out under the bags.

There’s a traditional building just next to the market that has a beautiful painted mask attached near the peak of the roof .

We buy a couple of bilums but you have to be quick as there seems to be a bit of a shopping frenzy going on, I don’t know how some of these people are going to get these large sculptures back home!

It’s time to head back to Orion and leave Wewak, in fact it’s where we leave Papua New Guinea as our next port of call will be Jayapura in Papua Province controlled by Indonesia.

We’re pretty tired by the time we get back on board so Kelly and I head to the bar and grab a beer to enjoy on the Delphinus deck. Just as we head out on deck it starts to bucket down, but hey it’s warm, we have a large umbrella above us, life is good.

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At Sea, Papua New Guinea

Today is another sea day, and once again that means no landfall but lots of onboard activities to keep the passengers busy. For me it’s a chance to organise all of the photos I shot yesterday for the Virtual Tour.

One of the best experiences onboard the Orion are the sunsets and I think the ones I’ve seen, day after day, in Papua New Guinea will remain with me forever and today is no exception.

Tomorrow we are scheduled to arrive in Wewak at 08:00 our last port of call in Papua New Guinea.

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Rabaul, Papua New Guinea

This is a little bit like being Bill Murray in the movie Groundhog Day because today was what yesterday was supposed to be. This morning was a bit of a sleep in so I didn't get to see the sunset, but I did get up on deck before breakfast and took this shot looking across toward Tavaurea Volcano.

So once again we say our farewells as our shipmates once again prepare to head out but this time we are pretty sure they won’t be coming back and a new ship load of passengers will be more that happy to come aboard.

In the meantime, while all of the ship preparation for the new passengers is underway, Kelly and I prepare to photograph a number of cabins for the Orion 1 Virtual Tour presented on the Orion website. It’s pretty much going to take us all the time up to the arrival of the new passenger to get all of the shots done that we need to so it’s a case of heads down, bums up for us.

Around about 1pm the mini buses with the new passengers start arriving at the dock and Kelly and I finish the last of the cabins, pack up all our gear and head up to deck 6 to check out the new arrivals.

As I mentioned yesterday there are 8 of us continuing on from the first leg and we know that two of our friends, Sharyn and Gary, who were on our first Orion cruise, the Gulf of Siam, are amongst the new guests. It’s also going to be a full ship and not an empty cabin or bed to be had.

It’s a hectic time for the crew settling everyone in to their cabins and finalising the provisions but finally we hoist anchor and head out of Simpson Harbour toward a day at sea and our next destination Wewak, near the border with the Indonesian controlled, West Papua.

To welcome the new passengers there’s the traditional “Sail Away Celebration” on deck 6, where we enjoy champagne and finger food while renew old acquaintances and start making new ones.

Sailing out of Rabaul we get a chance to catch up with Sharyn, who’s busy taking pictures of everyone, so we turned the tables on her and got one of her.

Then there’s John and Mandy, they are two of the eight passengers carrying on from the first tour.

We also met this sociable bunch from up Minyama way in Queensland. Two couples Muriel and Neil and Joanne and Max.

After we’d left the harbour and started sailing West up the coast afternoon tea was served followed by the mandatory lifeboat drill. To finish the day Tracy Griener, the Orion hotel manager introduced Orion to those of us unfamiliar with her and the staff responsible for making our expedition comfortable and enjoyable.

Just after the briefing and before dinner there was the opportunity to stroll around the ship and get some shots of the sunset. The first is from the rear deck in the Delphinus lounge, the second is of the moon just after it had appeared and the third is panorama shot with a fisheye from the forward area of deck 6.

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Rabaul

Ooopps almost missed that damn sunrise again but I made it just in time to get a shot of the of the volcano reflected in Simpson Harbour.

Before we head off for breakfast and more farewells, I take the opportunity to walk around deck 6 and photograph the area around the dock.

See the full gallery on Posterous

Today is the day we say goodbye to all of the friends we have made on this first leg of our journey through Papua New Guinea. It’s been great meeting Nick and Peter, they are truly inspiring and have without a doubt inspired me. Jennine, Nick's wife, what a gal, I’m not sure how far Nick would get without her ☺

There are 8 people, including Kelly and myself, continuing on for the second leg around New Guinea. The rest of the passengers will be disembarking and heading to the airport around 10am. Orion has arranged a charter flight from Cairns to Rabaul to bring in the new passengers for the second leg and take home all of the current passengers.

During the time between the current group leaving and the new group arriving, the ship will have a complete makeover with all of the cabins and public areas being thoroughly cleaned and prepared for their new occupants. It’s a pretty hectic time and Kelly and I will be in amongst it all trying to finish off shooting the cabin panoramas. The other 6 continuing passengers will be heading out at 9am for a expedition and should be back about 3pm. The remaining passengers will be disembarking at around 10am to head to the airport. This will give Kelly and I a couple of hours to shoot some more panoramas.

Well the 6 passengers have left on their expedition and we are just saying our last goodbyes when there is an announcement on the ships intercom that the charter plane from Cairns has been delayed and hasn’t taken off yet.  After the announcement everyone relaxes again and has an hours grace to enjoy the ambience of the Orion once again.

About an hour later, just as the anticipation of leaving reached it’s peak, a new announcement asking us to meet in the Leda lounge is broadcast. We made our way there where Captain Frank announced that the flight was not going to leave Cairns today. Even though a replacement plane had been found because the crew had logged too many hours they would not be allowed to fly!
Captain Frank went on to tell us that the guests departing Rabaul would stay on the ship another night and the guests departing Cairns would stay in a hotel at Cairns for the night.

So after all the farewells said the night before and this morning we are still stuck with them!

The next couple of hours are pretty frantic with people phoning home and to travel agents to change their travel plans. I can only imagine what sort of organisational hell is going on behind the scenes. A further announcement is made that the bar will be an open one until the passenger swap is done. All in all I think most of the people on Orion and okay with the situation.

In order to keep everyone busy, as if they weren’t busy enough, Justin and the expedition crew have arranged a tour of the local market. So we go grab our gear and get ready to head out. We form up our group down on the docks and head on out past the main gates to walk up to the town centre along Malaguna Road. Even this far from the volcano you can see quite a build up of ash on the sides of the road. We head up to the main street and everyone seems surprised but happy to see us walking toward town.

After about 15 minutes we arrived at the main entrance to the Page Park Market and it was full of activity with people buying all sorts of produce and goods.

Just inside the entrance was an old man selling coconuts and Mike was sitting talking with him.

The market is large and covers quite an area with stalls selling everything from bags to tobacco to betel nuts. In fact there lots of produce I’d never seen before.

When you chew Betel nut you need three things. First, obviously betel nut, second you also need Mustard sticks and third, Lime. Once you are chewing the nut you can dip the mustard stick in the lime and then put it in your mouth. Here's a betel nut "how to" course.

The market is such a visual treat with lots of sounds and colours including this somewhat threatening T-shirt!

Across from the market there was a supermarket and a crowd of people watching something. I could also hear music coming from that direction so I thought I’d take a look.

Sitting in front of the supermarket was an old musician playing a combination of ukulele, hooked up to a megaphone, tambourine and harmonica.

I sat down on the ground with a group of school kids and watched him perform.

Heading back to the market I caught up with Kelly again and we were sitting in front of a large sign that said “Market Rules” that warned of a on the spot fine of 20 Kina, which is about $8 Australian.

Unfortunately all of the things you cannot do are in pidgin, so I had no idea of what you could be fined for! Mike on the other hand speaks and reads pidgin so he gave us a rundown of the list. Now I can’t remember it all but I think some of it goes like this. If anyone has better translations I'd love to know them.

Hey Justin has just commented and provided translations:

Itambu tru long - It is forbidden to

• Kaikai Buai - Chew Betelnut
• Spet Buai - Spit Betelnut
• Simuk - Smoke
• Salim ol Spak Burus- Sell Marijuana
• Toromoi Pipia Nabaut - Throw Rubbish About
• Kalapim na burukim ol flower - go and damage the plants
• Sindaun antap long ol bet na long stone walls - sit down in the garden beds or on the stone walls
• Usim maket long sande na long pablik olides - use the market on sunday or public holidays

halivim lukaut long maket bilong yumi - help to look after our market

Check out Justin's blog - Ramblings of a Global Citizen

We decided to walk back to the ship rather than take the shuttle bus and this time we took some back streets. Close to the docks we came across a group of kids who wanted us to take their pictures.

It’s interesting to see, after so long, how high the ash wall is next to the roadway. You can see it in this photograph of Michael showing the kids the shots of them he just took.

By the time we’d arrived back the 6 other passengers who’d gone out for a days expedition, thinking that on their return, they’d be welcoming a whole new group to the Orion, were incredibly surprised to find out everyone was still onboard.

At the evening briefing we were informed that everything was being resolved back in Cairns, the expedition team were busy working on an alternative travel destination know that we were going to be a day behind and that disembarkation would be as planned for tomorrow morning.

Kelly and I decided a quiet night with a bit of room service was in order and we headed down to the cabin.

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Rabaul, Papua New Guinea

Woops almost missed the sunrise again but I managed to get my gear set up to capture what was one of the best we’ve seen so far.

Today we finish the last leg of our backtrack East with Rabaul as our final destination later in the day. For now, we are heading toward a small island off the coast of New Britain called Little Pigeon Island.

To get to the island we steam pass Atalikiun Bay and I can see the steam rising from Tavurvur volcano high into the early morning sky.

It’s an early start and by 08:00 Captain Frank has anchored Orion off Little Pigeon Island and we are ready to disembark for some swimming and snorkelling.

Little Pigeon Island is only about an hour from Rabaul and we can see the peaks of the volcanoes in the distance.

It’s another beautiful morning and we can’t wait to hit the water. There’s a very strategically placed fallen tree trunk right on the water’s edge that makes it a great spot to sit and get your gear on.

By this time I’m in the water patiently waiting for Kelly when Bruce whips out his waterproof camera and takes this shot of me.

I didn’t have long to wait and in no time we were at the reef watching the parade of fish swim by.

See the full gallery on Posterous

After snorkelling we took a walked around the island, which didn’t take more that 15 minutes and by 10:00 we were on the last zodiac back to Orion.

Back on board we headed up to deck 6 to wash our gear and have a quick plunge in the Jacuzzi before we had to get ready for Nick’s next lecture which was definitely one we didn’t want to miss.

At 11:00 am we were in the lecture theatre with a fresh coffee ready to hear all about Adobe Lightroom and how Nick uses it to prepare and process his images. I’d known about Lightroom for a number of years now but to see it used like Nick used it was a real eye opener and it’s definitely going to be on our “must buy” list when we get back to Sydney.

Around about 12:30 Orion berthed alongside the Rabaul wharf and we got our first view from Rabaul, across the caldera toward Mount Tavuvera.

We head out of the dock area and turn East on the Malaguna Road toward the area of Rabaul devastated by the eruption. Within minutes there are only the scattered remains of buildings and the road is flanked by high walls of grey ash.

Peter Eastway, who’d been here not long after the eruption, expressed his amazement at how much some of the flora and fauna had recovered. His memory was one of a flat plane of grey ash, but now there are native plants populating the area.

Our drive took us right down to the end of a peninsula directly opposite Mt Tavuvera and after several kilometres we ended up in small village. I couldn’t believe that anyone would be living in the midst of this devastation and so close to an active volcano.

But there they were and as we walked down to the waters edge, through the village, everyone came out to greet us. The young boys all had amazing blond hair and seemed very happy to see us. I’m not quite sure though what this hand signal meant!

Everywhere you could still see stark reminders of the destruction and havoc caused by the eruption. The palm trees have all had their tops sheered off or burnt off by the ash.

There were three boats with a crew of driver and guide on each one waiting to take us across the bay. With a bit of help from Mike, we managed to get on board and shove off from the shore.

Once we left the shore we headed across the bay toward the volcano.

Unfortunately on our boat there was limited seating and poor old Peter, I’m not sure how he got the short straw, had to make do with crouching down in the keel of the boat.

As we approached and area called Sulphur Point, south of the volcano itself, the stark reality of the place becomes more evident.

We arrive at the beach and find ourselves walking on a sea of ash. Surprisingly though there are still some green living things to be found here.

We didn’t see them during our trip, but at the base of the Tuvurvur Volcano the locals hunt for megapode eggs. The megapodes, also known as incubator birds or mound-builders, are stocky, medium-large chicken-like birds with small heads and large feet. The ground is littered with the holes dug by the natives and you need to be careful where you walk as the sides can collapse very easily as one of our party found out.

Pushing on further inland toward the volcano we came across these deep fissures in the ground that seemed to lead all the way from the volcano to the sea.

The sheer scale of the mountain is very impressive and a bit overwhelming, in the back of your mind is a little voice saying, “this is an active volcano you are standing in front of and it could go off at any time”.

Just before we left I found this yellow rock that seemed to contain quite a bit of sulphur. Thinking back to some of the lectures by Peter and Nick I tried to create something a bit different and placed the rock on a jagged ledge and positioned myself looking up toward the rim of the volcano. The intention being to do some of the image manipulation Peter had shown us on it in Photoshop.

We got the call to head back to the boats to take us back to the village and then onto the ship.

When we got back to the ship there was a shuttle bus parked nearby. It was about 16:30 and they were scheduled to stop running at 17:00 so we approached one of them and asked if we could just get a quick tour around the town. The driver was happy to oblige so four of us jumped in and off we went.

Leaving the dock we headed down the main street past a large market area and through town. In fact our quick tour became a bit longer and we ended up at Mt. Tavanabatir the home of the Rabaul Volcanic Observatory. The observatory is perched high on the mountain above the town and provides a great overlook of Rabaul and Simpson Harbour.

Unfortunately this evening is the last of this leg of our tour and we will be saying farewell to all those great people we have shared this wonderful experience with. We have had the best time, learnt so much and enjoyed every minute of it.

Tomorrow morning those not continuing on the next leg, there are eight of us going on, will board the return charter flight from Cairns that is bringing in the next wave of quests.

So to finish off in style we had dinner in the Constellation Lounge with Nick, Gennine, Peter and Michael. It was lots of fun, and we were just a bit drunk at the end of it.

Tomorrow we will say goodbye to them and then shoot a number of 360˚ Panoramas of the cabins before the new guests arrive.

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At Sea

Today is another sea day, and once again that means no landfall but lots of onboard activities to keep us all busy.  Personally I’m looking for a bit of a relaxing day, with time to catch up on some much needed backups of my growing photo library and some book reading.

Our path today see us backtrack East with Rabaul as our final destination sometime tomorrow.

After a leisurely breakfast we make our way to the Leda Lounge for a presentation by Mick Fogg, the expedition leader, on some of Orion’s future expeditions that will sail in 2011/12.

Mick’s presentation is fantastic and by the time he presents the Camp Leakey – Faces in the Forest – Voyage of Discovery, to be sailed in the new Orion II no less, I’m ready to sign up for it on the spot. It departs on December 29th and Mick is so passionate about it by the time he’s finished I’ve picked up a booking form and put our name down!

Here’s the information on the expedition from the Orion website, “A myriad of exciting destinations await us as we voyage along the southern and western coastlines of Borneo. From isolated tropical islands to diverse National Parks, our itinerary will showcase some of Borneo’s undiscovered jewels. We will be joined by Dr. Galdikas onboard Orion II and at the landmark Camp Leakey in Tanjung Puting National Park, allowing us the opportunity to view the rehabilitation of the ex-captive orangutans. Tanjung Puting is one of the great wonders of Borneo and is a wildlife mecca. We also visit Gunung Palung and Bako National Parks to examine, first hand, the complexity of ecosystems that once covered the entire Island. They now provide a refuge for Borneo’s 15,000 species of plants, 222 species of mammals, 420 resident birds, and numerous other reptile, amphibian and fish species.”

After the presentation it’s back to relaxing and we grab a bit of  sun time up on Deck 6. After lunch Justin is giving a presentation called “A Highlands Wedding: one man’s story” which, knowing him, should be very humorous.

At 2:00pm sharp we are back in the Leda Lounge for Justin’s presentation, anticipating a great talk, and we are not disappointed. 
His presentation was an in-depth, personal journey through the marriage proposal process entering traditional Papua New Guinea society. It covered more than 10 of his years in PNG, including marriage to a highlands woman, two highland wedding feasts and an axe-wielding father-in-law!

Wow these sea days are tough, now we have to go up to the sun deck as they are serving “devious” ice cream sundaes…tough.

After the sundaes, which were indeed devious, we head on down to the Library to meet Stefan, the Executive Chef, who’s going to give us a guided tour of the Galley.

It’s great to see behind the scenes, it’s amazing how they can accomplish so much in such a small confined space. Stefan gives us a great overview of the kitchen and points out each of the prep stations that are manned almost every hour of the day.

See the full gallery on Posterous

So much for lazing around, after the Galley tour we head up to the Cosmos Theatre for a lecture by Mick entitled, “In Vulcan’s Shadow: The History of the Rabaul Caldera”. Mick takes us through the formation of the Rabaul Caldera as well as the volcanic and significant history of the Rabaul region.

I’ve never been close to an active volcano before and I can’t wait to see Rabaul and experience it up close. For more information on Rabaul check out the Wikipedia entry.

There’s one last event for the day and that’s a recap by the expedition team on our day at the Watam village and the Sepik River and a briefing on our day in Rabaul tomorrow.

Dinners in the Constellation restaurant so Kelly and I decide to head for the cabin and a bit of room service.

So much for a lazy day!

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Watam Village/Sepik River, Papua New Guinea

We wake to find ourselves in Broken Water Bay just south of the mouth of the Sepik River. There’s quite a large rolling swell going on and the ship’s stabilisers are working to keep us from swaying too much.

Last night’s sailing from Madang has taken us past some of the most active volcanoes in Papua New Guinea and in the distance we can see the Island of Bam. Bam is located 37km northeast of the mouth and is the conical summit of one of western Papua New Guineas most active volcanoes, with the most recent eruption taking place in 1960.

The Sepik region is an immense grassland reserve, surrounded-d by one of the world’s greatest rivers which runs 1,126 kilometres from the mountains to the sea. The history of the Sepik region reflects the influence over the years of the missionaries, traders, labour recruiters and administrators. Parts of the Highlands remain untouched just as they were when first discovered in 1933. In fact some villages have yet to see a white man.

The Sepik River has long been world famous for the quantity and quality of its wood carvings and for the imposing architecture of its Haus Tambarans – Spirit Houses. Spirit Houses were lined with shields decorated with the faces of ancestors, whose likenesses appear also on the masks.

We’d only been on the back deck for a few minutes, Kelly had her breakfast and was looking for a table, I was just getting some cereal, when the ship really started swaying from side to side.

In a second it was mayhem, tables and chairs, with people in them starting sliding on the steep deck, plates were falling off tables and smashing on the deck. From where I stood there was a small gas fired hotplate on my left hand side and large bowls of yoghurt and fruit to my right. Trying to keep my balance I kept and eye out on each side to avoid being burnt by a flying hotplate or slimed by the yoghurt!

After a minute or two Captain Frank made the decision to up anchor and move to a more settled spot to reduce the sway but by that time the damage had been done. Later we found out that most of the glasses in the bar had been damaged but fortunately no one onboard had suffered any injuries. We were especially concerned for the guys in the galley as that must have been a dangerous spot to ride this out.

Our first disembarkation starts at 08:30 this morning and everyone will be disembarking at the same time. It will be a wet landing at the village and we need to stay as a group as the welcome will only start when we are all together.

Justin Friend, is an honorary chief of the village, having been crowned so in 2008. There’s an article and pictures on the occasion in the NZ Herald. Justin gave us the low down on what would happen. After we land there is a processing into the village led by a ceremonial dragon, we need to follow behind this procession and wait until the ceremony is finished before moving out into the village itself.

Our fleet of zodiacs head toward the shore and there’s a bit of manoeuvring to get past a line of waves breaking off the shore, in the distance we can see a low lying boat filled with locals.

As we get closer they are singing and welcoming us to their home. I hope that the boat doesn’t sink as there are lots of people singing and moving about in what is a pretty small boat.

Once ashore we form a group and follow the ceremonial dragon and dancers up into the village.

It’s another hot sunny day and the village looks beautiful. The village is built on a large flat area of ground with a very wide promenade through the centre of it. On each side are the Spirit Houses and other village houses and lining it are ornamental poles made from local plants.

Once again the dancing, singing and costumes of the villagers are spectacular and we follow along as they move further and further into the village. The age of those in the ceremony varies from the young to the old.

No matter the age they are all dressed in magnificent costumes of feathers, shells, and leaves.

Even the kids are dressed up.

After the ceremony we are free to walk around the village, meet the locals and view the artefacts they have for sale. One side of the entire length of the promenade is full of beautiful carvings, bags, shields, masks and many other bits and pieces layer out on rugs or hanging off rustic fences.

We had a great time in the village, we met and talked to a number of villagers, walked around and had a good look at the houses they had built.

Of course we did some shopping and purchased a number of items made in the village including this intricately carved wooden drum.

It was a great opportunity to shoot some photos and Kelly had borrowed the 5D and the 50-500mm lens to try it out.

Now it wasn’t only us shooting pictures of the village and villagers but at one of the men’s houses they were just as interested in taking pictures of us as we were of them.

Stopping by the stalls gave us the chance to meet and talk to those selling items and they were very friendly and happy that we would visit them. Some of the women had beautiful tattoos on their faces.

When buying some of these artefacts especially the wooden ones you need to be careful that there are no borer holes in the wood. If there are you run the risk that Australian customs may require the object to be fumigated upon your arrival back into Darwin. Fortunately we had Mick Fogg on hand to give our objects his trained inspection.

Just before it was time to head out I saw the Orion chef walking up through the village. The villagers were wrapping hundreds of freshly caught crabs in string pulled from local plants and he was going to buy the majority of them for a BBQ on board Orion this evening.

All too soon it was time to return to the Orion for lunch and we all headed for the beach saying our farewells to the villagers before boarding the Zodiacs. Once we were all on board Captain Frank up the anchor and relocated Orion in the mouth of the Sepik River. As the Sepik River has no delta the water comes rushing down to the sea and stains the sea brown for up to 50 kilometres. So even though we are anchored, when you look over the side the water is rushing by so fast it feels like you are still moving.

At 13:30 the first of the Sepik river expeditions left, we waited until the second one at 15:00 to give us a bit of down time between the village and the river.
We made sure we arranged it so that we would be in Mike Moore’s zodiac as he’s so knowledgeable about the area especially the bird life.
We head off upstream against the rapid flow of the river. The first thing you notice is the large amount of vegetation flowing down the river. There are huge islands of water hyacinths.

Its dramatic blue flowers and shiny green leaves make it highly prized as an ornamental plant. However its beauty is deceptive. Wherever it has been introduced, particularly into tropical climates, the plant spreads so rapidly that it is now regarded as the world's worst aquatic weed.

The introduction of water hyacinth into PNG more than thirty years ago, has had drastic results. It now grows prolifically in more than 200 locations throughout the country, clogging many of PNG's most important waterways. Its impact disrupts human activities and threatens entire ecosystems. In some areas such as the Sepik River region, its growth has had a huge impact on the health and activities of the local people. Yet people continue to collect and grow it as an ornamental plant.

Another interesting fact about the Sepik River, due to its age and changing course, is that there are no stones or rocks within 50km of the river’s banks. Villages have ‘sacred stones’ that have been carried in from far away and placed in front of village Spirit Houses.

As we head further up river we see a number of bird species, unfortunately I can’t remember the names of them so if anyone wants to comment I’d appreciate it. I’ll see if I can send them to Mike to identify. I think the first one might be a Harpy Eagle.

See the full gallery on Posterous

Mick also pointed out in the trees you could see these strange bulbous shapes (caudex) hanging off branches. He told us that they are the homes for ants! Apparently these ants climb the trees and form a symbiotic relationship with the tree.

The Ant plants provide habitats for ant colonies high up into the forest canopy, protecting them from the elements and also predators because of the spines. Hollow, smooth-walled tunnels form within the caudex with external entrance holes, providing an above-ground home for ant colonies. Ants likewise provide defence for the plant and prevent tissue damage, swarming to defend their home if disturbed. Ant colonies also provide nutrients to the plants by leaving wastes within the tunnels inside the caudex. Special glands lining the tunnels then absorb nutriment for the plant. This symbiosis allows the plants to effectively gather nutrients (via the ants) from a much larger area than the roots ever could cover.

At a certain point it was time to turn around and head back down the river toward it’s mouth and back to Orion. To this point the rivers edge we had been navigating near had been completely wild with the jungle growing right to the edge.

As we turned to head home we moved toward the far bank where we could see the huts of villages lining the shore.

As we motored past there were lots of children running along waving to us, excited as we were to see them they were to see us.

It was interesting to see that the villages had motorised water transport along with the traditional dugout canoes.

Back on Orion it was time to chill with a cold beer, hop in the tub for a bit of relaxing as the sun set.

This evening we had a fantastic “Aussie” BBQ and ate so many of the crabs bought this morning in the village that I could hardly walk. We ended the evening sitting on the back deck with friends listening to Fran sing while Gus played the piano and saxophone. Yes we even got up for a dance or two, or three!

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Madang, Papua New Guinea

Today we are in for a couple of great adventures, the first will be our scuba dive in the waters off Madang and the second will be my presentation “Shooting, Stitching and Virtual Tours” in the lecture theatre onboard Orion.

Once again it’s an early morning rise and up to Deck 6 for the sunrise and the arrival into Madang at 07:00. The regular crew are already setup and shooting by the time I arrive. Nick has set up his Canon 5D and is shooting a time-lapse of our arrival.

It’s an early breakfast this morning and we are really excited about our scuba dive expedition.
We are ready with all our gear at the disembarkation point near reception on Deck 4 at 08:45. There’s a small cultural welcome taking place on the dock below but it’s really not anything like the fantastic welcomes we’ve experienced in the small villages and islands we have already visited. This group’s costumes look a little makeshift as you can see from the headdress worn by this dancer.

Finally we are cleared to disembark and eight of us head down the stairs to the waiting minibus. The plan is to head to the Madang Resort, where Niugini Dive is located, get our gear and then head out for two dives.

It’s only a ten minute drive to the resort and in no time we’ve signed our indemnity forms relinquishing the organisers of any responsibility for our wellbeing and have had our BCD’s (Buoyancy Control Device) assigned. Now we are walking down to the local dock where the small dive boat is waiting for us.

We climb aboard and take our seats, aside from the eight of us there are three other guys diving today.

One of these other guys joining us has a very impressive piece of photo kit with him. It’s a Canon 5D Mark2 in a special waterproof housing. I’ve never seen one before so I have a bit of a chat with him and he tells me he’s never dived with it before.  He rented it to try it out and he’s a bit concerned that it’s going to be completely watertight.

We arrive at our first dive site, a reef about 30 minutes from Madang. The chap with the camera doesn’t waste anytime and he’s one of the first in the water.

See the full gallery on Posterous

During our initial setup at the Madang Resort we had spoken to the dive masters and told them that we hadn’t dived for about 17 years but that we’d done a refresher course just before we left Sydney.

Once we reached the reef one of the dive masters made a point of staying with just Kelly and myself to make sure we’d be okay and to gauge how well we could cope with different depths. The other guys in our group had had quite a bit of experience so they went in before us.

A few minutes later we were in the water and descending toward the reef. I was a bit concerned about Kelly as she’d only managed to complete the first day of the refresher course, but I needn’t have worried as she was having a great time and had no issues diving at all.

We spent a great 45 minutes or so diving the reef, the conditions weren’t the best, but it was still a great deal of fun. We’d been told to leave a bit of air in our tanks but I seem to be a heavy breather under water and toward the end of our dive the dive master gestured for me to take his auxiliary regulator and use his air to conserve mine. So the last 5 or 6 minutes while we stopped for decompression he and I were very close!

After we’d all climbed back on board, there’s quite a bit of discussion as to the tide, diving conditions and dive locations we could go to next. The dive master say well go look at a couple of spots and we head off across the bay. At each stop he puts on some goggles and dives overboard to check out the conditions. Unfortunately it’s not looking good as the tides are bringing in quite a lot of stuff in the water. In the end a vote is taken and we all opt for the B25 bomber dive.

The dive is an old World War II wreck of a B-25D-5 bomber “Green Dragon”. During the war it took off near Port Moresby on a barge sweep and strike against Madang Airfield. It was damaged by anti-aircraft fire and it ditched between Wongat Island and the coast of New Guinea.

Of the crew, the Engineer died in the crash. The rest of the crew swam to Wongat Island where they were captured by the Japanese. The Command Pilot Major Cox was separated from them and flown to Rabaul then transported to Japan where he spent the war as a POW. The other four crew members were blindfolded, escorted to an execution ground, bayoneted, then beheaded!

A chap named David Pennefather discovered the plane in September 1979 while snorkelling off Wongat island.

It took us about 20 minutes to get to the wreck site and we suited up again. The other guys would go first and we would go with our dive master. The main body of the plane is in about  18 metres of water while the starboard wing is at 25 metres.

After the initial group descended it’s our turn and over we go. It’s pretty poor visibility but below us we can see the shape of the plane. We descend down to about 18 metres and follow our dive master as he takes us around the wreck. I have to say it’s pretty cool, the plane has lots of sponges growing on it and there are fish all around. It’s also quite crowded down there with everyone diving around the same spot. At one point the dive master manoeuvres Kelly toward the cockpit, which is completely open and where you can still see the controls and joysticks, and helps her get right into it, very cool. There are some very good photographs in the forum at Scuba.com.

See the full gallery on Posterous

After another 45 minutes diving, this time I was much more careful with my breathing so I didn’t need to use anyone else’s air, we made our way back to the surface. As we talked about our experience on the way back to the resort we both realised that it had rekindled our desire to do more scuba diving.

Arriving back at the resort we dropped the gear, thanked the dive guys and headed back to the Orion. Now my presentation is at 14:00 and we had only arrived back at 13:00 so Mike Fogg was a bit concerned I wouldn’t have time to set up but I assured him everything was okay and Kelly and I dashed off to get all the gear ready for the presentation.

I’d prepared a presentation and all the files the night before so I was in pretty good shape. It was primarily a matter of setting up the laptop and having everything ready to go.

At 14:00 I had an audience of about 27 and was ready to go. I’d planned the presentation to cover the three main areas that creating 360 Panoramas require you to work in. That is shooting panoramas, stitching panoramas and delivering those panoramas in Virtual Tours.

I talked about what a 360 Panorama is and showed examples taken while in the Tufi Village tour. The different types of Panorama images such as Circular or Cubic and the equipment you need to shoot them.

The next step was to discuss composing Panoramas to maximise the effect and I followed this with a real-time shoot within the lecture theatre.

After the presentation, there was a two hour break until Peter Eastway’s presentation “Photoshop and Layers” at 17:00. One of the guys from the dive shop who was working on the boat had been showing some artefacts that we really liked. When the boat got back we couldn’t find him and we were a bit sad that we’d missed out on them.

There was still a shuttle bus running between the Orion and the Madang Resort so Kelly, Peter and myself decided to catch the last bus back and see if we could find the guy from the boat.

At the resort they told us he was actually down by the docks where the Orion was berthed hoping we would see him there. As we had plenty of time before Peter was on call next we decided to walk back to the ship.

In the resort there was a sad sort of zoo with some caged animals including some very sick looking tree kangaroos. Not a great spot to visit.

See the full gallery on Posterous

Near the docks is the ubiquitous Copra works and the large silo that contained the refined Copra.

See the full gallery on Posterous

Back on board we had time to grab a coffee and get settled in for Peters lecture on Photoshop and how he uses layers to bring the image back to what he saw when he was shooting it. Once again a great presentation and more grist for the mill.

The day wound down with another recap from the Expedition Team and we finished the day with a bit of room service.

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Tami Islands

Overnight we have travelled north from Tufi and have have arrived quite early, 07:30, at the Tami Islands.

The Tami Islands are a small group of islands, located about seven nautical miles off the Huon Peninsula, in the Solomon Sea. The islands include four atolls,  two very small and one not much larger than a strip of sand.

Today we will be doing a wet landing at one of the islands for a welcoming ceremony, a chance to meet the villagers and the opportunity to take a walk through the village.
After breakfast, at around 09:00 ,we assemble in the Delphinus Café for our zodiac ride ashore. As in other landings like this we must all arrive at the same time, or within a few minutes of each other.
We make our way to the shore and then walk from the beach about 500 metres into a large clearing in the village. There is a shaded area with bench seating and an esky or two full of bottles of cold water. It’s only early but the sun is high and it’s already very hot.

From the bush we can hear the sound of drums and into the clearing come a large group of men and women dancing and singing.

As in other welcomes the performance is fantastic, with rhythmic drumming and the movement of headdress, grass skirts and feathers combining to create a visually rich experience for all of us.
The performers make their way from the jungle further into the clearing. Peter and Nick take full advantage of the welcome to film and photograph the performers.

Peter and Nick

After the initial welcome one of the young women, beautiful in her traditional costume, comes forward from the group to address us and formally welcome us to the island.

After the speech, the drummers were back and the performance really began.

Drummer Man

One of the most fascinating features of their costumes were the large and distinctive headgear they wore.  I was interested in the symbolism of it and found out that they represented the Eagle. Once I knew that it was easy to see the shape of the eagle’s tail, wings and head.

It’s been amazing to see the different ornaments and adornments the dancers and singers wear and the colors of the skirts and flowers make the opportunity to experience these welcomes unique.

A number of young girls also took part in the welcome carrying their small woven baskets.

We weren’t the only ones interested in the dancing and there were a lot of villagers watching from the wings including this young one.

After the performance we had about an hour before we were due to leave so we left the performance area and headed back into the village. The village seemed to be built out of every imaginable type of material salvaged by the villagers. This results in a textural landscape of rusting metal, netting and palm fronds.

We were fortunate to be taken in hand by an elderly woman of the village who took it upon herself to be our guide. She took us on a private tour of the village, down past her house, showing us where she cooked, and through to the cemetery where her sister and brother were buried.

See the full gallery on Posterous

What we saw when walking into the cemetery was quite unexpected. There were quite a few graves and most of them were defined by simple wooden grave markers but what was unusual was that most of the graves were defined by upturned bottles pushed almost flat to the ground. She told me that the bottles had been left on the island after the war by the Australians and Americans.

See the full gallery on Posterous

Just before we went down to the beach, we talked to some of the kids that were interested in us and gave them some of the bubble blowers we’d brought with us. For the life of me I couldn't get it to work but this young girl managed it first time.

The Orion team has arranged a special treat a “sumptuous” beach BBQ lunch at the small coral cay not far from the island we are on. Before we head over there I want to head back to the Orion so we can pick up my Panorama gear so I can shoot a pano on the island and our snorkelling gear.

We hop into a zodiac and push off from the island for the trip to Orion. Just as we turn who should we see but Justin, in all his New Guinea finery, driving his own zodiac!

We arrive back at Orion, collect all our gear, slap on some sunscreen and are back on the Marina platform ready to board a zodiac for the beach bbq in under 15 minutes. We head out for the short trip to the island and we haven’t gone more than a few metres from Orion when all around the zodiac we can see dolphins tracking alongside just under the water. Suddenly they are leaping out of the water and zipping back and forward in front of the zodiac. What a sight. They swim along with us for quite a while until the water becomes too shallow for them.

The ride into the cay is beautiful, the sky an iridescent blue and the water crystal clear. Because the reef is so high in the water we have to navigate through some buoys set up by the scouting team so our prop doesn’t hit the reef.

Riding the zodiac to the Coral Cay

The beach itself is tiny and leads you up to a rock wall that frames the whole beach.  Just in front of the wall the guys from the restaurant have set up their beach bbq. They were right in calling it sumptuous,  there are two canopies set up, one with a bbq and the other with salads and accompaniments. Strung along the wall there are strands of flowers and everyone is having a great time.

After lunch we head for the water to do a bit of snorkelling, we also try a bit of kayaking but the current between the islands is really strong and basically we end up going around in circles.
It’s almost 13:00 and the last zodiac is set to leave at 13:30 so Kelly and I head for the water to cool off. It’s quite shallow so we walk out quite a way into the channel. There’s a young boy in a dugout hanging out just around from the beach area where the bbq is set up and the view down the channel is beautiful. There is a lovely overhang at the end of the island with a palm tree perched right on the end.

We spend the last few minutes just enjoying the beauty of the scene around us before heading back and catching, once again, the last zodiac back to Orion.

Back on board we headed up to deck 6 to wash out our gear and spend a bit of time in the Jacuzzi. Once again it’s just the perfect thing to relax before our next event at 17:00 a lecture by Peter Eastway entitled on ‘Rock Hopper – Islands of the Southern Ocean”.

Wow! what a fantastic presentation. Peter showed incredible images that reinforce the beauty of the Islands of the Southern Ocean. He showed us images of snow capped peaks, deep blue glaciers and minke whales. These images definitely show why Peter is one of Australia's leading landscape photographers. View all of the images on Peter’s website and if you are in Sydney between the 19th and 30th May make sure you head down to Gaffa Gallery to see his exhibition.

I walk out of Peter’s presentation really inspired to lift the values of my images, I’m so thrilled that both Peter and Nick are on this trip.

Kelly and I finish off the day with a bit of room service and another episode of Breaking Bad.

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Tufi, Papua New Guinea

Ooops, missed the sunrise this morning, now I’m going to have to be ostracised by all those who’s alarms went off. But never mind it’s a beautiful morning and we are out on deck having Eggs Benedict, thoughtfully provided by Donny and a Latte courtesy of Emil and we can see the coastline of Tufi and once again the sky is filled with towering clouds.

 It’s a pretty busy day today with a number of expeditions taking place. There’s snorkelling at the outer reef, a Tufi Village Tour and a Suicide Point Walk.
We had initially put our names down for scuba diving but unfortunately there were only three of us and they had to cancel it. In hindsight, if we had been smart we would have just paid the extra and done the diving as we realised at the end of the day what an experience it would have been.

However we are scheduled on the Tufi Village Tour in the morning and snorkelling at the outer reef in the afternoon. I’m hoping we will have time for a quick bite of lunch between expeditions.

At 09:30 we are assembled for the departure to the village and there are about 4 zodiacs leaving at the same time. To get to the zodiacs you descend a stairway from the Delphinus Café to a small loading platform, there they have a large board with hooks and a plastic counter with all of the cabin numbers. There’s one for each of us, one side is blue the other white. As you head down to the marina deck you turn over your counter so it’s displaying white. When you come back you turn it back to show blue. That way they can quickly see who’s back and who’s not. Low tech, love it.

So we are all on the zodiacs and heading down one of the fjords and the faces of the gorge is thick with vegetation. It’s hard to imagine how the towering palm trees can find enough earth to anchor themselves.

In the distance we can see a number of outrigger canoes and young Papuan natives dressed in their ceremonial gear. I’m not sure how many of us get to sit on each canoe but the platform area looks pretty small.

Well on ours we have three of us and they gave us implicit instructions not to move around! I don’t think the outriggers are all that stable. Once we are settled and happy all of the guys start paddling the outriggers into a narrow channel leading into the jungle from one of the fjords.

The vegetation on either side of the channel is rich and green and the trees overhang the channel so it feels like you are heading down a green tunnel. There is the occasional outrigger that has been hauled up onto the bank. After about half an hour we approach our landing spot deep in the jungle.

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At the landing point we all “gracefully” hopped off the outriggers and waited until everyone had disembarked. Before we could head up the trail into the jungle the village elders came around and put a dab of coloured paste on our faces to show we were welcome. We had only walked for a couple of minutes when we heard shouting and these three warriors came running out of the bush leaping and yelling, brandishing spears and challenging us for walking in their territory.

I guess we must have looked suitable chastised for entering their territory because after a few minutes of spear rattling we were allowed to pass and enter into a clearing where there were a large number of villagers and a welcoming committee.

At the village we were shown a number of crafts and activities they perform on a daily basis, one of the most interesting was how they harvest, prepare and cook Sago.

Sago is a starch extracted from the pith of sago palm stems, Metroxylon sagu. It is a major staple food for the lowland peoples of New Guinea and the Moluccas, where it is called saksak and sagu. It is traditionally cooked and eaten in various forms, such as rolled into balls, mixed with boiling water to form a paste, or as a pancake.

Step one is to cut down the palm and carefully remove the outer layer of the main stem. This can be somewhat dangerous as the Metroxylon sagu palm has thorns on its stem that are six to eight inches long and VERY needle-like and sharp. The section of trunk that will be worked for starch extraction is about seven to ten feet long.

The second, and probably the most energy consuming, task is to chop-scrape the heart "pith" of the palm. This is done with a special hand crafted tool that is designed to shave off a bit of the pith with each swing. The object is to end up with sawdust like shavings. I was worried the guy was going to take his toes off with that axe!

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Once the pith material has been thoroughly shaved and beaten it is then soaked in water. This has the effect of helping the starch separate from the non-starch part of the pith material. A filter is used that allows the starch through with the water that is channeled into a tightly woven bark bag. After the starch powder is filtered it is mixed with water and kneaded into a sticky dough.

To cook it they took the dough and  put it in a split green bamboo stem, then built and lit a large fire of dry palm leaves over it. The heat was intense and the fire burnt very hot and very quickly, in a matter of minutes it was done. After the fire died down they cleared the charred palms, lifted out the sago and prepared a bag for it using banana leaves so they could carry it home.

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They came around offering a taste of the freshly cooked sago, they call it Papuan chewing gum. I tried some it definitely was chewy but it didn’t really have a taste. Some of the kids told me they cook it up as a pancake and have it with banana and sugar which sounds pretty good.

After the sago presentation we were treated to another cultural dance and song performance which was different again from the others we had seen and very dramatic amongst the dappled light coming in from the jungle canopy.

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After this we talked and took pictures of the villagers and eventually made our way back to the landing point for the outrigger trip back down the channel to the fjord. This time we have some motor boats waiting for us, we climbed on board waving goodbye to the outrigger paddlers as we headed back to Orion.

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Wow, what a great morning, Tufi is a fantastic place to visit. We’ve just got time for a quick lunch, then we are off to grab our snorkelling gear for a trip to the outer reef.

At 13:30 we are assembled for the departure to the village and this time rather than taking zodiacs there is a motor boat waiting for us.  Apparently the trip to the outer reef is about half an hour so I’ve got my Kindle with me so I can have a read on the way out to the reef.

I’m reading a very interesting book called “The Ghost Mountain Boys” by James Campbell.

Here’s an overview of the story, “Lying due north of Australia, New Guinea is among the world’s largest islands. In 1942, when World War II exploded onto its shores, it was an inhospitable, cursorily mapped, disease-ridden land of dense jungle, towering mountain peaks, deep valleys, and fetid swamps. Coveted by the Japanese for its strategic position, New Guinea became the site of one of the South Pacific’s most savage campaigns. Despite their lack of jungle training, the 32nd Division’s Ghost Mountain Boys were assigned the most gruelling mission of the entire Pacific campaign: march 130 miles over the rugged Owen Stanley Mountains and protect the right flank of the Australian army as they fought to push the Japanese back to the village of Buna on New Guinea’s north coast.”

You can get more information if you are interested at the Ghost Moutain Boys website.

Book/Expedition Trailer

We arrive at the reef and it’s spectacular! The water is so clear you can see the coral and the fish swimming below you. We waste no time in getting our gear on and hopping overboard. What more can you say but it was a bit of heaven on earth.

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They had to almost physically drag us from the water, I don’t think anyone wanted to go back. But all good things must come to an end and once again we headed back to the Orion.

As we came in sight of the shore there was a beautiful cloud formation building up over the fjords and some isolated rain falling. This is a shot, inspired by the work of Peter Eastway, of that scene.

By about 16:30 we were back on board and time for a beer and a plunge in the jacuzzi. Dinner tonight was a island buffet under the stars in the Delphinus Café. What a way to end the best day yet.

Tomorrow, the Tami Islands.

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Kitava, The Trobriands

There’s a lot of peer pressure on this ship, what with all the great photographers and such but the pressure is the greatest to be up there on the the deck 6, at the bow of the ship for sunrise.

At 06:00 there’s Nick, Mike Moore from the Expedition Team, Peter, and several other guests all set up tripods mounted waiting for the sunrise. Woe betide anyone who doesn’t get up! This morning I’m there and I have the sunrise to prove it.

Overnight we have travelled north from Samarai Island to an area known as The Trobriands and Kitava Island.

Map of the region showing our heading -  Google map link

The Trobiand Islands are a 170 mi² archipelago of coral atolls off the eastern coast of New Guinea. They are situated in Milne Bay Province and the majority of the population of 12,000 indigenous inhabitants live on the main island of Kiriwana. Other major islands in the group are Kaileuna, Vakuta and Kitava. The social structure is based on matrilineal clans who control land and resources.

We prepare to disembark for Kitava Island at 08:15 however local custom requires that all guest arrive together and stay together until all welcoming ceremonies are complete. This means that those guests in the first zodiac will have to wait by the ship until the last guests board their zodiac. So rather than sit bobbing in a zodiac in the hot morning sun we hang back for the last one. Once we are aboard all the zodiacs head for the island.

As we approach the island we can see that the villagers have created an arena on the beach where we will be entertained by their dancers and performers. We land in a lagoon, formed by the tiny coral cay of Nuratu Island just off the main beach of Kitava Island, and are greeted with garlands of orchids and welcomed onto the island. As we are in the last zodiac all the best seating has gone but we get to sit on rush mats close to the action.

After a welcome by the chief and other representatives of the villagers the entertainment begins. First out a troupe of young men who even though the want to appear intimidating and maybe a little threatening are actually having a great time and hopefully enjoying it as much as we are.

The look on their faces tells it all, a mix of terror at having to perform in front of strangers and remember all the moves but also great joy that we have come to watch them perform.

Next up it’s the turn of the girls and they are beautifully dressed and decorated with ribbons, feathers and painted symbols.

After the girls there is a foot-stomping performance by the young men who use bamboo sticks to beat out the time. These young men seem to be really enjoying it and there is one cheeky young man in particular who throws himself into the performance.

All the while this is going on those who have finished performing join those villagers who have come to watch and sit around the edge of the arena taking in the entertainment.

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At one stage a group of older women enter the arena to perform and they gesture to the audience requesting we join them in the dance. As we are sitting right on the edge of the arena Kelly and I hop up to join them along with another of the Orion guests. Nick happened to be shooting some video at the time and captured the event. Needless to say there was a lot of hollering and laughter from the villagers as we attempted to match their style and grace!

Video of Kelly and I dancing

After the performance was over we had a chance to walk around and look at all of the beautiful artefacts and crafts they had arranged for sale.

I think it was all too much for this dog who just slept in the middle of the path where they were selling all their goods.

So after having a look around the market, Justin called us together and we started the trek up the hill to the village. It was incredibly hot and we were told it would take about 40 minutes to reach it.

Along the way there were lots of villagers walking with us, some just sitting watching us others still dressed in their symbolic costumes, others carrying their chickens.  We pass local gardens growing crops of taro, yam, banana and breadfruit, the staples of the islanders.

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Just before we got to the main village we came to a flat area where the local primary school is located.

Close to the primary school is a Yam storehouse. The islanders are famous for their culture and huge yam gardens, yams are more than just the staple diet, and have cultural significance in tribal rituals. Yams are proudly displayed after harvesting and then kept in elaborate storehouses.

We passed the school and kept heading up the hill. At one spot we came to a memorial grave (I think it was someone that Justin knew, I'll try and get the name) that was decorated with a beautiful replica of a traditional canoe bow with splashboard and wavesplitter.  These two are the most distinctive features of the Kula (local) canoes. The splashboards enclose the ends of the canoe and provide a greater overhang on the outrigger and give protection from spray and water surging into the hull and the wavesplitter holds the splashboard in place.

A few minutes after passing the memorial we finally reached the village. Seeing it took my breath away, ahead of me was a long  wide path with huts down either side, and villagers either working or just sitting watching us. As we walked down the path everyone was incredibly friendly waving when we waved and happy to let us take their photographs, once I had politely asked them if I could. I was taken by one elderly man who seemed quietly amused at all these white folk walking through his village.

Early in the day I’d been talking with a few of the friends we’d made on the ship and musing about what sort of view and understanding the villagers would have had of the world outside their village, from what seemed to me to be one of the remotest places on earth. Imagine my surprise when I saw the decorations that many of the villagers had put up on the walls of their huts.

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At one of the huts there was a woman with an hand operated sewing machine making clothes. She told me they bought the material from a store on the mainland and she made the clothes that, once finished, were given out to the other villagers.

Just walking through the village was such a visual treat there was so much going on, Kelly spotted this beautiful parrot …

… and I spotted Justin taking a well deserved break.

We finished up our visit with a refreshing drink from recently picked coconuts and headed back down the hill to the beach and into a zodiac that was waiting to whisk us back to the Orion.

Back on board we wasted no time in getting changed and collecting our snorkelling gear as we were off to the island of Naratu, just opposite to Kitava for some more great snorkelling.

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We caught the last zodiac back to Orion at around 14:30 and headed up to deck 6 to wash out our gear and spend a bit of time in the Jacuzzi. The water is cool and refreshing just the perfect thing to relax before our next event at 17:00 a lecture by Nick Rains on ‘Essence of Landscape Photography’. Once again another great insight into how Nick goes about composing his landscape photography and how he achieves the perfect blend of balance and drama.

At 18:30 on each day of the cruise the Expedition crew do a recap of the day’s events illustrated with pictures they have taken during the day. You have to watch out because they are always trying to get at least one shot of a guest in a not so flattering pose!

As soon as tonight’s briefing finished I dashed up to deck 6 to get a quick shot of the sunset as we sailed away from the the Trobriands and toward Tufi.

This evening we have the Captains reception in the Leda Lounge. This is where we get formally introduced to our Captain and enjoy some cocktails with the other passengers before heading down to the Constellation Restaurant for the Captains dinner.

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Samarai Island, Papua New Guinea

This morning we have an early 5am wakeup call for a dawn photography session, organised by Nick and Peter, on the island of Samarai  It’s a bit like being back in Africa and getting up for the 5am Safari. We head for deck 6 to grab our cameras. [The reason the cameras are on deck 6 is that the ship is air-conditioned and outside it’s very humid. If you keep your camera and lens in your cabin it’s going to take about 30 – 45 minutes for the camera and lens to acclimatise, in the mean time you cant see anything because your camera is all fogged up.]

Once we have all our gear it’s down to the swim deck, jump into the zodiacs and head for the island, just visible in the early morning light, not too far away.

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During the night we’ve been backtracking a bit and come back south into the China Strait Islands.

Nick and Peter, in their presentations, have been discussing the best time to shoot and dawn is a favourite time of theirs and they are keen to get set up before the sun is too high in the sky.

We arrive at a small wharf at the island but there seems to be a bit of confusion amongst the zodiac drivers and there is a bit of radio chatter going on. We don’t disembark but head off in another direction, seems as though some of the expedition team are on another island. Oh oh, we’ve turned back again and are heading back to the first island we went to, unfortunately by this time the sun is getting higher and higher in the sky and I think Nick’s upset that we’ve missed getting to the island in time for the sunrise.

The zodiacs pull up next to a small landing on the wharf and we all hop out and head up the steps to the main landing.  There are a few people on the wharf, some loading gear and boarding a small boat, the others watching what we are up to.



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Young Kids

Local boat

In the early 1900’s Samarai island was the thriving colonial capital of the territory of Papua and the town’s street-scape carries reminders of it’s past glory. It use to be described as one of the most beautiful places in the South Pacific. By the 1920’s the town had declined in importance and after the outbreak of World War II the Australian Government ordered the evacuation of the island in 1942 and destroyed the wharves and buildings being used by the advancing Japanese.

Samarai was reestablished after the war but never returned to it’s former glory and has assumed an atmosphere of slow decay. Which means for those of us visiting the island a wonderful photographic opportunity with all those textures of rust and faded paint. One of the most striking, and the oldest surviving, building is St. Paul’s Anglican Parish church. It’s just a short walk from the pier and by the time I’ve finished up at the wharf everyone else who was on the zodiacs have already moved through this section of the town, so I’m all alone so I in the quiet early morning standing in front of this wonderful old church.

The next thing I notice is this old man, with a big white beard, dressed only in board shorts walk up to a large gas cylinder suspended above the ground. He bends down and picks up a rock and begins to bang the cylinder that rings like a bell. Instantly dogs all around town start barking madly as he’s banging away.

When he finishes I ask him what he’s doing and he tells me that he looks after the church and at 6am, 12 noon and 6pm he rings the bell. I’m not quite sure if he’s actually calling the faithful to church or it’s just the village wakeup call. I wish him well and head off toward the wharves.

On the way to the wharves there is an intersection and a path heading off toward the hills. At another crossroad, further up the path, I could see a memorial that I found out later is dedicated to  Christopher Robinson, the one-time administrator of the island who committed suicide here in 1904. The inscription noted he was ‘as well meaning as he was unfortunate and as kindly as he was courageous’ and that ‘his aim was to make New Guinea a good place for white men.’

I found the wharves and as I mentioned before the old wharves were destroyed in the war. Some of them have been partially rebuilt and there are still some local boats that use them.

Time was flying and by now it's about 07:00 and time to head back to Orion for some breakfast. I met up with the other early bird passengers and we made our way back to the wharf and the zodiacs for the trip back. On the way back to the wharf Kelly spotted the bell-ringer watching us from his home next to the church.

Old bell ringer

We hopped in a zodiac with Nick and Peter and headed back to the Orion.

After breakfast it was time for another trip to Samarai Island. This time it was a general disembarkation and most of the passengers would be heading ashore. This time it would be a wet landing. [A wet landing is one where you don’t have a wharf to tie up to and basically hop over the side of the zodiac into shallow water and walk onshore.] The zodiacs pulled up to a small beach alongside the wharf we'd arrived at earlier this morning.

Shooting a 360 Panorama requires a little bit of preparation as I need a tripod, a rotator [a device that I attach the camera to and that turns in a set number of stops], a camera and a wide angle lens. In this instance I’m using a Canon 5D MkII and a Canon 15mm lens. I take 6 images around and one up. Once I’m done I stitch the images together to make what’s called an Equirectangular image that becomes the source that is wrapped around a cube which allows a viewer to look in any direction in a complete 360 orientation.

Once I’ve finished in the church I head off with some of other passengers to have a look around and work our way up the hill to the old Hospital. I can't believe how much the town is full of wonderful bits and pieces that provide great photo opportunities.

There is the skeleton of the old Burns, Philp & Company warehouse. At the entrance to the warehouse you can still see the old company logo created in the concrete. The splatters aren’t blood but the red juice spit out by the Papuans chewing Bettlenut. At one time Burns, Philp & Company were one of the major traders in the South Pacific arena and in fact were the first company to offer tourism to New Guinea, in 1984, advertising the ‘New Guinea Excursion Trip’.

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Just down from the warehouse is an old Shell depot, all locked up, overgrown with weeds and seemingly deserted.

We continued on our walk and turned a corner into a small side street, off the main path, that had an amazing display of native flowers with the most brilliant colours.

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I finished up on Samarai wishing I could have spent another couple of hours walking around, meeting and talking with the residents, but ships timetables wait for no man.

After lunch, at 13:30, there was a quick trip to the island of Kwato scheduled. Just 3km west of Samarai the island is apparently very peaceful with the remnants of boat-building equipment evident among the trees. We hopped into the zodiacs and headed to Kwato for a wet landing.

Approaching Kwato

By the time we got there it was bucketing down with rain, trust us not to be carrying any wet weather gear :-( Kelly was lucky and managed to score a plastic poncho while I kept ducking under trees and at one stage even sheltered with a family on their verandah to avoid the rain. One of the villagers saw we were getting soaked and offered us shelter in old wood mill.

Finally the rain eased and we followed the old tree-lined road up the hill until it cleared the forest. In the clearing we came to a stonewalled church that was built in 1937 from materials brought from Scotland. Unfortunately The Kwato Church suffered a decline in the 1970s and it stands today as a testimony to the missionary of a bygone era.

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Interior of the Church
View from the clearing

It’s been a pretty hectic and long day already but we have one more excursion before we are done. We head back to the Orion and once we are all onboard Captain Frank repositions her close to a small island called Deka Deka. Here we will do another wet landing and then spend the afternoon swimming and snorkelling. It’s still a bit overcast but hot so it’s a great way to spend the afternoon.

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So after a really long, hectic but fantastic day Kelly and I are lounging back in our suite. Tonight we’ve ordered room service so we don’t have to get all dressed up and we can just sit back in bed watching one of our favourite video series, Breaking Bad, that we’ve brought along with us.

We can hear the ship weigh anchor and feel it get underway as we head for Kitava.

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