Buzz’s Comments on his trip to Kimbe Bay,
Papua New Guinea
Well I
have the miles to get to Australia
free and was able to take 3 weeks off from work, so I decided it was time to go
back to PNG. I was in Milne Bay about 10 years earlier on the Tieta (we were originally scheduled on the Telita but it needed some repairs so we had a substitute)
with Bob Halstead and really enjoyed that trip. I decided to take a 10 day trip
on the Star Dancer, because I had good experiences on other Peter Hughes boats
and because it fit my schedule constraints.
I planned my trip with 3 days in Cairns
to get accustomed to the time change and to explore a little in Australia
before going onward to PNG. I also
planned to avoid and overnight in Port
Moresby because it is not a safe place to travel and
with a same day connection to Hoskins. I
planned an overnight at Walindi Plantation Resort in
case there were any travel delays. Well
it was a good thing I did, when I got to Port
Moresby Air New Guinea canceled my flight from Port Moresby to Hoskins
and rescheduled me for a flight leaving at 4
a.m. the next morning. The
put us in the Holiday Inn for the night – we only have
to go through 3 security gates to enter the Holiday Inn Compound. The next morning at 3 a.m. we returned to the airport in buses with
bars on the windows and several armed guards.
Some much for avoiding an overnight in Port Moresby and some much for getting my
body used to local time. We arrived at Walindi about 7 am after a stop and re-ticketing
again in Rabaul (do not ask - it does not make any
sense). So we still were in time to
catch the Star Dancer, but some much for my night at Walindi.
The Star
Dancer was an excellent choice. The boat
is very comfortable, with lots of common space and no bunk beds. Every cabin but 1 has a large picture
window. I was lucky and did not have a
roommate. The guests were all pleasant
and everyone got along well. The crew
was excellent focused on the important stuff and relaxed about everything
else. The diving was very good, great
density and diversity. We had a day of
muck diving and that was good (I really like muck diving). Upon our return back to Walindi,
they provided an excellent diner show of local music and dancing. I also took the time to take a walking tour
of a local village. My trip home was
uneventful making every connection without any drama.
To see the streaming pictures click here.
To see individual
pictures click here.
Click here to learn more
about Cairns
Click here to
learn more about the Star Dancer
Click here to learn more about PNG
Click here to learn more about Walindi Plantation Resort
Click for map for Papua New Guinea