Oceania

[Visited: August 2023]

Papua New Guinea is among the most problematic countries to travel around in. Its infrastructure is not well developed, with only a few roads, most of which are in a bad condition. It means that you often end up having to fly to get from A to B - with the disadvantage that you see less from the places you fly over. So it is that we wanted to try to travel overland from Kimbe Bay to Kavieng. It was not clear how this would work, and IF it would work. It was clear that it would be an adventure. People we asked invariably told us to take the plane to Rabaul, which would have taken us less than an hour. We decided to wait until we were on the ground and inquire further. Upon arrival in Kimbe Bay, we talk to several people in the know, and it turns out they all have a different story. Some say the road to Rabaul is passable, others say this is a lie and that a river has flooded. Some say there is a weekly ship from Kimbe Bay to Rabaul, but it has uncertain schedules and will not be leaving in the coming days. Others say we can travel overland to Ulamona and then take a banana boat from there. When we think we have the last option organized for what seems like a lot of money, we hear just a few hours before leaving that the driver is not available. The middleman turns against us somehow, and doesn't respond to calls anymore. Fortunately, someone at our hotel calls around and we find a driver with a car who is willing to take us for less money.
The hotel staff is worried about us, saying that it is unsafe to drive the road, and that we should definitely arrive before darkness sets in. We promise to let them know. After taking money from an ATM and taking fuel, we are on our way north. The road is quite empty, and gets worse the further we are from Kimbe Bay. The driver and his friend turn out to be good guys. They tell us that a few weeks before, two cars have been washed away by the river - fortunately, no one was killed. They also stop at what seems to be a random spot along the road. When we walk a little inland, we see steam coming from a river: a hot river like the one we visited closer to Kimbe Bay. The driver then safely drives us always further north, but we don't make it before sunset. The last part is in total darkness, and when we pull into Ulamona, we realize that there are only a few feeble lights outside. Within seconds, our car is surrounded by curious people who rarely see visitors. After all, what would bring them here? We open the doors, and smiling Papuans ask who we are, where we are from, and what we want. Well, a place to spend the night, something to eat, and a transfer to Rabaul the next day. This can all be arranged. We are led to a dark building, part of the christian convent, in which two women are preparing a bed for us. Assuming all will be good, we pay our driver and say goodbye. After all, he still needs to drive back to Kimbe Bay. We walk to the only small shop in town, and buy a few tins of food. We then settle into the house. After killing an extraordinarily big cockroach, we are ready to sleep. The next morning, we walk down to the black beach. It is raining heavily, and we meet several people who are traveling to Rabaul just like us. They tell us that the boat will not leave until it is dry, which we see as a good thing. We go to the church behind our building, attend the last part of the service, and ask for the priest as we still have to pay for our stay. We have a chat, and walk back to the beach.
The weather clears, and we now see the volcano behind Ulamona the volcanoes on nearby Lolobau Island. Indeed, we board the banana boat for our trip when the sun is coming through. People have told us that it will take three to four hours, which seems impossible to me given the distance. The sea is calm, we make several stops on the way to the northwest cape of New Britain. We see several islands off the coast, and are very happy when we stop at one of them. In most countries, this would be a much visited islet: white sand around a bunch of trees surrounded by crystal clear sea. Instead, we find a few people frying freshly caught fish. We would have stayed a couple of hours, but we have to continue. We have the wind against us now, and we get completely soaked no matter where we sit by the waves smashing our boat. Instead of dropping us off in Rabaul, the boat stops at Tokunar Resort. It takes some patience to find a PMV that takes us to Rabaul as it is a national holiday. When we are finally on the truck, the wind dries our hair and clothes, and it is a jolly ride to the city that was partly destroyed in 1994 when the Tavurvur volcano erupted. After exploring this fascinating city and its surroundings, we take another PMV to Kokopo, which serves as the replacement city. We take a boat across to New Ireland, which turns out to be a much easier ride than the one to Rabaul. When we reach the other side, it starts to rain. We need some more patience before a PMV leaves for Kavieng. The Boluminski Highway turns out to be beautiful: skirting the northern coast of the long island, driving over bridges, and rolling hills. Once we get to the city on the far west side of the island, it is dark, and hotels are either full or ridiculously expensive. The PMV driver is friendly enough to drive us from one place to the next, until we finally find a more or less decent place to stay. Even though it is late, the Chinese owner cooks us one of the best dinners of our entire stay in Papua New Guinea, and we are off to a nearby island for a couple of days to dive and relax.

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Kimbe Kavieng Overland (Papua New Guinea)

Kimbe Kavieng Overland > Papua New Guinea > Oceania

[Visited: August 2023]

Around the World in 80 Clicks