From Kokopo we motor across the channel for a couple of hours to the Duke of York islands. There are 13 islands in this group, all low-lying coral atolls. Apparently in 2000 many of the inhabitants were re-located to the surrounding larger islands of New Britain and New Ireland due to fears of rising sea-levels, but there’s still a thriving community here and it’s a popular spot for day-trips from Kokopo.
Continue reading “Dukes & Dugongs – The Duke of York Islands”
Every time I type the word Kokopo, my autocorrect changes it to Kokomo.
Remember the Beach Boys song “Kokomo”?
“Off the Florida Keys, there’s a place called Kokomo
That’s where you want to go to get away from it all
Bodies in the sand, tropical drink melting in your hand
We’ll be falling in love to the rhythm of a steel drum band
Down in Kokomo”
Continue reading “Kicking Back In Kokopo”
We weren’t intending to stay this long in Rabaul, and some uncharitable people might say it’s 11 days too long, but for the most part we’ve enjoyed our time here.
Continue reading “Twelve Days in Rabaul”
Geographically, a visit to Panapompom and Nivani Islands in the Deboyne group makes sense for us, as it’s an obvious departure point to head north to Rabaul. However, there’s another important reason why we’re here.
Continue reading “Days For Girls – Panapompom Island”
Panasia is a spectacular island of towering limestone cliffs, surrounded by reefs with a pass on the eastern side. Our electronic charts are way off, so we eyeball the entrance and use waypoints from previous cruisers. In the end it’s a pretty straightforward entrance into an impossibly blue lagoon dotted with the inevitable coral bommies. There’s an idlyllic sandy beach with palm trees just to the right of where we anchor.
Continue reading “Dim Dim Magic – Panasia Island”
Traditionally, the islanders of the Louisiades are traders – in the early 1900’s the famous anthropologist, Bronislaw Malinowski, studied the indigenous people of the Trobriand Islands just north of here and described a complex and sophisticated trading circle known as the “Kula Ring” between many of the PNG islands, including the Louisiades. Islanders would travel many miles in their traditional sailing canoes, exchanging the valued “Bagi” shell necklaces and shell armbands as part of a ceremonial system, but there was also a practical purpose, allowing the people to trade their own specialities for things they might lack such as pigs, yams or fruit.
Continue reading “Trading Places – Bagaman Island”