Off South Coast, Papua New Guinea
Even before the sun brightened the sky, early risers could tell it was going to be a grey day as rain pelted the ship. We were traveling along the southeastern coast of the main island of Papua New Guinea. When the light was enough to see there was not much that could be seen. Even though it was suppose to be the dry season we were experiencing a real tropical rain. The bridge officers on watch slowly guided the ship through an entrance between sunken coral reefs toward an island called Bona Bona. A bay on the seaward side of the island was our destination and hopefully it would provide protection from the ocean swell. Anchoring inside the bay there was protection from most of the gentle swell but it continued to rain through the morning and it was raining so hard that runoff from a couple of small rivers had muddied the waters of the bay. The rain was not inviting to go out from inside the dry warm ship so after hoping that it would let up and it did not, we lifted the anchor to continue toward our final destination – Port Moresby.
At sea for the rest of the day gave everyone time to get organized with packing. Later in the afternoon most everyone attended a “show and tell” event in the lounge. People brought some of their most interesting and precious purchases so everyone else could see and also so Bob Tonkinson could explain what the carvings or items were. Memories and gifts collected during a very special voyage. At day’s end, the sun peaked through the clouds. Some came to the decks to reflect on the past two weeks. We had experienced an unusual unique part of our world. Many photos were taken to capture those memories. However, no photo could capture the individual experiences each of us had with the friendly islanders and the natural world we were engulfed by. Only on special expeditions such as this does one appreciate the diversity of both the natural world and mankind. Hopefully this will never disappear and future generations can also experience a similar feeling and unique experiences on their own special expedition to the South Pacific.
Even before the sun brightened the sky, early risers could tell it was going to be a grey day as rain pelted the ship. We were traveling along the southeastern coast of the main island of Papua New Guinea. When the light was enough to see there was not much that could be seen. Even though it was suppose to be the dry season we were experiencing a real tropical rain. The bridge officers on watch slowly guided the ship through an entrance between sunken coral reefs toward an island called Bona Bona. A bay on the seaward side of the island was our destination and hopefully it would provide protection from the ocean swell. Anchoring inside the bay there was protection from most of the gentle swell but it continued to rain through the morning and it was raining so hard that runoff from a couple of small rivers had muddied the waters of the bay. The rain was not inviting to go out from inside the dry warm ship so after hoping that it would let up and it did not, we lifted the anchor to continue toward our final destination – Port Moresby.
At sea for the rest of the day gave everyone time to get organized with packing. Later in the afternoon most everyone attended a “show and tell” event in the lounge. People brought some of their most interesting and precious purchases so everyone else could see and also so Bob Tonkinson could explain what the carvings or items were. Memories and gifts collected during a very special voyage. At day’s end, the sun peaked through the clouds. Some came to the decks to reflect on the past two weeks. We had experienced an unusual unique part of our world. Many photos were taken to capture those memories. However, no photo could capture the individual experiences each of us had with the friendly islanders and the natural world we were engulfed by. Only on special expeditions such as this does one appreciate the diversity of both the natural world and mankind. Hopefully this will never disappear and future generations can also experience a similar feeling and unique experiences on their own special expedition to the South Pacific.
