Day 1,026: The Wake-Up Call
23.10.11: Thomas woke me up some time after ten to tell me that he was going out with Patti for a bit. I dragged myself out of bed and marvelled…
Day 1,025: The Solomon Islands
22.10.11: The Papuan Chief ploughed a course through Iron Bottom Sound: the watery graveyard of hundreds – if not thousands - of ships, aircrafts and soldiers killed in the Pacific…
Days 1,020-1,024: The Papuan Chief
17.10.11-21.10.11: Monday was spent at sea familiarising myself with the ship. Swire take their safety seriously: I’m not allowed out on deck unless I’m wearing a boiler suit and steel…
Day 1,019: Exodus
16.10.11: Alex had told me to keep an eye on my phone for the message to head to the port. At this point, The Papuan Chief shouldn’t be leaving until…
Day 1,018: The Morobe Show
15.10.11: This weekend is the Morobe Show, an annual event (now in its 50th year) which started as an agricultural expo, but has now morphed into the premier cultural event…
Day 1,017: The Earth Moved
14.10.11: Friday passed slowly but comfortably, given the odd earthquake. Stan had left in the morning to go to an island off the coast with his family, I stayed behind…
Day 1,016: The Land That Time Forgot
13.10.11: Stan usually works out of his office in Lae, but today he needed to go up to his family’s poultry farm and asked if I’d like to come along.…
Day 1,015: A Day Off School
12.10.11: Jimmy met me in the morning to take me across the bay to the local school. We knew it was going to be closed today as one of the…
Day 1,014: The Village
11.10.11: As I won’t be leaving Lae until next weekend, Alex offered to take me over to Salamaua, the old capital of German New Guinea. Since its heyday in the…
Days 1,007-1,013: The Lae Delay
04.10.11-10.10.11: Well I haven’t gone anywhere but by jingo it’s been a fun week here in sunny old Lae. Ah, it’s not as bad as everyone makes out: the town…