Day 29 – November 20
Land Ho! I have never been so happy to see land as I was today when we spotted the island of New Britain. I am so ready for this endless Solomon Sea passage to be over. During the night we sailed over the New Britain Trench, reaching over 25,000 feet in depth. I can’t explain why but I had my reservations about swimming in water that deep!
Day 30 – November 21
We’ve reached our destination – Kokopo - on the island of New Britain! Stunning view across the bay with 4 volcanoes that fall into the ocean. One of the volcanoes is still active and last erupted in 1994 when it buried the main town of Rabaul. In its place the town of Kokopo emerged.
I’ve forgotten what it feels like to get a full night’s rest without having to wake up after 2 hours of sleep. I’ve been looking forward to this moment for a long time now!
Day 31 – November 22
Wow… 12 hours of sleep last night and it felt amazing! Not only that but last night was the 2nd time I’ve felt cold (to the point of reaching for a sheet) in the last month. I love that feeling!
We scoped out the town of Kokopo and in the evening headed to Kokopo Beach Bungalow Resort for email access, our first beer in 2 weeks, and an amazing dinner!
Day 32 – November 23
The women of Kokopo have the most amazing hairstyles I have seen in Papua New Guinea. They keep their hair short but because it is extremely curly, dry, and coarse it turns into these mega afros. It’s so thick that I’ve seen them use their hair as holding places for pens and combs. I’m told the term “Papua” means wild hair, hence Papua New Guinea – Wild Hair of New Guinea. One man got on a minibus I was on (known locally as a PMV) and he had a spider chilling out on top of his thick, bushy hair. It was a great look!
Day 33 – November 24
At 5am Captain Bill woke us all up and said we had to leave ASAP. The wind had picked up and was coming from the wrong direction and since the boat was anchored in only 15 feet of water he was concerned the wind might push us into shallower water. We motored over to Rabaul, 10 nautical miles across the bay. Rabaul was amazingly beautiful, a town at the base of 5 volcanoes. Since the eruption in 1994, the old town of Rabaul has been covered in ash and abandoned and just down the street you’ll find the “new” Rabaul. It’s a little creepy to see all the abandoned buildings – definitely a ghost town.
Captain Bill left to head for the airport to pickup his girlfriend, Monica, who will be sailing with us for the next 3 weeks while Andy headed off to try and get a flight back to the USA due to financial troubles back home. Becky and I stayed behind to look after the boat and explore the dusty town of Rabaul.
Day 34 – November 25
After dropping Andy off at the wharf for his flight back to the USA, Becky and I headed off with Ben, the security guard at the Rabaul Yacht Club on a hike to the Japanese Memorial and the German lookout. During WWII the Japanese invaded Rabaul and made it a main base so there is a lot of history here. After Berlin, Rabaul is the second most heavily bombed place in the world.
Later in the day we said hello to our neighbor Rod (whose boat was docked on the wharf) and we were green with envy when he gave us “cold water” to drink and offered to let us use the washing machine on his boat. Since he seemed to be a wealth of knowledge, we asked Rod if he had any suggestions for catching a stowaway rat and mentioned to him that we think the rat escaped from the Copra Trader cargo boat that was anchored next to us in Alotau. He told us that he just heard that a few days ago the Copra Trader, loaded up with over 1 million Kina worth of copra (dried coconut meat from which they extract coconut oil), caught fire just as they were leaving the wharf in Alotau. Lucky for the rat that he bailed ship when he did!
Day 35 – November 26
In the morning Becky and I gave 3 village kids a bit of Kina to walk with us to the hot springs at the base of the active volcano. It’s always a smart idea for us “2 white females” to take a local villager or two along for safety reasons, not to mention that they are great tour guides. Our plan was to boil eggs in the hot springs but when we got there the kids warned us about getting to close to the boiling hot water since the ground was not so stable – after that bit of advice, we opted to go hungry!
For dinner we all headed over to the Rabaul Yacht Club which is nothing more than an open air roof with a little bar and a few tables and stools. We met up with Dave, an English guy who was raised here in Papua New Guinea. He must be in his 50’s and is married to a local Papua New Guinea woman. Six weeks ago he had his 8th child! He tells us there are 2 things he is good at doing… scuba diving for WWII wrecks and making babies. Go figure!
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