I bade farewell to Buka and to Bougainville. It was one of the most amazing weeks of my life, this Island country was amazeballs!
Hanging out at the Airport waiting for another delayed plane, I got chatting to the locals and also noted the Anti-aircraft gun aimed at the runway. Photo Op!
But as I flew out, thinking about my experiences, I also thought about the fact there was an Anti-aircraft gun at the airport... Airports in Papua New Guinea are interesting...
Anti-aircraft guns at Buka.
60 year old Marston Matting at Kikori.
9% Gradient at Wau.
WW2 Revetments at Popondetta and Moresby.
A plane wreck at Tokua.
WW2 Built runways at Nadzab and Gurney.
Knee high grass at Tufi and Wanigela.
Weapon discharge bins at Manus and Kavieng.
5,000 locals to watch you come and go at Tari.
6ft Tall Termite mounds at Bensbach.
the 90º right hand turn at Woitape.
Wrecked RAAF Caribou at Efogi.
Olympic styled 100m races at Kokoda.
They are all unique, all integral to the fabric that is life in Papua New Guinea, it is a precious place and one that thanks to the reef in Bougainville has left a permanent scar on me.
Lukim yu Bougainville.
Photo taken 9 August 2008. Title reads: Seeya later Bougainville.
@maggiemae - Oh Maggiemae, wait until September, I have already started wading through the 4,500 photos I took in my 3 Septembers there to filter down to just 30 stories!
I don't know why it has taken me so long to become involved in this. I had loved all your photos from last year, then I suffered a lapse in 365 concentraion and missed a lot of stuff. I don't know if you have children or younger family but your photos and writings and style would certainly make a huge family hand me down.....all in a book of course, and what about film rights...it would make a great movie!
I see what you mean about the airports... wouldn't like to fly in to this one and see that pointed at me.
So you're buggered in all manner of ways if you fly in
Slip on mud or get mugged/eaten if you walk in
Risk the reef or get eaten if you swim in.
Well as I can't afford the cruise in I think I'll continue to enjoy your daily views instead...!
@stuckinoz - To this day I continue to suffer re-occurence of pain in my feet, and I have had doctors x-ray, take blood, poke and prod and they cannot find the answer. I still think there is some link to that day on the reef.
@filsie65 - We may have left Bougainville, but the nautical theme continues... so you can get your cruise in too?
@houdiniem - I bet they love that man Bolt over in PNG now! The whole nation partied when Obama got elected, they loved the fact that a black man like them was in the Whitehouse. Oh and John Barnes is probably their favouritest footballer!
@bobfoto
A friend of Natalie's was a manager for a charter business, cargo and people. Think it was Regional Air. We got a freebie to go up to the Mt Hagen Markets for a day trip. It was like a milk run, we stopped a couple of times on the way there, and once on the way back. The lovely pilots became our guides for the day, so we got a vehicle when we got to Mt Hagen, the pilots were asked to look after us, so we all got some good bargains at the markets!! Plenty of room in the plane. as all the cargo had been unloaded along the way.(including a helicopter blade) We also had some caged chooks for part of the ride!!
I was looking at this photo, as I started to read your story. I stopped and thought, "What! An antiaircraft gun at an airport!!!" I am still thinking about that one. You have widened my knowledge basis about this country immensely. Thank you.
@geocacheking - During the 10 year Bougainville Crisis, the BRA were armed with WW2 weapons, that they had found in caches around the place. As with many other locations in the Pacific, the US Forces just left everything behind when they moved on. There are still some Willys Jeeps getting around on the mainland of PNG left over from WW2.
@maggiemae - Oh Maggiemae, wait until September, I have already started wading through the 4,500 photos I took in my 3 Septembers there to filter down to just 30 stories!
@maggiemae - because I like to keep it in the month the shot was taken, almost to the day... I still have a few tales to tell in August!
I have photos of the matting at Kikori.
Hugh Jackman..hee hee
Yeh, I see it, he looks like you. Good choice.
So you're buggered in all manner of ways if you fly in
Slip on mud or get mugged/eaten if you walk in
Risk the reef or get eaten if you swim in.
Well as I can't afford the cruise in I think I'll continue to enjoy your daily views instead...!
@stuckinoz - To this day I continue to suffer re-occurence of pain in my feet, and I have had doctors x-ray, take blood, poke and prod and they cannot find the answer. I still think there is some link to that day on the reef.
@ruthmouch - Thank you Ruth. :)
@tigerdreamer - Thanks Karen H :)
@filsie65 - We may have left Bougainville, but the nautical theme continues... so you can get your cruise in too?
@houdiniem - I bet they love that man Bolt over in PNG now! The whole nation partied when Obama got elected, they loved the fact that a black man like them was in the Whitehouse. Oh and John Barnes is probably their favouritest footballer!
A friend of Natalie's was a manager for a charter business, cargo and people. Think it was Regional Air. We got a freebie to go up to the Mt Hagen Markets for a day trip. It was like a milk run, we stopped a couple of times on the way there, and once on the way back. The lovely pilots became our guides for the day, so we got a vehicle when we got to Mt Hagen, the pilots were asked to look after us, so we all got some good bargains at the markets!! Plenty of room in the plane. as all the cargo had been unloaded along the way.(including a helicopter blade) We also had some caged chooks for part of the ride!!
@tonydebont - Cheers Tony, hope the photos last longer!
@daisy - You gotta defend the airports!
@kjarn - what? He grows a fine beard.
@geocacheking - During the 10 year Bougainville Crisis, the BRA were armed with WW2 weapons, that they had found in caches around the place. As with many other locations in the Pacific, the US Forces just left everything behind when they moved on. There are still some Willys Jeeps getting around on the mainland of PNG left over from WW2.