Rabaul

Unfortunately our scheduled port at Kiriwina Island had to be aborted because it was a tender port (ship anchored and tender boats taken to shore) and the sea conditions were considered too rough to safely transport the passengers to shore. Safety first is the captain's priority.

Our stop at Rabaul was quite interesting. It was formally the capital of this region of PNG... that is until 2 volcanos erupted simultaneously in 1994 and buried the town in metres of volcanic ash etc. The tour we elected to do was to the volcanic observatory, via a factory that manufactures coconut oil (we got free samples). After the observatory, where we were relieved to discover that the volcanos were not going to erupt today, we travelled back through the town, past the airport which is now hidden somewhere under the ash, and out to the hot spring where the water is still bubbling as it trickles into the sea. We also visited a local Catholic school and a plane wreckage site at the area that was once an airport. At nearly every stop there were locals (mostly children), singing to us and the song of choice was "She'll Be Coming Round the Mountain". Of course there were always little market stalls selling their wares.

Rabaul only gets about 10 cruise ships per year and it is a great source of income to them so there is great excitement when a ship comes in with kids often getting the day off school just to see the ship.Read more