Day 6- August 11th

Today we woke up early at 7:30 am after a great night of sleep. The sun was starting to rise and gentle breezes occasionally came in from the open window. Today we were going to explore the Kokopo War Museum and the Tavurvur Volcano.

After getting ready, we headed downstairs towards the main lobby to eat breakfast. The buffet had coffee, waffles, fruits, cereal and more.

Kokopo War Museum (History): At 8:45 am, we called for a taxi to take us to the Kokopo War Museum. The museum wasn't far away. We reached it at around 9 am. 

The A6M2 Zero fighter that we saw

The relics contained in the museum were fascinating to look at. The war museum contained historical objects from WWII. We saw parts of airplanes that were shot down in the Rabaul region, Japanese artillery pieces, tanks, and even an A6M2 Zero fighter in decent condition. 

Pieces of old bombs

We also learned about the history behind most of the relics with the help of the English explanations that were provided. To our surprise, we were allowed to touch and even climb on some of the artifacts! 

After observing the historical remnants of WWII, we decided to eat lunch at Emma's Restaurant located in our hotel. Ayesha, Jessie, and Sarah ordered the Fish Chettinad and Katelin and Sierra ate the Reef Fish. The meals were excellent and at a great price too! We got the daily lunch special which was for 20 Kina or $6.31.

Tavurvur Volcano (Environment): At 1 pm, we called a taxi to come pick us up and drive us to our next location, the Tavurvur Volcano. Sierra couldn't contain her excitement throughout the ride. She was going on and on about it and wouldn't stop talking about the volcano. Finally, we reached and Sierra was the first one to jump out of the taxi.

Tavurvur erupting in 2014

We could see the 732-foot volcano in the near distance. We met our tour guide who would take us to Tavurvur. He told us that it was a bit risky traveling to the volcano because of its activity and previous eruptions. In fact, its eruption in 1994 destroyed the entire town of Rabaul with the help of a nearby volcano, Mount Vulcan, erupting. Tavurvur's most recent eruption occurred in 2014 where it spewed a thick tower of ash and spread to many other parts of Papua New Guinea. 
Our tour guide told us we had to complete paperwork before traveling closer to the volcano. After we did, we began our walk to Tavurvur. Talking excitedly, our tour guide gave us some facts about the volcano on our way there. He said that it was located on the eastern rim of the Rabaul caldera and was surrounded by a steep volcanic ridge. Tavurvur was one of the most active and most dangerous volcanoes in Papua New Guinea. It has been the site of eruptions ranging from strombolian to volcanic ash.

Tavurvur Volcano

The volcano seemed larger now that we were alongside it. The talking died down as we all absorbed the view of Tavurvur. Clouds hung overhead and the sun's rays showered the volcano. It was quite a sight to see. All the information the tour guide gave us about its risks and dangers had seemed to dissolve from our minds. Somehow, we felt a sense of peace in the atmosphere.

Thai Chilli Prawns

We spent about an hour and a half around the volcano and talking with the tour guide. After we got to the bottom, we took a taxi back to our hotel. It was about 5 pm and we decided to chat for awhile. Soon, supper time came, and all of us took a taxi to the Haus Win restaurant. Katelin told the waiter what she wanted first since she was the hungriest. Her dish of Thai Chilli Prawns was set on our table and she took a bite. The rest of us watched as her face lit up with astonishment. Katelin made all of us order the prawn dish and told us that it was the best food we would ever eat in Rabaul - and she was right. The prawns became a favorite food of ours, and we ate until our stomachs were filled.
We went back to our hotel by taxi and settled in our beds. Today turned out to be a great day and we couldn't wait for the next.         

Day 5- August 10th

We woke up at 8 am greeted by a beautiful morning. We were surely going to miss Port Moresby when it would be time to leave for Rabaul later in the afternoon. Rabaul is a town located on another island of Papua New Guinea. Everywhere we went it felt as if we were living in the rainforest. The trees and plants were popping with color. The whole lodge seemed to be in the middle of a rainforest.

Despite such beauty to wake up to, some of us were not impressed. Not even the fresh nature smell would override the dangerously cantankerous moods of a select few, *cough cough* Jessie. Jessie locked herself in the bathroom we assumed to avoid human interaction. She wouldn't let us eat breakfast so we just heated up some processed pop-tarts that we had brought from home. At least they were S'mores flavored, everyone's favorite. 

Parliament House (History):  As soon as our quick breakfast was eaten, we all got in the car and drove to the Parliament House, which was one of the weirdest looking buildings we had seen so far on the trip. 

Outside the Parliament House

Although strange, the building was certainly a marvel to behold. The front of it looked like the bow of a ship. It was adorned with a mural depicting tribal people, alligators, symbols, and a number of other things that referred to the native tribes of Papua New Guinea. We stood on the sloped steps of the Parliament House for several minutes, just admiring the beauty of it. The building was also surrounded by well-kept gardens, which helped set the gorgeous scene. It was unusually quiet outside on the steps of the Parliament building, but we all agreed that it kept the peaceful atmosphere alive. 

If we thought the outside of the Parliament House was stunning, we were wrong when we stepped inside the building. The hallways and the lobby were spacious and roomy. The whole house smelled fresh and new compared to the natural air outside. Everything was elaborately decorated, even the door handles! 

We were soon introduced to our tour guide, Petrus. He showed us around the interior of the house, describing the history and purpose of the building. We learned that Papua New Guinea's parliament was first created in 1964 and was first called the House of Assembly of Papua and New Guinea. Its name was changed to the National Parliament of Papua New Guinea in 1975. The first parliament building was located in downtown Port Moresby, but was demolished and is now a Political History museum and library. The new parliament building, the one where we were standing, was opened by Prince Charles in 1984. 

Petrus led us into the Chambers of Parliament. We were standing in the Public Gallery and below us was the "Floor" of Parliament. The Public Gallery was at a higher level so that the public could view Parliament while in session.  The "Floor" of Parliament was where the 111 members were seated to discuss formal decisions. Our tour guide told us we were going to see a Parliament session soon, but first took us out of the Chambers to show us the towering statues and showcases around the house. Sarah tried to take a picture, but Petrus stopped her and told her that photography was unfortunately not allowed in the building.

The Chambers of Parliament in session

After 20 minutes, we went back into the Chambers of Parliament and sat in the Public Gallery. All members were seated below us and we watched as they talked, discussed, and debated. Most of us began to yawn after about 30 minutes. We were clearly not very intrigued by the discussion that was taking place before us. 

After about an hour of listening to the session, we thanked Petrus for the tour and left to buy lunch. We decided to go to the Asia Aromas restaurant. We ordered a couple of Chinese and Thai dishes which were delicious. The braised prawns with butter and garlic had amazing taste and Ayesha wouldn't stop eating them!  
It was about 12 pm when we finished eating and realized we only had about 3 hours till our plane was to leave to Rabaul. Sarah took the wheel and drove us quickly to the hotel. We packed our belongings in a hurry and checked out of the hotel. At about 1:30 pm, we arrived at the Port Moresby Airport. Luckily, security didn't take that long and we were at our gate by 2:45 pm. Ayesha and Sarah wandered around near our gate to check out some of the restaurants and shops the airport had. Katelin strictly told them to be back at 3:05 since she was worried they would miss the flight. 

At 3:15 pm, we boarded our plane. We breathed out a sigh of relief and relaxed for the next 1 hour and 25 minutes. We slept for most of the plane ride since we were all so tired. For the times when we were awake, we ate the free peanuts and drank the drinks that the flight attendants gave us. 

Our room in the Gazelle International Hotel 

We finally arrived at Rabaul at 4:40 pm. We took a taxi to our hotel, the Gazelle International Hotel. Our hotel was actually located in Kokopo, which was 11 miles from Rabaul. Our two plantation view hotel rooms were extravagant. Booking this hotel gave us free breakfast, free parking, and free airport shuttle. It was about 5:45 pm when we settled in our cozy beds. We didn't plan anything for the rest of the day, so we relaxed for quite a bit of time. At 7 pm, we decided to take a walk outside in the cool weather. We started conversations and made jokes as we all walked side by side. 

At around 8 pm, we walked back to our hotel. For dinner, we had the leftovers from the Fusion Bistro back in Port Moresby, which we had packed with us. After our supper, we were all exhausted, yet eager for tomorrow. We climbed into our beds and quickly fell asleep.            

Day 4- August 9th

We all woke up early eager to start the day, especially since we had so much planned. The Port Moresby Nature Park and the National Museum and Art Gallery were on our agenda, and we were glad to be doing something besides flying. We each took turns taking showers some people taking longer ones than others (Jessie). Katelin got impatient and decided to bang on the bathroom door thinking that was going to help.

After everyone was ready, Ayesha drove us to the Beachside Brasserie at the Ela Beach Hotel to eat breakfast at 9 am. We decided to ride with the windows down to let the warm air fill the car. Sarah switched to a different station, mainly because she wanted to dance to the local music. It took a while to get there because Sierra kept dropping the map, and the GPS that we had brought was malfunctioning.

The Beachside Brasserie

Once we had reached the restaurant we saw that it offered tasty dishes from the Pacific Rim. We all ate Beachside Caesar Salads, which were to die for and had the best dressing. Sarah decided on the Battered Fish & Chips, because that was her favorite. We all thought our food was delicious and were glad to have eaten our food in the open air by the poolside. Our meals put everyone in a great mood, and we were ready to start our day. Even though these were typical lunchtime items, we decided that this was fine.

Port Moresby Nature Park (Environment): At 10 am, Ayesha drove us to the Port Moresby Nature Park. She was getting cranky because she was tired of driving, and she wanted a chance to admire our surroundings. We finally reached the park at 10:30 am.  

The Port Moresby Nature Park is the only combined botanical and zoological parks and gardens in Papua New Guinea.The park is

A picture of a heliconia

dedicated to promoting the various flora and fauna found in the country. We saw many types of plants such as palm, gingers, orchids, and heliconias. We had to persuade Sierra not to pick any of the flowers or branches off the trees and plants or take any of the birds home, because she was very tempted.

There were many kinds of animals including birds of paradise and hornbills. Birds of paradise have very vibrantly colored feathers and this made for a great target for hunters. There were also some animals that we had never heard of before like the tree-kangaroo. Ayesha didn't want to leave because she was too busy reading about the habitats of the tree-kangaroo, and both Katelin and Sarah had to practically drag her out of the exhibit. She later told us that the kangaroos can jump up to 60 meters. 

A picture of a cassowary

We learned that the Port Moresby Nature Park was the only place in the world that displayed all three species of cassowaries. A cassowary is a type of bird native to the tropical rainforests of Papua New Guinea. It’s known as "the most dangerous bird on earth", and has been known to attack humans before and in some cases, killed them. They’re distant relatives of raptors and other dinosaurs that roamed the earth long ago, and even show traits that were similar to these ancient animals, like the shape of their feet. They can also be categorized as a type of theropod, the same family that a T-Rex and Velociraptor are categorized as.

The nature park was very different from the zoo's we had been to in the past. We had never been to a place that combined a zoo and plant life to create a park. The experience was phenomenal in terms of the various kinds of wildlife they had there. The different species of birds, mammals, and other animals amazed us with their vibrant colors and weird sounds. The biggest rat in the world even lived there.  It was discovered in 2009 and was called the Basavi Woolly rat. This rat can grow up to 3 feet long!

After looking at the fascinating wildlife for three hours, we decided to eat lunch at the Fusion Bistro. This Chinese restaurant had amazing dishes full of flavor and taste. Sarah ate the Pandan Chicken, Jessie ate the Sambal Fish, Ayesha ate the Claypot Chicken, and both Sierra and Katelin ate the Salt-and-Pepper crab. We couldn't finish our food since we were already full from our breakfast, so we took our leftovers with us.


National Museum and Art Gallery (Culture): Next, we headed to the National Museum and Art Gallery. There were over 30,000 objects from all over Papua New Guinea. Additionally, there were artifacts from World War I post-colonial, and colonial history in the museum. It also held essential evidence on the 50,000 years of human history in what is now Papua New Guinea. The gallery elaborated on the various forms of paintings, arts, crafts, and music.

The Life and Land Gallery

We explored the following galleries: Life and Land, Independence, Sir Michael Somare, Sir Allan Mann, and Masterpiece galleries. The Life and Land gallery had artifacts and records from the early inhabitants of Papua New Guinea. There were also preserved bird specimens and a diorama that showed the vegetation and wildlife of the country. We also learned that the early Highlanders were one of the world's first farmers. 

The Independence Gallery

The Independence gallery had a collection of fishing equipment, pottery, traditional ceremonial and casual dresses, cooking utensils, and musical instruments. This gallery featured a Kula canoe that came from the Trobriand Islands. Musical instruments, such as the kundu and garamut drums were put on display. We learned a lot about the culture of Papua New Guinea in this gallery. 

The Sir Michael Somare Gallery

The Sir Michael Somare gallery was named after the first prime minister of Papua New Guinea. It was opened in 1986 and it shows temporary exhibits. The Sir Allan Mann gallery was named after the first chairman of the board of Trustees. It had important traveling and temporary exhibitions as well.

The Masterpiece Gallery

The Masterpiece gallery has the museum's most significant cultural objects when it comes to religious importance. We saw tall posts that came from the Sepik region that was used to enhance spirit houses. There were ancestral boards that  had come from the Sepik people and beautiful Malangan masks as well. We learned a lot about the diversity and spiritual expression of Papua New Guinea in the Masterpiece gallery.        

We visited all of the galleries, happily engaged in the history, and art. Overall, the National Museum and Art Gallery was an intriguing experience and perfect for tourists who want to learn more about the country's history and culture. 

Vision City Mega Mall

Vision City Mega Mall (Culture): We soon decided it was time for some shopping, especially Katelin because she wanted to bring some souvenirs home for her family. We all jumped into the truck and Sierra started driving because Ayesha was worn out. We soon reached the Vision City Mega Mall. 

The Cherish store

As soon as we reached the mall we were all very excited and rushed inside to the air conditioning. The Vision City Mega Mall is currently the biggest mall in all of Papua New Guinea. While we were there, we visited sports and traditional stores. Our favorite store was called Cherish. It had everything from fashion apparel to backpacks.

 We all bought Papua New Guinea shirts and headed to a sports store named Trophy Haus. This place had sporting and casual clothing. Jessie was looking at the running shoes, while Ayesha was looking for basketball shoes. Katelin, Sierra, and Sarah looked at the various t-shirts and shorts they had there. We spent so long looking around that we lost track of time and realized that we were all hungry. We all walked towards the food court to eat supper.

The Dynasty Restaurant

The food court had many fast food and dining options, and it was hard to choose where to eat. In the end, we ate at the Dynasty Restaurant. We liked the trolley cart that they would wheel around every 10 minutes and you would pick what you wanted to eat. We also loved the Yang Chao and seafood rice. The restaurant definitely satisfied our hunger.

An image of the Ambunti Crocodile Festival on TV

After our delicious meal, we all went back to the hotel and plopped on our beds and turned on the TV. Holiday/Celebration: One channel featured the Ambunti Crocodile Festival held in the Upper Sepik region. Tourists were also seen attending the festival. They were visiting different villages and their spirit houses. For example, the Haus Tamabaran spirit house is located in Tok Pisin. The people on TV were showing the different art styles of the Upper Sepik. The artwork and spirit houses were interesting and definitely beautiful to look at. 

This celebration places a highlight on the crocodile's significance and cultural importance to the Sepik people. The festival also helps to increase awareness about the importance of protecting and conserving crocodiles. The festival is based on various legends, beliefs, and traditions about the crocodile that have been passed down from generation to generation. This is what makes the crocodile significant to Sepik culture. 

After watching the channel for a couple of hours, we decided to end the day and soon fell fast asleep.

Day 3- August 8th

We arrived in Brisbane, Australia at 6:10 am and had a 2 hour and 40 min layover. We ate a quick breakfast and drank some coffee at Starbucks in the airport. We then headed over to our gate and excitedly talked about the upcoming activities we were going to do after landing in Port Moresby.

We boarded our final flight at 8:50 am. This flight was shorter, only 3 hours and 10 minutes long. Our group was unusually quiet throughout the whole flight. Jessie, Ayesha, and Sarah pulled out their phones, while Katelin and Sierra read books. Halfway through the flight, they switched books. Lunch was given to us on the airplane. It was a horrible meal since it lacked good taste and was quite small. 

At noon, we arrived in Port Moresby and went straight to baggage claim. After picking up our bags, we headed to the car rental place. We rented a truck at Hertz that we used to travel in and around Port Moresby for the next couple of days. Our truck had five seats and additional space for our suitcases, along with air conditioning. We drove to our hotel, Raintree Lodge. We chose this hotel because of the free parking, its great ratings, and the reasonable price that it provided for  five people staying for a couple days.

Our rental truck

Bomana War Cemetery (History): After dropping off our luggage, we drove to the Bomana War Cemetery, the largest war cemetery in the Pacific. The cemetery is part of the Kokoda Track, a trail of sites that mark the battles fought by the Australians during the second world war. This track also stretches across the entire country. Soldiers in Papua New Guinea helped to carry supplies for the allies and fought in most of the battles near and around Port Moresby. Each of us felt a somber atmosphere when we entered the cemetery with all the  rows of gravestones all lined up next to one another in a uniform pattern. It made the cemetery feel very official and important. We learned that the war cemetery holds 3,779 graves. These brave soldiers consisted of Australian and Papuan forces from WWII.  We learned about one of the men, Joseph Croud, who was buried there. He was an Australian air force pilot who was killed in a tragic airplane accident in Port Moresby when his plane's engine stalled upon take off. He was in the process of taking off to fight in one of the many battles between the Australians and the Japanese.

The Bomana War Cemetery

After paying our respects to the fallen soldiers, we realized how hungry we were, so we stopped by at a nearby cafe, the Duffy Cafe. We ate steak, chicken wraps, and drank the best coffee. After eating a filling dinner, we decided to wind down for the night and go back to the hotel. We were all looking forward to the next day's adventures.

Day 2- August 7th

Cabin of the plane.

Today, we spent the whole day on the second flight from Los Angeles to Brisbane. We wished that we could have chosen a different spot to vacation during our summer, but we knew that the long trips that we would take to get to Papua New Guinea would be worth it. At this point, all of us were so incredibly tired, so we agreed to take naps when we landed in Papua New Guinea. Sarah had checked her phone, and realized that her clock had been set back three hours, because we had now left the US Eastern Time Zone. Technically, the flight was only 13 hours and 50 minutes long, but the time change made it seem longer than it really was.

A sunrise taken in the morning.

Because we had a terrible night of sleep on the airplane, sleeping in seemed to be an impossible task. The turbulence last night had kept us up. Sierra loved riding on the plane, and had no trouble falling asleep. After we ate breakfast and watched a movie, Ayesha, Sarah, and Sierra pulled out books to read. Katelin and Jessie went over our next flight's information, although they spent most of the time talking about what we would do first in Papua New Guinea. We looked forward to the Papua New Guinea Adventure Park, because of all the activities it provided. Katelin was the most adventurous of the group and was very eager to go rock climbing, and do the high-ropes course in the park. Even with our books, we had trouble finding things to do. Thankfully, Sarah pointed out the crystal blue water down below. This helped us to keep our spirits up until we landed in Port Moresby.

Day 1- August 6th

The flag of Papua New Guinea

Today we began our journey to Papua New Guinea! We were all thrilled to go on this trip and couldn't wait to experience the many events and locations. Before this trip, we didn't know anything about Papua New Guinea mainly because it's not your typical travel destination. We were surprised to find out that the country is just as fun as France or Italy. We will be taking the following flights to get to Port Moresby, the capital of Papua New Guinea: Raleigh-Durham to Los Angeles to Brisbane to Port Moresby.

We planned to stay in Papua New Guinea from August 6th to August 19th. Our group was anxious to delve into the history, culture, sports, holidays, and foods that the country has to offer. 

Weather: The average weather in August in Papua New Guinea is 88 degrees Fahrenheit with clear skies and sunny weather. It was perfect for our trip. We chose August for our trip, because of the weather is beautiful in this month. Because of the location of Papua New Guinea, we didn’t have to worry about scheduling a flight and arriving in weather that wasn’t favorable. Also, we did some research and found out that many of their cultural events happen during August. 

You can see in this chart that August is a perfect month to travel to Papua New Guinea.

We all got ready to leave at approximately 5 pm. Our bags were packed, and we all headed over to Jessie's house. Once we reached Jessie's house we all drove together in an Uber and reached the Raleigh-Durham airport at 5:30 pm. We thanked the driver and anxiously entered the airport. Scrambling, we dropped our luggage off in the baggage drop-off. Fortunately, the security line wasn’t very long. However, we had a bit of a dilemma when Sierra tried to pass through. The rest of us had turned around towards the rapid beeping noises behind us to see her with a confused look on her face. The security guards soon found out Sierra had packed a large tube of toothpaste in her backpack. Since this was not allowed in carry-on items, we had to discard her toothpaste. She was very distressed over the loss of her bacon-flavored toothpaste, but soon she was happy again.

Meanwhile, Ayesha had frantically checked her phone and realized that we only had 15 minutes until we were scheduled to board. Thankfully, our gate was not far away, and we managed to get there with 10 minutes to spare. Boarding the plane at 7:25 pm, we had settled down into our seats and prepared ourselves for take-off. 

A view from Katelin's seat on the airplane.

The trip from RDU to LAX was a relatively reLAXing ride. Our group was lucky to have seats near each other, although Katelin was forced to sit two rows behind the rest of the group. She was extremely frustrated and voiced her opinion when we landed. We were all trying to go to sleep, but there was a crying baby in front of us. Its noises were keeping us awake, and Jessie was giving the infant one of her murderous looks. We arrived in Los Angeles at 9:45 pm and had an hour and 35 minute layover. During this time, we bought some snacks to keep our stomachs full, and Sarah bought a little Hollywood sign ornament. Our next flight was scheduled to board at 11:20 pm. 

Our itinerary for this trip is in the link below:
Papua New Guinea Itinerary