Time provides a lens, and seemingly random incidents focus them.
I had a surgery 2 months ago to remove an undiagnosed (and now beaten) cancer that originally was offered to be this week. At the time I was faced at the moment to choose whether to have the surgery either a week before arriving in Papua New Guinea or Western Europe, and I chose the latter on instinct.
I’m glad I did; Port Moresby, the capital of Papua New Guinea, has a longtime reputation of being rough around the edges and I didn’t want to have any post-surgical complications in any part of the developing world. But to be honest after 2 days here, I think I could’ve managed it; it’s not as rought as I was led to expect.
2 days ago I redeemed 70k miles from Chase for 2 United premium economy flights from NYC to SFO with a 3 hour layover and then a 14 hour flight to BNE airport in Brisbane, Australia.
Remarkably I was able to total 9 hours on the 14 hour flight to Brisbane, minimizing my jet lag. Then when approaching the transfers area for my third and onward flight to Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, I gave myself the runaround whether to eschew immigrations for the international transfers area where I could (possibly) obtain my onward ticket from Brisbane to Port Moresby at the gate (Qantas needed to see a copy of my approved e-visa on arrival before issuing my ticket), or to enter Australia officially and check-in normally at departures. I had 3 hours to decide.
Hedging my risk tolerance, I ended up choosing the former. But after 10 minutes waiting in the international transfers area, I changed my mind after deciding it wasn’t worth the risk with having so much time on my hands. I exited back through security, went through immigrations to enter Australia, checked in normally at departures to obtain my ticket, and then was informed that I could’ve gotten the ticket anyway by staying in the transfers area and checking in at the gate. Finding out so much about myself and my penchant for risk and anxiety….
With 2 hours left to kill, I checked into the Plaza Premium Lounge for some coffee before taking the 9:05am Qantas flight from Brisbane to Port Moresby, arriving at 12:20pm.
Immigrations was straightforward: I filled out a customs form, showed them my e-visa approval letter on my phone, and got stamped in!
Walking past luggage and into arrivals, I texted my local contact Peter Morgan who was running late from Sunday church.
10 minutes in, Peter arrived with his enthusiasm and curiosity what would bring me to Papua New Guinea for only 24 hours.
Heading out from arrivals up to the second floor departures level, we got into his car in the parking lot and drove out for a tour of Port Moresby.
Peter drove me out 9-10 miles outside of Port Moresby for our first stop at the Bomana War Cemetery, commemorating the 700+ officers and men of the Australian Army, Papuan and New Guinea local forces, the Australian Merchant Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force, who lost their lives during the operations in Papua against the Japanese and who have no known grave.
There’s a commemoration to the Kokoda Trail, now a famously grueling single-file trekking path and the location of the 1942 World War II battle between Japanese and Allied Australian forces when Papua had belonged to Austrlia.
I found remarkable there were numerous if not most of the tombstones had no names; either “A SOLDIER OF THE 1939-1945 WAR” or “AN AUSTRALIAN SOLDIER” seemed to make up a good portion of the cemetery.
The veterans’ cemetery is right next to the 80 Hectare (and running out of room!) 9 Mile Cemetery:
Then stopping by to get waters at a local grocery store and not bothering with a broken ATM there (although there was a long line in front of it still), we next stopped at impressive Port Moresby Nature Park. No cash? They take credit cards for admission.
Located next to the University of Papua New Guinea, the nature park reserve is very well taken care of and features unbelievably rare PNG wildlife such as their birds of paradise . . .
Multiple wallaby species including tree kangaroos:
Cassowaries:
Other native bird species:
…and humongous snakes. It’s not everyday you come to a world-class nature preserve (and dare some say, zoo) and read poster boards that are less about the species and more about how to guard yourself against getting killed by them, since so many would be living in your own Papua New Guinean backyards:
If you are lucky you might catch a local wedding or two in the lush gardens here:
As jetlag was creeping up on me and after spending an hour at the park, we headed out for one last stop of the day at the breezy seaside Koki Fish Market.
Leave it to the Chinese to bargain for the best catch of the day. I know my people:
Peter then took me through central Port Moresby…
…passing by Mosque Hohola
…to the Hilton Port Moresby where I checked in, enjoyed a quick workout on the 15th floor, dinner on the first floor, and slept in early at 8pm.
Waking up after 9 hours of uninterrupted sleep + getting in another morning workout as the sun rose + a long black with complimentary breakfast on the rooftop Executive Lounge: perfection.
At 9am Peter returned to pick me up and made our first stop of our second day in Port Moresby at Parliament:
The National Museum is next door but unfortunately it was closed due to a local holiday. Nobody opened the gates for us and therefore Google Photos had to do:
Peter then took me down to the floating houses by the US embassy:
And stopped along the coast for a view of Port Moresby from the bay:
Still with so much time to kill before my departing flight out, we then drove up Touaguba Hill for the best views of Port Moresby.
The hill is where all the ambassadors, wealthy expats and well-off locals live. So they got served. And I took a potty break here.
Driving back down to sea level, Peter pointed out the handful of WW2-era Japanese bunkers that remain and still look out into the sea.
We then finished with a stroll along Ela Beach, where numerous locals and families played rugby and other beach sports.
Sitting on the coast, Peter nodded off and took a cat nap while I took in the fact I was in Papua New Guinea.
Then still with plenty of time, Peter drove me back to the airport 2 hours before my return flight out to Sydney.
Now back at the parking lot where we had only just met the day prior, Peter and I bid each other farewell and promised to see each other again when I’d return for a longer trip in Papua New Guinea.
Having already obtained my flight ticket online, I skipped the check-in desks and walked up to security.
Stamped out and at the departures lounge, I’m typing away from the only place to charge your phones by Gate 2. Trying to still grasp how I was able to visit Papua New Guinea only 2 months after removing a major organ and beating cancer before knowing I even had it…
- At time of posting in Port Moresby, it was 25 °C - Humidity: 80% | Wind Speed: 27km/hr | Cloud Cover: sunny and clear, hot hot hot