Wednesday, February 19th—Alotau, Papua New Guinea—Our 46th Cruise Day

Wednesday, February 19^th—Alotau, Papua New Guinea—Our 46^th Cruise Day

We departed Cairns, Australia, on Monday evening, February 17^th, and on Tuesday the 18^th, we cruised north through the Coral Sea, out of Australian waters and into the Torres Strait between Australia and the island of New Guinea. By the early morning of Wednesday, February 19^th, we reached the southeast tip of the island of New Guinea and then moved westward through Milne Bay, reaching the town of Alotau about 8:00 AM.
 

The island of New Guinea is the second largest island on Earth (Greenland is the largest) with an area of over 300,000 square miles. The southern coastline of New Guinea appears to fit like a “jigsaw puzzle piece” into the northern coastline of Australia and in fact the two were once joined. But flooding after the end of the last ice age created the Torres Strait which separated the two landmasses. The island was first discovered by the Spanish in the 16^th century who named it “Nueva Guinea.”
 

The island has a population of over 11 million and is considered part of Melanesia. Politically, the island is divided into (roughly) equal halves: a western half (Indonesia) and an eastern half (Papua New Guinea.) The territories of Papua (southeastern portion of the island) and New Guinea (northeastern portion of the island) were once separate, but became joined together as one country after World War II. Today Papua New Guinea includes not only the eastern half of the island of New Guinea, but also many islands to the east—including New Britain, Bougainville, and New Ireland.
 

Although there are over 1000 recognized languages, the official language is English, with “Melanesian Pidgin” commonly spoken. The currency is the “Kina”  (US $1 = about 2.50 Kina), but US currency is widely accepted. Industries include copra crushing, palm oil production, and plywood manufacturing.

The town of Alotau (population about 15,000) is located at the head of Milne Bay which is at the extreme southwestern tip of the island of New Guinea. It was the site of an important battle between Japanese and Australian/U.S forces from August 25^th to September 7th, 1942. Known as the “The Battle of Milne Bay”, this was where the Japanese suffered their first land defeat of World War II. The battle resulted in about 700-750 Japanese deaths, and about 180 Australian/U.S. deaths. Throughout the town and the surrounding area of Alotau there are memorials to this battle.

 

Alotau is definitely not a common stop for cruise ships. The largest wharf in town (Alotau Industrial Wharf) could barely accommodate us and when moored, the bow of our ship stuck out into the bay. Upon going ashore, it was very clear that the locals were not geared up for tourists—which in many ways was very nice. We decided to make this an “easy day”. We had toured hard at the three ports in Australia and had had only one “sea day” between there and our arrival at Alotou. So we didn’t sign up for any tours and decided to just go into town and see where chance might take us. An old city bus was available as a “free shuttle” to take us on the 10 minute journey into town, so we took advantage of that.

But the first thing we noticed when we got off the m/s Amsterdam was the temperature—it was hotter in Alotau than at any port we had visited thus far on our trip! So we initially thought we would take the shuttle into town, make a quick look around, and then return to the ship to cool off. (It turns out it didn’t work out that way—please read further!)

The shuttle dropped us off at Memorial Park near the Town Center, and the first thing we noticed was that wood carvers from the Trobriand Islands (north of New Guinea) had set up stalls under a thatched shelter and were selling the objects they had created. And their wood carved objects were beautiful—carvings from the Trobriand Islands are renowned for being among the best in the world! Unfortunately, although we were tempted, we didn’t buy anything—we have limited house space and were very near our “art object limit.” Afterwards we walked through Memorial Park where there were informational signs describing the 1942 “Battle of Milne Bay.”

 

After that, we were about to return to the ship, but we ran into a friend who told us that we just had to see the Alotau Main Market. So despite the heat, we walked a few hundred yards into town and to the market. And it was well worth the effort. The market consisted of stalls with fruit and vegetable produce as well as seafood being sold. And the colorful produce included items unlike anything we had ever seen. It was very clear that this was a working market—not a tourist destination. Many of the sellers must have wondered what in the world we were doing there—we looked about as “un-local” as two people could get! But the highlight of our visit to the market was seeing families with children—there aren’t any children on our cruise ship so seeing local children on shore is always special. 

Alotau has an excellent supermarket called the Papindo Department Store and Supermarket and it is just across the street from the main produce/seafood market. So we crossed the street and the supermarket turned out to be an oasis—it was air conditioned with fans everywhere! We bought some wine and beer, and interestingly had to go outside the building to pick up our purchases. And at this point we made the decision to keep exploring rather than return to the ship—Alotau was starting to get interesting! (Actually, it was Bill who persuaded a reluctant Pat to keep exploring!)

 

If any readers of this blog are ever tempted to take a world trip similar to this one, one piece of advice we would strongly recommend is: “Research your ports of call before departing on the cruise to get some ideas for what you would like to see and do.” And this is especially true if you plan to “go it alone” at a port rather than be part of a tour. We had not done as much research as we wished we would have ahead of time, but after starting our cruise, we did get some information from three main sources:

1.  Prior to our arrival at each port, Barbara—a Holland America staff member—would give 45 minute talks on things to see and do while in port. Bill always attended these talks and took notes.

2.  Prior to arrival at each port, Holland America would provide a map and information sheet on what to see and do. Unfortunately the information sheet was very brief, but it did have some useful information.

3.  Holland America has their own sponsored excursions which are described in a booklet. And the booklet describes each place that each excursion will visit. So we were able to get some ideas from the excursion book, which we then visited on our own.

So after cooling off and making the necessary purchases at the supermarket, Bill found a taxi and negotiated a price for the driver to take us around the rest of the day. (We think the price was about US $15). Bill had read from the ship’s information sheet that the “Driftwood Restaurant” was a few miles west of Alotau, and thought that might be a good place to spend a relaxing day. But when we arrived, the restaurant was closed, so we headed east, back to Alotau, and this is where our real adventure began!

 

Bill had read in the Holland America shore excursion book that one of their excursions was to the villages of “Ahioma” and “Gehi Gehi” (both to the east of Alotau) and they sounded interesting. So Bill instructed our taxi driver to take us to those villages. Unfortunately, our taxi driver had no idea where those villages were. But he didn’t want to admit that to us for fear that we would get another driver and he would lose his fare. So the driver took us east, out of Alotau and the main road quickly became a dirt road. We had to ford across water that had flooded the road and Pat was becoming more and more nervous. Clearly we were in a remote area that was becoming more and more remote by the minute! But Bill was enjoying the trip—we passed a school with children playing outside, and a Christian Church built in traditional Papua New Guinea style. After about 45 minutes, we met a man walking along the road and our driver asked for directions to the villages we mentioned. He had no idea. Then we came across a woman with children and asked directions—she pointed and said the villages were down a road even more primitive than the one we were on.

At this point, Pat checked, and incredibly we had international phone service! She texted our son Nathan with the message “We are in Papua New Guinea, and Coach has us going to a place even the taxi driver has never heard of.” Nathan’s reply? “Go Coach!” (NOTE: Our children call Bill “Coach” because he coached them in sports when they were younger.)

 

So we followed the directions of the woman we met on the road and soon found ourselves at a single home on the beach. The owner was very friendly, but she clearly had no idea why we were there. And although the excursion book indicated that this was a “seaside village where we could swim in Milne Bay”, there was no village, and the water was far too rough for swimming. So after about 10 minutes, we departed the “village”—we weren’t sure where we had been, but we were quite sure it wasn’t where the excursion book described! And at that point—to Pat’s great relief—we headed back to Alotau.

But our day was not over. Our driver suggested we visit the Turnbull War Memorial—where the original “Airstrip No. 3” was located, where the Japanese first landed on the island, and where some of the fiercest fighting took place. This was west of Alotau, so upon reaching the town, we once again passed through and traveled about 20 minutes west to the memorial.

The memorial was very moving—it was located where so many Australian and U.S. soldiers lost their lives to keep the airfield open, which was crucial to the success of the battle. But by now that day was starting to wind down—all aboard was at 4:30PM—so we decided to take in just one last sight—the view of Milne Bay and Alotau from “Top Town”—located in the hills above Alotau.

And we were on our way there when Bill had an inspiration of lunacy. Everywhere we went in Alotau we saw locals—especially men—chewing “betel nut.” Betel nut comes from the fruit of the Areca Palm Tree and inside is a “nut” (which isn’t really a nut) that can be chewed along with calcium hydroxide. (Calcium hydroxide is also known as “slaked lime” and is made by heating coral--which is composed of calcium carbonate.) Often the mixture can be flavored with a variety of spices—some of which act as an astringent. But the most characteristic feature of betel nut is that it makes the saliva and teeth of the person who chews it turn blood red. And why would someone want to chew betel nut? Apparently it acts as a mild stimulant which the locals refer to as a “spark.”

 

So of course Bill had to try betel nut. He asked our driver to stop at one of the many roadside stands (which were Alotau’s version of a “7-11”) and secure what we needed for the betel nut experience. (Pat wasn’t game to try.) The first step was to bite through the green fruit to get to the “nut” inside. Bill did this, and was then given a thimbleful of white, powdered calcium hydroxide and a spice that looked like a half of a green bean—only with a “braided” surface. (Bill didn’t know then and still doesn’t know what this “spice” was!) The next instruction was to chew the “nut”, the white powdered calcium hydroxide, and the mystery spice all together. (We are sure it will surprise no one that this mixture has been shown to be carcinogenic!) Bill followed the instructions carefully and began to chew. The first thing he noticed was the horrible taste—truly disgusting! And then his saliva, lips, and teeth turned blood red as predicted. (Pat couldn’t resist taking a photo!) But where was the “spark”? Initially Bill didn’t feel anything. However after a couple of minutes, the spark did indeed come—but it was more like a sledge hammer over the head! Bill’s head was spinning, his heart was racing and he felt like he had just downed a bottle of whiskey. He spit out the betel nut mixture and barely had the wherewithall to get back to the taxi. Actually it was a bit scary—when would he “hit bottom”? How long would he feel like this?

Even our taxi driver started to become a little scared—what was he going to do with a passed out American three times his size? Fortunately Bill felt better and better as we drove to “Top Town”, and within a half hour the effects had greatly dissipated.

We enjoyed the views from Top Town—especially our ship at dock in Milne Bay and Alotau Primary School. But after a few minutes it really was time to get back to our ship—it was starting to get close to “all aboard” and who knows how or when we would get back to our ship if we missed its departure?

 

When we left the ship that morning, our intent was to spend just an hour or so ashore and to make it a simple and relaxing day. But we did much, much more and we are glad we did. Alotau is a town that is rarely visited by cruise ships, and as a result, the locals are much less jaded and far more genuine than in other places. And for us, that is what travel is all about.

Our ship departed Alotau at about 5:00 PM. We would have one “sea day” sailing north through the Solomon and Bismarck seas before our next port of call on the north side of the island—Madang, Papua New Guinea, on Friday February 21^st.