Blogs from Rabaul, East New Britain, Papua New Guinea, Oceania

This region of PNG borders on the Solomon Sea and while dotted with beautiful Islands, also has really deep troughs. We sailed over the Triobriand Trough which is 8000 meters deep on our overnight journey from Kitava to Rabaul, a distance of a little under 300 nautical miles. Did we notice the trough? Nope! Finally we turned and sailed down into Rabaul Harbour. The early morning skies had been quite ominous and we were thinking a wet day. It didn't turn out that way for which we are grateful. The other obvious issue was the active volcano to the right of the town centre, steaming strongly in the morning light. Tavurvur, or in English, 'Always there' has changed the landscape several times in the past 100 years - and we were going to the foot of ... read more

Another place for a pin, but not much to see here except an active volcano named ´Turvurvur¡'. It first erupted in 1994-95 and almost completely destroyed the town of Rabaul, not from flowing lava but because it was completely covered up with ashes. I have enclosed a photo of Turvurvur as it looked when we sailed away last evening. It was in full glory, spewing forth smoke and ashes which made the air around town most unpleasant. The second photo is of the waterfront and you can see that it doesn't compare at all to the beauty of the waterfronts in Auckland and Sydney. Most of the passengers are not sure just why the Queen Victoria decided to include Rabaul on its list of places to stop for the day. We are now on our way ... read more

Papua New Guinea (PNG) New Britain Island - Rabaul Arrived at the pilot station on time, 6:00 am. Waited 30 minutes for the pilot. I guess island time applies even to an island the size of New Britain, PNG. While we waited, I got a good look at Turvur-vur, one of the many active volcanoes in the area. We are on the Ring of Fire here and a caldera on the flank of Turvur-vur was spewing steam into the sky. In 1994, Turvur-vur and Vulcan on the other side of the harbor both erupted at the same time and blanked Rabaul with cinders and ash. The town is slowly rebuilding. 7:00 am. We are now drifting at the entrance of Simpson Harbor. We’re scheduled to dock at 8:00 am so I’m guessing that the authorities are ... read more

Well Welcome to the second port of out PNG time. It has been amazing time. Rabaul is so great. The area is so nice with nature and what not. There was an active volcano about 1 hour walk from the ship. There was also a nice mountain right in front of the ship. I did a bunch of early morning hikes in the past few weeks. Its great, get up early before it get to hot and go out hiking ! I hope you enjoy the pics ! God Bless BEN... read more

Rabaul, on New Britain Island, used to be one of the pearls of the Pacific. Despite frequent volcanic activity, the German colonisers, and later the Japanese invaders, had turned the town into one of the largest and one of the most attractive towns in Papua New Guinea. This reality changed rather abruptly in 1994 when the volcano Tuvurvur exploded, with little warning, completely destroying Rabaul. The town was covered in several meters of ash, and in the weeks after the eruption, the roofs of Rabaul's buildings caved in one by one... I have lived in Port Moresby for 6 months now, since January. A long weekend in Rabaul was my first trip outside of Central Province and the National Capital District. It took way too long for me to get out. Despite really enjoying my life ... read more