More training and a visit to Rabaul

View across Blanche Bay towards Rabaul and the Mount Tavurvur volcano.

Last week Jenny and I went to Port Moresby to deliver our training programs to NARI staff from Loloki Research Centre, the Chemistry Labs and the Insect Collection. It was all a bit chaotic and we never knew exactly who was going to turn up. We had good numbers and I even had to put on my Scientific Writing course a second time. We stayed the week at The Sanctuary Hotel which is fine but the menu has become a bit unexciting so we had a couple of dinners elsewhere. We had Friday off so we were able to pop into the AV office to collect Jenny's passport which had been with PNG Immigration getting a Visa extension. We also visited a big supermarket for a few treats and the huge Theodist store (think OfficeWorks). We have a Theodist in Lae but it is small.

Jenny running Leadership training at Loloki.

Organised chaos at Port Moresby domestic terminal.

On Saturday we flew to East New Britain. The queue at the Port Moresby airport was daunting but once inside, check-in was quick. Our plane was an hour late taking off but we arrived at the Rapopo Plantation Hotel in time for lunch. This is the same company as The Sanctuary but is in a lovely beachside setting. It also has a vast menu with lots of seafood options I am working my way through.

The reward for our journey was this lovely dining room at the Rapopo Plantation Lodge.

On Sunday we were able to be tourists and took a tour with rabaulscenictours. Our guides and driver were excellent and Rose in particular was a font of knowledge on the history of Rabaul and its people. Our tour combined the WWI and WWII conflicts and the volcanic eruptions that have impacted the district. In WWI, Australian forces were sent to deal with the small German force that were occupying the area. Between the wars, Rabaul was the capital of Australian administered New Guinea but this came to a temporary, sudden end in January 1942 when a large Japanese force arrived. We went to the War Cemetery and saw the many graves of Australian servicemen in their 20s. Sadly there were long lists of names of Australians who died but whose bodies were never recovered. I was interested in the large numbers of graves of Indian men. It was not clear what they were doing there but we were told they were prisoners of the Japanese and were used as slave labour. There are many books written about Rabaul during this period and I will get hold of a couple to educate myself.

The War Cemetery has graves and monuments for about 1500 Australian and Indian troops - mostly from WWII but some from WWI.

The war museum with lots of military memorabilia - much found in the jungle.

Rabaul is dominated by 5-6 volcanoes - two are considered to be snoozing but still alive and locals expect them to fire up again one day. There were eruptions in the 1930s and 1940s but the main event began in 1994 after a decade of increasing seismic activity when Mount Tavurvur erupted. The large amount of ash that rained down, flattened most stores and houses in the central business district and destroyed the airport. Casualties were very low as the authorities had been running regular evacuation drills. Today you can drive along the old streets with driveways leading into the metre-high ash layers, now covered with tropical pioneer plants. A visit to hot springs (people were boiling eggs) brought home to us how the area is still active. A smaller volcano (Mount Vulcan) erupted from the harbour and the ash eventually formed a permanent connection with the mainland. Most businesses and people left and started again in the new capital - Kokopo across the bay.

Rabaul is still a beautiful place. Between the volcano and the current buildings was the central business district, largely destroyed by the tons of ash in 1994.

Looking across the bay you can see the scars from landslips after the recent cyclonic rain.
The ship is transporting balsa logs to China.

Rabaul now is a small town but still has the main port in East New Britain so it plays an important role in the province.

There are some nice birds to be found in and around Kokopo. I'm confused about the Kingfishers in the hotel garden. It is likely that there are Melanesian Kingfishers but one this morning was definitely a Sacred Kingfisher. I will try for more photos. Common in the garden are Hooded Mannikins and this morning a large flock was on the boat ramp just above the water line. These are finches and live on grass seed so I'm not sure what they were doing there.

Part of a flock of about 30 Hooded Mannikins foraging just above the water line.

Some very loud screeching led me to a pair of Violet-breasted Lorys. They were not fussed by my presence and I managed a couple of nice phone photos.

Other highlights have been a cockroach in Admiral Yamamoto's Bunker and a school of fish below the beach-side bar.

Squaretail Mullet are fed every morning.

The view across the harbour to Rabaul is constantly changing.

A visit to the Kokopo market is compulsory. Much nicer than the current, temporary market in Lae.

Training is going well despite some hiccups. Our co-trainer, Boney Wera from Aiyura Research Centre up in the Highlands, had a flight cancellation and missed day 1. Then on day 2 there was a dedication service (whatever that is) that ran up to lunchtime. We found a small TV to use as a second display screen and ran concurrent sessions so by now (day 4) we are caught up. Numbers attending each session has been total guesswork. Jenny was expecting 5 and ended up with over 30 to her course on Monday. All good!

Me teaching Spreadsheet Basics to an enthusiastic bunch of students.