 | Port Moresby Things To Do | Tips 1 - 10 of 25 |  |
Popular Things To Do | Other Things To Do Tips | All Tips (25) When we wanted to see a display of traditional native dancing, we would head for the hills surrounding Port Moresby. Part-way up the highway to the Sogeri Plateau, was the very nice Kokoda Trail Motel, complete with a restaurant/bar and swimming pool.
The children had a good time there and Sue and I enjoyed the cooler airs of the high ground. It was also here that local dancers would put on a traditional Asaro Mud Men show. This custom arose from the Eastern Highlands area near Goroka, where it is said that the men of the Asaro tribe were defeated in a battle with a neighbouring village. In order to redeem their honour, in the customary New Guinea way of 'payback', the warriors covered themselves in mud and wore ominous face masks as they launched a counter-attack. Thinking that they were being attacked by the ghosts of their enemies, the warriors of the other village fled the scene! Leave a Comment
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We were not the only ones enjoying our perch above the waterfront. The locals turned out in great numbers as well and a few of them were up there with us for the view.
Port Moresby was a magnet for people from all over the country. However, because of the several hundred tribal languages spoken in various isolated communities, they needed a common 'lingua franca' so they could communicate with each other. This language was the very ingenious 'pidgin' English, which actually makes some sense if you use it long enough. A few examples:
How much does that cost?
Em i kostim hamas?
(Him he cost how much?)
When will the plane arrive?
Wataim bai balus i kam?
(What time by airplane he come?)
Where are you from?
Yu bilong wanem ples?
(You belong what name place?) Leave a Comment
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Being from the Maritime Provinces of Canada, I have always liked looking around harbours. Port Moresby was no exception, so we paid a visit one day to view two unusual vessels anchored there.
The 22,300-ton 'Fedor Shalyapin' was a Russian cruiseship touring the South Pacific, with its next scheduled stop in Sydney, Australia. She actually began life in 1955 when she made her maiden voyage from Scotland as the Cunard liner 'Ivernia'. When Cunard cut back on the cruise business, she was sold to the Russians in 1973. After a long and illustrious career, this old lady finally came to rest in Ukraine where she languished dock-side for a few years before being broken up for scrap in 2004.
In the foreground of the photo is a famous Tall Ship, the 150-ton 'Eye of the Wind', with her bowsprit sticking out toward the right side. This topsail schooner was originally built in Germany in 1911 as the 'Friedrich' and she has been around the world a few times since then. The 'Eye of the Wind' has also featured in the movies 'Blue Lagoon', 'Savage Islands' and 'The Bounty'. Little did I know that I would run into her over 20 years later at the Halifax, Canada Year 2000 Tall Ships regatta! Completely refitted in 2001, this vessel can accommodate 30 passengers. Leave a Comment
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These Estuarine Crocodiles are now threatened world-wide, surviving in only a few places like PNG, Australia, India and Southeast Asia. They normally inhabit the coastal waters in river mouths and mangrove swamps but they can also survive further up rivers in fresh water.
Males can grow to about 7-m (22-ft) in length but 4-m is a more common size. As they grow in size, their diet can change as well, from small fish and snakes to barramundi, sharks and even livestock and humans if the opportunity should arise!
Once the keepers of the wildlife farm began tossing out the chickens for feasting, the crocs went wild trying to claim their piece of the action! Note the dry eucalyptus type forest in the background, typical of the Port Moresby area. Leave a Comment
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We were fortunate to be in Port Moresby in June, 1980 when the city hosted the 3rd South Pacific Festival of Arts. This was a major cultural show that drew participants from all over the South Pacific Ocean and Australia.
It kicked off with a huge armada of traditional canoes of all types sailing in to Ela Beach from the Coral Sea. We found ourselves a perch on Paga Point, a narrow strip of land that stuck out from the beach, so we could have a bird's eye view of the activities.
It was quite a sight to see the various colourful sails of the canoes and the many different types of boats. Leave a Comment
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Driving past the harbour toward the northwest, one could access a group of low hills overlooking Port Moresby. We had some great sunset views of the harbour from that vantage point. While there, we were intrigued by these strange-looking plants which dotted the sides of these hills. I thought they were Palm trees of some sort but they are actually Cycads, not closely related to Palm trees at all.
Apparently, this ancient species of seed tree is a left-over from the Jurassic Period of 206-144 million years ago when they grew everywhere. For whatever reason, this species is now close to extinction in the wild. Leave a Comment
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Just on the outskirts of Port Moresby, as you head inland for the mountains behind the city, is the Moitaka Wildlife Farm. This facility carries out research on crocodiles and also has on display a few other animals and birds native to PNG.
Once per week, the crocs in this little pond are fed a meal of chickens. It was quite a tourist attraction, so we decided to check it out one weekend. Here, our two oldest girls are taking a stroll down to the feeding platform as the show is about to begin.
One other thing I remember about Moitaka is that Elcom had a 25 MW combustion turbine generator located near here. With the on-going drought affecting hydro production, power supply for the city was heavily dependent on this machine. One night, after the lights suddenly went out, I headed for Moitaka to see what was wrong. It turned out to be a transmission line fault here caused by a large Python snake that had crawled up a typical steel lattice-type tower and got itself electrocuted when it tried to get across the insulators. I found it lying on the ground beneath the tower - I never would have guessed that snakes would want to crawl up a 60-foot tower! Leave a Comment
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The Botanical Gardens of Port Moresby are located on the large campus of the University of PNG. They were originally created in 1971 as a teaching aid for the university's Biology Department and also to act as a supply of various plants for decoration of the campus.
The Gardens were quite enjoyable when we visited, and they had even managed to create a mini-rain forest in this normally dry and dusty city! They had a good selection of trees, including various types of palms, bamboo, bougainvillea and even a large orchid garden. Leave a Comment
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A real favourite of ours was Crystal Rapids on the Laloki River. Once again, this was up in the mountains of the 800-m high Sogeri Plateau in a nicely wooded area of rain forest.
The water was clear and cool and flowed over a series of very nice rapids, including this one which had a deep pool at the foot of the waterfall. Everyone had a great time jumping off and then clambering back up for another go. This park was set up with picnic areas so it was a very pleasant way to pass a Sunday afternoon before descending back down to the heat of the coastal plain.
Our middle daughter is in the air and the eldest is about to join her! Leave a Comment
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The Festival of Arts lasted 3 days, so we also had the chance to take in the major traditional dancing show that was put on at the Port Moresby fair grounds. This was packed with locals and expatriates alike and the quality of the dancing was excellent. We saw displays by groups of Aborigines, Cook Islanders, Tahitians, Manus Islanders off the north coast of PNG, Bougainvilleans and last but not least, this group from the North Solomon Islands. That island chain butts up against the southeastern border of PNG, and lies nextdoor to Bougainville Island. Leave a Comment
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- Flag Hotel Gateway Hotel (Cnr Jackson And Morea Tobo Rd )
Moreo Tobo Road Jackson, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea - Holiday Inn Port Moresby (Cnr Waigani Dr And Wards Rd Boroko Port Moresby)
Cnr of Waigani & Wards Rd, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea - Flag Hotel Gateway Hotel (Moreo Tobo Road )
Moreo Tobo Road Jackson, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea - Crowne Plaza Hotel PORT MORESBY
Cnr Hunter & Douglas St, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea - Holiday Inn PORT MORESBY (Corner of Waigani & Wards Road.)
Cnr of Waigani & Wards Rd, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea - Crowne Plaza Port Moresby
Cnr Hunter & Douglas St, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea - Crowne Plaza Port Moresby (Hunter And Douglas Street.)
Cnr Hunter & Douglas St, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea - Crowne Plaza Port Moresby (Hunter And Douglas St Po Box 1661 Port Moresby)
Cnr Hunter & Douglas St, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea - Airways Hotel
Jacksons Parade, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea - Quality Hotel Gateway
Moreo Tobo Road Jackson, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea
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on June 12, 2005
