Star Dancer / Papua New Guinea : First Interlude

I've been up to so much in the last month since reaching Australia that I'm way behind on my reports. I'm working on it! :)

The 10-day exploratory excursion on the Dancer Fleet’s Star Dancer in Milne Bay, Papua New Guinea was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to dive a remote location in the world at a truly unbelievable price—at USD$1,000 per diver times 16, our combined fares probably barely covered the trip expenses (fuel, food, wages for the 11-man crew, compressor and boat maintenance etc.), if not at all. Still billed as a luxury cruise, the Star Dancer exploratory excursion included all the Dancer Fleet signature amenities—complimentary wine and beer, evening turn down service in the cabins, 3 significant meals with a sit-down dinner and morning/afternoon snack, bed linen and towel changes, and fresh deck towels/bathrobes following the 5 times/day dives.

‘Spectacular’ is my one-word assessment of the Milne Bay diving. While we did have reduced visibility and water temperatures on some dive sites, as well as some ripping currents to add additional challenge, the variety of aquatic life, particularly the corals, was overwhelming. Indeed, on some dives I spent very little time hunting for critters within the nooks and crannies—just looking at the abundant fish life and the beautiful coral colors was enough to keep me entertained.

I departed Cairns on Monday, March 27th, to fly to Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea’s capital city and starting point for domestic journeys. While the Papua New Guinea people have a reputation for being genuinely friendly and helpful, Port Moresby regrettably has a reputation for being a not-so-traveler-friendly place. The LNG and gold mining projects in PNG have created a boom in business travel, so the hotel prices reflect the high expense accounts of their main clientele as well as the need for a high level of security—everything is behind gates, manned by 24-hour security, and airport courtesy shuttles collect guests upon arrival and return them to the airport for onward travel. I booked the Crowne Plaza Executive Floor as I realized that, sadly, I would not be leaving the hotel to wander around per my usual fashion. This suspicion was confirmed as I looked down from my 9th floor room on a scene reminiscent of a developing Southeast Asian country, and reinforced by some of the frequent LNG Crowne Plaza guests I visited with during Happy Hour.

On Tuesday, the 28th, I returned to the Port Moresby International Airport to take a 1-hour hop to Alotau, the departure point for the Star Dancer. The 4 hours total I spent at the airport in the domestic terminal were more amusing than any 2-hour Hollywood feature I could have watched on my 52” big screen television at the Crowne Plaza. Highlights include (but are not limited to!):

-- People who have spent any time living in the Arabian Gulf, particular Qatar, would have recognized the scene outside the airport— families and groups of people were camped outside the entrance, some with shoes, some with luggage, some with shopping bags, sitting on the sidewalk. While security were limiting entrance to the airport to people with tickets, it was fairly obvious that I, as a single white female, had no other business at the airport so I walked in unchallenged.

-- An elderly nun, sporting the dramatic white sails (in lieu of black and white), wanted to go to the check-in counter but found her way blocked by a big tall local. Without hesitating or even a word of warning, she simply shoved him aside, and even managed to roll over his foot with her wheelie bag in the process.

-- Three guys working in the gold mining who were meant to fly at 7.45, but still sitting at 9 am in anticipation of the check-in counter opening.

-- The domestic which broke out in the domestic waiting lounge. Some lady got mad at her husband / brother / other male relative (or at least I hope they were related) and jumped up, shouting and whaling on him with her beach bag purse. A crowd promptly gathered to watch the festivities, and a passing gate agent came back with a security guard to sort out the trouble.

-- When a flight was boarding, a different woman stood waiting, bag in hand, shifting from foot to foot, watching irritably towards the toilets located 80m away and glancing at the gate agent. A man came shuffling out the door of the men’s room, to be greeted with “Ge-cho ass obah here” and then a barrage of some language for which I did not understand the words, but the meaning was most definitely clear—“We are about to miss our flight”