ewaiea
Contributor
Okay so it's actually two questions...
I'm doing the Star Dancer 4/23-5/3 - coming up in less than a month! The Peter Hughes website mentions that departure taxes and dive taxes can be paid on board via credit card along with crew tips. I'm staying at the Walindi Resort the night before boarding which has been prepaid but in case I need I understand they accept credit cards too. On the way home I'm staying at the Airways Hotel in Port Moresby for one night and I understand credit cards are accepted there as well.
Question #1
Is this all correct? Do I need to exchange my money for Kina for any reason? I've already got my tourist visa ahead of time from the Papua New Guinea Embassy in Washington D.C., so is exchanging my currency necessary? And if it is, can I do it on my layover in Cairns right before I depart for Port Moresby???
My second question is travel related...
I'm traveling 11.5 hours from Honolulu to Sydney and then a 3.5 hour layover, then a 3 hour flight to Cairns with an 8 hour (11pm-7am) layover, then 2 hours to Port Moresby with a 7 hour layover, then a 90 minute flight to Hoskins followed by a one hour drive to Walindi. For all intents and purposes, two days of travel! Oh by the way, prior to all of this travel I have to work a mandatory graveyard shift for 12 hours and head to the airport at 6am! Ya, I know - it sucks!
Question #2
Would a hotel room in Cairns be worth it for a few hours rest in an actual bed as opposed to sleeping in the terminal? I imagine I'll be pretty wiped by this point of my trip - have any of you done something similar on a layover of around 8 hours and did it help? Or should I just suck it up and sleep on the ground in the terminal near the gate? I am kind of scared to miss my Air Niugini flight but I figure if I get to the airport 2 hours ahead of time that should be sufficient - I just have to set 3 or 4 alarms so I don't over sleep. Everyone on flyertalk.com/forums seems to be saying that the hotel stay for a 8 hour stop would be a good choice (but they're not divers) - your thoughts?
Sorry for the long-winded question, but any advice would be worth alot to me.
I'm doing the Star Dancer 4/23-5/3 - coming up in less than a month! The Peter Hughes website mentions that departure taxes and dive taxes can be paid on board via credit card along with crew tips. I'm staying at the Walindi Resort the night before boarding which has been prepaid but in case I need I understand they accept credit cards too. On the way home I'm staying at the Airways Hotel in Port Moresby for one night and I understand credit cards are accepted there as well.
Question #1
Is this all correct? Do I need to exchange my money for Kina for any reason? I've already got my tourist visa ahead of time from the Papua New Guinea Embassy in Washington D.C., so is exchanging my currency necessary? And if it is, can I do it on my layover in Cairns right before I depart for Port Moresby???
My second question is travel related...
I'm traveling 11.5 hours from Honolulu to Sydney and then a 3.5 hour layover, then a 3 hour flight to Cairns with an 8 hour (11pm-7am) layover, then 2 hours to Port Moresby with a 7 hour layover, then a 90 minute flight to Hoskins followed by a one hour drive to Walindi. For all intents and purposes, two days of travel! Oh by the way, prior to all of this travel I have to work a mandatory graveyard shift for 12 hours and head to the airport at 6am! Ya, I know - it sucks!
Question #2
Would a hotel room in Cairns be worth it for a few hours rest in an actual bed as opposed to sleeping in the terminal? I imagine I'll be pretty wiped by this point of my trip - have any of you done something similar on a layover of around 8 hours and did it help? Or should I just suck it up and sleep on the ground in the terminal near the gate? I am kind of scared to miss my Air Niugini flight but I figure if I get to the airport 2 hours ahead of time that should be sufficient - I just have to set 3 or 4 alarms so I don't over sleep. Everyone on flyertalk.com/forums seems to be saying that the hotel stay for a 8 hour stop would be a good choice (but they're not divers) - your thoughts?
Sorry for the long-winded question, but any advice would be worth alot to me.
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