OP
stonefish35
Contributor
Nudibranch - Reticulidia Fungia
Not sure what is this, any diver can help ?
Port Moresby , PNG Trip report
- Thread starter stonefish35
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Nudibranch - Reticulidia Fungia
Not sure what is this, any diver can help ?
OP
stonefish35
Contributor
1st time visitors to PNG, especially to Port Moresby should be careful and not roam around without a local guide. From my observations, all self respecting establishments like hotels, restaurants and supermarkets employ their own guards. All good hotels deploy their guards at the gate, and the gate are opened only when a vehicle wanted to drive into the hotels compound. Saw an hotel even had a guard dog at the main gate, and another hotels guard at the gate had a shotgun. Barbed wire ( they call it razor wire ) are the norm for all buildings . I even saw a housing perimeter fence having a triple con-wire hey , thats what we set up to slow down a tank columns advance.
At the supermarket, there are guards at the entrance to the compound, at the entrance to the supermarket and at the open air carpark. At the japanese restaurant in downtown that we had a dinner, I counted 5 guards from the entrance to the carpark, to the entrance to the restaurant.
This being a recce trip , I plan to return to PNG in 3 4 years time. This time, rather than flying direct to POM with Air Niugini , I will rather fly to Cairns , and from there, take the flight from another PNG airline to POM. This will save me a couple of hundreds , and allows me to stay a couple of nights and dive cairns too. I plan to dive Kavieng , Port Moresby and Cairns in this return trip.
At the supermarket, there are guards at the entrance to the compound, at the entrance to the supermarket and at the open air carpark. At the japanese restaurant in downtown that we had a dinner, I counted 5 guards from the entrance to the carpark, to the entrance to the restaurant.
This being a recce trip , I plan to return to PNG in 3 4 years time. This time, rather than flying direct to POM with Air Niugini , I will rather fly to Cairns , and from there, take the flight from another PNG airline to POM. This will save me a couple of hundreds , and allows me to stay a couple of nights and dive cairns too. I plan to dive Kavieng , Port Moresby and Cairns in this return trip.
alijtaylor
Contributor
Thanks for the report stonefish, looks like you had a very good time. I arrive in PoM in less than 8 weeks (great excitement) and you have made me decide I definitely will get visa before I go!
Cheers
Alison
Cheers
Alison
OP
stonefish35
Contributor
You are welcome Alison.
Is your host going to meet you at the airport ? Or you are taking an domestic flight after you touched down ? Better to have some spare change in any currency as once you step out of the airport, the porters will be eager to push your luggage for ya. If you are thinking of doing a tour of Port Moresby, The Dive centre can organise that. My favourite dive sites in Moresby is
1. Suzie's Bommie
2. Di's Delight
3. MV Pacific Gas
4. MV Pai II
The schooling sweetlips are found at Suzie's bommie
Cheers,
Danny
Is your host going to meet you at the airport ? Or you are taking an domestic flight after you touched down ? Better to have some spare change in any currency as once you step out of the airport, the porters will be eager to push your luggage for ya. If you are thinking of doing a tour of Port Moresby, The Dive centre can organise that. My favourite dive sites in Moresby is
1. Suzie's Bommie
2. Di's Delight
3. MV Pacific Gas
4. MV Pai II
The schooling sweetlips are found at Suzie's bommie
Cheers,
Danny
caymaniac
Contributor
Thanks for a delightful report, I dove PNG a year ago. We dove on Star Dancer as well as Loloata. What photo equip are you using?
OP
stonefish35
Contributor
Hi caymaniac ,
I'm currently using Canon A95 with canon housing , Inon D180s strobe, customised Inon 67mm adapter , Inon UCL165 macro lens. The schooling sweetlips and seafan photos were taken with custom white balance and the nudibranch - Reticulidia Fungia was taken with internal flash only as my strobe's o ring broke and I did not bring the spare.
I'm currently using Canon A95 with canon housing , Inon D180s strobe, customised Inon 67mm adapter , Inon UCL165 macro lens. The schooling sweetlips and seafan photos were taken with custom white balance and the nudibranch - Reticulidia Fungia was taken with internal flash only as my strobe's o ring broke and I did not bring the spare.
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I loved the schooling Sweetlips shots!
Glad you could see the blessing in disguise about the strobe. thanks for reminding me to pack my extra o-rings...they are "somewhere"
as far as the crime and need for razor wire, can you elaborate a bit on what the risks are? Is it just poverty and people roaming around or political stuff?
good tips for customs and currency. (so, you are advising getting some before arriving?)
Glad you could see the blessing in disguise about the strobe. thanks for reminding me to pack my extra o-rings...they are "somewhere"
as far as the crime and need for razor wire, can you elaborate a bit on what the risks are? Is it just poverty and people roaming around or political stuff?
good tips for customs and currency. (so, you are advising getting some before arriving?)
OP
stonefish35
Contributor
Catherine,
Thanks for your encouragement. For my future trips, I will even pack the spare o rings for my 3 torches. Housing spare O ring is a must for all my trips.
Actually my buddy and I got a small rude shock when we stepped out of the airport and looked abit lost trying to locate the Airways Hotel van and dunno where to go. This porter ( just a local earning a living by " helping" with the luggage, and not the airport nor hotel staff ) promptly came to us and pushed our trolley containing our luggages up the open air staircase - to the open air car park where the Airways Hotel and Gateway Hotels vans are. i understand that we need to " express our gratitude " for this. As i'm unable to get Kina from Singapore, I took out some S$1 coins from my trousers and passed to him.( I do not wish to expose my wallet in that kind of place ) He said he do not want other currency and wanted only Kina. He looked kind of fierce when he said that. I apologise to him that I do not have any kina on me, and please accept my S$. I understand that the locals prefer Kina, as they do not need to go to the currency exchange.
I felt relieved when I saw the Airways Hotel Van.He looked very unhappy as he loaded our luggage onto the van and left with my S$. I got my rude shock when the porter returned to the van, and said he do not want my $S that I had given him , and demanded 10 kina . I was shocked. As i'm travelling with a lady friend and he WAS fierce, i pulled out a couple of Singapoire dollars and passed it to him , telling him firmly that, I DO NOT have any kina, pls just take the S$ notes. He left after that. All this happening, with the driver inside the van with us. I guess, the driver will not interfer as long the port does not turn physical. The porters are just earning a living, but we were abit shocked by the porter returning to the van and demanded kina.
My advise is, get some small change in dollar notes, in any currency. I guess it will be difficult to get Kina outside PNG, so i guess USD will be good. My mistake is to give him a few $1 coins . I guess they will be happier to see notes rather than coins.
And make sure that your host is meeting you at the Airport. If not , stay inside the arrival hall, and wait for the Hotel driver to come in with the Board bearing their hotel's name. I saw this when I was departing
I was given a map of the airport terminal when I booked my air tickets with my agent. I will try to locate it , have it scanned and post it up here for the benefit of all divers. But it will take some time , as I need to locate a friend who is still using a scanner.
Thanks for your encouragement. For my future trips, I will even pack the spare o rings for my 3 torches. Housing spare O ring is a must for all my trips.
Actually my buddy and I got a small rude shock when we stepped out of the airport and looked abit lost trying to locate the Airways Hotel van and dunno where to go. This porter ( just a local earning a living by " helping" with the luggage, and not the airport nor hotel staff ) promptly came to us and pushed our trolley containing our luggages up the open air staircase - to the open air car park where the Airways Hotel and Gateway Hotels vans are. i understand that we need to " express our gratitude " for this. As i'm unable to get Kina from Singapore, I took out some S$1 coins from my trousers and passed to him.( I do not wish to expose my wallet in that kind of place ) He said he do not want other currency and wanted only Kina. He looked kind of fierce when he said that. I apologise to him that I do not have any kina on me, and please accept my S$. I understand that the locals prefer Kina, as they do not need to go to the currency exchange.
I felt relieved when I saw the Airways Hotel Van.He looked very unhappy as he loaded our luggage onto the van and left with my S$. I got my rude shock when the porter returned to the van, and said he do not want my $S that I had given him , and demanded 10 kina . I was shocked. As i'm travelling with a lady friend and he WAS fierce, i pulled out a couple of Singapoire dollars and passed it to him , telling him firmly that, I DO NOT have any kina, pls just take the S$ notes. He left after that. All this happening, with the driver inside the van with us. I guess, the driver will not interfer as long the port does not turn physical. The porters are just earning a living, but we were abit shocked by the porter returning to the van and demanded kina.
My advise is, get some small change in dollar notes, in any currency. I guess it will be difficult to get Kina outside PNG, so i guess USD will be good. My mistake is to give him a few $1 coins . I guess they will be happier to see notes rather than coins.
And make sure that your host is meeting you at the Airport. If not , stay inside the arrival hall, and wait for the Hotel driver to come in with the Board bearing their hotel's name. I saw this when I was departing
I was given a map of the airport terminal when I booked my air tickets with my agent. I will try to locate it , have it scanned and post it up here for the benefit of all divers. But it will take some time , as I need to locate a friend who is still using a scanner.
OP
stonefish35
Contributor
Catherine ,
As for the razor wire and crime, before the trip , i did some research and found the following, in case you do not know. Basically, Port moresby is facing a problem. Being the wealthiest South Pacific nation and the financial district of PNG , alot of people flocked to Port Moresby hoping to find a job and earn some $$ . But there are not enough jobs to go round and these people have no means to go back to their hometown.
They resort to crimes and created the rascal problem ( that's what they are being called in PNG ) of Port Moresby . Outside of Moresby ,in the other provinces, its generally safer. Mainly its opportunitic crime over there and if we take care to prevent such opportunity from happening , we should be safe.
During a trip to the ANdersen FoodLand, the driver need to pick up some stuff at the other side of town. He told us to stay inside the supermarket, and not wander out to the carpark ( even though there are guards at the gate, and in the carpark compound ). He will go into the supermarket to look for us when he's here.
One of the dive days, we met this american who used to be stationed at PNG for 3 yrs. Then he got transferred to Nigeria and he came back to PNG , Port Moresby for an holiday and to visit his ex colleagues. He relate to us a incident that he experienced.
Once, he was driving along the road with a guy friend to Bootless Bay when he was passing by the slums ( yes thats only way to Bootless Bay ) when his car broke down. The irony is that, you will pass by the Six Mile Market, and the Six Mile Police station 1st, then after abt 5 mins, will pass by the slums
They were promptly surrounded by the locals and robbed of whatever they owned. And he's a big guy ,standing at 2m tall. he was slightly injured during the robbery .
We met with 2 police road blocks during our stay there. They require the passengers to belt up in the vehicles. So take note of this if you are travelling within Moresby.
As for the razor wire and crime, before the trip , i did some research and found the following, in case you do not know. Basically, Port moresby is facing a problem. Being the wealthiest South Pacific nation and the financial district of PNG , alot of people flocked to Port Moresby hoping to find a job and earn some $$ . But there are not enough jobs to go round and these people have no means to go back to their hometown.
They resort to crimes and created the rascal problem ( that's what they are being called in PNG ) of Port Moresby . Outside of Moresby ,in the other provinces, its generally safer. Mainly its opportunitic crime over there and if we take care to prevent such opportunity from happening , we should be safe.
During a trip to the ANdersen FoodLand, the driver need to pick up some stuff at the other side of town. He told us to stay inside the supermarket, and not wander out to the carpark ( even though there are guards at the gate, and in the carpark compound ). He will go into the supermarket to look for us when he's here.
One of the dive days, we met this american who used to be stationed at PNG for 3 yrs. Then he got transferred to Nigeria and he came back to PNG , Port Moresby for an holiday and to visit his ex colleagues. He relate to us a incident that he experienced.
Once, he was driving along the road with a guy friend to Bootless Bay when he was passing by the slums ( yes thats only way to Bootless Bay ) when his car broke down. The irony is that, you will pass by the Six Mile Market, and the Six Mile Police station 1st, then after abt 5 mins, will pass by the slums
They were promptly surrounded by the locals and robbed of whatever they owned. And he's a big guy ,standing at 2m tall. he was slightly injured during the robbery .
We met with 2 police road blocks during our stay there. They require the passengers to belt up in the vehicles. So take note of this if you are travelling within Moresby.
caymaniac
Contributor
I remember that I had 200Kina$ worth on me that I exchanged in Cairns. I was able to useit for tax at the airport, the rest I really wasn't able to use. While on New Britain we really didn't buy much either...a couple of masks and that's about it. I thought maybe I really didn't need to have it when, while in the air terminal (if you want to call it that) from New Britain to Port Moresby they decided to charge me extra for my luggage, they didn't take US dollars and at that point I was happy I had an extra 50Kina in my pocket.
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