A Few Days In And Around Lae

Last week I went to a conference in Lae connected with my work. This provided the perfect opportunity to explore Lae and surrounds.

The conference was, of course, at Lae International Hotel. Pretty ritzy for PNG. But it is very close to Lae town so I was able to walk around Lae during the very generous lunch breaks - don't want to work too hard at a conference!

In support of you guys who live, or have lived, in Lae, I was very pleasantly surprised. Lae has got a real town centre, unlike Port Moresby. I had heard all sorts of derogatory things about Lae, but found none of them true.

I stayed at the Huon Gulf Hotel, which was pretty good. Didn't want to spend the money to stay at the Lae Inter. The manager, Andrew from Mendi, at the Huon was great. He dropped me off and picked me up from the Inter every day and couldn't do enough for me. The room was K202 per night.

On Saturday I went to Gwado village, which is near Busama village, referred to in the LP. This was organised by Bing at the Village Development Trust. He arranged for a banana boat to pick me up at the main whalf and take me to Busama. Bing came with me - I think to do some private business in Busama and the opportunity for a free boat ride was too much to resist.

Once on the dinghy, the boys asked if I would like a beer. As always, the white guys should provide the beers. Unfortunately, I had none. So I said "me nogat". Not to worry, the boys had thought ahead and produced a 12 pack (yes - 4 each), which made for a pleasant trip, despite the beers having sat in the boat in the sun for over an hour while final preparations were made. No doubt this was included in the fee! BTW, the hire of the boat for two days was K400.

There is a comfortable guest house at Gwado operated by James and his family. The big attraction at Gwado is the Bula River and waterfall, which is a 15 minute walk from the village. The waterfall was magnificent, set in pristine jungle. It has a great swimming hole right under the waterfall. We walked along the river for about an hour afterwards. Plenty of places to swim and just beautiful scenery. I had, however, brought a bottle of whisky and two bottles of coke, which James, his son Alex, and myself enjoyed in the evening.

After a good nights sleep we went to Busama village in the morning, and walked through. I meet some very enthusastic young guys who were involeved in the Leatherback Turtle protection project, who desparately wanted me to come back in a month's time to monitor the tutles as they lay eggs. Hey, I can't do everything!

Then back on the boat to a beautiful beach for a swim, and then the 50 minute trip back to Lae. James from the guesthouse came too - he had some private business to do in Lae, and this saved him the K20 PMV boat fare. No beer though. Back to the Huon Gulf Hotel who had arranged transport for me to the airport, and then back to POM.

A great weekend. I've decided that I need to spend more time exploring the Huon Gulf - Maybe at Chritmas?

Glad you liked 'ples b'long mi'!