PNG as honeymoon in June?

Hi

We're thinking of PNG for our honeymoon for 3 weeks from 25th June 2007.

Does anyone know where is good to go for a weeks beach lazing followed by 2 weeks of culture/treks etc?

Also what is weather like in June/July?

Do flights go direct from the UK?

Anything you can tell me woudl be ace - thanks

Tes

For the beach thing, New Ireland gets my vote - very scenic place with gentle people.

For treks, it's got to be the Highlands - the Mount Hagen area is unbeatable for scenery, around Tari great for culture.

You will probably have to fly via Australia from the UK - though Singapore is an alternative.

I hear that there are quite nice beaches at Wewak and this is also a set off point for the Sepik which is good for culture. However I don't know if the hotel in Wewak are that great and I here New ireland is good. As Laszlo says highlands is the place for trekking.

No direct fligt from the UK, fly from Cairns, Brisbane or Singapore.

Getting to PNG is expensive and can be stressful unless you have contacts there. If you're well suited to it, you'll take it all in your stride. The highlands are lovely - haven't been much further west than the Goroka/Mt Wilhelm area but that was great. I think the southern highlands is a bit shady at the moment with civil unrest, etc. - check the latest situation if you want to go there. The beaches around Madang and a little further north are amazing (especially if you're a diver) with awesome wrecks and reefs. Haven't been to New Ireland but heard it is incredible.

Getting there is expensive - via Australia is the cheapest way. It cost the two of us over K2500 (both people) to get from Cairns-POM-Madang-POM-Cairns. It gets a whole lot more expensive if you fly from Sydney, Brisbane or Singapore. If you really want to travel around a lot and need to make a lot of flights, you might want to look into getting a South pacific pass - details in the lonely planet book. Trips further field are also expensive at least K600 to Rabaul (E New Britain) and even more to Kavieng (New Ireland).

Not sure what the weather is like in June. I was there in September/October. You can see my pictures at the link on the last post.

James

Correction to #1: The Mount WILHELM area, not Mount Hagen is great for scenery!
Hagen actually sucks, IMHO.

Honeymoon in Hagan You've got to kidding! This is a TROLL
But, just in case you both don't have a brain in your heads I would
be remiss in not advising you to do more research (start with this forum)
Other basic statisical research companies can assist you with Violent Crime,
Political Coruption, crimes against women and children,the latest in AIDS and
Malaria deaths. An armed guard to go get a Pizza, lazing on the white sands
beaches of POM with guys essentially buying you while they wait for the sun
to go down- try Raskols in your research under violent gangs. So you got me troll
however let those who travel in certain parts of the World check it out and not
through your Travel Agent. All the Best

Hey Tes,

there are some nice islands around east cape- I am a 24 year old woman who felt quite safe at the resort I was staying at (www.tawali.com). They have 24hr security etc- but are also quite a distance from the closest town or moresby, so raskals are not so much of a concern. By all means, keep your wits about you, but my friends (all young female Aussies) and I walked around Alotau, Milne Bay Province and did not feel threatened (albeit during the day). I have seen some adverts for resorts further north and they look great too, but cant comment as I havent stayed there. If you want to do a trek, the kokoda trail has a lot of significance for australians- think its pretty commercialised now- a few companies go up there regularly you might be able to tag along with a bigger group. Think LP has some info on Kokoda.

Basically, have good insurance, stay with a reputable company, keep your wits about you and dont go wandering off on your own and you should have a good time. I recommend you get a dive licence before you go if you dont have one- PNG has some of the best dive spots in the world apparently- I am no expert at all, but I had a great time. Where I stayed didnt have beaches that were great by Aussie standards around (they were ok though), but a trip in one of the boats got you to some postcard quality beaches in no time. Really clear water, squeaky white sand etc. I went in July 05 (and again just recently) and the weather was gorgeous (much more comfortable in July than in Dec). I think the rain season is supposed to be around Christmas- but you should be able to find all the weather info on PNG's tourist website or even lonely planet's site as demographics and weather etc..

Make sure you get anti malarials & check with your doctor which other immunisations you need before you go as well (in Aus they recommend Hep a & b, tetanus, and something else I can't remember to be up to date). PNG is a great place to visit if you like to go somewhere a bit different without a heap of tourists. Just do your research well and you'll have a great time! Congratulations on your pending nuptials!

With your flights too- dont know if this is available outside of Aus- but Air Nuigini offer cheaper flights for staying less than a month. I think we got Brisbane- POM - Gurney (Alotau) return for just less than $1200AUS. It wasn't necessarily cheaper for us to fly out of Cairns or Brisbane, but we chose Brisbane as it is more accessible from where we live in rural QLD. I would definitely recommend flying out of Cairns if you fly out of Aust, we have done it both ways and it seemed a lot shorter and less tiring flying from Cairns. One more thing- if you have a long stopover in Moresby- take your luggage and yourselves up to Airways hotel- they have a free transfers bus that picks you up from outside the domestic or intl terminal and takes you up the hill so you can relax up there- its relatively ritzy by PNG standards, but check out the carvings on the post in the lounge!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You can tell men carved it.......

Rosie

Cool!! If I and my wife should marry once (with each other again!?) more we would definitely go to PNG. It´s really THE place to get to know your partner! Challenging but very much awarding. Not similar to any place you have been to before you can expect.

You should probably check with a travel agent to get it organized (as it is your honeymoon!) and if you do so you will be surprised by the $ numbers they will provide you with. It is expensive to have it orgainez in advance as they tend to take you to up-scale places and the "risk premium" that they put on their prices is unusually high. (next time you go to PNG you organize it on your own)

Culture and trecking are of course up in The Highlands. The more southwest you get the more remote and unique. Mt William is very polular for the trecking.

I don´t know that much about the beaches but there were planty of them around Wewak but I would assume it would be more intersting to go to some of remote islands northeast of the mainland.

Sepik River is also where special - we liked Upper Sepik for the people and scenaries and all the artifacts in Middle Sepik.

Have a look at our website to get some inspiration.

Good luck and don´t hesitate to send us questions.

Best regards

EvAnders