| joetoo05:10 UTC24 Aug 2010 | Oh, dear. I've just gotten back to where I can go online to check my email and such (now in Lae, leaving tomorrow for Port Moresby), and I find that the posting I thought I had made here back at the end of July didn't take. So, I'm just pasting the original information here now -- August 24, 2010 -- before my time runs out on this computer. If anyone needs specific information, leave a message and I'll try to get back to you as soon as I can.
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I’m emailing this afternoon (July 26, 2010) to let you know that I have just today been officially stamped into the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, Papua New Guinea, having come up through the Solomon Islands: from Honiara to Gizo (by boat, Express Pelican; after a side trip to Malaita Island), and on to Nila Mission, via Ballalae, in Shortland Islands (by Solomon Airlines plane, after trying unsuccessfully for 10 days to get a boat going that way); from there, an “OBM” (outboard motorboat) carried me to Kangu Beach on southern Bougainville Island (PNG). A local truck took me to Buin, where I stayed for a few days, trying desperately to change Solomon and/or Australian/U.S. dollars into PNG kina – very nearly without success, I warn others. (No immigration or customs in Buin, and the local police authorities, who were very welcoming as they made their notation of my arrival in my passport, also made it very clear that if I hadn’t had a valid passport and the appropriate PNG visa, I would have at least been detained and deported!) Days later, a six-hour ride (mostly) in the open back tray of a Toyota truck brought me to Kokopau, then a short boat ride across Buka Passage to Buka (town and island), where after a long holiday weekend, the customs office here in Buka stamped my passport to make me officially (and legally) entered as of this morning. Having missed the boat, literally, on Thursday, and not wanting to wait until the next one, I expect to fly to Rabaul very early on Wednesday morning, and then continue with my travel in PNG.
Thanks to each of you for your help in this journey. I plan to write each of you separately, but I just wanted to let you all know quickly today that I have arrived, and without incident – well, without seriously unpleasant incidents, that is: it was a tough journey!
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