By sea from Indonesia/Papua New Guinea to Australia

Hello,

I'm looking for any information that can help me to get from somewhere like Singapore Indonesia or Papua New Guinea to Australia. We are going to travel from Rome (Italy) to Christchurch (NZ) with no planes, so we're looking for a boat connection for that part of te route, it seems very hard. Many thanks to anyone who can help!

There is no passenger service.

You could look for a cruise ship, but they are very expensive.

If you don't want to get a cruise ship to Australia the other option is finding a passenger carrying freight ship from singapore or indonesia. Its not exactly cheap but its much cheaper than a cruise ship. There are a few sites that offer places on freight ships...

www.strandtravel.co.uk
http://members.aol.com/CruiseAZ/home.htm
www.freightercruises.com
www.freighterworld.com

Hope that helps :) When are you planning to do the trip? I'm planning to do this myself next year so would be great to hear from someone whos actually done it.

Sorry, this is a very late reply to a post about getting from PNG to Australia by ship, but it might help someone else... Not easy to do, but possible, as far as I know!

First you need to get to Jayapura in West Papua (regular inter-island passenger services in Indonesia through Pelni), then from there to Vanimo in PNG. There are buses from Jayapura to the border, which you need to cross on foot (arrange the visa in Jayapura), then another bus to Vanimo. There may still be regular passenger services (by sea) from Jayapura to Vanimo, as an alternative.

Then you need to get to Port Moresby. There are regular passenger ships from Vanimo to Popondetta, in the Oro province (via Wewak, Madang and Lae). From there you can continue by sea to Alotau, from where it may be possible to arrange a ship to Port Moresby, but as far as I know there are no regular passenger services (that may have changed). The other option is to walk the Kokoda Track (PMV to Kokoda, then 6 days' trekking over the mountains, then another PMV from Sogeri) to Port Moresby.

From Port Moresby, you can catch a Hiritano Highway PMV (Public Motor Vehicle - actually a truck) at Erima. They go as far as Malalaua, and may go all the way to Kerema, depending on the road condition. From Kerema, you need to do some village-hopping all the way to Daru in the Western province (ask around at the wharf - it will take a while to get there). Stops may include Ihu and Baimuru. Once you are in Daru, you need to get to one of the Torres Straits Islands, which straddle the maritime border between PNG and Australia. Locals have the right to travel back and forth. Once you get to Thursday Island, you should be able to legally enter Australia, but check with the immigration authorities if you don't hold Australian citizenship (even if you do!)

I wouldn't expect to complete the journey from Singapore to the Australian mainland in anything less than a month, if you are lucky (now, to be honest I haven't gone beyond Kerema, but did complete most of the rest).