At Sea in Papua New Guinea
Our day at sea commenced with spinner dolphins racing us through the calm waters of the Bismarck Sea. Early morning we joined the National Geographic team, Jen and David, in the lounge where they introduced us to their current assignment on the plight of the ‘Ice Lovers—Harps and Seals’ in the Gulf of St Lawrence off the north-eastern Canadian Coast. After a short break we joined our naturalist, Dennis, who engaged us in an enlightening presentation on ‘Sex and the Single Flower.’ After this some of us joined our chief engineer Frank for guided trips to the bowels of the ship, returning to the dining room for our last lunch to be served aboard. The spectacular day unfolded around us, with sightings of migrating sperm whales, flying fish, and frigates above and the crystal cobalt seas below. Our culturalist, Suzanne, delivered an informal presentation on Papua New Guinea—The Weird and Wonderful complete with stories and experiences that spanned her 21 years plus within the country. After malolo (siesta) time, Dennis and David shared photos and a movie presentation of their dive on a WWII American wreck (B-25) within in the Madang harbour, the day prior.
We had all contributed to the rolling slideshow of our trip, five photos each, which we enjoyed at captain’s farewell drinks. It was a joy remembering our Melanesian moments of village visits (islands and highlands) sing-sings, marketplaces, rain forest hikes, volcanoes, reefs, and a few embarrassing Recap moments, which entailed coconut bras and grass skirts. Our after dinner presentation was with David Doubilet who talked about one of his passion, WWII history within the region, supported with amazing photographs spanning from Pearl Harbour to the Pacific. Soon we were in our cabins, packing and finalising our departure from this ‘The land of the unexpected.’
