Panapompom Island, Deboyne Islands, Papua New Guinea (PNG), photograph # 1 — a very typical Papua New Guinean sailing canoe, a Sailau, based on the original Pacific Islanders’ sailing canoes; they are hand hewn wooden outrigger canoes with one mast, with sails that are suspended between a yard and a boom almost the length of the mast
From the Conflict Islands Group, we sailed about 50 nautical miles east to Panapompom Island, one of the Deboyne Islands, an atoll, composed of a group of reefs and islands in the north of the Louisiade Archipelago, Papua New Guinea — east of the southeastern tip of the island of New Guinea. “The Deboyne Islands were discovered in 1793 by Antoine Bruni d’Entrecasteaux. He named the islands after Pierre Ètienne Bourgeois de Boynes, who was the Marine and Colonial Minister of France at that time. During World War II, the islands were used as a seaplane outpost by the Imperial Japanese Navy, from 5–12 May 1942.” – Wikipedia
Our first photograph shows a very typical Papua New Guinean sailing canoe, a Sailau, based on the original Pacific Islanders’ sailing canoes. “Sailaus, as sailing canoes are called in Misima, the common language of these islands, are hand hewn wooden outrigger canoes with one mast. Sails are suspended between a yard and a boom almost the length of the mast. They are made of nylon, plastic or canvas tarpaulins, or bits of rice bags sewn together. Often, they are a combination of materials.” — http://www.tenayatravels.com/
Panapompom Island, Deboyne Islands, Papua New Guinea (PNG), photograph # 2 — at the small village of Nulia (population of several hundred), we were very enthusiastically met by the cheerful residents who were dancers and singers in the local traditional dances and sing-sing groups
Midday, on our arrival ashore (a Zodiac wet beach landing) at the small village of Nulia (population of several hundred), we were very enthusiastically met by the cheerful residents. We found out that we were the first ship to visit the island in over five years! Some of our greeters and the dancers and singers in the local traditional dances and sing-sing groups had traveled to this side of the island from the northern, more populated side. This was a school holiday, so the children were all around and gave especially warm and friendly greetings. We were accompanied and “guided” across the long shore walk to the construction site of a new ocean-going outrigger canoe by two lovely high-school age girls from the village. The Intrepid Traveler thanked them by opening up the I.E. Nail Salon at the landing site and doing manicures (pink and bright red were the “customer” chosen colors of the day). Mid-afternoon there was a series of games on the large field by the landing spot for the local children to compete with the few children on board and some of the “young-at-heart” Residents and their guests.
Just before sunset we took Zodiacs to the nearby Nivani Island (uninhabited) where we had “almost the end of the expedition” sunset cocktails ashore and watched a large bonfire on the beach in celebration of a wonderful three weeks in Melanesia.
Panapompom Island, Deboyne Islands, Papua New Guinea (PNG), photograph # 3 – the drummer for the children’s dance groupPanapompom Island, Deboyne Islands, Papua New Guinea (PNG), photograph # 4
Panapompom Island, Deboyne Islands, Papua New Guinea (PNG), photograph # 5
Panapompom Island, Deboyne Islands, Papua New Guinea (PNG), photograph # 6
Panapompom Island, Deboyne Islands, Papua New Guinea (PNG), photograph # 7 – men dancing one of their traditional war dances
Panapompom Island, Deboyne Islands, Papua New Guinea (PNG), photograph # 8
Panapompom Island, Deboyne Islands, Papua New Guinea (PNG), photograph # 9Panapompom Island, Deboyne Islands, Papua New Guinea (PNG), photograph # 10 – many families and artisans we met in the village and talked with were more than happy to pose for portraitsPanapompom Island, Deboyne Islands, Papua New Guinea (PNG), photograph # 11Panapompom Island, Deboyne Islands, Papua New Guinea (PNG), photograph # 12Panapompom Island, Deboyne Islands, Papua New Guinea (PNG), photograph # 13
Panapompom Island, Deboyne Islands, Papua New Guinea (PNG), photograph # 14
Panapompom Island, Deboyne Islands, Papua New Guinea (PNG), photograph # 15
Panapompom Island, Deboyne Islands, Papua New Guinea (PNG), photograph # 16 – the village’s cemetery was the first one we had seen in Melanesia
Panapompom Island, Deboyne Islands, Papua New Guinea (PNG), photograph # 17 – the blue trim on the wooden supports for the roof and on the stairs added an unusual bit of color to this home’s façadePanapompom Island, Deboyne Islands, Papua New Guinea (PNG), photograph # 18 – the villager building this traditional ocean-going canoe was very proud of his work and he had many other villagers on site to chat with their visitors
Panapompom Island, Deboyne Islands, Papua New Guinea (PNG), photograph # 19 – the front plate of the canoe was elaborately hand-carvedPanapompom Island, Deboyne Islands, Papua New Guinea (PNG), photograph # 20
Panapompom Island, Deboyne Islands, Papua New Guinea (PNG), photograph # 21Panapompom Island, Deboyne Islands, Papua New Guinea (PNG), photograph # 22 – another Papua New Guinean sailing canoe, a Sailau, based on the original Pacific Islanders’ sailing canoes
Kwato Island, Papua New Guinea (PNG), photograph # 1 – our first “port-of-call on the PNG and Solomon Islands 3-week expedition was Kwato Island, lying at the southeastern tip of PNG in what is referred to locally as the island’s “Dragons Tail”
To begin our three-week Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands expedition on the ship, we sailed northeast from Cairns, Australia, for 36 hours to reach our first “port-of-call”, Kwato Island, Papua New Guinea (PNG). It lies at the southeastern tip of PNG in what is referred to locally as the island’s “Dragons Tail, adjacent to the China Straits. Although tiny, Kwato Island is a meeting point for the surrounding islands (e.g., Rogeia Island, Samarai Island).
Kwato Island, Papua New Guinea, photograph # 2 – we were warmly greeted on the island by many children, women and men from the island and, mostly, its neighbors
Kwato Island itself is home to only seven families, numbering about 50 people. The neighboring islands’ population are about 1,000, or less. We were fortunate that many people from several other islands in Milne Bay Province came to Kwato Island to both perform (traditional dances and singing) and to set up blankets as “booths” for selling artefacts that they had collected from the sea or created (wood carvings, shell jewelry, etc.).
Kwato Island, Papua New Guinea, photograph # 3 – children from a neighboring island canoed over (with their parents) to perform traditional dances for usKwato Island, Papua New Guinea, photograph # 4Kwato Island, Papua New Guinea, photograph # 5 — your blogging photographer hard at work; photograph courtesy of Ashley Faull Kwato Island, Papua New Guinea, photograph # 6Kwato Island, Papua New Guinea, photograph # 7Kwato Island, Papua New Guinea, photograph # 8Kwato Island, Papua New Guinea, photograph # 9 – the man is chopping up the fibrous trunk of this local Sago Palm tree with an adz; the fibrous material – pith — is then soaked in water and mashed by hand (see next photo), to then settle in a resting “pond” – at the bottom, a flour-like residue settles out and will be dried for baking breadKwato Island, Papua New Guinea, photograph # 10 – this woman is working with the fibrous material – pith — (see above photograph), produced from the Sago Palm tree trunk, that is soaked in water and mashed by hand, to then settle in a resting “pond” – at the bottom, a flour-like residue (Sago Palm flour) settles out and will be dried for baking bread (without yeast), resulting in a fairly hard cake/breadKwato Island, Papua New Guinea, photograph # 11 – our ship’s Zodiac boats’ landing spot (a wet landing) was on a gentle sloping sandy beachKwato Island, Papua New Guinea, photograph # 12 – hand carved fishing canoesKwato Island, Papua New Guinea, photograph # 13 – the local children and adults (of both sexes) performed both singing and dancing, including some war dances, on the field below the trail up to the island’s Christian church (see photograph # 20)Kwato Island, Papua New Guinea, photograph # 14 – a war dance drummer and his friend, a warrior; this dance group from a neighboring island rowed over in a war canoe to “attack” men (dancers) from another islandKwato Island, Papua New Guinea, photograph # 15 — a fierce warrior dancerKwato Island, Papua New Guinea, photograph # 16 – homage to National Geographic Magazine of the 1950sKwato Island, Papua New Guinea, photograph # 17 – one family’s pet was on display – a Spotted Cuscus, a type of marsupial “monkey” that lives in New Guinea and Australia
The common spotted cuscus, also known as the white cuscus, is a cuscus, a marsupial that lives in the Cape York region of Australia, New Guinea (comprised of Indoneaia, on the west, and Papua New Guinea, on the east and many islands), and nearby smaller islands. “In New Guinea, common spotted cuscus are found in secondary forests, and tropical lowland forests… Within these forests, common spotted cuscus forage in the understory, subcanopy, and canopy layers. Common spotted cuscus can also live in close proximity to human civilizations, where they inhabit agricultural matrices and coconut plantations.” — https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Spilocuscus_maculatus/
Kwato Island, Papua New Guinea, photograph # 18 – beautiful local wood carvings for saleKwato Island, Papua New Guinea, photograph # 19 – on of the seven homes on Kwato Island (population ~ 50 people); most of the locals we met on Kwato Island had canoed over from neighboring islands; note the rain water storage tank, a critical component of the home’s yardKwato Island, Papua New Guinea, photograph # 20 – the local Christian church is located on top of the island’s small hill, with spectacular views of the surrounding islands and the PNG mainland (yes, that is the Intrepid Explorer walking out of the church)Kwato Island, Papua New Guinea, photograph # 21 — we were treated to a beautiful choral performance in the church by women from a neighboring islandKwato Island, Papua New Guinea, photograph # 22 – Behind the church on the promontory was a stone marker with two plaques: “In this garden lie the founder of Kwato [a Christian missionary from England] and his wife and some of the pioneers. They believed that God had a plan for Papua and lived to bring it about. Charles W. Abel 1862 – 1930, Beatrice Abel 1869 – 1939, …”
“In 1891, Reverand Charles Abel and his wife Beatrice commenced a mission on this island, which developed into a non-hierarchical church, and self-supporting mission, teaching boatbuilding, agriculture and management skills.” – Wikipedia
“Kwato Island is about 3 km [1.8 miles] west of Samarai Island. The Reverend Charles Abel and his wife, Beatrice, founded the non-hierarchical church in 1891 on Kwato. The Mission on Kwato functioned as an educational and boat building centre. The mission’s boats were used to transport and supply the Australian Coastwatchers during WWII.” – Facebook post by “Visit Papua New Guinea”
wato Island, Papua New Guinea, photograph # 23 — the views from the church, on top of the island’s hill, include the mainland of Papua New Guinea, shown here across the water, above the banana trees growing on the hillsideKwato Island, Papua New Guinea, photograph # 24 – a beautiful fern grove greeted us on our walk downhill from the church back to the Zodiac landing beach
Where in the world is Riccardo? 