17th December 2012

Port Moresby – Gordon

After a decent flight from Sydney to Port Moresby via Brisbane we were left with no transport from the Airport to our hotel (Flying Fox Inn – 311 2551), which is near Gordons Market in PM. The accommodation was basic, and only locals from different parts of PNG were staying there. We took a stroll in Gordon’s Market and tasted Betel Nut for the first time, a bit of a crowd gathered around us, whilst Jamal and I started chewing and spitting this nut for the first time. I got a bit of a high to be honest and started feeling dizzy and very very talkative!

So, as I was saying, back at the airport, we had no transport arranged, so if you going, I highly recommend to arrange transport beforehand, we eventually got some of the friendly guys from the Flying Fox Inn to pick us up.

That evening we went to the chinese restaurant opposite the Flying Fox Inn, food was pretty good and the waiter was super friendly, who offered to take us on the Kokoda trail if we ever came back to PNG.

18th December 2012

Vanimo Airport

3AM wake up call and we were off to Vanimo!

We landed in Vanimo really early in the morning, and had again not arrange any plans, so there we were at Vanimo airport loitering about with the locals, when a white guy (Peter) approached us and recommended we stay with them at their Lodge. Now our plans was not to stay at any surf lodge, mainly because it is very expensive ($200-$400 / Day), however, since we were a bit tired from all the flights, we thought it might be a good idea for one night and then we will try find accommodation in one of the local villages, of course near as possible to the surf!

Vanimo Surf Lodge

We got to the surf lodge, which was a 5 minute drive from the airport, and it was pretty nice, but K300 for one night is way too much money, and frankly a rip off, the food was mainly noodles and local fruits and we could not justify the amount of money we had to pay each to stay there for ONE NIGHT. They also charge a Reef Fee which is 30K per day, we found out later that the locals that we lived with who own the reed never get the money, so it seems it goes somewhere else, to some other association perhaps, we don’t know, but we feel the locals get no benefit from these reef fees.

We did some surfing and the waves were ok, around 3ft, We surfed at a place in Lido Village called “Lefties”.

So, in Lido, there is two main surf breaks “Righties” and “Lefties”, it is great, since usually if the right is not working, then the left will be.

19th December 2012

Lido Village

This village, which is located next door to the Vanimo Surf Lodge is awesome, the people are friendly and to be honest, I never met such nice, friendly and hospitable people like this for a long time. We might a local guy by the name of Solomon who gave up his house for us to stay in, and all we had to pay was 75K a day, that is around $32 a day, much better than K300 at the surf lodge. So we were ecstatic to find such a cool place to live.

Solomon was awesome, he even made us a toilet by breaking down his patio to use the wood for the toilets, I would never find this sort of helpfulness anywhere else I have been before.

I managed to get my Hammock setup between some trees as well, and slept outside as it was much cooler outside than living inside the hut. The local kids loved the hammock to, and they followed me around and tried to help whilst I got it pitched up.

We were so taken back by the cool people in the village, and contemplated on why back home we don’t even speak to our neighbours, where, here, in one evening, we had gathered neighbours from all parts of the village and spent a wonderful evening together.

Solomon’s Guest House

Phone: +675 715 101 27

So, this is the official day that Solomon’s guest house was born, and we were honoured to be the first guests of such a wonderful host family! If you planning on going to Vanimo in Papua New Guinea, then I highly recommend to live with them, expect to pay them between 75-95 Kina per day. Which is $30-$45 /Day. Just get a PMV (Public Motor Vehicle) from Vanimo town, outside the bank to Lido Village ask for Solomon or Adam, in fact Adam runs a PMV transport mini bus business from Vanimo to Lido, and is Solomons uncle, so you might be lucky and meet him on the way to Lido, his PMV is blue. You can phone him on 715 101 27.

We had a very early surf today, and then went off to Vanimo Town, it is very small, and the people in town are amazingly friendly, but be warned, the town is very dirty and Bet Nut spit is everywhere!

Reef Fees – GoodBye

Solomon’s uncle owns the reef “lefties” and “righties” so we did not have to pay any reef fees per day anymore, which we were happy about, so here we are living cheap and surfing uncrowded waves, what more can you ask for?

 

 

Food

The food was absolutely amazing, they treated us like kings and cooked us 3 meals a day. We ate:

Sagore, PineApples, Paw Paw, Bread Fruit, Tare, Sweat Potatoes, Fish and lots of other local grown fruits and vegetables.

Above is a picture of Sagore and a piece of chicken as well as sipping on coconut water.

Summary

The first few days, proved to show that PNG has some awesome people, food, culture and uncrowded surf, but you need to LIVE WITH THE LOCALS to get the benefit.

This ends part one of my blog post, in future posts we will look at some videos of Lido and talk about all the adventures we went on there Perhaps post a video or two on as well. Until then…..

A friend of mine Jamal Abreu and I are heading off to Papua New Guinea on 17th December and fly back to Sydney on 8th January. Our aim is to be totally immersed in the culture and nature of Papua New Guinea, we want to not only surf but explore the variety and diversity PNG has to offer, off the beaten track.

High level plan

• Fly into Ports Moresby, then catch connecting to Madang
• Surf undiscovered spots
• Avoid the tourist hot spots and go off the beaten track
• Camp out with the local villagers
• Learn as much as we can about the cultures we encounter
• Visit the Volcano Manam
• Climb Mount Hagen
• Surf wherever we find breaks
• Fly to Ports Moresby an fly to Syndey

Route

The route is simple. Land in Madang, climb mountain Hagen, head back to the coast, surf our way up to Vanimo, using Public Transport, Tractors, Donkeys, Boats, Foot, whatever we can climb onto, and umm PMV’s.

Stars on the map represent our main waypoints.

 

Equipment

Travel as light as possible, this means, very small day pack, and surfboards.

• Surfboard bag with makeshift wheels
• Hammock (Tenth-Wonder-Hammocks-and-Tarps) , Non Waterproof – keep it as airy as possible.
• 
• Water proof Tarp (hex shape)
• Camp gas stove, flints
• Medical Kit  + Tea Tree Oil
• Antibiotics
• Cheap ass phone (not getting machete’d to pieces for an IPhone)
• Water purification bottles (Aquapure-Traveller)
• two shorts, two shirts, long sleeves, hat , perhaps some underwear
• waterproof leggings + thin shell jacket (Mountains)
• light airy hiking shoes
• Mosquito repellent
• rash vest, reef boots
• torch
• camera (need to figure out what to take that is not advertising MUG ME)
• Surf boards ( 2 or 3)

Vaseline (Very useful, umm for lots of things)

Local Knowledge

Have met a local Australian, who lives in the Jungles and with the tribes of PNG, hooking up next week to get knowledge and tip on how to act and behave with the local tribesman. I think there is allot of misconceptions about PNG, so will document and found out how the place ticks first hand. There is not allot of information out there on PNG, so hoping this will be the first of many trips back to PNG.

Surfing

Here is a nice inspirational video on surfing in PNG. Click the link to view.

PNG Surfing Video

There is a surf association in PNG, and we keen to meet up with some of them in Vanimo, however, we will be spending our time finding un-surfed spots.

PNG Surf Association

Safety

From what I have gathered from the Lonely Planet guide, Papua New Guinea seems to be a surprisingly friendly place once you get out of the major cities. In fact it is encouraged to travel the same way the locals do and most villages will accept, and offer a hand to stay with them for a few days, that to me is even more friendly than our urban jungles. How many strangers in London would let you stay for a couple of nights, no obligations?

Of course, with any place you go to, you need to me friendly and courteous to others and of course have some street smart savvy with you.

Some Pictures from the net

I guess, this is how people see PNG to be, I think with over 800 languages, there will be all sorts of cultures, definitely keen to meet with them, hopefully and I am sure that most are friendly.

 

Keep this https://romikoderbynew.com/category/adventure/booked marked if interested on how the trip pans out, will update it as time flows.