Expedition Log

Day 2            Thursday, 12th January 2006

I went back to the food centre for breakfast and found a stall selling Roti Canai, my favourite Asian breakfast. After eating I headed back to Sim Lim Tower for some serious price checking. After two hours of trawling around all the camera shops I confirmed what I already knew, the Canon 5D was going to cost me S$5000 + tax! My flight was not till late evening so I had to waste the day somehow. I checked out of the hotel and strolled around taking a few photos to familiarise myself with the new camera. After a late lunch in a Chinese restaurant I decided I might as well head for the airport. After asking where to catch the bus I was advised to take the MRT as it went straight to the airport and only cost a little more than the bus.

I arrived at the airport at 3.30pm with three and a half hours to go before check-in opened I decided to check how I could get my ticket. Dave Gill had purchased all the tickets in England and was bringing mine with him. The lady at airport security said I should be able to get a boarding pass without a ticket if I explained my situation to the check-in staff. I took the Skytrain to terminal 1 and noticed that Air Niugini had an early check-in counter so I headed for it. It was staffed by Qantas but they said that a boarding pass could only be issued at the normal check-in counter if I had no ticket. I went to wait for the check-in to open at 7.00pm. While I was waiting a couple approached and asked if I was going to Port Moresby. I told them I was and they asked if I was part of the expedition and introduced themselves as Matt Oliphant and Nancy Pistole, the photographic assistants with National Geographic. I told them about the early check-in counter so they headed off. When the check-in opened I explained my situation and was told there was a note on the computer about me and they had to refer to the customer service desk. I guessed that this was because Dave Gill had about explained the tickets to the transfer desk. I was eventually checked in and given a boarding pass. I had to tell them I was a diver which allowed me an extra ten kilograms luggage allowance. They suggested I take one of my bags as carry-on so I picked up my caving gear weighing 18kgs and proceeded through to the departure lounge where I spotted the rest of the group near to the Niugini desk. Dave Gill was at the desk and handed me my ticket.

He was negotiating excess baggage charges as all the baggage had been re-weighed on arrival of the main team in Singapore. As the Air Niugini tickets had been purchased separately from the Lufthansa tickets to Singapore this leg was treated as a new journey even though the baggage was checked through to Port Moresby. Unfortunately Air Niugini weren't as accommodating as Lufthansa and charged for all the 125kgs excess baggage. At S$37.29 per kg this amounted to S$4662, around £1665.

I told Dave about the extra allowance for divers and he managed to get the charges reduced to S$720. When Matt and Nancy had checked in had been charged a total of US$240. As this was starting to get very expensive Andy Eavis suggested we retrieve all the baggage and re-pack it to try to reduce the check-in weight but, by now, there was less than half an hour to boarding so Dave Gill decided to pay up.

I was introduced to Jean-Paul Sounier who I hadn't met before and we all went to our gate. The flight to Port Moresby left at 2110 and took six hours, and was uneventful as most of the team were tired and jetlagged from their flights from Europe. Arrival at Port Moresby was 5.40am and, on the descent, we were rewarded with a magnificent red sunrise