Expedition Log

Day 3            Friday, 13th January 2006

Most of the team had already received their visas from the New Guinea embassy in London. I hadn't had time to send my passport from Malaysia and James Holker hadn't received his visa as, for some reason, his name had been missed off the team list by the National Research Institute in Port Moresby. We were told by immigration that we could enter on a tourist visa and either change it to a research visa or apply for a visa extension after we arrived at Port Moresby. At immigration we split into two queues, one for those with visas and one for those without. Immigration officials took our completed entry forms and our passports and then let us pass through so we could go to the Money Exchange to change some money for our visa fees.

Andy Eavis and James Holker had an onward flight booked to Rabaul but, when we came to customs clearance, they insisted on us opening all our baggage for checking. As we had such a big pile this was taking so long that it looked as though they might miss their connection. They took a minimum of equipment with them and went through first, eventually clearing customs with half an hour to spare. However, when Andy got to check-in he was told the flight had already closed. Andy managed to book seats on a flight leaving at 1500 hrs. When we all cleared customs an hour later we were taken to the Comfort Inn in East Boroko in their courtesy bus. This took two journeys as our luggage more than filled the bus on its own.

Dave Gill telephoned Leo Salas who came to meet us at the Comfort Inn. When he arrived he introduced himself and discussed the arrangements. James and I needed to get our visas sorted and, in the meantime, Andy had managed to to get Joe Meava to arrange for a flight the next day from Rabaul to to Hoskins to divert and drop them off at Palmalmal. Pomio Airport was closed and flights to Palmalmal were on Tuesday and Thursday only.

Leo took Dave Gill, Jean-Paul Sounier, Dave Clucas & James Alker to the National Research Institute where he paid US$400 for their visa extension fee. We were then taken to then Department of Environment & Conservation. We hadf a short meeting with Vagi Genorupa, who was in charge of compiling the World Heritage Tentative List. He explained that the Mount Hagen (Cultural Site) had already been completed and he was now working on the Nakanai proposal.

Immigration closed at midday so Leo took James and I there to try to get visa extensions. There was a long queue which didn't look as though it was moving so James pushed to the front and asked for the necessary forms only to be told we had to go to the Finance Department first to pay the fee. This was in another part of town so we set off to look for a taxi. In the car park a local offered to take us in his car.

At the Finance Department we found that payment had to be made in cash and, as we had none with us, we went back to the Comfort Inn to borrow some from Dave Gill. I decided that it was now too late to get the visa before immigration closed but James insisted on trying so I stayed behind while he went back.

Jean-Paul and Dave Gill  went on to the French Embassy to introduce themselves to the French Ambassador to PNG, Jacques-Olivier Manet.

A little later James returned with his visa extension. He'd managed to talk his way to the front of all the queues and get everything processed in record time. He and Andy then headed back to the airport to catch their flight to Rabaul.

Dave Gill and I walked to the bank to change money. We had a light lunch at the Gutpela Kaikai Bar and the walked back to the hotel passing people hanging around every corner most of them chewing betelnut. The gutters were red with the betelnut juice which everyone seemed to be expert at spitting. At the hotel a group of us sat around in Dave Gill's room where everyone desperately tried to stay awake. Most of them didn't manage to hold on for long. Within half an hour most of them had nodded off.

In the evening Jim Robins from the National Research Institute came to the Comfort Inn. We took a couple of taxis and went to the Roundhouse Chinese restaurant for a meal. The food was excellent. We returned to the hotel and retired to bed for a well earned rest.

The Journey to New Britain