This is the seventh blog post covering my recent trip to Papua New Guinea with Ian Barnard, Steve Greenfield, Adam Hudson, Tony Hukin & Paulo Paixao.
When I first started putting this trip together, (almost 18 months before the actual departure), I knew I wanted to visit the Huon Peninsular, not just for its sheer remoteness in the fact that so few birding groups had ever visited here, but also that it holds three species of Birds-of-Paradise found nowhere else in New Guinea, and it just so happened that one of these species for me is the best looking BoP.
Once again the logistics (not just for here) to get in and out of the Huon was left to Sicklebill Safaris who dealt with things expertly. What no doubt made things slightly easier is that the owner of the very plush camping based at 2800m just above the village of Satop, was Australian. Cheyne owns Walindi Resort on New Britain but in recent years has explored the Huon and after negotiating land with locals, has managed to set up a very nice campsite, whereas in his first few years the accommodation was a school hall much further down the ridge, and far away from the altitudinal endemics. Not only is the accommodation better now, but the camp is situated very closely to all the available Birds-of-Paradise on offer. Cheyne also speaks the local lingo which is a huge bonus, and our successes on the Huon could not have been achieved without his help and local knowledge. If interested visit huonbirding.com .
To get into the Huon, we had to get a charter plane from Lae, and landing at the small town of Kabwum. Weather is critical in the operation of the small plane, and although arriving we had no issues, departing was a different issue with heavy rain on the day of our planned departure. This led us to stay in the village of Kabwum and re-arrange our flight(s) for the next day. Although it was very touch and go for a period on our second attempt, we did finally leave, but more on that later.
The birding in general, like most of PNG, was very slow and the first two hours of the day were critical, as bird activity waned by mid morning.
Thursday 11th July
We left the Crossroads Hotel in Lae very early and arrived at the North Coast Aviation charter office in Lae Aiport roughly half hour later. We got directed straight through after having our luggage weighed (10kg for our four day adventure) and dropped our main luggage in the office (with me leaving my wet laundry on top of my bag). The plane was a 12-seater so a few locals also boarded with us.
I got priority seating (perks of being tour leader I suppose) and of course chose the co-pilot seat, and it's fair to say the half hour plane journey was superb. The views were clear and we passed over the mountain ridge not more then 300m above the highest peak. The land up here was very boggy with many evergreen trees, and is no doubt the haunting place for the Huon Melidectes, a species that is very rarely encountered. Anyway we soon descended over the ridge and eventually had perfect valley views as we landed onto the rocky airstrip of Kabwum.
Our driver Daniel was there to pick us up and we enjoyed an albeit bumpy journey up the very steep track ascending yet another high ridge, before dropping over the other side. The Huon for me was the place I was most concerned about regarding the security issues, however I was far off as this whole area was so friendly and welcoming, it turned out in fact to be the safest area we visited.
At the campsite we met up with Cheyne and had a quick lunch before walking a trail to view an open area. Our first Huon Astrapias and Wahnes's Parotias were found, and with few other birds around, we dropped down into the village of Satop (Daniel was our driver for our duration and would happily take us anywhere we wanted) where we met up with a female worker. She knew a display tree of the Emperor Bird-of-Paradise that no one had visited before, and upon arriving after a very sweaty walk, we were treated to a fine spectacle of this most dramatic BoP I had personally encountered this trip, with the mixture of a cream upperparts, chestnut and florescent green creating the most eye catching BoP. This was my main target of the entire trip, and with everything having gone to plan, that evening I sat outside of my tent and with sheer delight, watched the sun go down.
Highlights for today:
Papuan Harrier - 2
Pesquet's Parrot - 2
Red-collared Myzomela - 5
Rufous-backed Honeyeater - 2
Spangled Honeyeater - 4
Tit Berrypecker - 8
Northern Fantail - 1
Huon Astrapia - 1
Wahnes's Parotia - 1
Emperor Bird-of-Paradise - 6
Island Leaf Warbler - 1
Black Sunbird - 1
Friday 12th July
This morning me, Ian and Adam were in the Huon Bowerbird hide, situated only a five minute drive away, and then a steep and tricky track for five minutes. We arrived in the early morning gloom and sat uncomfortably for two hours with not a sniff of the Bowerbird, although the bower seemed to be active which was promising for the remaining time we had here.
With nothing of note from the hide, we walked the road and came across some really good birds, one of which ended our quest to find all the endemic families PNG has to offer, this being the Mottled Berryhunter, which in the book looks rather drab, and in all honesty its not a looker, but still a class bird in its own right. Other nice birds found included a Cinnamon-browed Melidectes and our only Marbled Honeyeater of the trip.
After re-convening with the other who hadn't had any luck at the Parotia hide, we walked the road back to the campsite with the main highlight being a superb adult male White-eared Bronze Cuckoo. The remainder of the day was spent wandering along the road after the heat of the day had passed.
After another sumptuous meal put together by the local chefs, some of us walked the road at night where a superb Moon halo was on offer, and then a semi responsive Feline Owlet-Nightjar started playing, and winning with us not even catching a glimpse of this monster nocturnal bird, and this trend continued on for many nights here.
Highlights for today:
Great Cuckoo Dove - 1
White-eared Bronze Cuckoo - 1
Brown Falcon - 2
Australian Hobby - 1
Yellow-billed Lorikeet - 2
Marbled Honeyeater - 1
Black-throated Honeyeater - 2
Spangled Honeyeater - 2
Cinnamon-browed Melidectes - 1
Buff-faced Scrubwren - 1
Brown-breasted Gerygone - 4
Fan-tailed Berrypecker - 2
Black-breasted Boatbill - 1
Mottled Berryhunter - 1
Brown-backed Whistler - 1
Regent Whistler - 3
Dimorphic Fantail - 1
Huon Astrapia - 5
Canary Flyrobin - 2
Papuan Grassbird - 1
Olive-backed Sunbird - 1
Saturday 13th July
Due to no activity from either hide yesterday morning, it was decided to give them a miss this morning just in case the birds were spooked.
So in the morning we drove a distance uphill and then walked back to camp. This took most of the morning but the birding was extremely slow. A fantastic viewpoint took our minds of the lack of birds for a short time. A top bird was found however, this being a pair of Streaked Berrypeckers, whilst an Ornate Fruit Dove perched in the distance. Some bird flocks were too shy for us and most species remained out of sight.
After a tiresome morning, some of us (maybe me) got a lift back to camp where once again the heat of the day was surpassed by either sleeping or trying to sleep. For the second afternoon running, the cloud rolled in but we decided to re-take our positions in the hide, though this time swapping. Myself, Ian and Adam were now making our way to the Parotia hide, just around the corner from the camp. Excitement soon commenced along the path when Adam spotted a quite spectacular male Wahnes's Parotia showing off it's incredible plumes and long tail (this being the longest-tailed Parotia) on top of a nearby tree. This was a great start, and upon entering the small wooded area, another male Parotia expressed its disgust at our arrival, but somehow our obvious presence in its territory failed to put the poor fella off. Instead the four of us (Cheyne included) were treated to a once in a lifetime display of this amazing bird from the comfort of a hide. A male Wahnes's Parotia entered its arena (only a few metres in front of us) and started to clear the area of leaves, before 'lifting up its skirt' and putting on a full dance display. The show according to my recording lasted more than 15 seconds, and is possibly the best 15 seconds of birding ever. Cheyne who has birded the Huon for a few years now at the appropriate times of year, had never witnessed this display, and I wonder just how many people have actually witnessed this.....not many I reckon.
With light still remaining we retreated back to camp and celebrated by chilling out and gripping everyone else of with my now very gripping footage of a dancing Parotia.
Another try for the Owlet-Nightjar only resulted in a few trucks full of people with machetes exclaiming they love us......being a Friday night this could be expected in any drunk atmosphere, but being in a very remote and potentially unsafe place, we called it a night and retreated back to camp.
Highlights for today:
Great Cuckoo Dove - 1
Ornate Fruit Dove - 1
Brehm's Tiger Parrot - 1
Yellow-billed Lorikeet - 2
Rufous-backed Honeyeater - 10
Black-throated Honeyeater - 2
Streaked Berrypecker - 2
Black Fantail - 1
Wahnes's Parotia - 3
Black-throated Robin - 1
Sunday 14th July (Ian's birthday)
Our last full day on the Huon, and what a day it was!! We were basically all given a free day to do what we wanted, and with this in mind me and Ian stuck together and did our best to persuade others not to follow in our footsteps, though not because we're unsociable (well we are), but because our target birds would require some form of stealth, and in a group of more than two, this can't be achieved.
So we set off to a nearby trail and worked hard to find our targets. First up was a Kingfisher that flew through the canopy when it was hardly light and disappeared, though the fact it responded very quickly to my Mountain Kingfisher playback, the views were completely un-tickable, but this downside didn't dissuade us from the other targets on offer.
Eventually after some time, we heard our main quarry, a Spotted Jewel Babbler. We stalked the bird and despite only being a few metres away it was clearly invisible being just off the narrow path in deep foliage. A quick burst of playback resulted in a very brief view for myself, but Ian missed it so the mission was certainly not complete. I then walked down a side trail to a recently cleared area and for no real reason started playing Forbe's Forest Rail, and a few moments later one responded. Ian quickly joined me and I placed by Bluetooth speaker on the opposite side of the path from where the bird was calling, and the waiting game commenced. Thankfully Rails being Rails meant that soon the vegetation was rustling and sure enough we glimpsed this fantastic bird, but it wasn't until a short time later that we had mind-boggling views of the Rail showing off on a log pumping its tail up and down for maybe ten seconds, no doubt urging to impress my Bluetooth speaker.
The fun didn't end there, a very distant Jewel Babbler had now merged into a very close Jewel Babbler, and without making too much noise we re-positioned ourselves ever so slightly into the forest. A quick play of the recording and just below our feet a Spotted Jewel Babbler ran past. Its sheer speed and agility was quite superb as we tracked the bird running around us, but it gave itself up by pausing in the dense understorey in my line of sight for a few brief seconds.
The morning had been brilliant, but now it was time for the late morning/afternoon session down at the ridge west of Satop where the Emperors were displaying the other day. Again it was just the two of us, and after waiting around for three hours with just a brief view and constant calling, three males flew into the tree and over maybe twenty minutes they sporadically went into full display, this display being rather unique due to this species hanging upside down and fluffing out their tales (rather reminiscent of the Blue Bird-of-Paradise). This ended a quite brilliant last day (last day, or so we thought) on the Huon, and although we tried for the Feline Owlet-Nightjar again, it sadly didn't play ball despite us pinning it down to a tree.
Papuan Harrier - 1
Forbes's Forest Rail - 1
Brehm's Tiger Parrot - 1
Stella's Lorikeet - 3
Spangled Honeyeater - 5
Mountain Mouse Warbler - 1
Buff-faced Scrubwren - 10
Tit Berrypecker - 2
Spotted Jewel Babbler - 1
Black-breasted Boatbill - 2
Black-bellied Cuckooshrike - 3
Rusty Whistler - 1
Little Shrikethrush - 1
Grey Crow - 10
Crinkle-collared Manucode - 1
Huon Astrapia - 8
Wahnes's Parotia - 1
Emperor Bird-of-Paradise - 3
Slaty Robin - 1
Monday 15th July
From here on in our time on the Huon was slightly stressful. Due to heavy rain and low cloud, our charter flight couldn't land at Kabwum, and despite standing around at the lounge (a tiny shack with a leaky roof) and wandering up and down the runway, it was clear we weren't leaving the Huon today. This was a huge downer as our full day at Varirata was now cancelled for tomorrow, and our flight from Lae to Port Moresby would also have to be re-arranged, something that Sicklebill did with ease.
We needed accommodation , but no chance were we being bashed up and down back up to the camp, so we were kindly offered what looked like someone's house, and that someone obviously wasn't informed of our imminent arrival, as we clearly woke him up as we entered the beaten up and quite offensive looking joint. We had hit rock bottom and it didn't get much better when a loud pumping sound informed us that the already destroyed toilet wasn't flushing, and had to be done manually.
Mercifully Adam and Steve managed to arrange new accommodation for us further up the hillside (courtesy of North Coast Aviation....or so we thought), and it turned out to be pure glamorous compared to our last dump.
To calm the nerves about getting out tomorrow, a few of us walked up the track for maybe an hour, but once again there wasn't much on offer, although a White-bellied Cuckooshrike and an all white Variable Goshawk made it semi worthwhile.
Tuesday 16th July
I woke at 4am to the most horrific noise going, the sound of rain lashing down outside. And it continued for quite a few hours after, and the hopes of even leaving PNG on schedule for our time in Australia was looking severely doubtful. As you do in such situations, you look for any clear bit of sky to try and bring some confidence back into the misery, and it was working. The clear bit cleared some more, and some more, then the rain stopped and it was all starting to look dandy. We got confirmation from the airline that the plane had now left Lae, but this wasn't us home and dry (definitely not dry) yet as a large cover of low cloud had developed over the runway. The wind was blowing thankfully and to cut an already long story short, we departed Kabwum (though I was without a seat and had to wedge myself between two Papuans and hold on due to not having a seatbelt), climbed to the proposed altitude, and left the rugged and untouched mountains behind us.
To be continued...……..
When I first started putting this trip together, (almost 18 months before the actual departure), I knew I wanted to visit the Huon Peninsular, not just for its sheer remoteness in the fact that so few birding groups had ever visited here, but also that it holds three species of Birds-of-Paradise found nowhere else in New Guinea, and it just so happened that one of these species for me is the best looking BoP.
Once again the logistics (not just for here) to get in and out of the Huon was left to Sicklebill Safaris who dealt with things expertly. What no doubt made things slightly easier is that the owner of the very plush camping based at 2800m just above the village of Satop, was Australian. Cheyne owns Walindi Resort on New Britain but in recent years has explored the Huon and after negotiating land with locals, has managed to set up a very nice campsite, whereas in his first few years the accommodation was a school hall much further down the ridge, and far away from the altitudinal endemics. Not only is the accommodation better now, but the camp is situated very closely to all the available Birds-of-Paradise on offer. Cheyne also speaks the local lingo which is a huge bonus, and our successes on the Huon could not have been achieved without his help and local knowledge. If interested visit huonbirding.com .
To get into the Huon, we had to get a charter plane from Lae, and landing at the small town of Kabwum. Weather is critical in the operation of the small plane, and although arriving we had no issues, departing was a different issue with heavy rain on the day of our planned departure. This led us to stay in the village of Kabwum and re-arrange our flight(s) for the next day. Although it was very touch and go for a period on our second attempt, we did finally leave, but more on that later.
The birding in general, like most of PNG, was very slow and the first two hours of the day were critical, as bird activity waned by mid morning.
Thursday 11th July
We left the Crossroads Hotel in Lae very early and arrived at the North Coast Aviation charter office in Lae Aiport roughly half hour later. We got directed straight through after having our luggage weighed (10kg for our four day adventure) and dropped our main luggage in the office (with me leaving my wet laundry on top of my bag). The plane was a 12-seater so a few locals also boarded with us.
I got priority seating (perks of being tour leader I suppose) and of course chose the co-pilot seat, and it's fair to say the half hour plane journey was superb. The views were clear and we passed over the mountain ridge not more then 300m above the highest peak. The land up here was very boggy with many evergreen trees, and is no doubt the haunting place for the Huon Melidectes, a species that is very rarely encountered. Anyway we soon descended over the ridge and eventually had perfect valley views as we landed onto the rocky airstrip of Kabwum.
Our driver Daniel was there to pick us up and we enjoyed an albeit bumpy journey up the very steep track ascending yet another high ridge, before dropping over the other side. The Huon for me was the place I was most concerned about regarding the security issues, however I was far off as this whole area was so friendly and welcoming, it turned out in fact to be the safest area we visited.
At the campsite we met up with Cheyne and had a quick lunch before walking a trail to view an open area. Our first Huon Astrapias and Wahnes's Parotias were found, and with few other birds around, we dropped down into the village of Satop (Daniel was our driver for our duration and would happily take us anywhere we wanted) where we met up with a female worker. She knew a display tree of the Emperor Bird-of-Paradise that no one had visited before, and upon arriving after a very sweaty walk, we were treated to a fine spectacle of this most dramatic BoP I had personally encountered this trip, with the mixture of a cream upperparts, chestnut and florescent green creating the most eye catching BoP. This was my main target of the entire trip, and with everything having gone to plan, that evening I sat outside of my tent and with sheer delight, watched the sun go down.
Highlights for today:
Papuan Harrier - 2
Pesquet's Parrot - 2
Red-collared Myzomela - 5
Rufous-backed Honeyeater - 2
Spangled Honeyeater - 4
Tit Berrypecker - 8
Northern Fantail - 1
Huon Astrapia - 1
Wahnes's Parotia - 1
Emperor Bird-of-Paradise - 6
Island Leaf Warbler - 1
Black Sunbird - 1
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| Tit Berrypecker |
 |
Spangled Honeyeater
Endemic to the Huon
|
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| Amboyna Cuckoo Dove |
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| Our charter plane |
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| Upgrade |
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Flying over the high ridge,
responsible for Huon endemics.
|
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| Add caption |
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The ridge we had to cross to reach
the camp.
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| Emperor helpers kipping |
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| Satop villagers |
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| The Emperor valley |
Friday 12th July
This morning me, Ian and Adam were in the Huon Bowerbird hide, situated only a five minute drive away, and then a steep and tricky track for five minutes. We arrived in the early morning gloom and sat uncomfortably for two hours with not a sniff of the Bowerbird, although the bower seemed to be active which was promising for the remaining time we had here.
With nothing of note from the hide, we walked the road and came across some really good birds, one of which ended our quest to find all the endemic families PNG has to offer, this being the Mottled Berryhunter, which in the book looks rather drab, and in all honesty its not a looker, but still a class bird in its own right. Other nice birds found included a Cinnamon-browed Melidectes and our only Marbled Honeyeater of the trip.
After re-convening with the other who hadn't had any luck at the Parotia hide, we walked the road back to the campsite with the main highlight being a superb adult male White-eared Bronze Cuckoo. The remainder of the day was spent wandering along the road after the heat of the day had passed.
After another sumptuous meal put together by the local chefs, some of us walked the road at night where a superb Moon halo was on offer, and then a semi responsive Feline Owlet-Nightjar started playing, and winning with us not even catching a glimpse of this monster nocturnal bird, and this trend continued on for many nights here.
Highlights for today:
Great Cuckoo Dove - 1
White-eared Bronze Cuckoo - 1
Brown Falcon - 2
Australian Hobby - 1
Yellow-billed Lorikeet - 2
Marbled Honeyeater - 1
Black-throated Honeyeater - 2
Spangled Honeyeater - 2
Cinnamon-browed Melidectes - 1
Buff-faced Scrubwren - 1
Brown-breasted Gerygone - 4
Fan-tailed Berrypecker - 2
Black-breasted Boatbill - 1
Mottled Berryhunter - 1
Brown-backed Whistler - 1
Regent Whistler - 3
Dimorphic Fantail - 1
Huon Astrapia - 5
Canary Flyrobin - 2
Papuan Grassbird - 1
Olive-backed Sunbird - 1
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| Brown Falcon |
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| Friendly Fantail |
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| Island Leaf Warbler |
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Huon Bowerbird's bower
|
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| A small part of the Huon Birding complex |
Saturday 13th July
Due to no activity from either hide yesterday morning, it was decided to give them a miss this morning just in case the birds were spooked.
So in the morning we drove a distance uphill and then walked back to camp. This took most of the morning but the birding was extremely slow. A fantastic viewpoint took our minds of the lack of birds for a short time. A top bird was found however, this being a pair of Streaked Berrypeckers, whilst an Ornate Fruit Dove perched in the distance. Some bird flocks were too shy for us and most species remained out of sight.
After a tiresome morning, some of us (maybe me) got a lift back to camp where once again the heat of the day was surpassed by either sleeping or trying to sleep. For the second afternoon running, the cloud rolled in but we decided to re-take our positions in the hide, though this time swapping. Myself, Ian and Adam were now making our way to the Parotia hide, just around the corner from the camp. Excitement soon commenced along the path when Adam spotted a quite spectacular male Wahnes's Parotia showing off it's incredible plumes and long tail (this being the longest-tailed Parotia) on top of a nearby tree. This was a great start, and upon entering the small wooded area, another male Parotia expressed its disgust at our arrival, but somehow our obvious presence in its territory failed to put the poor fella off. Instead the four of us (Cheyne included) were treated to a once in a lifetime display of this amazing bird from the comfort of a hide. A male Wahnes's Parotia entered its arena (only a few metres in front of us) and started to clear the area of leaves, before 'lifting up its skirt' and putting on a full dance display. The show according to my recording lasted more than 15 seconds, and is possibly the best 15 seconds of birding ever. Cheyne who has birded the Huon for a few years now at the appropriate times of year, had never witnessed this display, and I wonder just how many people have actually witnessed this.....not many I reckon.
With light still remaining we retreated back to camp and celebrated by chilling out and gripping everyone else of with my now very gripping footage of a dancing Parotia.
Another try for the Owlet-Nightjar only resulted in a few trucks full of people with machetes exclaiming they love us......being a Friday night this could be expected in any drunk atmosphere, but being in a very remote and potentially unsafe place, we called it a night and retreated back to camp.
Highlights for today:
Great Cuckoo Dove - 1
Ornate Fruit Dove - 1
Brehm's Tiger Parrot - 1
Yellow-billed Lorikeet - 2
Rufous-backed Honeyeater - 10
Black-throated Honeyeater - 2
Streaked Berrypecker - 2
Black Fantail - 1
Wahnes's Parotia - 3
Black-throated Robin - 1
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| Our lovely tents |
Sunday 14th July (Ian's birthday)
Our last full day on the Huon, and what a day it was!! We were basically all given a free day to do what we wanted, and with this in mind me and Ian stuck together and did our best to persuade others not to follow in our footsteps, though not because we're unsociable (well we are), but because our target birds would require some form of stealth, and in a group of more than two, this can't be achieved.
So we set off to a nearby trail and worked hard to find our targets. First up was a Kingfisher that flew through the canopy when it was hardly light and disappeared, though the fact it responded very quickly to my Mountain Kingfisher playback, the views were completely un-tickable, but this downside didn't dissuade us from the other targets on offer.
Eventually after some time, we heard our main quarry, a Spotted Jewel Babbler. We stalked the bird and despite only being a few metres away it was clearly invisible being just off the narrow path in deep foliage. A quick burst of playback resulted in a very brief view for myself, but Ian missed it so the mission was certainly not complete. I then walked down a side trail to a recently cleared area and for no real reason started playing Forbe's Forest Rail, and a few moments later one responded. Ian quickly joined me and I placed by Bluetooth speaker on the opposite side of the path from where the bird was calling, and the waiting game commenced. Thankfully Rails being Rails meant that soon the vegetation was rustling and sure enough we glimpsed this fantastic bird, but it wasn't until a short time later that we had mind-boggling views of the Rail showing off on a log pumping its tail up and down for maybe ten seconds, no doubt urging to impress my Bluetooth speaker.
The fun didn't end there, a very distant Jewel Babbler had now merged into a very close Jewel Babbler, and without making too much noise we re-positioned ourselves ever so slightly into the forest. A quick play of the recording and just below our feet a Spotted Jewel Babbler ran past. Its sheer speed and agility was quite superb as we tracked the bird running around us, but it gave itself up by pausing in the dense understorey in my line of sight for a few brief seconds.
The morning had been brilliant, but now it was time for the late morning/afternoon session down at the ridge west of Satop where the Emperors were displaying the other day. Again it was just the two of us, and after waiting around for three hours with just a brief view and constant calling, three males flew into the tree and over maybe twenty minutes they sporadically went into full display, this display being rather unique due to this species hanging upside down and fluffing out their tales (rather reminiscent of the Blue Bird-of-Paradise). This ended a quite brilliant last day (last day, or so we thought) on the Huon, and although we tried for the Feline Owlet-Nightjar again, it sadly didn't play ball despite us pinning it down to a tree.
Papuan Harrier - 1
Forbes's Forest Rail - 1
Brehm's Tiger Parrot - 1
Stella's Lorikeet - 3
Spangled Honeyeater - 5
Mountain Mouse Warbler - 1
Buff-faced Scrubwren - 10
Tit Berrypecker - 2
Spotted Jewel Babbler - 1
Black-breasted Boatbill - 2
Black-bellied Cuckooshrike - 3
Rusty Whistler - 1
Little Shrikethrush - 1
Grey Crow - 10
Crinkle-collared Manucode - 1
Huon Astrapia - 8
Wahnes's Parotia - 1
Emperor Bird-of-Paradise - 3
Slaty Robin - 1
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| Spangled Honeyeater |
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| fem Regent Whistler |
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| Stella's Lorikeet |
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| Emperor Bird-of-Paradise |
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| The Emperor valley |
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| Sunset at the campsite |
Monday 15th July
From here on in our time on the Huon was slightly stressful. Due to heavy rain and low cloud, our charter flight couldn't land at Kabwum, and despite standing around at the lounge (a tiny shack with a leaky roof) and wandering up and down the runway, it was clear we weren't leaving the Huon today. This was a huge downer as our full day at Varirata was now cancelled for tomorrow, and our flight from Lae to Port Moresby would also have to be re-arranged, something that Sicklebill did with ease.
We needed accommodation , but no chance were we being bashed up and down back up to the camp, so we were kindly offered what looked like someone's house, and that someone obviously wasn't informed of our imminent arrival, as we clearly woke him up as we entered the beaten up and quite offensive looking joint. We had hit rock bottom and it didn't get much better when a loud pumping sound informed us that the already destroyed toilet wasn't flushing, and had to be done manually.
Mercifully Adam and Steve managed to arrange new accommodation for us further up the hillside (courtesy of North Coast Aviation....or so we thought), and it turned out to be pure glamorous compared to our last dump.
To calm the nerves about getting out tomorrow, a few of us walked up the track for maybe an hour, but once again there wasn't much on offer, although a White-bellied Cuckooshrike and an all white Variable Goshawk made it semi worthwhile.
Tuesday 16th July
I woke at 4am to the most horrific noise going, the sound of rain lashing down outside. And it continued for quite a few hours after, and the hopes of even leaving PNG on schedule for our time in Australia was looking severely doubtful. As you do in such situations, you look for any clear bit of sky to try and bring some confidence back into the misery, and it was working. The clear bit cleared some more, and some more, then the rain stopped and it was all starting to look dandy. We got confirmation from the airline that the plane had now left Lae, but this wasn't us home and dry (definitely not dry) yet as a large cover of low cloud had developed over the runway. The wind was blowing thankfully and to cut an already long story short, we departed Kabwum (though I was without a seat and had to wedge myself between two Papuans and hold on due to not having a seatbelt), climbed to the proposed altitude, and left the rugged and untouched mountains behind us.
To be continued...……..
 |
| Hmmm |
 |
| Getting clearer |
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| We're going home |
 |
Me wedged between two Papuans
as I didn't have a seat
|
