Recreational Flying tour of PNG

[compressor stall]

Hi all,

Have been talking to a couple of friends overseas who want to fly around PNG - as do I. We've got a tentative plan to hire an a/c (type and location TBA) and fly around PNG for 3 weeks in May next year. Most likely starting in Daru.

My knowledge of PNG however is restricted to flying around Gurney, Lihir, Misima.

What suggestions do people have for say a three week tour around PNG with nice places to stay (not 5 star of course).

Also what aerial sights are a must see (not necessarily with landing).

Thanks in advance.

CS

[troppo]

Windjammer in Wewak
Pine Lodge in Bulolo
NCA compound in Lae :}

Sights...Yonki Dam, B17 on the hill near Wau, Hindenburg Wall, flying along the beach from Wewak to Vanimo is fun

You could always try Safarisuit ;)

[Herc Jerk]

Just be very, VERY, careful...

...if you go to the NCA compound in Lae;)

[Animalclub]

Suggest you get in touch with Bob Bates at Trans Niugini Tours. He's got some accommodation that is only accessible by air and is really out of this world - Karawari and Bensbach. He has a couple of aircraft (or used to) but I'm not sure that they're for hire.

Bob also knows PNG.

Enjoy. It is a beautiful country and the people are just great (except for that 2 or 3 per cent who are absolute rat bags). Be careful in the major centres.

[Pinky the pilot]

Agree with all the above. Suggest you pm Ozexpat for further info. Be advised however that flying in PNG is like nothing else that you will have experienced. This cannot be understated in any way, shape or form!

You only live twice. Once when
you're born. Once when
you've looked death in the face.

[poteroo]

Compressor Stall,

Spent 9 years there

Give me a call on 9648 1011 anytime -preferably after 6pm

happy days,

[Arm out the window]

G'Day CS,

I flew up there a bit, not heaps experienced, but some nice spots that spring to mind if the weather suits would be:

Aerial tour of some of the strips in the Finisterres like Satwag, Tep Tep etc. + coastal run up to Madang.

Long Island (about 70 nm E of Madang, was used by the Japanese as a flying boat base in WWII I think)

Nadzab-Ramu Valley-Goroka-Kundiawa (Chimbu)-Mt Hagen - beautiful once up in the highlands

Vanimo - quite pleasant, right up on Indon border, hills a bit lower too. Have stayed at the Sandaun, not bad at all, go the chilli lobster!

Strickland River up towards Oksapmin, lots of cloud around sometimes though, but very nice river with gorges, rapids etc

The karst countryside north of the Fly River Delta, some nice sights like gaps in the cliff ( not far NE of Wopasali from memory).

Kar Kar and Manam Island - volcanoes N and W of Madang, Manam Is. often smoking and Kar Kar still pretty warm underfoot in places

Many more great things to see; obviously caution Wx, escape routes, daylight, gap heights, highlands QNH etc!!

Hope it works out well.

[compressor stall]

Cheers to those who have replied thus far.

Once I have this and (hopefully) more information and suggestions, I will work out a route encompassing the suggestions and get some feedback from the experienced PNG hands and refinements for it.

Copied the warnings and thanks... I've only spent a little time flying in PNG and in the easy bit... :8 When I decide on the route, I'll definitely be asking for some detailed beta on it.

CS

[OzExpat]

I spent all of this past week in Vanimo and can certainly endorse the recommendation to stay at the Sandaun (pronounced sun down) Motel. The accommodation is okay, their food is the best in town - and among the best I've found in the country. Always plenty of booze too, o' course! ;)

Be warned, however, that they DO run out of lobster from time to time. Also - and rather inexplicably - they can run out of beef too... :{ However, you'll probably always get a decently hot shower whenever you want it, which is something that can't always be taken for granted at other places!

The local expats normally drink at the Vanimo Beach Hotel, any time from 17:00 onwards.

Knowing that you have a great spirit of adventure Stallie, I reckon you should rent a car and take a drive to the Indonesian border. Not a great distance, but the road is a cross between a goat track and a series of very deep and sometimes quite muddy ruts! :eek: Do not tackle this journey alone, make sure that you use a 4WD - and make sure you've got plenty of weight in the back, to help the wheels retain traction! :ooh:

Oh yeah, the Motel also has a courtesy bus. It meets scheduled flights for guest convenience, so I'm sure that you can arrange for it to meet you, if you give them advance notice and a reliable ETA.

Bob Bates is still flying around the country, so I heartily endorse the comments of Animalclub. I dunno about the Pine Lodge at Bulolo these days - been over 10 years since I've been there, but it used to be okay. That NCA compound in Lae... well, that's another story entirely! :E

[the wizard of auz]

Stallie, ring me!. Ozex, if this works out, stock the fridge!. ;)

[OzExpat]

Your biggest problem, Stallie, is going to be refuelling. The "big two", Shell and Mobil, ceased fuel deliveries into the Highlands, due to the continuing deterioration of the Highlands Highway. This affects avgas and avtur, so refuelling anywhere in the highlands region is likely to be extremely difficult, if not completely impossible.

There was a severe landslide a few months ago, near Kundiawa (Simbu Province) and that was the last straw. Well, that and an escalating crime problem along the Highlands Highway, in the highlands region.

As I said in my previous post, I've been in Vanimo all last week. Fuel is no longer available from the Mobil yard across the road from the airport terminal. All fuel (avgas and avtur) now comes in by barge from Lae, in drums, and is very expensive. For instance, a 200 litre drum of 100/130 will now cost you K1,000 (around $A400 or so), if MAF or Dove Air has enough to sell. Fuel is generally more readily available in Wewak so, if you're going up that way, you need to plan on refuelling there - and only there.

Put simply, things are a lot tougher now than they've ever been. I think that you'll be hard-pressed to find places to go, these days, where refuelling won't be a problem. It's still generally available in the New Guinea Islands, but you'll pay a very high price for it. Hope your friends are well healed mate, coz this trip is gunna cost them heaps for fuel... if and when you can get it.

I need to check, but think that fuel is still generally available at Daru. That will allow you to have a day or two at Bensbach, which is still a "must see" place. Then on to Moresby. I think that fuel is available at Gurney and you will probably want to go there for an overnight stop. Then on to Rabaul - Tokua airport - for another couple of days. Back to Moresby via Hoskins and Lae - one night in Lae (at least), to visit the Yacht Club - and the NCA compound... if yer brave enuf... :}

You can have a night at Kiriwina, enroute from Gurney to Rabaul, but I have no recent information on accommodation at the Lodge these days. There's no fuel available there, but it used to be a great place for some overnight nookie... if you don't mind a dose of the clap for free! :p

wiz... if Stallie\'s plans come to fruitition using you and Daisy - I\'m coming along too! That\'ll make six people, I think, so there\'ll be buggerall space for baggage because of the need for full fuel take-offs at most places. And me services come with a price tag in G/Ts! :E

[The Voice]

scuse me Oz .. get to the back of the line!! (please) :E

... but if it looks like there's a couple of acft going, there should be room for both of us!

[the wizard of auz]

As TV is far better looking than Ozex, its going to be a really easy choice I think. :E

[OzExpat]

So... wiz, I assume from yer post that yer now planning to sleep in the plane while yer here huh? :p

[the wizard of auz]

Oh, I don't know about that......I'll have to give it some thought.
Hey, TV. where we gunna sleep? :E

[The Voice]

I know that Oze is SUCH a gentleman .. you guys sharing the comfort of Daisy .. and I'll be at his place! :8

[the wizard of auz]

hehe. you sound too switched on for me.
I'll sleep outside and risk the wontoks and rascals before sharing with him again though........bad things happened last time.

[compressor stall]

OMG what have I started.... :p

Seriously though...thinking of a couple of options re aircraft at the moment. Thanks for the replies...will get back to you in time when we work out what fuel we'll be burning first. :8

CS

[OzExpat]

Yer gunna be at MY place TV? Bewdy, I'll sack the housekeeper so that there'll be a (unpaid:} ) job ready and waitin for ya! :D

wiz... How quickly ya ferget that worse things happened to ya before that! :p

[The Voice]

:uhoh: you sack the housekeeper and I'm NOT coming!! :sad:

Wiz .. sharing with Oz can't be that bad .. can it ?

[OzExpat]

I just wanted you to feel that yer needed TV! :}

Wiz .. sharing with Oz can't be that bad .. can it ?
Yes TV, he sure is! :D