Clear Skies - again

Ash has eased and what is being emitted is heading the other way. Yippee!!!

I love a romantic sunset and this one was taken from the front of my place. Bare feet, a bottle of wine and some sweet whisperings is all that is needed to complete the picture - sigh!!!

This view is actually to the east but we get a lot of beautiful reflected light from the sun setting in the west.

Ash, ash go away.........

While you were all sweating it out on the Kokoda Trail the wind was causing havoc here. These photos were taken over the back fence at the school I work at.

Normally the view looks like this

.... but with prevailing winds blowing this way and the volcano active, the ash is dumping on us!! Schools are closed, flights have been canceled and everyone is miserable. We aren't too bad here in Takubar but in Kokopo and around to Rabaul it has been very bad. Traffic was almost at a standstill yesterday the ash was so thick.

Last Wednesday though the school and our house copped it. This is the ash under the school on Thursday afternoon.

Soon the winds will change and blow it away..... so we wait with dwindling patience.

Kokoda - last day

One of the most desperate battles in Australian history was fought at Isurava between 26 and 30 August 1942. The signs of the ferocity here are still present, weapons’ pits originally used by the Australians at Isurava are still evident in the vicinity of the memorial site. Prior to construction, the memorial site itself was strewn with rusting magazine cartridges, and unexploded mortar shells from the battle.

The Isurava Memorial was constructed in remembrance of all those Australians and Papua New Guineans who fought and those who died on the Kokoda Track in 1942. This site gives more information about its construction and dedication.

The Isurava Monument site offers a spectacular view to the north over the Kokoda Valley, framed by the perfect V-shape of the surrounding mountains.

The Memorial features four Australian black granite pillars that are each inscribed with a single word — COURAGE, ENDURANCE, MATESHIP, and SACRIFICE representing the values and qualities of those Australian soldiers who fought along the Kokoda Track.

On 6 February this month, the Kokoda Trail was closed indefinitely by Koiari landowners who want a proposed copper mining venture by Australian owned Frontier Resources Ltd, that will impact on a section of the track, to go ahead. The landowners say they will get more money from the mining than from the tourism generated from trekkers.

Australia doesn’t want the mining lease to be granted as the Kokoda Trail is seen as sacred historical ground. The landowners are saying that it has nothing to do with Australia and they should “mind their own business”. More details here.

Kokoda - Day 2

The men of Kokoda fought a terrible battle against overwhelming odds - and yet they were not overwhelmed. They suffered huge casualties at Isurava and the fighting back through Templeton's Crossing, Mission Ridge, and Brigade Hill.

They fought in the worst conditions imaginable - the climate and the incredibly difficult terrain adding to their burden. Ultimately they fought the enemy to a standstill and saw him turn at Ioribaiwa and retreat back over the Kokoda Track.

History records that these men made possible a tremendous victory. They stopped a downward thrust that - if successful - would have exposed the entire Australian mainland to invasion. So significant was their achievement that the historians are now unanimous in agreeing that the battles of the Kokoda Trail saw the turning of the tide - a tide that could well have engulfed a young nation.

Theirs was a victory - not only of the jungle battlefield - but a victory of sacrifice and selflessness, a victory of mateship, a victory of courage, a victory of endurance, a victory over adversity - and a victory even of humour - but above all a victory of their indomitable spirit.

Rest well - Day 3 will be fast upon you.

Kokoda - Day 1

Kokoda is nowhere near Rabaul but I wanted to post some photos this week taken by Guy, who with his family walked the trail last year. His stunning photos aren’t in chronological order but are posted to basically give you a sense of the place. I have taken information from a number of sources on the web but this one in particular is good for extra information about the history and how to do the trek. This site has a great map and is where the top map came from.

The narrow, jungle-enclosed 96 km Kokoda Track, that crosses the unforgiving Owen Stanley Range, is one of the world’s great trails and is extremely popular with Australian trekkers, many whose grandfathers and great-grandfathers fought along the rugged mountainous trail. The track starts at Owen's Corner in Central Province, 50 kilometres east of Port Moresby, and then crosses rugged and isolated terrain, which is only passable on foot, to the village of Kokoda in Oro Province. It reaches a height of 2,190 metres (7,185 ft) as it passes around the peak of Mount Bellamy. Despite the challenge posed it is a popular hike that takes between five and 12 days (depending on fitness). Locals have been known to hike the route in three days.

It was arguably Australia's most significant campaign of the Second World War. The Australian Diggers were under no illusion of the fate awaiting their families back home if they didn't stop the Japanese on the Kokoda Trail. Regular Australian forces were being rushed back from Europe and the Middle East where they had reinforced their legendary Anzac fighting reputation at Tobruk, El Alamein, Greece, Crete and in the Western Desert. In the meantime the defense of our homeland was left to young inexperienced militia men - some as young as 16 years of age had been hurriedly recruited, given the most basic of training then dispatched to New Guinea to hold the Japanese advance until our regulars from the AIF could reinforce them.

These were the darkest and most desperate days in Australian history.

Rest well - more trekking tomorrow!!!

Long way from home

We have massive downpours here which wash debris down swollen rivers to the sea. The debris then floats on the waves for months at times until it makes land-fall.

I wonder where this driftwood has been and where it stood once as a majestic tree?
How did it get here onto Pigeon Island and how long did its journey take?

It seems quite at home now and is shelter for lots of small creatures.


Tomorrow I will take you on a journey to the PNG mainland, to the famous Kokoda Track. Hope you are fit!!!!

Pandanus Avenue

Pandanus grows very well here and it is easily recognized by its distinctive aerial roots. This avenue of pandanus is at Raiven.

Pandanus is a member of the screw pine family and its leaves are a popular flavouring in tropical Asia, from South India to New Guinea. They are used for rather different purposes, but mostly in connection with rice, since rice can profit most from the hay-like odour of pandanus leaves. However the scent of pandanus leaves develops only on withering; the fresh, intact plants hardly have any odour.

Plain rice cooked in coconut milk and flavoured with pandanus leaves is a delicacy even when eaten alone; with only a few more ingredients, Most delicious, is rice steamed in small baskets made from pandanus leaves. For more information check out this web site.