Loloata Island

Hello friends,

So far it has been a brilliant 2+ months in PNG - Aside from weekday interactions with friendly team members and clients, weekends have offered the opportunity to go hiking, diving and venture to offshore islands. Earlier this month I made it to Loloata island, an island resort with clear waters to scuba and snorkel. Being only a 15 min ferry ride away from Port Moresby, this serene environment provided a great weekend getaway. Attached some pictures below of my walk around the island so you can get a glimpse for yourself, including some island wildlife - birds and wallabies roam around pretty freely.

As always, you are more than welcome to come visit while I reside here (likely til Mar 2011). Since we are a couple of degrees south of the equator, PNG is pretty much summer all year round (think Singapore but slightly less humid) and provides a welcome respite from the winter no matter which hemisphere one comes from. My next few updates will likely provide a little more variety as I finally start exploring the massive country outside of Port Moresby. Trips to the highlands and the beaches, volcanoes and indigenous tribes shall follow.

Diving for Easter break

Hello,

Quick update on my life since I suspect most of you will enjoy finding out more about this random country I live in. Spent easter break going diving, I have come to the conclusion that Papua New Guinea is an absolutely beautiful country not just above sea level but also below! Had a great weekend getting my open water diving cert with 2 dives to different wrecks from WW2, and 2 beautiful coral reefs, along with Suzie's bommie - a 10-15m pillar of coral reef, where we swum nearby only to realize we were then surrounded by 100s of different types of fish (pic frm internet attached). Perhaps I'll buy an underwater camera one of these days, but for now here are some over-water pictures of the sites. I'm no expert on diving, but I do concur with the expert viewpoint that PNG is one of the best places in the world to dive; bidiversity is amazing, temperatures are great and costs are relatively cheap.

The beginning

Hello friends!

As I marvel at the somewhat surreal fact that I've already been in Papua New Guinea for a full week, I thought it would be fun/useful to share some of my experiences and contact info, given that I'll be here til Aug, if not til 2011. As most of you know, I moved to PNG to work on some climate change capability building, and so far its been quite an adventure. Notwithstanding frequent power blackouts, internet unreliability and the absence of hot water over the weekend, the rural environment is simply beautiful and I've showcased the tip of the iceberg from a hiking trip that I enjoyed thoroughly on Sunday at 8am in attached pics.

While I'm here, if any of you get the opportunity, please feel free to visit as I will be able to provide a tour of this interesting place. I'm based in Port Moresby, but planning to take some weekend trips to the highlands and other provinces and will continue to take pictures. In addition, I'm planning to take trips to Australia (Sydney and Melbourne at least) so if you're there please let me know if you have a timing preference. Since I won't be seeing too much of any of you in the near future, I would love to hear about what you're up to via email or phone!!