I was lucky recently to have an opportunity to visit Papua New Guinea with Tina Clark, Judy Horacek and Phil Kettle. There were some restrictions on our luggage allowance as we transitioned from our international flight to a smaller local plane. But as you can see, we managed.

We nearly lost Phil before we even reached our destination, but luckily the jungle gave him back.

… and the flowers in my room

This gentle giant guarded the guesthouse for us for several days.

 

 

More of the view.

Judy and I spent our week at Hopis School, seeing all year levels each day. Some we saw solo, others we team-presented.

They were all very excited about Book Week.

There were so many beautiful flowers, it’s no surprise there were gorgeous and huge butterflies – none of them consented to be photographed.

This is a bougainvillea – so vibrant and vigourous.

 
There was a welcome reception for us at Popondetta Secondary College, and there was cake!

Early stage one students proved very adept at boat-making.

Mt Lamington again, from a different perspective. Stunning.

Intrepid travellers: Phil, me, Tina and Judy.

Seed pod? Clogs? You decide.

Nursery for young palms

Even younger palm seedlings.

Pawpaw should only ever be eaten straight from the tree – so sweet.

Loved these tok pisin signs. If you read them out loud, you can probably work out the advertising claims.

Book Week celebrations complete with book readings.

 Book Week 2016 PNG style – note the three official languages. (there are 850 distinct languages …)

Tip toe through the palm trees. Okay, Land Cruiser tip-toeing.

The patterning of these palms was stunning.

Almost, but not quite, ripe berries.

Ever wondered where WWII bombs ended up? Oro Bay. That’s where. All detonated now.

Our chariot approaches.

Tina and Judy

Moi and Phil

 Breakfast in Port Moresby.

How sculpture-like are these leaves?

And last, but not least, frangipani.

We had a rich and rewarding stay in Oro Province and hope we get another chance to visit these wonderful schools, their students and teachers.