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    • Sailing on Emerald Princess
    • Finding your own Oasis in Doha
    • Tokyo DisneySea
  • Home
  • About
    • All Star Profile
    • Current Outlets
  • Stories
    • Tahitian Dreaming Paul Gauguin Cruises
    • Cruise Ship's Historic Return to SA's Copper Coast
    • MSC Grandiosa
    • Ruby Princess
    • Return to Sri Lanka
    • Bryce Canyon
    • Hunter Gatherings
    • Visit Planet Batuu on your next holiday
    • The Falkland Islands
    • Zagreb has just about everything!
    • Historic Train Journeys in Yorkshire
    • The Sunshine State
    • To The Top of Europe
    • The Kimberley and Mitchell Falls
    • Forget Bali - Go Bush
    • Ireland.. It’s just like the movies
    • Tap and Go Sydney
    • Milwaukee: Easy does it
    • PNG with P&O
    • Port Douglas
    • India's Golden Triangle
    • Guns Gods and Gin
    • Return to Paradise
    • The Outback and fascinating Lava Tubes at Undara.
    • SAILING MEKONG’s PAST IN THE PRESENT
    • Italian Treat
    • Jasper
    • The Ghan
    • Grand Old Ladies
    • Brisbane to Townsville
    • MSC Seaside
    • First to the Frozen Continent Antarctica
    • Cuba's New Revolution
    • THE travel destinations for 2018
    • British Columbia and Grizzly Bears
    • Samoa
    • Mudgee
    • SeaDream A Seven-Day Dream
    • Winnipeg Canada
    • City and beach options in Thailand
    • The Canadian
    • Lonna Island
    • Ancient encounters along the Kimberley Coast
    • Silja Line
    • Play and Stay in Uber Cool Brisbane
    • The Vasa Museum
    • Travel to Noosa - For Cooking Classes
    • Spirit House hits new high
    • Mudgee's Blue Wren Winery
    • Helsinki: Europe’s new cool
    • Doing the Locomotion on Grandma's Express
    • SWEPT AWAY BY BROOME
    • Madrid – Tapas on Offer All Day
    • The Southern Highlands - Bowral
    • A Day Trip to China
    • The Never Never
    • Alaska 101
    • The Hydro Majestic Hotel
    • When is a Legend Born?
    • Sun Princess
    • An Amazing Journey
    • Mandurah and Blue Swimmer's
    • A MILLION DANCING SMILES IN PAPUA NEW GUINEA
    • See the historic wonders of Hội An, Vietnam
    • Holidays with Pets
    • YEPPOON – AN OASIS IN THE TROPICS
    • O'REILLY'S
    • Coober Pedy
    • Rum - Smuggler’s - Slavery
    • Sri Lanka
    • Secrets of the Great Ocean Road
    • Looking for Napoleon
    • Blue Lagoon
    • Where is Bowen?
    • The Central Coast of NSW
    • Lake Geneva
    • Mudgee NSW
    • Margaret River
    • Indian Pacific
    • Alsace
    • Cruising Asia
    • The Magnificent Murray
    • Lakes and Daffodils
    • Secret Places
    • Pencils
    • Pacific Jewel
    • Contact
    • Cruising with Holland America Line
    • Bewitching Mt Tamborine
    • Hill End NSW
    • The Heart of the Gold Coast
    • Outback Australia
    • Emerald Princess
    • Ottawow – Canada's exciting capital
    • Majorca
    • The Secret World of Pacific Palms
    • Escape the last of Winter
    • Sailing on Emerald Princess
    • Finding your own Oasis in Doha
    • Tokyo DisneySea
​     A MILLION DANCING SMILES IN PAPUA NEW GUINEA
                                 The land of the never ending Sing Sing!
Word by Dallas Sherringham. Images by Michael Osborne
Papua New Guinea may be our closest neighbour, but for most Australians it is an unknown land shrouded in mystery and intrigue.
 A majority of Aussies will never visit our neighbour across the Torres Strait because they haven’t been educated in its amazing beauty and friendly people. And until recently, cruise ships simply did not go there.
That is a shame, because I would place it in the top three cruising destinations I have ever visited. The other two are also close to home: the Kimberley and the Solomon Islands.
Far from being a land of mystery, New Guinea is more a tropical Garden of Eden with much of it still untouched and unspoilt by mass tourism. The people of New Britain and the many islands dotted throughout the Bismarck Archipelago are very similar to those in Vanuatu and Fiji.
As you go ashore you will be greeted by waving, smiling, happy people. You will be led to chairs placed carefully under a giant tree or beneath a veranda of palm leaves.
Then the dancing will begin. And oh, what a treat you are about to see. You will be in the company of gentle people, ever attentive, ever caring, ever wanting to share their world with yours.
Traditional dancing is the national past time in Papua New Guinea. Mass drums, bamboo xylophones, whistles and cacophony of sound overtake you as the dancing begins.
Then comes an amazing performance of waving arms and legs all choreographed into a visually, stunning display. Divine costumes and headwear worn by locals all add to the excitement. The dancers range from the elderly right down to young children who are being educated in the local traditions. They are fully absorbed in dances that tell the story of their village their region and their life.
On virtually every island you meet, you will be greeted by traditional dances. The strange thing is, no two dances are the same. The islands may be close together but because they were so isolated in the past and, to some degree, still are isolated, they have managed to develop performances that are unique to each region.
Our cruise began in fascinating Rabaul, always shrouded in fallout from the constantly erupting Mount Tavurvur, rated one of the world’s most dangerous volcanoes. In 1994 it destroyed old Rabaul in a massive explosion and has been playing up ever since.
Leaving the harbour at sundown with the mighty sunset painted in a multitude of stunning reds, oranges and purples was possibly the greatest departure of my career,
Next day we arrived at remote St Michael's School just off the coast of New Britain and it is here that I fell in love with PNG and its people. They were genuinely excited to see us, to dance with us and to share everything they had. The elaborate head ware had to be seen to be believed.
We then sailed across the vivid blue Bismarck Sea to Madang and then up the mighty Sepik River. Coral Discoverer has a shallow draft and this allowed us to travel further up this wild region than any other cruise ship.
Once again, the people of the Sepik were overwhelmingly friendly towards us. They were just as interested in learning about us as we were about them.
I have to admit at being slightly nervous about going ashore in an isolated native village where the people live completely off the land and the river. However, we were met by thousands of smiling people who were really excited about us coming to their village.
I could go on and on about PNG, but suffice to say it is one of the greatest unspoilt tourist regions anywhere on earth and the only way to see it properly is on an expedition cruise.
Luckily, Australia now has its very own site for expedition cruises called www.expeditioncruisespecialsts.com
 Its team of experts is ideal for Australians seeking guidance on this unique type of travel.
They have an exciting special available for our readers until January 1 which allows clients to save a hefty 15% on the outstanding 25 night Circle New Guinea cruise aboard Coral Discoverer on October 29, 2017. The saving is up to $7434 for a balcony cabin.
Details at http://www.expeditioncruisespecialists.com/destinations/australia/new-guinea-circle
Travel Feature supplied by www.wtfmedia.com.au
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