The domestic terminal was at the end of a long walkway which offered protection from the sun. I already had a boarding pass for Rabaul, so I went on through security to a very large departure lounge. For a long time I was the only white female there. To board the plane I walked down another long covered walkway then across the tarmac to the plane.
I had a good seat close to the front next to a local man. We exchanged pleasantries and bumped fists. As soon as the plane took off I fell asleep and when I woke up the man had moved to a vacant seat across the aisle. The snack was a little package of biscuits (cookies) and apple juice in a small metal container.
Rabaul was the provincial capital in the East New Britain province of Papua New Guinea, but it was destroyed in 1994 by falling ash from a volcanic eruption and the capital was moved to Kokopo where Rapopo is located. During WWII Japanese occupied it after the Battle of Rabaul. Tunnels and fortifications were built throughout the island. In 1943 Yamamoto, the architect of the Pearl Harbor bombing, was on a plane from Rabaul and the plane was shot down and he was killed. The American Navy had decrypted Japanese communications and learned his itinerary. It wasn’t until August 1945 that Rabaul was neutralized. The area is now more of a famous diving site for the ships and war artifacts underwater.
After the plane landed I walked through baggage claim to the outside where I saw a white van with Rapopo Plantation Resort on the side. Covering each window was plastic mesh so the van looked like it could be carrying prisoners. The driver said the glass was expensive and was being protected by the mesh. There is a lot of tribal violence in this country so this is probably a way to also protect the occupants in the van. The entrance to the property is in Kokopo and is protected by a high security fence and then there is a long road to another security fence. The main building is what I call a typical tropical open building for reception and dining. I believe it was in much better shape before Covid. Around the pool were 2 buildings with the rooms. My room was large and opened to the pool. Since it had been raining and was getting dark I quickly went out and took some photos. When I got back to my room I opened my email and discovered my morning flight back to Port Moresby was cancelled. I had been rebooked on a later flight back to Port Morsby, but I was still booked on the flight to Brisbane at the same time. What a mess. There was a frantic 2 1/2 hour of texts and emails and a phone call between Chris and me on what to do. We left messages with Airtreks and decided that was all we could do. So I went to the dining area for a Caesar salad for supper. There were a few diners there but it was early and maybe others came later. Power was off and on, but did not cause any problems. Otherwise, I never could get hot water in the sink. I saw a knob on the wall to expedite the solar hot water, but decided I wasn’t going to shower anyway and did not need it.
I went back to my room and had a pretty decent sleep. I was up at 6:00. I went to the dining area where breakfast was included. The place was packed and people were ordering from the menu. Plates piled high kept coming out of the kitchen. I was not hungry and had only a piece of fresh banana bread. I noticed a jar of Vegemite in the table that reminded me of our Australian exchange student Rachel who lived with us in 1990-91. She brought jars of Vegemite when she arrived. I remember it tasted terrible.
I made sure I was at the Air Niugini desk in Rabaul early and Chris was at their desk in Port Moresby at the same time. Finally my flights were fixed, but there were no flights for Brisbane today and I was booked for the next morning. Chris’ was more complicated since her change to cancel today’s flight and rebook with me the next day was considered “voluntary.” It wasn’t voluntary - the airline cancelled my flight so she had to change her flight to travel with me. Airtreks came to the rescue since they were the company making the original booking and had to make the change. At security I was told I could take only one of my carryons. The other had to be checked. I kept explaining that I came to Rabaul with both bags carried on, and I had valuables in both bags. With a lot of discussion with the supervisor, I was allowed to carry on both. We never check bags if we can help it.
We had to cancel our hotel and activity in Brisbane, but we rebooked the hotel in Port Moresby where Chris had stayed. It was quite nice and helped calm our stress and nerves from the previous situation.
We had a nice lunch and an extended nap. Chris went on a walk and exercise and I had a swim in the salt water pool on the 8th floor which was adjacent to the restaurant where we had lunch. Now back to Chris for the rest of the story.
Neat way to do 2 blog to give your different perspectives!
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