Robert@PNG

We got back safely this afternoon from Madang after a 5 to 6 hour PMV ride.
It was a great weekend with our hosts - Nick, Bernadette and Valdek.
Nick came to PNG initially as a volunteer, about 5 years ago, working in Lae and has since
married Bernadette from Milne Bay and now works at Divine Word University in Madang town as a Lecturer in IT.

This was my first trip up to Madang and I now understand why they call it
“beautiful” Madang. A beautiful place indeed, much cleaner and relaxed than
the Highlands with heaps of places to swim.

We were originally coming back to Goroka on the Sunday but decided to stay
the extra day. Yesterday (Sunday) we headed out to the old Malolo Plantation
which has now been turned into a resort. Malolo resort is located right on
the beach and it's the closest I've been to tropical paradise since I visited Sabah a few years back. For most of the afternoon we had the whole
resort to ourselves - only meters away from the beach and ocean. We managed
to fit in some lunch and basically chilled out for the afternoon.

We also found time for the following:

- A visit to the Kalibobo light house - a famous landmark in Madang.
- A swim and a relax at a Machine Gun point.
- Pizza and a couple of beers at the Coastwatchers.
- Fresh tuna steak, coconut juice and local betelnut on the Saturday
morning.
- A vsit to Yabob village just outside of town.

The relatively short time that I have lived and worked in PNG I have not
really seen a great deal of the country. I've seen a lot of a few things
rather than a little of many. This weekend was great, for one it got me out
of Goroka and the Highland's for a few days and it gave me the opportunity
to see and experience a little of the beauty this country has to offer.

Beats me how folks lock in on the Kokoda Track thing when thinking or
planning a trip to PNG. There's untold places and experiences in PNG that
leave the famous track for dead.