DAY 42---ALOTAU, PAPUA NEW GUINEA

 

 We cruised into Milne Bay to dock at Alotau.  In the afternoon, the temperature of 86 humid degrees with lots of rain showers around us.       

                                                                                                     This may give you an idea of what is around in this part of the world.

Historical/Background Info:

        Papua New Guinea comprises the eastern half of the island the other half is part of Indonesia.  The border between the two was confirmed by treaty with Australia before independence in 1974.  The country is the world’s third largest island country with a population of over 9 million.  There are 839 known languages making it the most linguistically diverse countries in the world.  It has numerous earthquakes, the last was in September of last year killing 7.  There are several active volcanoes and eruptions are frequent. 

        Papua New Guinea is rich in natural resources including; minerals (oil, gold, and copper), forests, fishing, and some agriculture.  It has a large portion of the world’s tuna stocks.  Palm oil and coffee are the major exports followed by cocoa and coconut oil.  Agriculture for subsistence and cash crops provides a livelihood for 85% of the population.  A large proportion of the population is illiterate and crime is high.  Folks, this is a poor country.  It’s no wonder that tourism was not mentioned in my research.

        We are docked in Alotau today which is on the southeast tip of the country with a population of 16,000.  This a new port for us.  It is near where the Japanese suffered their first land defeat during WWII.  The capital of Papua New Guinea, Port Moresby, is 220 miles away as the crow flies, but there is no roads between the two.  Talk about isolation!  Wonder why Regent elected to call on this port?  We shall see.

LAST EVENING

                                                                         This is Bagus                                                                                                                                                                                           Murphy, a sommelier, presenting an Argentine malbec which I selected to have this evening.

                                         Septima malbec.  Very nice medium bodied red.

Alin, the Restaurant Manager (responsible for all dining venues), is from Romania.  So we asked if he could make us some "mamaliga" to start our dinner with.  We think he enjoyed doing it for us as much as we did.  He said he made a big platter like the one below for himself also.

We were introduced to mamaliga by a Romanian waiter on our 2010 world cruise and loved it.  It is polenta with butter and feta cheese cooked in it and served with a side of sour cream.  Delicious!!!  We managed to eat pretty much the whole dish as our appetizer.

We both had the black pepper beef stir fry as our entrees.  Rebecca had rice with hers but I just chowed down on the mamaliga.  She had this stir fry earlier on the cruise and said the beef was tender but this was tough.

This what they called "the destination dessert".  It is a traditional Papuan dessert served in a coconut half consisting of shredded coconut, pineapple pieces, sugar, lemon juice, and coconut milk.  I tried it but didn't care for it.

So I asked for this peanut butter crunch bar.  I did not taste any peanut butter, just chocolate, and it was not crunchy.  Don't get me wrong I liked it!

TODAY

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND YOU CLICK ON THE PHOTOS SO AS TO ENLARGE THEM SO YOU CAN GET THE FULL EFFECT OF THE POVERTY LEVEL HERE AND PHOTOS OF THE MARKET.

        Our landscaper was to clear the snow off the northwest corner of our house but they did the southwest corner.  He miss read my email.  My camera was still showing northwest corner to be big snow issue.  The sun never hits it.  So he will be going out again tomorrow morning to attend to it.  He said he would not charge me for doing it since it was his mistake.  He sent me an invoice for the roof and two driveway clearings.  I paid it via Venmo this morning.

        Docked and cleared by authorities to head ashore before 9am.  It is very hot and humid out there as I have been out on balcony a couple times.

Here is a guy paddling around in a small canoe.  We have a view of the bay from our balcony.  Rather have view of the pier.

I took some photos of the area around the pier from deck 12.  This one is looking out towards the gate coming into the pier.

Still front right showing this is a commercial port.

                                                   Looking at view in front of the ship.

                                                                     Behind the ship.

             The tour vans for today's excursions.  These were larger ones.  No air conditioning.

                                          More vans lined up just outside the front gate.

                                                                 Towards downtown

                        The downtown market and town is by the green area right of mid photo.

        After our treadmill time this morning I decided to take the shuttle to town to get some photos for you.  Rebecca decided not to go which was probably a good idea.  We have been warned by several of the lecturers and our destinations desk that this is not the safest of ports.  So I left my watch in the suite and what little money I wanted to take in my sock.

                                                    Tribal dancers as I exited the gangway.

                             This is one of the shuttle vans to and from town.  9 passenger van.

                It was a bumpy 5 minute ride to the market in town where they dropped us off.

It is Saturday morning where we are (Friday evening where you are).  Not sure if it is this busy every day here at the market but was packed today.

         This is a food market not souvenir market.  Locals bring their stuff to sell or trade.

                                                                      Bags of peanuts

                                This little guy is worn out and napping on his brother's lap.

                                         Not sure what these bundles of wood are used for.

Huge parking lot where trucks are unloaded with stuff to be sold and then reloaded with what they bought.

                                                                This is their bus stop.

                                                          Here they were loading a truck.

I walked through the large parking lot to take a photo of the stores across the street.  My van driver said there was a pharmacy over there but I was afraid to go across the street.

                                                             Our ship in the distance.

                    Driving back to the pier.  In this building with just a roof is another market.

                                   Our driver said this was one of only two gas stations here.

            Boats here that take what they buy at the market back to the smaller islands nearby.

        The gate into the harbor.  Ok, my impression of this port, Alotau, is that the people are VERY poor and this area has not been developed.  It reminds me of Haiti and the small west African countries.  87% of the people are living in poverty and crime is high.

Safely back on board and cleaned up I started putting today's photos on the blog before heading up to La Veranda for lunch.  I had some buffalo wings and potato salad.  Seems I always forget to take the photo before I start eating.  Sorry.

                                   As we dined this boat was heading back to their island.

        This afternoon Rebecca is catching up on her soaps and I am working on this blog post.  At lunch we told Donald, Sette Mari maitre'd, that we would be dining there with him this evening and I requested a veal parmesan, as usual.  I also saw Grace, who will be the sommelier in Sette Mari tonight, and asked if she would have our La Crema chardonnay ready and also a bottle of the Septima malbec ready.

        So after cocktail hour in Mariner Lounge we will head up to Sette Mari for dinner.  Tonight's show is Jennifer Gray's second show which we definitely want to see.  Poor thing as she has been on the ship for two weeks and her luggage has still not caught up with her.  Luckily, she is borrowing clothes her size to wear.  I think she will be leaving the ship in Cairns, Australia, on Monday.  We will finally be back to civilization then!!!

        Tomorrow will be a day cruising in the Coral Sea again as we head to Cairns, Australia.