Watching the fire glow
Glowing fires in bush camps, sparkling oceans, and bumpy roads of Bougainville
BRIAR LIKES THE WORLD
28.4.25
Kia ora! Over the Easter break, I spent a week in Bougainville. I was a bit anxious about delays and problems, but everything fell into place, as it tends to do, and I had a wonderful time. A week was a good amount of time to spend there - I don’t think I needed much more time in Buka or Arawa, the two main towns, and it was great to spend some time in the jungle as well as experience the island side of life. A couple more days to visit Panguna and learn more about the crisis would have been good, but you take what you can get! Most of this email is snippets from my diary, edited a bit for (attempted) brevity and clarity.
Wednesday – Kokopo to Arawa
The taxi arrived early, at about 8:25 when I had booked it for 8:30, which was marvellous! About a 20-minute drive to the airport, checked in and sat down on classic airport seating, in the main lobby of the airport. There was a cute little baby sitting with beside me with his grandmother, he kept smiling at me, and she said he was fascinated as he had never seen anyone as pale as me. Around 10 am, an Air Niugini lady said our plane was on its way from Port Moresby – a bit of a relief as that was where delays could occur, and I was quite nervous about flight issues leading to a domino effect impacting the rest of the trip. The flight was around 30 minutes, with some views of the Duke of York Islands, then not much until we came into land in Buka. Buka Airport is pretty low-tech, with a hole in the wall where baggage was unloaded and pushed through for collection. I headed out into the carpark, where Bougainvilleans lined the fence, watching their family members arrive, and I spotted volunteer Alex, and Chris from the VSA Bougainville office. We drove through Buka to the spot where the banana boats pull in, and got a ride across the small stretch of water separating Buka Island from Bougainville Island. Once we got to the other side, we learned that our pre-arranged, reliable PMV driver had got a better offer, and headed off to Arawa with other passengers earlier in the day. Alex and I tried to stay in the shade while Chris and a couple of others tried to source us a new ride. In Kokopo, PMVs are generally minivans. In Bougainville, they are all exclusively Land Cruisers. We set off for Arawa, and it soon became apparent why. The main road is mostly gravel, with sections of seal, and potholes and fords scattered along the drive. We undulated along, around potholes, past woven houses and roadside shops, with glimpses of the sea from time to time, stopping at a little market where I got some rambutans, and the Taylor Swift I had been invited to play was promptly switched out for some more upbeat country music. Maybe if I’d played her earlier discography instead of the sad and slow Tortured Poets Department, they would’ve been a bit happier? Eventually we made it to Arawa around 8:30 pm, Alex and I were reunited with Darryl, who had been at my briefing in December. The power was on (not a guarantee), which made preparing for Thursday easier than by torchlight.
Thursday – Arawa to Teana to Camp 2
It was a bumpy ride to Teana, past vine covered trees with occasional glimpses to the hills in the distance. Through cocoa plantations, past banana palms and taro, we eventually made it to the village. Patricia, who the trip had been organised through, greeted us and welcomed us to her village, using leaves to splash water on our faces and arms. After some waiting, with dogs lounging around and small children, our guides and porters arrived and we set off. There were three porters, each of whom was carrying one of our packs, which is a bit of a treat, but I’m very grateful, given the climate. I’ve been sweating buckets. We started off along a pretty well formed path, through cocoa and banana, bamboo and kaukau plantations. We passed a few small houses, stopping at one where we could see the hill we’ll be heading up. The jungle is quite jungley, and it feels a bit intrepid. There have been glimpses of the river far below at the bottom of a ravine, with viney rainforest all around and mountains in the distance shrouded in cloud. There have been creatures too – cockatoos, massive spiders, cicadas making horrendous screeching noises, hornbills flying overhead, unseen but with whooshing wingbeats not unlike kererū. At one of the villages, some boys joined us; the guide said they hadn’t seen the lake and wanted to come along, so now we are a party of around a dozen, plus three or four little dogs trotting along too. The track has been pretty flat, a few small ups and downs and I think slowly climbing, but not too bad. Camp 1, which we walked through earlier, and Camp 2, where we are tonight, both have small shelters, and we’re currently setting up a second shelter at Camp 2 with a tarpaulin. Watching the Bougainvilleans build camp from nothing but the forest with nothing but a bush knife (machete) puts my scouting skills to shame. The forest is alive – all sorts of insects buzzing, and what sounds like frogs croaking. I’m a bit anxious about rain tonight, we might get quite wet, but it’s all part of the adventure, right? I feel very privileged to be here, but it’s kind of funny to wonder what the guides and porters think about these foreigners coming all this way and paying all this money to go for a walk in their forest.
Friday – to Eruovi/Lake Billy Mitchell
Today was pretty incredible, with more than a few “Holy crap I’m in Bougainville” moments. Last night, a feral cat that was caught during the day was cooked on a spit over the fire. I was intrigued to try some, but it was eaten for breakfast and we weren’t offered any. It rained a bit yesterday evening, but it ended up not raining overnight. I slept reasonably well, and though it took me a while to get comfy, I only woke up briefly around 5 am to put a jersey on before rolling back over to sleep. Also crazy how much earplugs did too! They might be an essential on jungle trips, not just to block out snoring but to mute the insects a bit.
After breakfast of cabin biscuits, PB, and cooking bananas, we set off around 8:30. I’d been a bit worried about water, as discussions with the guides yesterday had suggested limited access, but after 45 minutes or so of pretty flat walking, we reached a dry river bed, Another 20 minutes or so on, and there was water! We drank our fill, then continued up the creek. We clambered up a waterfall and waded through a couple of pools, and after an hour and a half of walking, Della, our guide, said it was about to get steep. The jungle became a bit more ferny, almost like NZ bush at times, and we scrambled up, making it to the top about 2 ½ hours after leaving camp. The crater lake spread out in front of us, really magically with clouds, steep cliffs, lush green, and dark blue water. As we sat down to enjoy the view and have a snack break, the weather closed in with light rain. It cleared up again, and I think the eerie look of the clouds made it a bit more magical. Eventually we headed back down the hill to Camp 2, where we sat under the taurpaulin as a good tropical downpour came along. We sat there watching and listening, Darryl commenting that the noise and the dripping greenery could be one of those “7 hours of relaxing rain sounds” videos. An hour or two later, the rain eased and we came back to Camp 1, which will leave us with a short day tomorrow. This camp has a view right out to the ocean, it’s really lovely. Progress was a bit quicker back, as well as being downhill, on the way up we had to make a few stops for the guides to clear some of the bush – they go to the lake maybe a couple of times a year so parts of the track are overgrown, and waiting also allowed us to catch our breath. Every so often I’ll trip up on a vine,usually catching myself though I’m sure I’ll have a few good bruises, and I feel a bit better when seemingly invincible Della trips up, though the vines that get him are quickly seen to with the bush knife.
Saturday – Back to Arawa
The power is out in Arawa, so I’m weiting this by torchlight and the neighbour’s generator is humming loudly (is it humming if it is loud?). Today started at around 6:30 am; being at a slightly lower elevation, Camp 1 was not as cold as Camp 2, and it was a bit more buggy. We had a slow morning, with breakfast of rice and pork that was caught by the dogs yesterday and slowly cooked over the fire. It was delicious and succulent, though it felt like they were giving us the best juicy bits when we probably have much better access to high quality protein. We wandered and wove back through the forest, feeling a very Indiana Jones-y at times on little ridges with plunges on both sides. We stopped at one of the villages again, and I spent some time watching the forest, as cockatoos flew past, and large tropical butterflies flitted around. We made it back to Teana, and after eventually contacting our pick up, joined some of the villagers heading down to their river for a swim in the water hole, jumping off nearby banks into the cool fresh water. Got given a piece of coconut to chew, then spit out and use to wash my hair, though I’m not sure if I did it right and just ended up with hair full of coconut. We bumped back to Arawa, for showers, washing, and sleeping in a bed.
Sunday – Arawa
A pretty amazing day of snorkelling today, including the boat past where the Mister Pip movie was filmed. We had little Easter eggs and then got a banana boat to a point where there was a small resort. As we got close, the water was so clear and deep and turquoise and beautiful. We went straight in. After some time in a hammock, we headed out to a tiny little sand island, about 10 m in diameter and covered in terns that took off as we arrived. There were waves breaking on a nearby sand bank – it was somewhat comforting to hear the crash of surf as I feel like so much of the ocean here is gentle lapping rather than proper waves. We snorkelled there briefly, before heading to another spot by an island called Pok Pok (pok pok being Tok Pisin for crocodile , though apparently the name comes from the island looking like a sleeping croc, rather than their presence in the water). It was absolutely stunning. There was a bit of a shelf, where it dropped off and became deeper, with enormous coral formations everywhere; little brainy ones and fluted shapes and large plates, and schools of fish surrounded us. So many species, and no trepidation around humans – reinforcing how untouched and special it is. Once we got back to Arawa, I took Darryl’s bike for a short ride around the town, bikes are much more common in Bougainville than Kokopo due to the Australian presence throughout the later half of the 20th century. We then spent the evening trying to find a PMV driver to take us back to Buka in the morning, quite an ordeal involving lots of phone calls and a trip to the restaurant down the road, eventually sorting a 3:30 am pick up. Thankfully, it was 3:30 am PNG time, or 4:30 Bougainville time (people pick and choose which time zone to use based on if they’re running late or not), slightly more reasonable.
Monday – Arawa to Buka
Our 4:30 pick up arrived just before 6 am, a bit frustrating as we could’ve had a bit more sleep, but at least we were on the road. We bumped along, until an hour and a half or so in, the man in the passenger’s seat alerted the driver to something funny with the wheel. I thought we had a flat tyre and were going to have to go all the way back to Arawa (the Land Cruisers don’t carry their spare tyres), but some bolt had come out, and we managed to back track to a small mechanic where we found the part, and were back on the road shortly. We arrived in Buka around midday, where everything was closed due to the Easter public holiday, so we went back to the VSA accommodation and I had a slow afternoon of reading my book, followed by an early night.
Tuesday – back to Kokopo
Early on Tuesday, Chris took me and my bags to the airport, where I checked in for my flight about four hours before it was due to depart. Apparently the way to do it is get there early, check in and drop off bags, then leave and return to the airport once you hear the plane arrive. Otherwise, you might get bumped from the flight as people from yesterday’s delays try and get a seat, or the queue might be long and you’re still waiting to check in as the plane leaves. So after I’d checked in, Alex showed me around Buka, where we visited a cassowary at one of the hotels, and went to the market. We caught a PMV back to the VSA accommodation, then I headed back to the airport and home to Kokopo.
A pretty good trip. Would recommend! Let me know if you’re planning a trip to Bougainville and would like more info, or if you’re keen to see more photos (yay for being able to attach them this time!).
Please feel free to reply to this email! I care about you too! What’s going on in your life? What have you seen? More importantly, what have you eaten?
Lots of love,
Briar xx
Hi Briar, lovely to get back to reading your adventures. Your writing has inspired me to write about one of my own that I am embarking on. I look forward to the next installment.