"Wewak - Papua New Guinea's Re ..." a Wewak Travel Page by Bwana_Brown

Wewak is quite a pretty town, located along the palm tree-fringed coastline of East Sepik Province on the northern coast of Papua New Guinea. I managed to visit here about 5 or 6 times during my three-year contract job working for the Papua New Guinea Electricity Commission (Elcom). The available accommodations were nothing too fancy, but quite adequate for a short work visit or as a jumping off spot for exploration in this part of PNG.

The main activities at Wewak involved support for and travel onward into the vast waterlogged rainforest area of the Sepik River, which drains most of the whole of PNG north of the central mountain ranges. Closer at hand were beautiful islands off the coast in the Bismarck Sea, within sight of the town itself. Boat trips could be made to Kairuru Island, the largest one, with its waterfalls, hot-springs and great diving areas. Even today, because of its remoteness, this is a pristine vacation spot - something I did not have the time to do on any of my visits! However, on my wanderings along the beaches in and near the town, I did see some big waves coming ashore on occassion. In fact, these unprotected beaches make for great surfing from September to January, and are quite popular with both locals and tourists.

I found Wewak to be a friendly spot. Of course when you rode into town during situations of rotating blackouts, wearing your Elcom clothes, people were more than happy to assist you in your task of fixing up whatever the problem was! One time, I had a brief stop-over at their Boram Airport with a new employee. We had an hour to spare before our flight departed for its final destination, so I asked the clerk at the car rental agency if I could borrow a vehicle for a few minutes to show him the power station. No problem, away we went for half an hour with no paperwork involved! Please see my 'General Tips' for both high-level and close-up views of Wewak and surrounding areas.