"3 Years Living in Papua New Guinea " a Papua New Guinea Travel Page by Bwana_Brown

I spent 3 years in Papua New Guinea from 1979-1982 with my family while I was working with the Papua New Guinea Electricity Commission. My job gave me the opportunity to travel throughout the country as I dealt with various problems at the many isolated diesel and hydro-electric power stations. PNG is a very diverse country with tropical beaches, snow-capped mountains, rain forest, volcanoes, numerous islands and big rivers. Most trips were done by flying out of Port Moresby on twin-engine propeller-driven Fokker F-27s with a switch to Toyota Land Cruisers once the destination was reached. Most of the country was constantly hot (usually low 30s C) and humid, except in the Highlands where it was quite comfortable. I had been looking for another tropical job overseas, and decided to try for one in PNG after seeing and applying for an ad in the back of an electrical power magazine. Although I was really enjoying my electric power job in New Brunswick, Canada, my wife and I felt the need for another adventure after our Africa days! Only later did I find out that the saying is that any white man who goes to PNG is either a missionary, a mercenary or a misfit! You figure it out! The following commentary is based on our experiences during our stay. The photo is of two women on their rounds in the mountainous Highlands in the central part of the country, near Goroka. I have added Travelogues describing my visit to a 1930's-vintage gold mining operation near Lae as well as on our first few months in PNG, a family trip into the Highlands mountain region of the country and also various World War 2 sites that I was amazed to come across!