I am not sure how we ended up on our recent trip to the Tawali Resort in PNG. It was a complete blast I cant believe I have had the opportunity to do these things. We went with the Lae Explorers club which in there are own words are a “Bunch of Drinkers with a Travel Problem”. Twelve great people, who with the exception of my in laws are all strangers.

I had read that Alotau is “safe” in PNG, that was first evident when we went through the town and found that most the shops and building were not protected by iron grids. It was a nice but very small village style place and a port. A significant port from a trade point of view as it covered the whole East of the country in Milne Bay. That’s not to say there were big ships and container wharfs, bit in terms of say Waitangi in the Chatham Islands. The centre of the world for these folks  as there is no roads into Alotau, sea and air are the only approaches.

Our journey was a plane trip from Port Moresby to Alotau, then a bus along a dirt road for some 45 minutes until we came to a wharf in the middle of nowhere, or the middle of paradise depending on how you look at it. From here we transferred to a large dive tender by a small lighter ready for a 20 minute trip up the flat waters of Milne Bay to a place called Tawali Lodge.

This is an eco style lodge, with cabins built on the ridges over looking Milne bay. Elements of the lodge weave through the bush on a small peninsular. A feature of this trip is we had no idea of what were going to do, except enjoy  ourselves at what ever