Rabaul volcano PNG
14 December 2007
Friday 14th December 2007 Rabaul PNG
We were only 2 hours away from Rabaul after leaving Put Put harbour early yesterday when I was suddenly and rudely tossed to the other side of the boat. We had been motor sailing in 5 knots of wind when suddenly we had 20-25 knots from the NW (worst direction!!!) The computers were saved but the flowers the mission people gave us in Puput ended up on the floors as well as other things that were lying about. Whilst Bill reefed the main and Heath (our little autopilot attached to the wind vane) struggled to keep on course I made sense of the mess below. One can never become too relaxed even after weeks of no wind!!! We had been receiving weather forecasts from sailmail as well as our friend Jerry in Oz and which only indicated E-NE 5 knots - WRONG!!!! Forget the weather forecasts as one old yachtie said 'look out the window'!
The seas became rougher and at the same time my Optus mobile came in range! Whilst gripping on I smsed the kids and my sister who all immediately phoned back (cheaper that way) The volcano could be seen in the distance spewing smoke. So we were shaken out of our lazy reverie controlling the boat, taking photos of the volcano, answering the phone and trying to steer into Rabaul harbour. As luck would have it yes you guessed it a SHIP started coming out towards us. Bill steered as far to the starboard side of the channel as we could. Meanwhile Valiam was doing 8.5 knots and heeling right over. As we headed closer into the harbour the seas and wind calmed and ship passed us at a comfortable distance.
Our impression of Rabaul as we entered: VOLCANO still erupting billowing smoke from its crater as well as down its sides some steamy bits too, SHIPS - at least 7, dilapidated buildings and sheds, some green on the slopes of old volcano (not the one that's still alive). Bill phoned the Rabaul yacht club and spoke to a woman who sounded a bit vague but said we could anchor just outside the yacht club jetty. We assumed the yacht club was still in the same location as Lucas' 30 year old mud map we had. We saw something that looked like a mast which turned out to be a decoration on the grass which was next to a dilapidated double story building with 'Travelodge' painted on it. As we got closer (no other yachts in the harbour) we indentified the jetty and saw a small sign that said Rabaul yacht club.
After anchoring and putting on some clean clothes (and taking toiletries for a shower) we wandered ashore. The kids at the jetty couldn't understand English nor our terrible Pidgin. (Pidgin is spoken here) We walked through black sand (actually soot/ash from the volcano) and found ourselves in an open air shed type construction with benches and a bar at one end. A beautiful girl with intricate braids welcomed us and we enjoyed a beer and gin and tonic or 2. The place was deserted but she said the 'members' would come later after 4pm. I asked about a shower and was given directions to an outdoor besser block amenities building. (pink for ladies, blue for men). A rusty leaky shower with a fine spray in one corner and a wooden barn door completed the shower cubical. I do remember from our times in PNG in the 80s cleanliness in public amenities is not important (even if it's the yacht club). I place al my items on a plastic bag on the floor and had my shower. It was still a shower and did not matter it was cold and I washed my hair. Feeling 100% I went back to Bill sitting at the bar. A couple of older Australian men had entered the premises, social skills not being one of their assets staring into their beers at the bar. One fellow who looked a little more sprightly than the rest (younger than 60 and the smallest beer gut) made conversation with us as he has a yacht moored at the Botanical gardens in Brisbane. His name is Darryl and he wants to sail it up here. He even offered to transport Bill this morning to get diesel.
At 6pm we wandered next door to the Travelodge for dinner. This was to be our first meal out since Townsville. The Travelodge has seen better days. It looked like it was barely functioning with cracked concrete, faded walls and curtains, dilapidated furniture and 60s type decorations including artificial flowers. Nevertheless we were determined to have a meal in the restaurant (the other clientele were watching TV or smoking glued to a newspaper out side) We were the only ones in the restaurant and it felt clean enough if a bit dusty and musty. A nice young girl wearing shorts was our waitress. (Rabaul must be much more modern - no shorts on women anywhere else we've been) Turned out she'd lived in Queensland and had stayed in Byron Bay (even named her child Byron) and loved hearing about the Sunshine coast as she hopes to go back one day. She is the same age as Vashti a single mum with 2 kids (one baby having an Aussie dad) and working for 100 kina a fortnight. (that's $50) Her English is excellent and I'm sure would have no trouble getting a job in hospitality back home if someone sponsored her.
Anyway we had a very nice meal. I had fish and Bill had chicken both with salad and chips. What a treat! The salad was better than the Kawana pub! A security guard called Nelson walked us back to the jetty. We felt this was unnecessary but anyway we enjoyed talking to him NEWSFLASH! Vashti has gone to hospital!!!!!!! The baby will be born today I am sure of it. We have cold champagne ready............
Now where was I?? As we were walking back to the jetty I said "Oh look it's raining' (It was sort of misty) Nelson said "That's not rain it is ash". I can't get over this volcano still spewing out stuff and the people here take it all for granted!! Many of the locals are a bit sad as Rabaul used to be a beautiful town green with frangipani flowers. Now it's a black dust hole.....Many services have relocated to Kopoko.
Anyway we are off shopping/walking looking around this morning so will close now.