It's been nearly three weeks since I got back from my recent trip to Milne Bay aboard MV Golden Dawn, and I still haven't been able to sort through and process all my photos. Sigh.
I'll be heading out to Tonga soon though, so I need to focus my attention on preparing for the humpback whales...which means I probably won't make any more headway on my PNG images for a while.
To wrap up my PNG posts for now, here's a final photo, one that I took when we stopped at a village called Boga Boga at Cape Vogel. It's a picturesque place, with lots of friendly, energetic kids.
Kids on the beach at Boga Boga village, Cape Vogel, Milne Bay
Trips like this are about more than just diving. Experiences such as visiting beautiful Boga Boga and meeting the wonderful people who live there are enriching and memorable.
In addition, sharing adventures and laughs with old friends and new helps to keep life's priorities in perspective. When you're on a boat for a month, isolated from the daily madness of political turmoil, economic crises and other miscellaneous social woes...it's much easier to focus on what's important and forget about the things that aren't.
Of course, there's always the danger of going a bit funny in the head, as Bob demonstrates in the following video clip (though one could reasonably make the case that he was already somewhat off):
I'd like to say thanks to everyone who was silly enough to join joined me during the trip and put up with my antics...and of course to Craig (and his crew!) and Bob. All kidding aside, their experience, knowledge and patience made the trip, and I'm looking forward to my next opportunity to share another adventure with them.
And finally, I'd like to give a shout out to Scubacam, Light and Motion, Zillion, Aquaforum, Xit 404, and Air Niugini.
It may not be obvious, but trips like this require a lot of preparation and logistical coordination (a situation exacerbated by the fact that I tend to schlep around so much junk and add new junk on a regular basis), and I need assistance and cooperation from a lot of people to pull everything together. So...thank you very much!
Oh...if you're planning a visit to PNG, please note that Air Niugini has a specific baggage allowance for scuba divers, which some travel/ booking agents may not necessarily know. From Air Niugini's website:
Air Niugini offers the following baggage allowance for scuba divers; International flights - 20kgs (44lbs) plus an additional 15kgs (33lbs) per person. Domestic flights - 16kgs (35lbs) plus an additional 15kgs (33lbs) per person. Air Niugini honours the International allowance for International passengers in direct transit on same day to a domestic port in PNG