I've mentioned it before in passing, this Sunday I fly out to Papua New Guinea to do some trekking. 9 days in the Owen Stanley Ranges, then a few days around Madang. Also want to get a look around the National Botanic Gardens in Port Moresby.
No doubt be taking lots of photos of "I-dunno-what-it's-called" plants (I know lots of those ones). But the botanic gardens should have labels. Got a new DSLR camera with 6 gig of memory (and plenty of batteries), being a bit of a maniac for taking photos while trekking.
Just wondering whether anyone has any last minute ideas, info, suggestions. PNG is pretty much the ultimate in tropical plants (also butterflies, birds of paradise, etc.) so it'll be like a little bit of a look into heaven for me, LOL.
Papua New Guinea
No suggestions or ideas from me but had to say enjoy your time in paradise and bring back plenty of your stunning pics to share and if you can please also include some pics of beautiful birds and butterflies.Looking forward to your upcoming pics...Have a great time!!
what a wonderful trek, yes to bringing back lots of pictures and sharing them with us ;)
Enjoy the trip!
Don't forget seeds and cuttings.
Thanks Brical, I'm walking the Kokoda Track first then all the other things afterwards.
Extranjera, I have often has complaints that I take too many photos during treks, but it's never slowed me down, neither in distance covered nor photos taken.
Dave, seeds yes, cuttings better not. Our quarantine people would skin me alive, tan the skin and hang it up at the airport as an example to any other would-be plant smugglers. :O(
Cyrtosperma is what I'm hoping to get seeds of, they're an allowable import. Our climate is similar to Port Moresby's so there might be some other things there as well.
Take BUG SPRAY and antiseptic ointment!!!
Thanks KayJones. I've got those plus anti-malarials, anti-fungals, anti-diarrhoea, anti-vomiting, but unfortunately no anti-rascals ;O)
Yes... I was going to ask about 'rascals'...so even though you will be off the beaten track..I wasn't aware that they would be in the more remote areas but then I guess they would be anywhere where tourists travel...take care
If you can take a picture of the largest butterfly in the world Troides alexandrae, And of course any rare plant. maybe Amorphophallus, Rafflesia . You will be our eyes!, Thanks for sharing your adventure!
Wow the Kokoda track! I'd take some Deep Heat and Voltaren Rapid :) Have a great time and stay safe.
Can't wait to see your pics!!! Ann
pics of any local art i.e. lintels, skulls racks, etc would be cool lol.
Gosh, by your time ( a day ahead of us) you must almost be on your way! I hope you have a wonderful trip and I am looking forward to seeing NG through your camera!
Travel safely, my friend.
Thanks everyone, I just arrived back in Cairns this morning (Monday) and will be here for a few days before flying back to Darwin, and then home to get ready for work on the Monday (25th). Holidays just go so quick.
Took 1057 photos on the trek across the Owen Stanley Ranges along the Kokoda Track. Saw some magnificent scenery and fantastic plants. Backpack wasn't big enough to take all I would have liked to have taken (although would have been shot by our quarantine people on arrival back in Australia!)
Unfortunately the birds were in the jungle canopy and elusive. Most of the butterflies wouldn't stay still (or close enough) to get good shots. Would have loved to have even just seen Troides alexandrae since they occur in Oro Province where I was, but no luck. You really need a lot of time for these things.
Next week will be back to normal (work) and will start posting some of the photos when I've sorted them out.
Welcome back!! Can't wait to see your photos :)
If you make it down to El Arish pop in for a cuppa. We're two hours south of Cairns by the Mission Beach turnoff. Ann
There was a wonderful, slightly fragrant, bizarre looking Dendrobium orchid at the plant place recently. I almost bought it, until I found it was from Papua NG. The Virgin Islands aren't warm enough! This has been the coldest winter, in the sixties many nights. Not PNG temps! Unless maybe in the high mountains.
That is one of the few 'must go' places left on my list, plus Raja Ampat nearby.
OK! Awaiting photos! Don't get too perfect, just slop some on for us. OK
Why edit. We just want to see....anything. LOL Glad you are back safe. BTW, what are rascals?
Hap
Happy,This might explain 'rascals' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9pIxejtZ1Q Looking forward to seeing your pics Tropic,glad it went well for you.
YIKES.... Watched the whole thing. Very, very sad, but it has been this way since the beginning of time. They have sticks and we have bombs. Can't see anything changing in the world in the near future.
Hap
Ummm,It may not be so bad now, that was filmed back in 95'...so things may have improved a lot since then....
That sounds encouraging....
Hap
Hey Zig,Wondering how your trip to PNG went?Did you see any Red Jade Vines,hanging around?
Yes here in Costa Rica I am also waiting to see some of your pics about this wonderful trip!!
I'm at the Cairns airport waiting for the flight back to Darwin. It might take a bit of time to get settled back in (and will be back at work on Monday) before I can sort out the photos.
I don't know the Red Jade Vine but will check up on it in case I did see it. Had a good look around the Cairns Botanical Gardens and also got some good photos there.
Mucuna bennetti "Red Jade Vine"
We call it "Flame of the Forest" Ann
I checked the photos on DG plant files. Didn't see that in PNG, but I did see it in the Cairns Botanical Gardens - used as an awning in front of ther toilets. I'd like to have it at home, looks very nice. But I wonder whether it could become invasive.
I planted a species of Mucuna. It will be used as food for the caterpillars of the butterlfy Morpho.
Welcome home - I hope your trip was a wonderful one!
Tropicbreeze, I have been looking, and only found some plant pics...have you posted your pics of PNG somewhere else? I am SO looking forward to seeing them. When in Bali we took lots of pics of plants, flowers etc..but I haven't posted those yet. Still trying to show the highlights of Bali itself. So if I can turn the DG group glassy eyed with Bali pics, you should be able to do even better with PNG pics...have I missed them?
Yokwe,
Shari
Shari, I've been putting up a lot of photos in individual posts trying to get them identified. The orchids in the Port Moresby botanic gardens are grouped in one thread. I've still got more I'd like identified. Some photos are jungle shots with a range of different plants in them, will have to get them together some time as well. These are the ones I've done so far:
Musa ingens
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/993243/
Port Moresby botanic gardens orchids
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1003170/
Giant Pandanus, PNG
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/992807/
Another ............ aroid!
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/996368/
Alocasia?
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/995727/
Black alocasia
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/992844/
Which cycad?
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/994707/
Hoya, or not a Hoya?
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/995725/
Anyone able to ID this one?
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1002357/
This photo: after days of constantly climbing and descending hundreds of metres over steamy jungle slopes we thought there could be nothing worse. But we were wrong!
Oh My Gosh!!!! Here I am playing with monkeys and riding elephants and YOU are really putting it out there!!! I used to hike a lot when I was younger, but nothing like that! Tropicbreeze, you take my breath away!
Yokwe,
Shari
Golly, that's quite a workout! I hope it wasn't slippery to boot! Is that you in the picture? It sure looks beautiful there.
Shari, I suppose we have different perceptions of what to us are challenges and which ones excite our sense of adventure. For most of my life trekking/hiking/bushwalking have been a bit of a passion. And the challenges, well some greater and some lesser.
Molamola, I knew it was going to be extremely difficult and my mind conjured up all sorts of combinations of dense jungle, mountain slopes, swamps and rivers. But I concentrated on preparing myself for the challenge. Two weeks before I went two people died on that track, one a 26 year old male, the other a 36 year old woman. That shook my focus, but reinforced my determination.
Braveheartsmom, part of that track collapsed while one of the women with us was on it. She managed to grab some of the vegetation, but the rest of us then had to get across the collapsed section. It was breathtaking in more ways than one. I was the one taking the photos.
This photo is the river crossing on the Naoro River, a fallen tree.
Let me be the first: DIED!!!????
They fell or something. You're young? And terribly fit, and Australian to boot! Folks from other countries are a lot softer than you Australians!!! I'd love to see a whole movie about that trek. But without loss.
Wow.
Long ago I sailed with a Bruce. Maybe I should have married him, but he didn't ask me. sigh.
Did you go with this outfit?
http://www.kokodaspirit.com/about_kokoda_spirit.htm
We overnighted in the village (Iorabaiwa) where the young bloke died. He died suddenly in the middle of the most difficult part. Family asked for privacy and that no details be published. The locals believe it was sorcery and the "non-locals" believe an undiagnosed pre-existing medical condition (you have to have a medical clearance before going). The place where the woman died was close to there in the middle of some very high steep slopes, rumour was a combination of exhaustion and dehydration.
It's not just a matter of being fit, although that's an important part of it. It's also mindset, being mentally prepared, and being in a supporting group, both guides and fellow walkers.
It was with Kokodaspirit, but with local guides, not Australian guides. For me it wasn't just the history, fauna, flora, but was also the culture. I wanted to learn about the locals, about their lifestyles, what they cultivated, what they gathered from the forest, etc. I picked up a bit of Tok Pisin as well. It was a great all round experience.
Photo: mid morning of day 5.
I'd love to do something like that, but am afraid they'd go much too fast for me. I'm a dawdler! I see a plant and want to stop and look at it for fifteen minutes. And I like to sit alone in the woods for an hour.
OK, I'm sure they run as safe an operation as possible. Being a retired scuba instructor, I realize how people don't know their own health sometimes.
Good trek, will you ever do it again, or another in a different place?
tropicbreeze, thanks for the description of this journey, that reminds me some areas in my country. Jungle, Jungle! It is my passion! Some people here in Costa Rica got lost in the jungle, normally they are found. But in a ocassion some hunters never came back from there. Maybe a snake bite or an accident with their guns.
The jungle covers new gaps very very very fast and every.thing is recycled at the same speed.
I think you nailed it with "mindset" TB! I have found that we humans can do anything if we really put our minds to it...An incredible amount of desire would also need to be present for me to overcome the deaths that you mentioned. I have visions of your determination flowing from you like an aura as you mentally "gear-up" for this trek. I'm sure the satisfaction at the end was nearly as exhiliarating as the trek itself, huh?
Brava!
Yokwe,
Shari