castaway01

No skipper & Gilligan or Ginger is she still alive ?

We were on a 48 foot ketch, and we called into Willis after an amateur radio operation out on Mellish reef, I had been violently sea sick and was so glad to get on land, we stayed for about 3 days and the weather crew looked after us very well, their freezer had just broken down and the steaks and ice cream were defrosting, our stay was prearranged , I took some beer and roll your own tobacco for one of the techs there, he drank the  beer and smoked all the tobacco before we left, before we got there he had been going around the Island picking up all his old butts to make a smoke.   There were four weather crew, we joined in some of their activities such as launching the balloons, interesting stay for us, they reduced the stay for the crew down to 6 months, used to be 12 months but the blokes were going tropo.

I stayed on Willis for a few days back in 1982,

6 hours ago, DDG 41 said:

The itinerary may change depending on the weather.

They will probably change the itinerary to keep you safe.

Please don't complain about this you agreed to this when you booked the cruise.

Dont tell me what to do

We are booked for this Saturday 16th aboard the Legend , I have just discovered that tropical cyclone "Oma" is right over Vanuatu and then set to slam into New Caledonia, and then hang around the area for about ten days, the Legend will be sailing right into this damn cyclone, so I am very seriously considering cancelling our cruise , I've sailed in 6 metre seas and was very unwell , who knows what this damn cyclone will throw up.

12 hours ago, exkiap said:

You need to look in a book with your face.

thanks, there are so many groups these days, cheers.

I had a very close look at Caribbean cruises last year , lots of pros and cons from Australia, they are very cheap cruises but short, you should probably look at doing a back to back , and stay a few extra days after the cruise to rest up for the flight home or stop in Hawaii.

23 minutes ago, exkiap said:

If your donations are given to reliable people like are mentioned in the information in the social media group Cruise PNG as previously mentioned it will go to the right people and be of benefit.

Just taking donations off the ship and handing them out willy nilly will NOT benefit the individual you gave it to as they will probably convert it to something they really want by selling it to whomever.

Those who are recommended seek out those who will benefit most and deliver the gifts to them and usually follow up with photos of the recipients.

Hope this helps.

Hi Thanks for reply so quick, I have googled social media group Cruise PNG but got 600,000 hits could you give me a clue thanks. Well on Kitava and Kiriwina I gave out heaps of pens, pencils, tennis balls, fish hooks and sand paper to the kids and carvers and fisher men. And a bunch of books to schools,  I met an elderly gentleman on Kirawina who claimed his group tried to help everybody, so I have his address and have sent him a few things, just hope he is fair dinkum.. One thing the natives have to understand is not to pester the cruisers when we are on the beach just looking for a bit of private time, the same people just kept pestering us to buy stuff.  I even tried to pay them to leave us alone, I tried very hard to be polite , but they just would not leave us alone. I was considering doing another cruise to PNG, but the pestering really bothered me

On 1/5/2019 at 7:11 PM, exkiap said:

If you go to the social media group Cruise PNG you'll find all the information on donations plus forms and what you have to do etc.  Lots of other helpful information on who to give it to as those who are on the beach used to get it all and sell it at the school store or the market. 

The Disposition Form is required or you won't be able to take it off. So prepare early by downloading the forms fro Cruise PNG.

Cheers,

John

exkiap you seem to know a bit about the reselling of our donations, what else can you tell us, as I would be most ANNOYED if that was the case

TA's are not your friend

1 minute ago, MicCanberra said:

Sounds like a token effort to make money.

Yep

If you are going to pay in Aussie dollars take SMALL notes, one bloke was trying to exchange a $50 note for Kina.

The 2 small  islands that most of the cruise ships visit  are Kitava and Kiriwina they seem much more remote and have more trouble changing Aussie dollars to Kina.

The Conflict Islands insist you use their token system to buy anything , and they set their own exchange rate and they DONT buy back their tokens you gotta spend it all

And P&O do not buy back Kina

Ended up getting to the Bank in Alotau, once we got past the security guards and high metal fences and locked and guarded doors, changed my 200 Kina for smaller notes, Missus changed Aussie dollars and got a great exchange rate.

I ended up giving away all my Kina to the school kids and a few pests on the beaches that stalk the cruise passengers .

Local money exchangers came on board but the line was so long we went to the Bank.

And PNG Customs made us fill out a declaration on all the things we were giving to the school kids like pens and pencils and the exact number of each, jeez.

Thanks Dawn much appreciated.

Dawn one more question, how did you find the toilets on these PNG islands , thanks

10 hours ago, By The Bay said:

Thanks for the update. We are going in February. Might look at getting some Kina tomorrow.

If you are going this is going to read   https://www.5losttogether.com/papua-new-guinea-cruise-tips-ports/

Bought another 100 Kina today, gee things change quick, cost me $50.35.

Buy back $31.35, still a big margin

On the Pacific Explorer there was a pretty decent choice each night, PLUS an Aussie section, PLUS pay section (prawns etc) Pick what you want from the 3 included restaurants, then /or, if you want more pig out in the pantry . You can have a full breakfast, full lunch and dinner in the waterfront,  we gained some weight on last cruz, just going for walk right now

You should enjoy the Aria, been on her a few times, 4 in a cabin could be a squeeze, ok when you are young 😀, if you buy any booze it can be busy to collect, usually good crew, good food. you can load your cruise card with cash or credit card, buy your self a lanyard before the cruz. enjoy

Thanks Dawn for reply, good to hear about the mozzies I got a ripper mozzie bite 3 weeks ago cruzin in Tonga, bit the only spot that had no spray, but so far no effects.

I have bought some sand paper , fish hooks and pens pencils etc, and some more Kina, will try and get to the schools to distribute the pens etc, thanks for your blog has lots of good info, cheers.

Also you mentioned in your blog that school supplies (books, stationary, pens, pencils, texters, etc).  ; shoe polish and sandpaper ,  Fish hooks and clothes,. Sports equipment like balls .

How did you choose to give these to and how did you give them out ? thanks

How where the mozzies in PNG ?

34 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

The OP's cruise on the Ovation arrived in Sydney last Friday, so they left it too late. Hopefully, they hired a car. 

Thanks

Got a $100 Kina note from local shopping centre , cost AUS $53.00, that will be enough to give to the school kids, asked about the the buy back price, 100 Kina  was only AUS $33.00, not a bad profit for them, but I will give it all to the kids.

Try to hire a car its about 105 Km's, minimum 1.5 hrs drive, take a car GPS, keep in mind LPG is hard to get, Port Arthur is a big place, its also hilly but you can get around most areas in a few hours,  you may even see the Lady in blue.