To get to Goroka we fly back to Port Morseby from Rabual, then onto Goroka. In this case we flew to Moresby, via Lae. So we saw a significant chunk of the country from the air, which to me emphasis-ed the differences in this very diverse country. The farming around Kokopo is mainly plantations, interspersed with other crops. The country side is very hilly, with mostly uncleared jungle on the hillsides and tops. There are a series of mountain ranges as far as you can see see. Some of the valley floors are wide and there is significant farming occurring in the valleys. Most valleys have a river or stream so there is access to water but it is hard to get it up the hills where growing might occur, as the electricity supply doesn't go far beyond main roads. Access is a difficulty.
Flying out of Rabaul airport near Kokopo.
Flying out of Lae.
Around Goroka it is quite different. The country looks much like NZ from the air, with large flat valleys, cleared hillsides and significant farming and settlement. The people are also quite different in their outlook. The climate in Goroka is similar to November/ December in CHCH. Coolish mornings with around mid 20's during the day; very pleasant. Shirt sleeves only; no need for jersey's or jackets.
Flying into Goroka.
View from the hotel dining room.
Goroka is the coffee capital of PNG, so there are significant storage/ handling/ processing facilities in the area. We have sorted out a coffee brand we like and it isn't as bitter as coffee in NZ.
Coffee borer which is a significant pest around the world has just appeared in PNG. Probably brought in, via coffee imported into the country for blending. This has the potential to significantly affect coffee production in PNG, as it has elsewhere in the world. The government response has been underwhelming.
Coffee trees planted outside one of the coffee warehouses.
PNG has a established a pathogen free potato (both normal and sweet) seed production scheme. We visited a couple of the sweet potato multiplication tunnelhouses and field production increase areas'. One grower has about 4 Ha of his own land and was also leasing other land. I estimated he had about 40 ha in sweet potato production, as well as selling disease free stock plants from the tunnelhouse, to other growers. The researcher (green shirt in the photo) overseeing the program is hoping that freeing the seed stocks from disease will decrease production time of the crop, and increase yields. As everywhere in PNG, infrastructure (roads, shipping and handling, cool stores, etc) is the main constraint to getting the product to market and making money.
Newly planted sweet potato.
A well developed crop.
A view across the production area.
I had a bit of a laugh with this souvenir seller who was outside our hotel in Goroka. Everytime we arrived, he came over trying to sell stuff. He knows the value of publicity though. When we were leaving he wanted somebody to take a photo of me standing near his stall. After the photo was taken, I said to him that he needed to pay me 50 kina for helping to advertise his stall. He thought I was serious, and so did the people standing around nearby; their faces fell. I couldn't hold a straight face and burst out laughing; he got the joke.
So far I'm not missing the cold but am missing my daily apple, at lunch.
The situation of people including outside the town was difficult to see. Many sit on the side of the roads in the shade selling their fruit and veges to make a living as they do in Kokopo.There seems to be a huge number of children around when schools out and then they disappear into the bush to their villages. Village houses are scattered in the bush, made out of woven material or ply and a sheet or two of iron with an outhouse. Despite the size of the town Goroka does not have clean drinking water so Typhoid and Cholera are rife at certain times of the year. Unlike most of Kokopo market, the market stalls at Goroka are at ground level, produce is set out on plastic sheeting or whatever is to hand, the pathsways are very narrow and slippery, the roads dusty with the usual potholes. Recently the pigs have been fenced off in an attempt to stop them wondering through the market. A lady wanted to touch me to see if I was real and not a ghost!
While in Goroka Johannas got a phone call at 1am from a distraught mother at the Kokopo hospital. Her son was dying of Pneumonia and the hospital did not have the drug that would save his life. Johannas was able to ring the Kokopo chemist and arrange for her to go to her shop and get the drug for the mother. Hospitals are not only desperately short of supplies there are often no supplies of basic drugs at all!
We are slowly getting to know more people by using the local PNV `busses`. The children are such fun to talk with especially when they get asked to shake hands and say hello first! Their huge eyes and gorgeous smiles are a real treat to see. A little girl (3-4) stood transfixed as she stared at my blue/black sandals for several minutes before laughing in high amusement. I wonder if she took a minute to figure out they were sandals on feet and not part of my feet. Mothers tend to go bare foot or in jandals,
Power is prepaid here. Returning from Goroka early saturday evening we found our power cut off and all the food in the freezer and fridge had to be thrown out. Fortunately it was easy to get the power paid up and we heated a tin of creamed corn for dinner. Given what we ate for lunch at the Airways hotel in Port Moresby on the return journey we really didn't need dinner at all. Lunch was a smorgasbord of Indian dishes and Turkish desserts.
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