Seeing P-NG The Easy Way

Travel Talk

Are you one of those people who would like to have a look around Papua-New Guinea without going to the bother of making detailed hotel and travel arrangements? If so, then either of two big Australian airlines operating there, Ansett- ANA and TAA, can help you.

>OTH airlines offer escorted lours J in P-NG which enable travellers i see the country “without tears”.

Ansett-ANA has so far organised le tour for this year and another ill probably be announced later.

AA has plans for five.

The Ansett-ANA tour, which lasts ne days and starts in Sydney on pril 23, is of particular interest to ustralian ex-servicemen who fought i New Guinea in World War 11.

The TAA tours are each of 16 ays, and start in Sydney on May 15, ily 10, July 24, August 28 and ;ptember 11.

Ansett-ANA Tours The nine-day Ansett-ANA tour 3sts £l6O/17/6 tourist class and 171/2/6 first class. These figures iclude full accommodation and ghtseeing tours. Details of the )ur are:— April 23: Leave Sydney by air for ort Moresby.

April 24: Arrive Port Moresby to ;ay at the Papua Hotel on the nights f the 24th, 25th and 26th. Visit ative markets and villages.

April 25: Dawn service at lomana War Cemetery followed by mzac Day march.

April 26: Visit Sogeri rubber lantation and Rouna Falls; have inch at Rouna Hotel; visit Kokoda 'rail.

April 27: Leave Port Moresby at a.m, for Lae; arrive 8 a.m. ourney by road to Bulolo; have anch at Pine Lodge Hotel; inspect Clinkii pine plantation, plywood actory, etc., and stay overnight at Mne Lodge.

April 28: Full day tour to Wau.

See gold sluicing and dredging en route. Visit McAdam Park, etc., and return to Bulolo.

April 29: Leave Bulolo by road for Lae, arriving there in time for lunch. Afternoon free. Stay over night at Hotel Cecil, and on next two nights.

April 30: Harbour drive in Lae, visits to cocoa plantations, botanical gardens, etc. In afternoon, visit Lae War Cemetery, May 1: Free, May 2: Leave Lae by air for Sydney.

For those who would like to stay in New Guinea a week longer, Ansett-ANA has arranged an extension tour costing £6l/10/-.

This includes air travel and ac commodation only. Details of the extension tour are:— May 2: Leave Lae by air for Rabaul, arriving at noon. Afternoon free. Stay overnight and on night of the 3rd at Ascot Hotel.

May 3: Sightseeing in Rabaul.

May 4: Leave Rabaul by air for Lae to connect with flight to Madang. Arrive Madang at 10.55 a.m. Afternoon free. Stay over night at Madang Hotel.

May 5: Morning free in Madang.

Leave by air at 2 p.m. for Goroka, arriving 2.45 p.m. Stay this and next night at Goroka Hotel. , -c May 6 - Free - May 7: Leave Goroka at 3.50 p.m. for Lae, arriving 4.40 p.m. Stay overnight at Hotel Cecil, May 8: Leave Lae at 9.15 a.m. by air for Sydney.

TAA Tours The approximate costs of the 16day TAA tours will be £231 for first class air travel and £221 for tourist class. The figures include the costs of accommodation and sightseeing trips.

All the TAA tours will begin in Sydney on a Friday, and all follow the same schedule. Highlights of the tours are: Ist day (Friday): Leave Sydney by air at 9.45 p.m. for Port Moresby. 2nd day; Arrive Port Moresby, have morning tea at Hotel Papua, and go on by air to Lae. 3rd day: Launch cruise from Lae to Salamaua and return. 4th day (Monday): Morning visit to cocoa plantation; afternoon tour of Lae, including war cemetery and gardens. sth day; Leave Lae by air for Goroka. In afternoon, visit passion fruit factory and native village. Stay overnight in Goroka. 6th day: In Goroka. Visit native market. Fly from Goroka to Madang. 7th day (Thursday): Launch cruise of Madang Harbour.

Bth day: Morning tour of Baitabag. Leave Madang by air for Mt. Hagen. 9th day: Visit native market and attend native sing-sing in Mt. Hagen.

10th day (Sunday): Road trip t( Baiyer River, including visit t mission station. 11th day: Visit Mt. Hagen coffe: plantation. Fly from Mt. Hagen fc Lae, 12th day: Leave Lae by road fa Bulolo, stopping en route at Gabensi village. 13th day (Wednesday): Visi Klinkii pine mills in morning; maki round trip by road to Wau in after noon. 14th day: Fly from Bulolo tc Port Moresby, and transfer to Hote Papua. Afternoon tour of area in eluding native market. 15th day: Tour to Rouna Falls. 16th day (Saturday): Fly fron Moresby to Brisbane and Sydney.

Off The Beaten Track In New Zealand AS in any other country with j growing tourist industry, it i: now pretty difficult to get off the beaten track in New Zealand.

Most of the tourism is orientatec to the visitor with a limited amoun of time at his disposal, who naturally goes for the big-name tourist spots Foremost amongst these, of course is Rotorua—a must on any tourist’s itinerary. As a thermal region where anyone is likely to have a boiling mud pool or a geyser at the bottom of the garden it is well worth the price of admission.

But tourists with more discrimina tion, time and imagination will find a lot in this Rotorua district apart from spouting steam, boiling water, churning mud, and reek of sulphura ted-hvdrogen, and the Maori native life that goes with it.

Rotorua is the centre for a chain of lakes that come in all sizes, shapes and colours.

Around some of these is some of the loveliest natural bush scenery in the Dominion—thick rain-forests of rimu and beech with a solid under brush of ferns, vines and shrubs that, as reserves, have survived the axe of the pioneer pakeha who has con verted most of the rest of the country into lawn-like farms.

One of the most attractive of the Rotorua lakes is Okataina, about 15 miles in distance and a century in time from Rotorua.

The lake, with the surrounding forest-clad hills, was given as a reserve by the Maori owners to the Government about 80 years ago and the area has remained completely un spoiled. The only human habitation is the Okataina Tourist Lodge, owned and operated by the Beamish-White family.

The Lodge can accommodate 12,

single and double rooms each with h, etc., and central heating. :ommodation and meals cost und £NZ3/15/- per person per r. fhere is a cocktail bar and the pitality is of the personal family d. fhe lake has some of the finest lit fishing—its rainbow trout iraging 6-7 lbs. 3oth fly and trolling fishing is mitted and gear, licences, boats 1 tuition are available at the lodge, fhe Lodge also hires out a fleet drive-yourself speedboats or row boats; and a 40 mph cabin iser is available for short cruises r 6 per person for 20-25 minutes), fhe drive-yourself speedboats (two ters) cost 22/6 a half hour; four ters, 40/- per half hour. Water ing is 30/- per half hour (includ gear).

Victor boats for trout fishing can hired at £3/10/- per day; and a ve yourself cabin cruiser at £6 per f.

Until two years ago the Lodge i a fine sandy beach at its front 3r. But due to one of those torua underground mysteries, the el of the lake has risen about feet since then.

This has demolished the beach, which is the Lodge’s souvenir shop, and is laying bare a number of relics of the Maoris who inhabited the islands and foreshores before they moved out 80 years ago.

Bookings and inquiries for Lodge accommodation, boats, fishing, water skiing and casual meals can be made at any time by phone from Rotorua by asking the exchange to put you on to Beamish-White, Lake Okataina.

Postal address: Beamish-White, Lake Okataina, Rotorua, NZ. (All currency quoted is NZ).

Abroad

Try Moscow En Route

To Europe

SOUTH Pacific travellers looking for a change on their next trip to Europe might consider flying by way of Moscow. It can be done direct from Sydney on the one air line, Air India.

An Air India Boeing 707 flies from Sydney to Moscow each week leaving Sydney at 10.30 a.m. on Wednesdays. Economy class, round trip fare from Sydney to London, via Perth, Singapore, Madras, Bombay, Delhi and Moscow is £ASB9. From Fiji the flight would cost you £A653.

You would need to travel by one of the other airlines on the Nadi/ Sydney sector, although this won’t always be so as Air India is expected this year to extend its services to Fiji, where quite a number of its present passengers originate.

The only other airline on the Delhi/ Moscow sector is the Russian one.

One of the advantages of Sydney- Moscow-London flight is the easy access to the Scandinavian countries.

You don’t need a visa in the Soviet Union these days unless you intend to stop over more than 24 hours, but visitors’ visas are not hard to get, as there has been a consider able thawing of the Cold War, and the Soviet is actually welcoming visitors.

Hotel tariffs in Moscow range from a daily £A6 to £AI6, depending on standards and the time of the year.