Kitava Island, Milne Bay Province, Papua New Guinea - September 2016

Like Kiriwina Island, Kitava Island is another small piece of paradise in the Trobriand Islands, on our visit today though we weren’t exactly blessed with your typical sunshine and blue sky south pacific type weather. Actually the weather was fairly average but figuring that we were going to spend a fair chunk of the day snorkelling anyway we weren’t overly concerned. With Kitava Island another largely undeveloped island with no tourist infrastructure to speak of that meant another tender operation to get everyone ashore, so while the rest of the punters headed for the breakfast buffet Sam and I headed down to jump on the first tender of the day, I figure that the food on the ship isn’t going to disappear but we only have one day in these spots to make the most of it, the tactics payed off again today as we were ashore quickly on the half empty boat.

Once on shore there was the usual welcoming committee of locals all excited to see the sweaty dim dims who had turned up on the big white ship. Seeing as it was still pissing down we decided that our first objective for the day would be to go snorkelling, now I’d heard that the snorkelling was actually the best on the nearby Nuratu Island but that meant we had to get over to it. Luckily there were no shortages of locals lined up and ready to row us over to the small island in their banana boats, after paying our 5 kina we clambered aboard and within ten minutes we were standing on the beautiful white sand of Nuratu Island……in the pouring rain, oh well at least it was warm.

Heading over to Nuratu Island, it wasn't exactly a blue sky kind of day.

Even with the overcast conditions the snorkelling here was very good.

Nuratu Island is a tiny little speck in the Solomon Sea, you could walk around the island in about 20 minutes if you wanted, walking wasn’t on the agenda this morning though. After sussing out where I figured that the best reefs were as best I could from the beach it was time to don the fins and mask and plunge in, with the water at approximately the same temperature as the ambiant air temperature it wasn’t much of a hardship. Once snorkelling the only real reminder that we had that it was raining was the feel of the rain drops on our backs as we surfaced between dives. Like our other dives in PNG the coral here was spectacular, I can’t help wondering what it would be like with a bit of sun shining down to light it up a bit.

When the weathers like this you may as well be in the water.

Under the surface it was serene.

Even without the sun we spent the next three hours immersed in the warm water, resting on the surface occasionally to check out what was going on around us. From our snorkelling spot we could easily see over to Kitava Island which was handy as we were trying to time our return for when most of the punters had got sick of the tropical rain and returned to the sanctuary of the ship. With the crowds returning on the tenders now at maximum dim dim we decided that it was time to say goodbye to the tropical fish and head back over and check out what the locals had on offer over on Kitava, first up though there was the negotiation for the banana boat ride back over….5 kina please (relax that’s about $2.50 Aussie, yeah we were hardly being gouged!).

The Feral Snorkeler, yep only the most flattering photos on my blog.

It was fairly uncrowded over on Nuratu Island today.

Arriving back on the big island, well bigger anyway, we spent the next hour or so checking out the sights, watching the local children dance and sing and politely declining the chance to buy any number of wood carvings. Once again the local kids squeezed our hearts and again we came way with some addresses that we’ll try and send some supplies back too when we get home. After redistributing a bit of kina I decided to head up to the lookout and check out the view, now up until now I’d been walking around in bare feet in soft sand so stupidly I figured that I’d head up to the lookout with the same alfresco footware. Leaving my gear with Sam I wandered off up the track in my bare feet, the crushed coral started about 20 metres from the beach, now I’m not that smart and I’m obviously stubborn because instead of going back to Sam to grab my hiking havaianas I figured that I’d just persist in bare feet…..like I said I’m not real smart.

There was plenty of enthusiasm for the tug of war with the boys.

While the girls were happier singing.

By mid afternoon most of the dim dims had returned to the ship.

My ultra light hiking shoes.

Paying my 5 kina I hobbled my way the last few metres to the lookout my feet now exfoliated nicely from the sharp coral and limestone. As well as the nice view down over KItava and Nuratu Islands the lookout also features the grave of one Cyril Barneveldt Cameron, a Tasmanian who came to Kitava and started a plantation back in 1912, I wonder if Cyril knew that other famous Taswegion Erol who was kicking around PNG back in the day. After taking the obligatory snap of the big white ship anchored just off shore I hobbled my way back down to Sam, my feet relieved to be reunited with my thongs again. We were sailing away at 3 pm today so by now it was time to jump back on a tender, head for a quick shower before heading up on deck and watching Kitava Island slowly recede from view before finally disappearing into the Soloman Sea. It had been a grey and wet day and I’m sure that we didn’t really see Kitava Island at anywhere near her best but as usual it was still a great day, a bad days snorkelling beats a good day at work anytime.

The day was still overcast but at least it wasn't raining.

I hardly needed oxygen for walk to the lookout.

The Dirt.
Of all the spots we visited on this trip to Papua New Guinea I think Kitava Island was probably the most undeveloped. The locals here seem to have worked out that their one chance to make any money is when the boats occasionally turn up and some of the signposted attractions seemed a bit dubious and contrived to me, for 5 kina you can check out orchids, skulls, headhunter caves, lookouts, and various graves, like I said I’m not sure on the authenticity of some of these attractions, but hey what’s 5 kina to us. The lookout was definitely kosher and worth the $2.50 that I paid so check it out if you want to get a bit of an over view of the surrounding area. From what I could see the snorkelling around the jetty didn’t look very appealing, so it is worth hiring a banana boat for the very short trip over to Nuratu Island where the snorkelling is very good indeed, keep in mind my dodgy photos were taken in the worst possible conditions. The boat trip cost us 5 kina in each direction and its worth it just for the experience alone I reckon.
Relevant Posts.

Rabaul, East New Britain Province, Papua New Guinea, 2016.

Kiriwina Island, Milne Bay Province, Papua New Guinea, 2016.

Doini Island, Milne Bay Province, 2016.

Alotau, Milne Bay Province, Papua New Guinea, 2016.

Kokoda Trail, Papua New Guinea, 2006.

Not the usual blue sky sail away photo.

The big island is Kitava Island, the little one is where we spent the morning snorkelling, Nuratu Island.

Waitpinga Cliffs, Heysen Trail, Newland Head Conservation Park - April 2017

The Waitpinga Cliffs.

Last weekend I decided to make the quick road trip over to South Australia to catch up with some old friends, do a little walking, and a lot of eating, drinking and talking;) My first port of call, so to speak, was the pretty seaside town of Victor Harbor. It was a fairly tired Feral traveller who pulled up at the hotel just after 10pm after managing to cram in a days work as well as a nine hour drive into the day so far. Now a sensible person would probably call it a day about now but no one's ever accused me of being sensible, and besides it's not every day that I'm reunited with an old friend. Petra and I have walked together in various countries over the years and is one of those like minded people that as soon as we meet up, even if we've been apart for a year or so, it's like we've never been apart and the friendship resumes from were it left off last time we were together. I might of waffled on about my travelling friends before but I have a theory....What's that? I'm glad you asked. My theory goes along these lines. I reckon when you walk or trek with someone it can turbo charge the relationship, living and relying on someone closely for days on end seems to quickly build a strong relationship. I've got numerous friends scattered around the world from my travels and when we meet up, sometimes after years apart, the relationships normally continues on as if we were never apart. Petra definitely falls into the never been apart category and we spent the next couple of hours catching up, chatting, laughing and probably making the neighbours wonder what was going on.

Looking towards Newland Head from Waitpinga Beach, the start of our walk.

We were up pretty early the next morning and after breakfast headed off under perfect blue sky to the start of the walk at Waitpinga Beach, dropping my ute off at King Beach on the way. Our stroll today was along a 12 kilometre section of the long distance Heysen Trail so once we were on the way navigation wasn't going to be much of an issue. After watching the somewhat mesmerising sets rolling into Waitpinga Beach for a little while we eventually headed off up into the coastal scrub towards Waitpinga Camp, me assuming my usual position when walking with Petra, that being struggling along twenty metres behind her trying to keep up. Passing through the camp we headed gently uphill along some old vehicle tracks, avoiding a few side tracks we followed the Heysen Trail markers through the coastal scrub of Newland Head Conservation Park before eventually topping out out at a high point where views up and down the coast started to open up.

Initially we climbed up to the Waitpinga camping area, looks I'm already struggling to keep up with Petra!

Reaching the high point above Newland Head the ocean views started to open up.

Our route soon started to drop gently towards the coast again although we wouldn't be dropping back down to sea level for a couple of hours or so. Meeting the Southern Ocean again we turned north east and started the highlight of todays ramble, the cliff top walk to King Beach. The cliff top walk starts off a little rough initially as it descends and climbs steeply in and out of rocky gullies. When the path wasn't climbing and descending it was passing through the low coastal scrub, the flowering coastal heath perfuming the air with a sweet aroma which only added to the day. Stopping for a bit of a break on the cliff tops I noticed something below us in the turquoise water, a pod of dolphins slowly making their way along the coast towards Newland Head, hmmm, this was turning out to be a pretty special walk.

The limestone track along the cliffs is a little rough under foot in spots, but generally it's pretty good.

Now if you squint and use a fair bit of imagination you might be able to see a pod of dolphins making their way along the coast towards Newland Head.

The cliffs of Newland Head.

Leaving our dolphin viewing spot we continued along the cliff tops, the track along here is mainly limestone which makes it a little un-even under foot, although it's never too rough. Continuing on our journey towards King Beach the coastal reserve started to get fairly narrow and we sometimes found ourselves walking beside farmland, the paddocks baked golden brown with the recent dry weather. Walking along a short stretch of duck boards gave us a great view along the coast all the way down to  West Island, Rosetta Head and along the cliffs into the distance which were slowly descending to sea level.

The flowering coastal heathlands were quite a pleasant place to be today.

Sometimes the Heysen Trail headed inland a little bit.

Once again the track along here alternated between the edge of the cliffs and the more open country slightly inland, a few sections through some twisted and contorted eucalyptus trees also added a bit of interest and also a bit of pain for me as I managed to smack my head into one of the branches, yeah I've got the reflexes of a cat...a dead cat! Eventually we descended into a wide grassy gully, the suddenly open country allowing us our first view west back along the cliffs that we had just walked. Climbing up onto King Head the end of the walk was now in sight, but what was actually drawing our eyes was a large fur seal playing in the breaking waves just off the point. I tried to get a photo of the seal but to be honest it's pretty underwhelming, still it was another great encounter on what was turning out to be a very nice walk.

The trail winds in and out of these twisted eucalyptus trees.

The Waitpinga Cliffs descending down to sea level at King Beach.

Looking back towards Newland Head.

After watching the seal for awhile Petra and I decided to wander off on the last short section of this walk. Leaving King Head we contoured around to Kings Beach, our first beach since leaving Waitpinga Beach at the start of the walk. King Beach looks like a nice spot for a swim, with it's scattering of orange lichen covered boulders and white sand, luckily for Petra there were a few too many people around for me to strip off for a skinny dip today! Climbing up to the car park from the beach the great views continued all the way back to the ute. After one last photo looking along the coast to Rosetta Head we climbed into the ute, sinking into the comfortable seats savouring what had been a very good stroll. The day wasn't over for us though, we now made our way back to Adelaide to drop Petra's car off before heading over to the Yorke Peninsula to visit another couple of great friends....but that's a story for another day.

That's West Island ahead of us.

Once again if you squint and use a lot of imagination you might see the seal frolicking in the swell just off King Head.

King Beach

West Island from above King Beach.

The Dirt.

We walked 12.6 kilometres and climbed 456 metres on this great medium grade stroll. The walk itself  is pretty easy but it can get a little rough under foot, the limestone isn't something that you'd want to fall on. Make sure you stop and take in the sea views occasionally and you may be lucky enough to see dolphins, seals or even whales in the right season. I used the notes and map out of Melanie Ball's Top Walks in Australia. The book is published by Explore Australia but strangely isn't on their website - so no link. We stayed at the cheap and cheerful Comfort Inn in Victor Harbour, the hotel had everything we needed including free wi fi, I think I actually stayed in the exact same room years ago on a trip to Kangaroo Island with Sam and Belinda. 

Relevant Posts.

Cape Jarvis to Cobbler Hill, Heysen Trail, 2014.

Port Willunga, 2015.

Yurrebilla Trail, 2009.

Kangaroo Island Walk, 2007.

Rosetta Head, sometimes called The Bluff is a bit of a Victor Harbor icon.

Our last 100 metres on the track, the great scenery lasted from the start to the end of the walk.