The final Province on my blogging quest and although PNG has new Provinces today, they formed after I left and I had visited those areas on my tour of duty, so I come to the Oro Province or Northern province I think it was once called. Oro, Oro, Oro means welcome and it is quite often you will hear this greeting in this wide and varied Province.
I travelled to Oro a few times for both work and play and I got to see a fair part of the place, from the Coast to the Provincial Centre; Popondetta to the Mountains. I once walked to Oro, I landed there in Fokker 100s, in Twin Otters, Dash-8s and Helicopters, but never sailed there, and trying to recall what tales I should write about, I looked to my photographs for inspiration and what I saw was a collection of people who made the Oro Province special and I saw in their eyes an interesting question and that was "Where does the future lie for Oro and its people?"
The biggest drawcard for tourism in PNG in recent years is in no doubt, the Kokoda Track and thousands of Australians line up each trekking season (if Koiarian Barney Jack allows) and walk between Oro and Central Provinces. Some of these Aussies stay on to get a dive in somewhere, or visit other wartime locations but it seems to me that the real winner from the Kokoda Track is the NCD, but I digress. Some of my tales of Oro dwell around Kokoda and its path over the Owen Stanleys.
Photos and Blog notes to come...
4 comments:
Steve, I've enjoyed reading your telling of your times in PNG and your photography is absolutely splendid. Have you considered putting all this together for 'hard copy' print?
regards
Tix at http://toktokplace.blogspot.com/2010/02/my-kind-of-country.html
I have thought about it John, and have not known where to start. I took a massive collection of photographs and I do not know how to pick the best shots, to compile a book. This blog helps me review the photos and the places I visited... maybe I need to get someone else to pick out what images would work best in a book?
Probably a 'coffee table' publication consisteing of more imagery then words may be the way to go? That way you could be very 'inclusive'.
I liked the shot of the PMV driver in the Solomon Islands - it was just so complex a portrait and encapsulated every aspect you would expect from an Islander.
That Driver was great value, I will be re-telling the stories about that journey for many a year to come. your comment has bought back some great memories!
Cheers,
sb
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