Here's the story

http://www.braunstein.co.il/articles.asp?id=10

Michel

Great report! Another set of sights to see in PNG.

Really enjoyed your trip report and your PNG gallery. Thanks!

We were in PNG at Walindi for three days and on Star Dancer for sven days, then over to Loloata for two nights. It was a llllllong way to get to New Britain.
29 hours flying time from GRR to Houston to Hawaii to Guam to Cairns to Port Moresby to New Britain @ Hoskins - then 45 min. van ride to get to Walindi where the Star Dancer as well as the Febrina are docked.
The Grass Huts at Walindi were comfortable and the food was delish. The trip was a mix of bommies, walls and reefs. We saw no other boats, airplanes or jet trails for the stay, it is remote. One feels quite small and far away. We did trade with the locals one day in the Fathers reef area.
As for the diving, there were too many species to keep track of. We saw plenty of sharks and other species of reef life that are not so common, such as pipe fish and cuttle fish, foo-man-choo, leaf fish, ect......

Thanks for taking the time to write a complete report!

My wife and I are going of the 10 day trip from Walindi to Rabaul in May -can't wait

Sorry to hear about the ear problem

George

Hi Michel, thanks for your report. We're heading to PNG/Stardancer for 2 trips in a row in may and it really helps being able to read something about it.

Cor

George,
My ears are ok, the problem was due to my uw photographer stupidity! Not always equalize my ears when going up and down just in order not to miss a good picture.*88 You will enjoy Walindi, it's a great pleace. Send my greeting to Max.

Cor, 2 trips in a row on the Star Dancer! What a dream! It'll be really entiring! I can insure you that you will have a great time.

Keep me both updated when you come back, I miss that place so much!

Have fun,

Michel

I spend a month every year in PNG. I'm usually on either of Alan Raabe's boats, the FeBrina or the Star Dancer. Yes, the SD is a "Peter Hughes" boat, but it's owned by Alan. I will have to agree that PNG has the best biodiversity I've ever dived and certainly the most pristine sites. I will spend a month there and if I see another dive boat, it will be far in the distance.

It was really nice to see your pics which include many critters I visit each trip. George is a particular favorite of mine. I loved seeing your pics of Elsie's pet "Elsie" the turtle. If ever a turtle pretended to be a puppy dog, it is she.

While you mentioned Dickies Place and Wire Bay, you didn't mention the crater (or did I completely miss that?) What a place to stalk the mandarin fish.

This year, I cannot make it to PNG due to time restraints. I always carry a huge suitcase of school supplies for the schools on Garove Island (Dickie's island). I feel I have so many obligations there that my shortened time frame won't cut it.
As a result, I will be spending two weeks in Borneo. This will be new terrain for me and I'm looking forward to it. 2007 will see me back in PNG.

I could never afford to take off from working in my own biz for a month! Damn, you're lucky!

I'm a police officer and I have to save every minute of vacation and holiday for the whole year to go. Not one day off in between trips. I am really ready to go when it is time.
My trip to Borneo was good, but it was not PNG. This January I am going to the Indonesian side of New Guinea (Irian Jaya). I will be in a group of islands called Raja Ampat. After two weeks there I will be going to Lembeh to dive the straights. Can't wait. This trip is going to break me, though. I get a good deal in PNG and will be paying a lot more for this trip. OUCH! Lot's of off duty work coming my way.

Ah, I graduated with honors from a police academy in Los Angeles 25 years or so ago, it was a kind where one could put themselves through to make themselves more eligable for hire during an era where you needed to make yourself as hire friendly as possible if you made the mistake of being born with male genitalia and being caucasian and heteosexual. But back then it was 3 strikes and your out, so since I refused to dismember myself or renounce my race or preference, it was off to other pastures. It would have been easy to get hired if I had been born a vertically challenged, handicapable differently sighted cross dressing transgendered lesbian hermaphrodite of color who had been raped on the hood of a UFO by a BigFoot (or for our Spanish speaking friends, El Chupcabra).

I had an absolute blast in that academy though......

Working for a city has its advantages where they often let one acrue lots of vacation time and do some horse trading by being able to use unused sick days.

Raja Ampat is on my long list after Lembeh and Gangga in Sulawesi. I hear Raja Ampat rocks with both macro and crystal clear water.