New Britain
This poignant war cemetery contains the graves of over 1000 Allied war dead, many of them Indian slaves. The gardens are lovely. It’s 8km off the main…
Must-see attractions in Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea
This wildlife management area is 10km south of Madang. It’s featured in scenes from the 1996 film production of Robinson Crusoe with Pierce Brosnan. There…
Port Moresby
The picturesque stilt village of Koki, at the eastern end of Ela Beach, is worth visiting if you can find a local to take you. The best way to do that is…
Port Moresby
Around Fourteen Mile, next door to the humdrum Adventure Park PNG (look out for the Ferris wheel) are the excellent National Orchid Gardens. Apart from…
Papua New Guinea
In the same building as the Madang Visitors & Cultural Bureau, this small but fascinating museum is worth visiting. Learn about the 1660 eruption of Long…
Peter ToRot’s Cemetery & Memorial Church
New Britain
As the Burma Rd begins to dip towards the coast, it passes through the Rakunai site of Peter ToRot’s Cemetery and Memorial Church. Peter ToRot was a…
Port Moresby
On the rough Kokoda Track road you can drive past McDonald's Corner where there's a small memorial that marks the start of the Kokoda Track. It was here…
The Sepik
A small, temporary haus tambaran has been built near the ruins of the old one, with hearths inside clay dishes and six garamut drums with catfish,…
Papua New Guinea
A half-hour's walk from Butia Lodge, this village is notable for its particularly splendid yam house – the tallest on the island, painted in the…
New Britain
Tunnels built to hold the barges out of sight from the Allies. They were hauled to the water along rails by Indian slaves, now buried at Bita Paka War…
New Britain
In the same area at Matupit Island, there’s quite a smattering of Japanese aircraft wreckage scattered among the palm trees and now semi-buried in earth,…
The Sepik
This small haus tambaran is smoky, covered with long sago leaves and home to a splendid cassowary costume used in ceremonial dances. A female figure with…
Coastwatchers’ Memorial Beacon
Papua New Guinea
The 30m-high Coastwatchers Memorial Beacon, visible 25km out to sea, is a reminder of those who stayed behind enemy lines during WWII to report on…
The Sepik
Kanganaman is famous for the oldest haus tambaran on the Sepik. Declared a building of national cultural importance, it has been renovated with help from…
The Sepik
Timbunke's cobwebby haus tambaran is a one-storey structure towards the west end of the village. A Lonely Planet author was the first non-local (and first…
The Sepik
With the help of French anthropologist Nicolas Garnier and international funding, there is a haus tambaran in Wombun, topped with herons, with beautifully…
New Britain
The two rocky pinnacles rising from the centre of Simpson Harbour are called the Beehives and are said to be the hard core of the original old volcano…
The Sepik
The haus tambaran in the central village features a couple of large ceremonial masks, hook cult figures and garamut drums. Its centrepiece is a crocodile…
Papua New Guinea
At Kaibola village, at the northern tip of Kiriwina, you can swim and snorkel at the picture-postcard white-sand beach (bring your own snorkelling gear)…
Papua New Guinea
There's a good, fairly demanding hike to a waterfall from Treetops Lodge (three hours round trip). It's a beautiful jungle walk, with steep ups and downs…
Papua New Guinea
Trobriands Islanders believe in the power of certain individuals to bring rain. This power is passed on from father to son, and during periods of drought…
Papua New Guinea
A particular highlight in Buka is the passage, which refers to the channel that separates Buka Island from Bougainville Island. The water runs at about 6…
Rabaul
There are Japanese tunnels and caverns in the hillsides around Rabaul, though nearby to the Rabaul Museum is Admiral Yamamoto’s Bunker. It is rather…
The Highlands
Kutubu is the Highlands' second-largest lake, and, at 800m above sea level, PNG's highest substantial body of water (although the Mt Wilhelm crater lakes…
Papua New Guinea
The Australian War Memorial has a detailed description of the Battle of Milne Bay in which joint Australian and Papuan forces pushed back and defeated the…
The Sepik
The soaring haus tambaran here was copied from photographs taken at the turn of the century by German explorers of the building standing at that time, but…
Papua New Guinea
On the road south of Losuia, Wawela is on a beautiful, curving sand beach edging a cool, deep, protected lagoon. On a falling tide, beware of the channel…
Port Moresby
A few kilometres past the Bomana War Cemetery cemetery, the road winds up the impressive Laloki River gorge and you're soon more than 600m above sea level…
Papua New Guinea
Of the islands off Kiriwina, Kaileuna Island is the easiest and cheapest to access as boats carrying buai (betel nut) travel from Losuia most days. The…
Port Moresby
There is little of historical interest remaining in Port Moresby's CBD, where office towers and neglect have steadily claimed much of the area. The oldest…
The Highlands
The theatre is a superb building, which blends traditional materials and modern architecture. It’s located on parkland about 500m due north of the post…
Mahonia Na Dari Conservation Centre
New Britain
Everything you need to know about Kimbe Bay's marine environment and coral reef habitats should become clear at the Mahonia Na Dari Conservation Centre,…
The Sepik
The remains of a third haus tambaran sit between the other two. It was bombed by the Japanese (or Americans, depending on who you ask) in WWII and all…
East New Britain Historical & Cultural Centre
New Britain
The interesting East New Britain Historical & Cultural Centre has a fine if deteriorating collection of historical objects. There are fading photographs…
Lae
To the southeast of town Mt Lunaman or, more correctly, Lo' Wamung (First Hill), was used by the Germans and Japanese as a lookout point. The Japanese…
Papua New Guinea
Roughly halfway between Gurney Airport and Alotau, the Turnbull Memorial marks the site of one of the wartime airstrips and commemorates the death of…
The Sepik
Right near Bowies Art Store in the first village, this small haus tambaran is the cleanest in the area (no cobweb curtains here) and has Albert the wild…
New Ireland Province
Kavieng Harbour is large and beautiful. You can go down to the waterfront and catch a banana boat out to one of the many islands. New Sulaman makes for a…
New Ireland Province
At the 90km on the Boluminski Highway mark it's worth pulling over to see Cathy Hiob's Eels at Laraibina (ask for Munawai village). Cathy hand feeds some…
Papua New Guinea
You can’t miss Madang’s bats, they’re everywhere; wheeling overhead all day, constantly disturbed by the town noises below. Locals told us that these…
