New Britain

Introducing New Britain

New Britain is awesome. PNG’s largest island, it has a bit of everything you’ve come to this country for – think colonial history, remarkable traditional cultures and seriously pristine wilderness (despite areas where there are logging and mining). The pièce de résistance? Volcanoes. The whole region is a rumbling, billowing string of cones and craters cloaked with virgin tropical rainforest. Some are dormant and harmless while others are scrappy villains that periodically flex their muscles. In September 1994 Mt Tavurvur and Mt Vulcan erupted and destroyed most of Rabaul, one of PNG’s biggest and most alluring cities, in a furious rain of ash and rock.

When the raw nature on land has finished working its magic on you, be sure to don mask and tank to explore New Britain’s sensational watery surrounds. To say that Kimbe Bay offers world-class dive sites is an understatement. Rabaul’s harbour and the various bays that carve out the Gazelle Peninsula also host superlative sites, such as wrecks and psychedelic coral reefs. There is one proviso, though: don’t expect to find lots of secluded white-sand scimitars. Idyllic beaches are not New Britain’s strong point.

New Britain is divided into two provinces; each has its distinctive feel. East New Britain (ENB) Province ends in the Gazelle Peninsula where there has been lengthy contact with Europeans, education levels are high and the people are among the most economically advantaged in the country. The other end of the Island, West New Britain (WNB) Province, is sparsely populated, little developed and did not come into serious contact with Europeans until the 1960s. The migrant workers from the Highlands, the ‘colonial’-flavoured expats and the dense bush give WNB the flavour that the east might have had mid-last century. It’s a frontier country with many colourful, roguish Queenslanders escaping the more regulated life ‘back home’.

The most easily accessible areas for travellers include the Gazelle Peninsula and Kimbe Bay. If you want to explore the rest of the Island, then you’ll have to cut a path of your own, which means a lot of gumption, time and money.

Last updated: Feb 17, 2009