Pacific Islands & Papua New Guinea

No doubt everyone wants to know this...!

I'm just after advice on where in the Pacific would be a good place to relax for a few weeks - here's what we're after.

We have an 18 month old daughter, so a safe, non-corally lovely beach
Somewhere quiet and totally relaxed
* Access to reasonable food - we had looked at Uoleva in Tonga but the food situation has probably deterred us. So either access to eating options or good food provided by the place we stay.

Other than that, we don't need any…

Im British so not concerned with the visa situation, but my girlfriend is Russian and needs a visa before she arrives. From what little information we can find, it appears that there is only a PNG embassy in Australia or USA and you cant get a visa anywhere else? Is this correct or is there any way of obtaining one in Papua or somewhere else in Indonesia or Malaysia? Any help would be fantastic as it feels like we are banging our head against a brick wall when we have tried to contact the…

Hi travellers -

We'd like to stay on Uoleva for a couple of weeks, and were just wondering if anyone had any wise advice on travelling there with an 18 month old.

The beaches look fairly safe (?) and we're happy with very basic accommodation - I guess our only concerns would be food for her (what is the food situation?) and if the mosquitoes are terribly bad.

Can anyone recommend somewhere to stay?
Thanks heaps.

we are thinking about doing a stopover in Tahiti with our 5 and 2 year old girls for a few days to break up the flight home to England has any one done this before and could you advice on accommodation and activities with out any stress and hassle. cheers

Hi there,

we are thinking about a diving trip for 20 days.
It seems expensive but we would like to know if it is possible
to find cheaper places (basics bunggalows closed to the beach) with accessible divesites.

Many thanks.

The NZ high commissioner to Fiji has been expelled for "meddling in domestic affairs", though it seems more likely that the real reason is Bainimarama's jealousy over seating arrangements at a rugby game.
It's the number 1 TV news story in NZ at the mo, interestingly (and continuingly) locals aren't prepared to talk about this much, nor any other aspect of their government, fearing reprisals - with some justification.
Risk to tourists assessed as fairly low..but the situation could deteriorate…

Hi guys,

Im stinking about booking into Naboua Lodge for 6 nights when I arrive in Fiji in August.

Has anyone here stayed there? What can you tell me about the place?

Pro's and Con's

Thanks

Steve

So the Ha'apai islands were on my short list of get away from it all places.

I was on the Peau Vava'u website when I read this:

"But don't be fooled by the slow, tranquil pace of these beautiful islands, you can dance away the night in a nightclub."

Say it isn't so.

We are trying to contact Steven at the Warili Lodge in Tari but have had no luck so far. All we could find was an email address (evantia@datec.net.pg) on his website but we haven't gotten an answer in 2 tries over the last 2 weeks. Does anyone know of a fax or telephone number for the lodge? We are trying to stay there in July 20-22 and would need to be picked up at the airport as we hear it is a 45 minute drive to the lodge. Thanks for any help you can give us.

My wife and I just got back from a month in PNG. The highlight was our trip on the Sepik River.

We didn't want to book a package tour in advance for a bunch of reasons, not least of which is the incredibly high prices that most tour operators charge. However, you need to organize something in advance because it takes forever to organize anything in PNG. We contacted Sue at adventurepng@datec.com.pg a couple of weeks before our arrival to get the ball rolling. She offers a service for…