Photos from PNG

[parabolic]

I was on the Febrina, out of Alotau. It was a two-week trip with Chris Newbert and Birgitte Wilms (Rainbowed Sea Tours). Chris has a loyal following of good folks, all of the other 6 divers were very competent and personable. It was my fourth trip with RST. The Febrina is adequate, not the best liveaboard I have been on, but the crew of 11 was, in my opinion, the best of any liveaboard I have ever seen anywhere in the world. As to big stuff, pretty limited, but we did have a whale shark at Lauadi (Dinah's Beach), several mantas were seen at Gonubalabala, and a few medium sized reef sharks were seen. But mostly it was muck diving which is what most people want in Milne Bay. I use a Fuji S2 Pro in a Subal housing, two Sea and Sea YS90-DX strobes. Lenses for the small stuff were Nikon 60mm and 105mm, and I used the Nikon 10.5mm fisheye for (the few) wide-angle opportunities including the shot under the pier at Esa'Ala Wharf. That, by the way, is an amazing place. Lots of great critters and that HUGE school (shoal) of small fish is always there.

 

[Cacia]

thanks. that was a great shot. i just bought that lense. (10.5) am saving for the 8" port. yes, i was asking about the divers because i would think it would be some seasoned serious divers.

looks like you have been around yourself, got a favorite place?

 

[parabolic]

catherine

Favorite place - almost impossible to answer. Hard to beat PNG, been there five times now (three from Kavieng, two from Milne Bay). Plus I love the topside experience there, one of the most amazing places on earth. The Highlands are like stepping back 10,000 years into the Stone Age. Cocos Island (Costa Rica) has to be up there for big animals. I liked Lembeh Straits in Indonesia, and I had a GREAT trip in the Solomons on the Bilikiki. I love cold-water diving, San Juans, Vancouver Island, and Alaska (Ketchikan) are favorites. In 30 years of diving in California I have never tired of it, I would have to put the Channel Islands in CA at right at the top of the list. I don't think I can pick just one (as you can probably tell from my babbling).

 

[alijtaylor]

I have edited because my original queries are answered in your subsequent post. Your photos are fantastic, the Moray is my favourite.

Alison

 

[Cacia]

sure sounds like you dive the creme de la creme! So, this time you did not do topside PNG, but you have....would love to hear about that. Buy any art?

 

[Erik Il Rosso]

Great shots, thanks for sharing...

Ciao Erik Il Rosso

 

[verona]

Great pics - love the giant moray. and the last one of the boardwalk

 

[parabolic]

catherine

I have been all over PNG including the highlands (Tari Valley) and two trips on the Sepik River. Yes, I have filled a couple containers with stuff from PNG Arts and shipped them home. Please see http://www.kenbondy.com/png.htm.

Our home is filled with masks, large figures, bowls, penis decorations (that's right, a big deal with Highlands men) and other great PNG art. I have seen a lot of primitive art but the best comes from PNG. How can you beat a wild head mask with a crocodile coming out of the mouth, not to mention huge, (I hope) brightly decorated penis decorations, of course. And they DO wear them!

 

[Doug Krause]

sure sounds like you dive the creme de la creme! So, this time you did not do topside PNG, but you have....would love to hear about that. Buy any art?

Hi Catherine:

Look into Tawali Resort | www.tawali.com for a land based option out of Milne Bay. A nice option is to split the trip with a liveaboard on the Chertan, now based out of the resort.

This is a somewhat shameless plug - the resort was built by the founder and CEO of Oceanic. I was there last June and heading back this year. It was truly amazing - both the diving and the resort.

Doug

 

[dggirl]

hey parabolic i really like your pictures they're amazing! please give some tips on how to take shots like your's? thanks!!!





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dggirl
"Paradoxically though it may seem, it is none the less true that life imitates art far more than art imitates life".