February 20, 2018: Panasesa Island in the Conflict group, overnight sailing from the Trobriands.
Then 2½ more days, about 1000 nm (1900 km), back to Brisbane.
Privately owned by an Australian, Panasesa Island is uninhabited except for the resort staff. The Conflict Islands have the most biodiverse coral reef system in the world.
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| Sand bar on Panasesa Island, one of the Conflict group |
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| Arlene strolling along a sandy path on the island |
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| Some of the island's vegetation |
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| Map of Panasesa Island Resort - it takes about an hour to walk around |
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| Panasesa International Airport (the runway is 700m long) |
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| We had fabulous snorkeling in the dark blue drop off about 50 meters from shore |
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| Steve getting a snap of Evelyn on the beach |
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| Turtle tracks in the sand - it's a breeding ground for the green turtle |
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| This baby green turtle is a few weeks old |
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| The Pacific Aria sitting in deep water offshore |
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Marilyn and Doug join the line for the tender back to ship
At each of the 4 ports tendering took us about an hour each way
A group complained that it took them 3 hours to get ashore at one port |
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| Sun shining on the clouds over the Coral Sea on the way back to Brisbane |
And so our first cruise came to an end.
Our balcony room was fine, the cabin staff excellent, the food OK and we did get to spend some quality family time together. But with the tedious, inefficient tendering process to go ashore and days of nothing on the big blue sea we were just about ready to throw ourselves overboard to escape.
The only reason we came on this cruise was to go back to
Madang, Pam and her sisters birthplace. That didn't happen. There never was any "Anthrax outbreak" and we're very disappointed with P&O's decision to cancel the port visit.
We won't be "cruising" again any time soon and certainly never on P&O.