Rabaul Mask Festival

Welcome to Papua New Guinea. Upon arrival at East New Britain’s Tokua Airport, you will be met by your Australian Tour Leader and English-speaking local guides who will accompany you on a tour across the Gazelle Peninsula to observe cocoa, copra and palm oil cultivation undertaken in the rich volcanic soil, noting the area’s significant contribution to the national economy. At Keravat, we will visit Niugini Organics factory, where a local family partner with local smallholder coconut harvesters to produce products made from Raw 100% Organic Virgin Coconut Oil that are marketed globally. Products include scented coconut oil soap and organic virgin coconut oil which was awarded a United Kingdom’s Guild of Fine Food “Great Taste Award Star”.Along the way we will have the customary shell money concept explained in detail with an opportunity to make your own string of shell money. Early missionaries and travellers to New Britain found it to be the only area in the Pacific region they had come across where the locals had a true money currency of a standard value. The Europeans were intrigued by the local monetary system and the way in which Tambu was intricately woven into the very texture of social life. It still plays its role in Tolai society today, maintaining its cultural significance, particularly as part of the bride price or gift giving to the father of the would be bride. It is exchanged to mark births, marriages and deaths. The standard unit of currency is the ‘pokono’ or fathom (a grown man’s arm span).It was from Wesleyan Methodist Mission in Fiji that the first mission team were sent to New Britain Island in 1875. Fijian missionaries’ proselytization legacy and martyrdom is today honoured in Kabakada village, next to the Kulau Lodge Beach Resort. A memorial monument was erected on top of the buried remains of the four slain martyrs on Vunela hilltop on 15 August 1975, the one hundredth year anniversary of the arrival of the Fijian missionaries in the New Guinea islands. The burial site now known as the Fijian Cemetery holds 41 graves which are now part of the Vunela historical tourism site. Six married, and three single, men were chosen to work under the supervision of Reverand George Brown, an experienced missionary, who had served in Samoa. Within three years, most of them were dead. A powerful New Britain pagan chief massacred three of them, and some died of malaria. But, there was no shortage of Fijians, who were ready to take their place.Tonight, we relax in idyllic surroundings at Kulau Beach Lodge, Kabakada Village on the shore of Talia Bay. Before dinner enjoy a swim and snorkel the house reef which is home to many varied species of coral and marine life.For dinner tonight we will taste Aigir is a traditional cuisine of the Tolai people of East New Britain Province in Papua New Guinea. It’s been a main dish for generations of the Tolai people and is prepared on special occasions and family gatherings. The method of cooking Aigir which is made by heating hot stones to boil liquid coconut and pure coconut will be demonstrated. The dish is widely accepted as one of the finest dishes. Aigir works by heating the liquid with hot stones. To make Tolai aigir, you peel kaukau and bananas, cut them in half, and add aibika, salt, sliced onion, and tomatoes to heated coconut oil. Aigir is consumed with meats prepared in the traditional method of cooking known as Mumu which is regarded as the national dish of Papua New Guinea. It is composed of pork or chicken, sweet potato, taro, plantains, with leafy vegetables. Mumu is an example of a balanced dish composed of the two bases, crops (including starch) and meat. The dish is named after the earth oven used to cook it and will also be demonstrated. (L,D)Overnight – Kulau Lodge Beach Resort or similar

This morning, we travel to Simpsons Harbour to enjoy spectacular views on an early morning climb of the active volcano, Mt Tavurvur. While the climb is challenging, it’s not beyond most people’s capability to reach the top. Flynn’s Tours has had an volcanoes octogenarian comfortably complete the ascent. You can take in further views of Rabaul’s picturesque harbour and its six volcanoes from the Vulcanological Observatory on Tunnel Hill.An informative talk delivered by an onsite vulcanologist will enlighten you of the workings of, lava, magma and related geological, geophysical and geochemical phenomena. The Rabaul caldera was created about 1400 years ago with an explosion which erupted 11 cubic kilometres of rock. This massive outpouring of gas, lava, rocks and ash produced the largest volcanic dry fog in recorded history. A mysterious cloud that blocked sunlight for 12 to 18 months over Europe, China and the Middle East in 536 AD is linked to this mighty eruption.You will tour the area of current volcano activity and clamber around Mount Tavurvur. See the hot springs, sulphurous steam points and the megapode egg hunters who burrow metres into the black sand emerging with the prized eggs. Megapodes do not incubate their eggs with their body heat as other birds do, but bury them. Their eggs are unique in having a large yolk, making up 50-70% of the egg weight. The birds here are burrow-nesters which use geothermal heat. Some species vary their incubation strategy, such as building mounds to bury them in, depending on the local environment. We travel around the remains of old Rabaul town (including its airport) which resembles a lunar landscape, following its burial in volcanic ash during the dramatic eruptions of 1994. Prior to the burial of Rabaul town it was revered as “the Pearl of the South Pacific”. East New Britain’s commercial hub has been re-established in a modernised Kokopo over the past 30 years. Rabaul was also badly damaged during an earlier eruption on 6 June 1937, five years before the occupation by Japanese military.We visit Matupit Island whose people and settlement survived the worst of the 1994 volcanic eruption despite their location immediately beneath it. Visit old Rabaul Township and see the resulting destruction caused by the 1994 volcanic explosions. Discover the pre-European settlement history and recent colonial occupations by German, Japanese and Australian administrations at the New Guinea Club and Rabaul Historical Display. Explore the Japanese military command bunker of Admiral Yamamoto where maps of the surrounding area are etched into the bunkers ceiling at head height.We travel back through Rabaul where we will visit the underground Japanese Hospital tunnels dating from World War Two and the tranquil memorial gardens at the Chinese cemetery where your tour leader, John Gannan, will explain aspects of the historically long association the Chinese have had with East New Britain, along with the many other people and cultures that have shaped this part of New Britain Island. We climb around the large barges of the Japanese Imperial forces that are still housed in even larger tunnels hewn into the soft volcanic cliff faces on the shores of Blanche Bay.We end the afternoon with a drive along the picturesque coastline to Kokopo to stay at the Rapopo Plantation Resort. Before dinner enjoy a swim and snorkel the house reef which is home to many varied species of coral and marine life. The resort’s large swimming pool can also provide a relaxing end to the busy day! (B,L,D)Overnight – Rapopo Plantation Resort, Kokopo or similar

Gather at dawn on the Kokopo foreshore for the Kinavai, which signifies the landing of the Tolai people in East New Britain several hundred years ago and marks the official opening of the Mask Festival. The Kinavai represented with the arrival of the Tumbuan in their traditional masks, alighting from canoes paddled in the pre-dawn darkness from the neighbouring Matupit island. Dancing to the primal sounds of chanting and kundu drums, the revered ancestral spirits arise to welcome dancers wearing traditional masks from all over Papua New Guinea.Return to the hotel in Kokopo to refresh and then travel a short distance to the festival grounds for the opening day of the Mask Festival. Among many highlights, the standouts include the Kusare warriors from Kandrian on the South coast of New Britain’s western province and the immediately recognisable Malagan Mask Dancers from New Ireland. From closer to home, the tall Tubuans from the Pomio district, the Tolai whip dancers along with neighbouring New Ireland’s renowned Malagan mask men all add to the colour and movement. (B,L,D)Overnight – Rapopo Plantation Resort, Kokopo or similar

Spend the early morning snorkelling the house reef at Rapopo Resort before the second day of the Rabaul Mask Festival kicks off. We return to the festival grounds this morning to continue to enjoy a VIP viewing of the day’s cultural performances.After departing the festival grounds, we will visit the Kokopo Museum which houses an impressive range of war relics along with an informative display of colonial, military and natural history. We will drop by the Gazelle International Hotel to enjoy a cooling beverage and to stand on the historic Queen Emma Steps, overlooking the breathtaking backdrop with ocean views over Blanche Bay. The bay is named after HMS Blanche, which surveyed the bay under the command of Captain Cortland Simpson in 1872. Standing on “Emma’s Steps” we hear stories about the achievements and exploits of Queen Emma Coe. She was a Polynesian Princess and daughter of an American sailor and Samoan mother who in the late 19th century brought commerce to East New Britain, through her savvy business sense and huge land holdings, upon which she grew an abundance of copra and cocoa. The steps are 140 years old, built in 1882 to grace Queen Emma’s famous bungalow Gunantambu. They were climbed by Governors, Ambassadors and Officers representing German Kaiser, American President and kings of England, France and other European nations along with assorted bishops and world-renowned scientists, explorers, anthropologists and adventurers. Gunantambu gatherings were famous throughout the South Seas.After dinner, you will be transferred to Gaulim Village in the Bainings area. This evenings spectacular Bainings Fire Dance is performed only by men from the Bainings clans, where they immerse themselves into the flames of the fire and escape completely unharmed. This amazing ritual is not performed anywhere else in the world. One of few cultures in Papua New Guinea who do not use the Kundu drum as their rhythmic percussion instruments, the Bainings clan instead use bamboo, and the sound is just as unique as the fire dance itself. After the performance, return to your hotel. (B,L,D)Overnight – Rapopo Plantation Resort, Kokopo or similar

After Breakfast you will be transferred to the Tokua airport for your flight back to Port Moresby. On the drive to the airport, you will view the beachside landing site at Kabakaul from where Australian military forces advanced in 1914 to capture the German wireless station at Bita Paka. This battle was Australia’s first major military engagement of the First World War. Time permitting, we will visit Bita Paka War Cemetery, now the resting place of over one thousand Australian and Allied soldiers who met their fate during World War 2, when “Fortress Rabaul” became the South Pacific headquarters and staging post for the Japanese Imperial Forces. It was occupied by 100,000 Japanese soldiers.Transfer to Rabaul Tokua Airport in time for your departure flight (flight not included). (B)