Exotic Madang

We take a look at what makes this city tick, from the friendly locals to World War 2 wrecks.

At times, when towering cloudbanks catch the first hint of daybreak out at sea or when the moon makes a shadow play of banana boats heading home across Dallman Passage, Madang can seem like the most exotic place on earth.

It seemed like that to me on a recent visit. I was waiting for the monsoon, or at least a sign that the clouds would fulfil their promise of a deluge that would shatter the baking heat of this lovely tropical town.

Even in the wilting heat of a dry summer’s day, Madang, an hour’s flight from Port Moresby on PNG’s northern coast, has an ambience that is beguiling, and a natural beauty that softens the town’s often drab and untidy appearance and the challenges of its chronically pot-holed roads. In the rain, especially in the rain, it draws firsttime visitors in gently and awakens something in the heart.

Some travellers call Madang the prettiest town in PNG. This may be true; a bit over 20 years ago, before the volcanic eruption that destroyed Rabaul, it would not have been. But even if Madang’s beauty seems a little tarnished these days to one who has known and loved it over the years, its appeal is undiminished.

Quite simply, it is a wonderful travel destination, whether you’re looking for a short escape from Port Moresby, Lae or Mt Hagen, or you’re a foreign traveller on a mission to discover something of what makes PNG the incredible country that it is. And most of the time, that “something’’ is the people.

Fishing, scuba diving, snorkelling, hiking, mountain climbing and World War 2 history are all part of the tourism mix in Madang and its province. But if you want to meet the people – and that is what they themselves want – the best way is to get out of town and into the bush.

According to the Madang Visitors and Cultural Bureau, interaction with locals is what international visitors want more than anything, and there has been a growing interest in

In the rain, especially in the rain,

it draws first-time visitors in gently and awakens

something in the heart.

village visits and overnight stays across the province. The bureau is a good place to start if you want to make it happen.

It hooked me up with Joel Laleg, chief of Hobe Village, about 17 kilometres inland from Madang. In conjunction with nearby Haiya Village, Hobe stages occasional village visits and sing-sings for tourist groups who want to see culture in action and the chance of spotting a bird of paradise.

The village-stay part of the equation is a work in progress, though. Laleg has worked for years to establish a superb tropical garden; now he’s building a two-bedroom tourist lodge. Stay there right now and you will bathe in a creek and never forget it. Laleg’s dream includes running water and enough power to install a small refrigerator and fans. He will get there soon if those in charge of tourism in Madang Province offer him the support he deserves.

Will that happen? If it does, in Laleg’s village and others, it could help revitalise a local tourism industry that (the cruise ship sector apart) has been stagnating.

“In Madang, we have an abundance of hotel rooms with more under way,” says Sir Peter Barter, whose company Melanesian Tourist Services owns and operates the impressive Madang Resort.

“The National Government says it is keen to develop tourism (and) they have allocated more than enough money to make it happen, but it is not happening.”

Barter thinks encouraging more inbound flights could be the answer, as well as a betterresourced visitor bureau.

The bureau is not expecting a monsoon-type deluge of funding anytime soon. It, too, is waiting, as was the town when I was there, its main tourist attraction and focal point (its market) closed indefinitely for a proposed redevelopment.

An hour’s motorboat ride from Madang on the far shores of Astrolabe Bay, another clan leader, Assel Tui, of Gorendu Village, is also waiting, planning and dreaming.

It was at Gorendu that a Russian scientist, Nicolai Miklouho-Maclay, stepped ashore in 1871 and became the first European to live among the people of New Guinea’s north coast. Tui already has a monument to Miklouho-Maclay erected by the Melanesian Foundation and a fascinating oral history he likes to share with day visitors. A planned lodge is the next step in a tourism venture that would further enhance Madang’s appeal to visitors.

Nevertheless, Madang has long been a bright jewel in PNG’s tourism and there has been strong interest in village tours.

Bilbil is the pick of the regular organised village tours close to Madang. Here, you will see village women making, firing and selling the traditional pots for which Bilbil is celebrated.

Balek Wildlife Reserve is another recommended short tour. There is a curious sulphur creek with blind turtles in it, and some butterflies.

Madang was briefly the headquarters of Lieutenant-General Hatazo Adachi of the Japanese 18th Army, and it was bombed flat by the Allies before they captured it in 1944.

The impressive Coastwatchers Memorial (ignore the graffiti … it’s still a beautiful monument) at Kalibobo Point, close to town, is a must-see, especially if you know the vital role they played in World War 2.

The Coastwatchers were a brave group of Australians and others who were dropped into the jungle with radios, in PNG, the Solomon Islands and elsewhere in the region during

World War 2 to give notice to the Allies of Japanese aircraft and ship movements.

They were hunted by the Japanese and often found and executed, and they were a major reason the Japanese lost the Pacific campaign.

There are tours, which include most of the important sites, including the wreckage of a World War 2 Betty bomber.

There is also an old mission station site (1896) at St Michael’s Primary School near Alexishaven Harbour, where there are a few relics, sunken Japanese barges and a cemetery and memorial to those missionaries who were killed by the Japanese.

Fishing is another major drawcard. You can easily organise a fishing trip, either with a local in a dugout canoe or banana boat, or with charters organised through the visitor bureau or Madang Resort.

The resort also has a fully stocked PADI dive shop that offers open-water courses and dive trips to a number of easily accessible sites.

There are plenty of hard and soft corals to see, wrecks (including a Mitchell bomber), barracuda and other pelagic fish. Visibility often exceeds 40 metres.

Air Niugini flies daily from Port Moresby to Madang. See airniugini.com.pg.