Clare's Research Trip 2010-2011: Papua New Guinea, The Land of the Unexpected, first up, diving!

Having read all the horror stories about Port Moresby (gangs of rascals, machetes, guns etc) I decided I would stay a bit further along the coast on Loloata Island and Diving Resort. This was a small island paridise. As you can see from the pictures, the water is incredible. I just jumped off my verandah straight into the ocean. It was so still, I could swim out as far as I liked and not get swept away. Nobody has ever heard of sharks eating swimmers out here so I thought it was pretty safe. I went for my first ever dive and saw lots of tropical fish and coral reef. I got down as far as 12m before my ears stopped me going any further. I found it a bit confusing at first, the idea of breathing under water, but I got it in the end. The following day I went snorkellling for a couple of hours, just off the shores of a nearby reef island. I saw even more fish and corals, it was beautiful. We ate fresh exotic fruits every day and there was a nice gathering of people to talk to in the evenings over dinner. I walked along the ridge of the island which was utterly beautiful but at that time of day (4pm) it caused me to arrive back in my cabin in rivers of sweat. Yuck.