A giggle a day with Insanity Streak

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PNG Liberated

By Keri Algar

For a real giggle check out unstucktravel.com

what: surfing in papua new guinea

where: new Ireland island, north east of mainland

when: Christmas/new year’s 2010/2011

Surf pics, thanks to Steve “Froey” Arklay Photography

A soundtrack to PNG could start with David Bowie’s Space Oddity because as one salty sailor said, “It’s damn remote out here” and a queer place to arrive at. Then anything by Norah Jones to fall asleep to in the warm tropical breeze and bam! Rage Against the Machine’s Wake Up blares as your camera is nicked from under your nose in the bottle shop (Bia Stoa) and finally, Pharoahe Monch pumps Simon Says. Yes, PNG is a mixed bag where the melodic and the mental live side by side. It’s filthy, furious and fabulous.

Predator or prey?

Be careful, warned everyone before we left. It’s dangerous, they said, violent and volatile. In fact a month earlier an AusAID worker had been raped close to Madang, a budding tourist town on the mainland’s north coast and while the news was preoccupying, it was also thrilling to hear the words ‘bow and arrow’ and ‘surfing’ used in the same sentence.  (Coincidentally at the luggage carousel at Port Moresby, an Australian builder working in the highlands described meeting some young AusAID workers and his account of the situation made me wonder if the regrettable, terrible violation at Madang had been symptomatic of parachute aid work.)

With the exception of a chubby Brittish-looking couple there were only silent stares from black as night Melanesian faces, half a dozen thick on both sides, that lined the path to the domestic terminal. Once inside it was a matter of wriggling through the mosh pit at the check-in desk and getting amongst the rank and pervasive body odour of a dozen local men, I liked it.

On the bus

Inconvenienced and disgruntled travellers will tell you that Air Niugini is bedlam and you could be waiting days to get on a flight, which might be true and sure, we did have to stay a night in Moresby on account of the chaos, but Air Niugini covered the exorbitant hotel and after having been stung by so many airlines, getting on the next day without paying a dime for our board bags was a bonus. What’s more, scotch fingers and apple juice go down a treat when you’re flying over turquoise waters freckled by idyllic islands; scoping potential: hello paradise.

“Girls!” said Lou, Nusa Island Retreat’s surf guide, as he greeted us at Kavieng airport, “Welcome to the wild west”. We drove through the hot, dry, dusty roads alongside dilapidated decades-old buildings where only locals loitered under the shade of enormous leafy trees. Hearing our plans to play it by ear, Lou was keen to point out that this really could be lawless like the wild west, particularly during the holidays when he said the locals get on the turps and all hell can break loose, (with no Clintonesque character to save the girls’ day). Ultimately though it was arriving at Nusa Island, with its sand-floor bar, weird collection of injured animals and birds, beach side bungalows and easy access to the waves that convinced us to stay. For a pair of skint surfers AU$200 a day is a blow out, but we were the only surfers on the island (!?!) and it was worth its salt. Nothing is cheap in PNG.

the flair that twisted the knee?

“Surfing around here is like the 70’s, there’s no tension in the line-up like there is back home,” said Lou, who is originally from the Gold Coast. He wasn’t wrong. Things were looking a bit flat around Nusa that afternoon but we were keen to pop the tropical cherry so headed 20 minutes north by banana boat to Ral Island, one of those tiny sand and palm fringed jewels and a swell magnet where we surfed glassy, albeit lazy 3-foot waves. It’s a shifty right hander that wraps around Ral’s reef, and peaks in a few different spots. Lou had it dialled and was laughing the entire 200 metres down the line as he jagged the random wide ones.

The next day the swell was a little less lazy and we scored a supreme waveathon, no bikini pass required. Bloody Lizzie kept pinching me on the arm (hard) because she just couldn’t believe it – here we were surfing with a handful of local lads who were frothing more than us, unbelievable. And the energy kept building. The next morning Nago Lefts was on and we were into it. For me it was a bit of a mind fuck to paddle into because you’ve got to point yourself right, not left, in the direction of the bubbling reef to get onto the wave, but then it’s super fun, long and finishes in a racy inside section. Local powerhouse and PNG Surf Champ, Titima, was smashing the sets, completely owning the joint while his mates hooted non-stop. “It’s borderline crazy out here,” laughed Lou, with a wicked grin on his face.

hello darkness my old friend

Take your pick of any brand of beer anywhere in the world because they’re all golden at the end of a hot day’s surf. We were invited back for a cold one on the PNG Explorer, a surf charter boat run by Andrew and his wife Jude. The Explorer is the vessel for the search, and it’s crew epitomise the pioneering spirit of surfing, travelling and adventure: these guys are working hard on a good gig. We listened wide eyed to stories of unchartered reefs, uninhibited (or uninhabited?) islands, unridden waves; about how they scratch their heads at dinner coming up with new names for new breaks and then there’s the wave they don’t even want to talk about. This freedom! Coming from Sydney, the mini mal metropolis where kooks pay $5 to park their SUV’s for a one-hour surf, where they name their boats “Liquid Assets”, and only bogans drink coffee from McDonalds, it was dreamtime. What a pleasure to meet people who have challenged conventionality and risen above the mundane! There was a lunar eclipse, we got tanked and had a hilarious night.

By Christmas Eve Kavieng’s dusty roads were throbbing with queues and crowds; it was hot and there was a heavy feel about the place. You often hear travellers say that flashing a smile is the best way to confront a dodgy situation whilst helping yourself feel more secure –  granted – but in PNG you still want to watch your back. We did run into a couple of unsavoury characters, Australians included; it’s like they got washed up at the end of the line and never made it back. In a two week trip it’s hard to scratch the surface but I reckon there’s an undercurrent in this raw, lawless land. The wild glint in the men’s eyes hints at an unadulterated lust for life, for fucking and fighting. We ended up back at Nusa down one camera but in one piece, and up a bottle of rum.

Christmas rolled by, the swell dropped, and we were out of a place to stay but like Lou had prophesised, “Things just have a way of working themselves out around here”. The next minute we were being welcomed aboard a 39-foot catamaran called Baguette by Captain Danny and his crew Don and Rueben – all mad spearfishermen. The lull in the waves continued for a couple more days but we were busy free diving a sunken Japanese WW2 plane, cracking into crays and crabs and market shopping.

After a few bottles of wine the Captain was persuaded to sail up to the outer islands off Lavongai Island (New Hanover), 30 nautical miles north of Kavieng, for a few days of fishing, surfing and New Year celebrations and wow, what a trip. There’s just something about rolling about at sea, at nature’s mercy for wind, weather and food. Speaking of nature, the kids! Athletic and imaginative, I think they’d be happier playing with an eggs box than an Xbox. I didn’t hear a pikinini cry in the two weeks we were there and they were at once shy and gregarious, fearless and cautious, cheeky and polite. They are incredibly endearing kids and with the genetic anomaly which expresses itself as blond hair, unique looking to boot. The kids, like their parents were unassuming and never once asked us for money. 

lizzie ya minx, after a couple of beers

For the two days we took to sail up to Ungalik Island there was no swell (PNG is fickle, right?), but the set up was riddled with potential. We moored up alongside the PNG Explorer and after a couple of days out of the drink were pumped to get back in and stoked when Andrew picked us up en route for a wave – bless him – with an esky full of beers on ice for the most surreal New Years Eve session on record. An easy going right hander over a weed covered reef in a super picturesque setting of lush hills and crystal water. Magic.

Somehow, New Years Eve was debaucherous and edifying at the same time. We got loaded on the Explorer and then left the drinks for Ungalik where we’d been invited to celebrate with four villages to share songs, dances and comical mimes. A few of Andrew’s mates got hammered by betel nut and spent an intense half hour entertaining the villagers with their dribbling.

New Years on Ungalik Island

At midnight, according to Lavongai tradition, the villagers lit bunches of bound palm fronds along the beach and looking into the black horizon we saw the various island coastlines dotted with fires. The kids were running around laughing, positively mental, burning palms in tow. In Australia a consortium of authorities would’ve been brandishing fines all over the show to keep the nanny state organised, functional, predictable, manicured and boring, but on Ungalik Island if you don’t want to get burnt you get out of the way.

And just like that the trip was over: two days after we’d flown out, a solid ground swell hit the region – I don’t even want to think about how epic it must’ve been. Happily though, PNG marked the unwinding of time and the opening of doors, to see through the social distortion and reach for the sky.

A poem, by Savanna Joseph

Savanna reminds me of tweety bird – she’s a pretty whacked-out, on her own trip, tree loving, sick surfing, long-legged Californian babe. Here’s her poem:

Way beyond the clouds
Elder planets cycle with our mother earth
around the sun
Flowing with time
providing us a home
…The tree leaves color and dance in the wind

and we trade breaths
we are alive and connected
Sprouting through the dirt
Waiting for the clouds to pass
We realize and Remember
The sun is shinning beyond the clouds
we ask from the trees
how to stay rooted in the wind
And they give
And those who dance or get cold
Must gather and hug close to the earth
…like leaves on the ground

Together we create a source of light and warmth
With the sun shinning way beyond the clouds
tend the fires with love and strength
And stay connected to the earth and each other
as we cycle around the sources of life.

Surf, Art, Music & Woodfired Pizza: Happy Days book launch to support local charity S4C – Surfers for Cetaceans

 Byron Bay, Australia: Surf art eco diary, Happy Days 2011, will enjoy an official launch at a special intimate evening on Wednesday December 8, 2010 at the Treehouse on Belongil in Byron Bay. All are welcome, admission is free.

“From the beginning, Happy Days has been about the beauty of the ocean, the joy, inspiration and energy we draw from it on one hand, and its vulnerability to pollution and human impact on the other,” says Happy Days Diary editor and publisher Marion Poehland. “With the book launch we’re inviting everyone to celebrate surfing and the ocean while raising funds for marine conservation organisation Surfers for Cetaceans (S4C).”

The evening will kick off around 6pm with two local musicians Barry Ferrier and Kellie Knight performing as a duo to set the scene for a special screening of world renown surf photographer Ted Grambeau’s latest mind-blowing works, including underwater images of whales, mermaid Hannah and surfer Dave Rastavich on the big screen.

Happy Days will donate 20% ($5) from every diary sold on the night, plus all proceeds from ticket sales for a hamper of goodies to be raffled off on the night directly to S4C.

Happy Days Diary 2011 features inspiring images by international surf photographers like Hilton Dawe, Ted Grambeau, and Steve Barolotti, alongside mindblowing photos and artworks by the likes of Celine Chat, Damian Fulton, Djuul Price, Frida Lezius, Heather Ritts, id-iom, James McMillan, Meegan Feori, and the tigapics collective to name a few.

Environmental consciousness places Happy Days Diary 2011 as a limited-edition run of 2000 copies, printed locally in Australia on Ecostar 100% recycled FSC certified paper with soy based inks.

The book launch will take place on Wednesday, December 8 at the Treehouse on Belongil, 25 Child Street, Byron Bay from 6pm.

For Media or Stockist Enquiries, Please Contact:
Marion Poeland
E: marion@happydaysdiary.com
M: 0423878006
W: http://www.happydaysdiary.com 

 
About Happy Day Diary
Happy Days Diary 2011 is a 200 page + surf art eco diary created by Marion Poehland. Collaborators involved in the project include photographers Angela Raab, biphop, Bob Barker, Christian Schwinghammer, CJ Lomo, Dan Naughton, Hatchling Productions, Hayley McBride, Hilton Dawe, Martin Nink, Mikala Wilbow, Rachel Bardin, Steve ‘Barlo’ Barilotti, Ted Grambeau, Thomas Braun. Artists include Celine Chat, Damian Fulton, Djuul Price, Frida Lezius, Heather Ritts, id-iom, James McMillan, Meegan Feori, the tigapics collective. Happy Days Diary 2011 is available for purchase in select book stores, art galleries, surf and eco stores, and online at www.happydaysdiary.com

Art house films, meet gamers

By Keri Algar

SYDNEY, NSW: Sony’s traditional gaming device, the PlayStation 3, has today opened itself up to a world of art house films that can be streamed from a web-based service called Mubi, giving consumers a very different reason to purchase a PS3.

Comedian Tom Gleeson hosted the unveiling last night, which he described as “flogging some software for Sony”, from the Chauvel Cinema in Sydney to a crowd where cinephiles by far outnumbered gamers. Gleeson was joined by actress Miranda Otto (Eowyn in The Lord of the Rings) and director Abe Forsythe (Shock, Being Carl Williams).

There are over 1 million PS3 users in Australia already, 63 per cent of which are connected to the PS network, according to Sony Entertainment MD Michael Ephraim. The clash of culture between art house film fans and gamers was batted aside by Ephraim who said broadening the potential audience can only be a good thing for Sony.

“We are excited to be partnering with such a unique and innovative film service, that will inspire our current fans and also bring a new community of film enthusiasts to the world of PlayStation,” said Ephraim. “Mubi is a fantastic addition to the PS3 on demand entertainment experience that stretches beyond great games and adds an exciting new layer to PlayStation Network’s film offering.”

Efe Cakarel, the charismatic creator of Mubi said the service would offer people the chance to watch films they could not otherwise find. “Bringing Mubi to PlayStation opens up the world of independent, foreign and classic films. It is about making great films fun and accessible, tearing away the mystique and letting members go on the most unexpected journeys,” said Cakarel in an exotic accent to match his name.

As well as a shot in the arm for the independent film industry, Mubi will widen the potential PS3 audience for Sony. As Cakarel said, “People will always pay for convenience and access.”

Downloading the Mubi app is free. Short films can be purchased for 7 days for RRP $1.75, feature-length films can be purchased for 7 days for RRP $6.25 or an unlimited 30-day subscription can be purchased for RRP $19.95. Mubi launched today in over 18 countries and is available to the 38 million PS3 units that have been sold globally.