Sandy Miller

Rod and I were going to be visiting PNG in April 2024, attending the ANZAC Day Dawn Service and Montevideo Maru Memorial Service in Rabaul. After a lot of thinking and internet searching, we worked out that we could also explore a different area of PNG and fit in a little side holiday first. We chose Tufi, near Milne Bay in Oro Province (formerly known as Northern Province), with links to WWII history, a strong village culture, an area renowned for its diving and snorkelling and with its beautiful volcanic rias, known locally as fjords.

To get to Tufi requires planning. There are only two flights in and out from Port Moresby per week, on a Monday or a Friday, via Tropicair. It is only 250 km east of the capital, so it’s only an hour’s flight, give or take. Tufi has a grass runway, but we felt perfectly safe flying and landing in the small aircraft.

We stayed at the Tufi Resort, a small boutique resort that sits on the hill with 180-degree views of fjords and mountains. There is absolutely a feeling of remoteness. This was probably compounded as, by chance, we were the only guests there for five days. It felt very special, almost as though we were experiencing one of the last frontiers on earth. The harbour below was a PT boat base during WWII, and there is even one sunk there in the waters; the wreck is still accessible to divers.

Food is included in the package. The manager is a former chef with high expectations and we couldn’t fault any of the meals. Rooms are a fairly simple cabin style but with verandas, working air-con and fans. They were perfectly comfortable. One definitely needs to take antimalarials as a precaution with all the vegetation around. Within the resort, the staff kept ceiling fans going and there were abundant mosquito coils.

Rod and I did every activity on offer. We aren’t scuba divers, but we had a great day snorkelling off a boat and saw lots of beautiful fish. We visited a butterfly farm and saw the fabulous Queen Alexandra butterfly that has a wingspan of up to 30 cm. We did a village cultural tour and were treated to a fabulous welcome by traditional dancers with their amazing, feathered headwear. We viewed demonstrations of female tattooing, the making and painting of tapa cloth from bark, fire making and string bag (bilum) making. We had a beach BBQ at a local village and went on a visit to local waterfalls.

One of my favourite activities, however, was not an organised one. We borrowed one of the resort’s double kayaks and just paddled around the fjords ourselves and found new waterfalls and inlets. No one else was around, and it was so quiet and beautiful. We paddled to the fjord where PT boats sheltered during WWII.

Rod walked to the local village just up the road from the resort on a couple of occasions and felt safe and comfortable wandering around and chatting with locals.

Someone told me that ‘oro’ means welcome in the local language and we certainly felt welcome in the Oro Province. It’s a very special part of PNG! •

Editor’s Note: More photos have been uploaded on the PNGAA website