Awe-struck by Namatanai charm

TRAVEL

By LORRAINE JIMAL
MY duty travels to Namatanai, New Ireland came as a surprise but they were fun and I will never forget them. How can I? The beautiful people and environment made travelling there quite memorable.
Kavieng is a really small town and you can walk your way around. Because it is a small town everyone knows everyone else and they will recognise any new visitor in town. But I will leave Kavieng for now and travel down the east coast to Namatanai via the Boluminski Highway. For me it was a land of crotons.
According to Wikepedia, Namatanai is the most populated district in the country and was recommended to be split into two districts so Central New Ireland becomes an electorate of its own this year.
Namatani has six local level governments; Namatanai Rural, Central New Ireland Rural, Konoagil Rural, Nimamar Rural, Matalai Rural and Tanir Rural.
I was told two weeks prior that I would travelling to New Ireland for the opening of the Namatanai airport on March 25. I was very happy and could not wait for the day to come.
Two days before that I rushed home to prepare for the trip. Unfortunately, my phone rang and the caller told me that the flight to Kavieng was the next day and I had to go to the airport by 3am.
What? Should I stay or should I tell them I could not as go all my work clothes were wet.
But I couldn’t afford to miss the chance; I would still go as New Ireland was a place I dreamed of visiting.
The flight to Kavieng took about two hours and I I kept asking my friend when we were going to land. I was a little annoyed as the plane ride took like forever.
Finally, around 9am the plane landed in Kavieng airport. Welcome to Kavieng Airport, New Ireland!
In my mind I was already screaming thank you, finally I get out of this plane.
There were six media personnel – from National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC), TV Wan PNG Loop, Post Courier and The National. We were taken to Kavieng Hotel to rest for a while before the long ride on the Boluminski Highway to Namatanai.
I spent 30 minutes looking around town and seeing the beautiful island people.
On the way to Namatanai, we stopped at a market which was a popular stop-over for travellers. We were welcomed by the cool sea breeze and the crotons, oil palms and the fresh green grass along the highway. It was a like a scene from a Hollywood movie, but it was real.
It was a four-hour drive along the coast with only oil palms, crotons and village houses on the sealed highway to Namatanai. There was one other stop in Central New Ireland for a quick rest before we continued.
The roadsides were now flooded with children who had just come out of their schools and walking home. I was overwhelmed by such a beautiful place.
We made another stop at a place where there was a beautiful waterfall cascading down to the sea. In my entire life I had never seen such a beautiful place like this. Though tired, I really enjoyed the scenery. You know the type of feeling that you get when visiting a place for the first time. You just don’t care about how tired you are but want to see the place.
At around 5.30pm we arrived in Namatanai, a town just by the sea, not so different from Kavieng. The beautiful people welcomed us with a bilas rice, fish and taro dinner.
The next day we woke up very early for some sightseeing and school visits.
We headed to Namatanai Secondary School where the very unique way of welcoming visitors made us feel at home already. Unfortunately, we could not interview the principal because he had to get permission from the provincial education authorities first.

I approached some students and they said they liked their school because it was outside of town and many of them knew each other and did not have any issues. However, I’m not sure if they were telling the truth because the restrictions on interviews only made me curious and I thought something might not really okay in the school or its administration.
We returned to our lodging for breakfast and prepared for interviews with the district administration and the people about the buying point which is a place where people from the four LLGs of Matalai, Konagil, Namatanai, and Central New Ireland bring their vegetables to sell to the district administration. Three tonnes of vegetables and fruits goes to New Crest mine on Lihir Island and the remainder is distributed to schools and the clinic along the highway.
I asked locals if the buying point helped them and some said that it provided employment and a market for their vegetables. However, others said they were not happy with the prices offered for their food because what they were getting was not enough to cater for all their needs and they were beginning to lose interest in bringing their produce to the buying point.
As I was enjoying the sights we saw people getting ready for the big day on Friday. People from the six LLGs travelled into Namatanai and were all in red; some of them were already in their traditional costumes with kambang (lime) on their faces. That was a signal to the onlookers to back off as these people were dangerous with their malira or magic.
Everyone was in red; I didn’t know where that red colour came from or what it meant and never bothered to ask. It was only later that I learnt that the red meant that the people were supporters of a certain political party.
Very early the next morning we got to a place along the highway on the east coast from where you get a glorious view of the rising sun. It was a view that you wouldn’t want to miss every morning you wake up in Namatanai.
As the sun rose beyond the horizon we prepared for the grand opening of the airport and the commissioning of other projects. The crowds had already gathered at the entrance to the airport to welcome their MP and Civil Aviation Minister Walter Schnaubelt. I was very pleased to see people, from toddlers to the elderly were patiently waiting for the arrival of their leader.
Just before the MP arrived the Wotong dancers from all parts of Namatanai performed in preparation to greet their leader. As the plane landed they danced in and out sniffing, seeing and touching the plane like they had never seen anything like it before. That reminded me of how our ancestors reacted when they first saw white men.
The MP and guests arrived in a chattered flight and the dancers started to sing and dance to welcome them. Others went ahead of them to check the plane.
It was fine weather and people sat there listening to their leader speaking. From time to time communities performed their dances and songs. It was amazing seeing how these people embraced their culture and traditions.
It was long day but they were interested because they respected their leader.
The event ended at 4pm and the MP told the people to celebrate.
People started drinking and enjoyed the night trouble-free.
I could not leave that night without seeing popular singers Patii Pots Doi and Jayrex Suisui performing for the crowd. I was excited to see these people dance and celebrate in the night. It was something unique because not only men and young people, but children, and women were also dancing singing and enjoying the night of festivity.
On Saturday we went to Katadan, another beautiful place where a flowing river meets the sea. The water was ice cold even when the sun is hot. Here, it is your choice; either to take a dip in the sea or the river. I loved the river better than the sea.
In New Ireland province tradition remains very strong and there are boundaries for either sex; men are not allowed in women’s areas and vice versa. We swam till late in the afternoon and headed back to our lodge.
In the morning we were told that we would be travelling to Kokopo by boat and get on a plane back to Port Moresby.
To be honest, I didn’t want to leave Namatanai and my heart bled as we were leaving the seashore. As we headed out I was torn between scared and happy because I am afraid of the deep ocean and the thought of drowning somewhere there.
Though the operators of our boat and the escort boat were men who had travelled between Namatanai and Kokopo numerous times, I was not at ease until we were already in the boat and headed for Kokopo.
I had no choice but to stop worrying and enjoy the ride which would take roughly two hours. We passed several islands which were the Duke of York Islands and several others.
When we arrived there was a bus already waiting to take us straight to Tokua and after checking in I took a few minutes to look around and get something.
It was a clean environment with no rubbish to be found anywhere and people walked around peaceful. Just another place I will like to spend more time in but our plane was already there and I left to Port Moresby.
My heart beats for the two provinces I had seen. It was like a dream and just happened so fast I wish I could spend more time there. But it was not a holiday trip; I was only there for a job and had to leave.
Unfortunately, it was back to reality. It took me a while to get back to life in Port Moresby’s busy roads and people everywhere.
It was only for few days but I lost myself in the beauty of the environment and friendly people in Namatania, New Ireland. I wanted to keep this trip in mind for as long as I can. And I will visit this place again in the future, and probably settle there for good.
I just love everything about New Ireland. Bilas Peles, I’ll be keeping you in my heart forever.