The volcanic island of Karkar in Papua New Guinea is known as the “Island of No Return.” After visiting there I can see why. It is absolutely beautiful, the people there are very friendly, and it contains a lot of history (as everywhere in PNG does.) We took a boat from the mainland to the island. It was a little wavy which I love, but Fr. Christopher was not too fond of. He was holding on extra tight. As you looked around beauty surrounded us from every angle. We made it to the shores of Karkar Island after about 45 minutes. The water was so clear. You could see the coral, sea urchins, and bright blue starfish everywhere. All along the coast were villages. The children were playing at the black sand beach; swimming, paddling canoes, or playing soccer.
After arriving on the beach, we switched modes of transportation and hopped in a truck. There was only space for one in the cab, so the rest of us hopped in the bed. Let’s just say the roads are not the smoothest! There are potholes all over the road so we were getting bumped left and right. As we drove along the road, all the people walking waved. I’m not sure if they do that to anyone that passes by but it definitely made us feel welcome 🙂 It was so much fun waving and saying hello to everyone. Our goal was to drive all around the island, but at our halfway point the bridge was out. So we turned around and went back the way we came.
We stopped by the island hospital and then went to Fr. Bogden’s house. He was our tour guide for the day. At this point it started pouring rain. We were absolutely soaked but it added to the adventure of Karkar Island. Once we made it to our destination we had a wonderful lunch and I got to snorkel! Well kinda…I borrowed a pair of swim goggles and held my breath. We toured the grounds after that and I learned that banana leaves make for the best umbrellas!
The trip home was just as fun with the truck and boat rides. We all had sore tummies that night from laughing so hard. It was quite the adventure to start off my travels!
~The Pathless Atlas
The Pathless Atlas 