A few days of rest recovery & relaxation after the river, meant the lovely Malagan Beach Resort on the coast at Kavieng, the most northerly tip of New Ireland, and some great diving with Dietmar and Edith of Lissenung Island.

Our last day in New Ireland province was a bank holiday in honour of the Queen's birthday. Local ex-pat Claude (accompanied by Bob-the-dog) was kind enough to give us a tour of the mainland, including barbeque and swimming at a beautiful clear-water spring. The day was rounded off with a visit to see Cathy's freshwater eels. A former Air Niugini chief stewardess, Cathy has now returned to village life and set her training skills upon the local eel population, with amazing results.