After leaving the cool sea breezes of Moonlighting, we flew inland to Ambunti, the junction between the Upper and Middle reaches of the mighty Sepik river, our base for a few days of artefact hunting and mosquito dodging.

The "scheduled" flight didn't happen, so South Pacific Tours had to hire a local taxi to airlift us together with fellow Sepik explorers Jenny and Jeanette into the bush.

On the river we enjoyed slightly more comfort than we are used to in our kayaks,  armchairs and outboard motors coming as standard. Our guides, Kenneth and Francis really looked after us well (thanks no doubt to Uncle Abraham's watchful eye), nothing was too much trouble, although even they could do little to combat the never-ending hordes of mosquitos every time we set foot on shore. Fortunately, Karen had come well prepared.

The Sepik is famous for its Artefacts and its Spirit Houses, and we saw plenty of both. The latter were too big to post home, but we have plenty of the former sitting somewhere in the PNG postal service waiting for the next boat destined for the UK.

At night the local villagers went out crocodile and snake hunting whilst we lay blissfully unaware.

Those days on the river were short on western luxuries, and long on mosquitos, malaria, and heat. But they were also rich in genuine friendly hospitality and a culture that has existed virtually unchanged for several thousands of years. The Sepik is further from the UK than we thought it possible to go.