NSW: Off Path Takes Some Beating
Originally published in Sunday Telegraph, 23 August 2009
Byron Bay Hinterland
Roderick Eime gets lost somewhere out the back of Byron and finds an oasis of good taste
Spindly branches and twigs whip my face and shoulders as I hurtle down the wet, rocky trail. I retain just enough control to dodge fallen logs, puddles of unknown depth and angry-looking rocks strewn across the steep forest track.
It’s been a long time since I rode a push-bike of any description, let alone a state-of-art mountain bike with shock absorbers, 30-odd gears and disc brakes. I’m hanging on for dear life knowing that the tiniest mistake will bring a world of pain but I manage to bring the entire unwieldy package to a skidding halt at the bottom of the trail. Flecks of mud, shreds of leaves and a few red welts are testament to my enthusiasm if not my two-wheeled, downhill ability.
“Not bad,” offers Braden as some consolation who’s almost had enough time to boil the billy and cut the sandwiches as he waits for the rest of us to catch up.
Braden Currie, a champion mountain biker in his native New Zealand, and yoga-therapist partner Sally Schott run Mountain Bike Tours out of Byron Bay, taking pedallers of all ages and ability on wild rides through the seldom-explored Nightcap National Park among others. Braden’s gnarly knees and whippet-like physique indicate he’s no stranger to a wet saddle – or coming off one occasionally.
“One lump or two?” enquires Braden as he pours the steaming tea into hot tin mugs. This is the bit I usually get right. The fat Anzac cookies look good too.
Touring the Byron Bay Hinterland and its UNESCO World Heritage-listed rainforests doesn’t have to be all white knuckles and splatter. You can hire one of Braden’s space age pushies for a leisurely family doddle around bike-friendly Byron Bay or you can get your corporate group together for a bit of blood, sweat and bonding.
It’s so easy to ignore the beautiful backwoods of NSW’s far north Pacific coast as we rush up and down the well-worn highway that links Sydney and Brisbane. A few clever detours can easily uncover darling little villages overlooked by the frantically holidaying throngs.
It takes a deliberate diversion to land in Yamba. Recently voted ‘top town’ in a Top 100 survey by Australian Traveller Magazine, Yamba is a dinky-di little fishing village that has everything but crowds. Unfortunately that notoriety may be changing things – and some are clearly ready for fame.
Sebastian Molloy and sous chef Karan turn out stunning cuisine from the kitchen of the deceptively unprepossessing Pippi’s Café attached to the Best Western Yamba Beach Motel. In a style they describe as “brash and experimental”, such delights as Muscovy duck breast and dukah-spiced lamb ($31) will add to your Epicurean vocabulary.
Yet they’re not alone. Decent tucker can also be found at the superbly located Pacific Hotel up the hill on Pilot Street where your Yamba prawns, rock oysters and seared Tasmanian salmon can be washed down with a Coopers Ale on tap.
Poke around down by the marina and you may just spot a familiar face in the upstairs gallery. Celebrated yachtswoman and now sculptor, Kay Cottee, and her partner Peter own the local marina complex and are well progressed with plans to make it much more than a parking lot for prawn trawlers.
Well positioned at the mouth of the Clarence River, Peter wants to develop an ultra-low impact resort and upgrade his marina to attract the growing superyacht fraternity.
“People forget that the Clarence River is one of our largest waterways,” Peter reminds me, “there are over 300 navigable kilometres along the river that are just waiting to be explored. Kerry Stokes (Superyacht ‘Antipodean’, 36m) called in for fuel on the way to Brisbane and ended up visiting every pub along the river between here and Grafton. He loved it.”
Even if you’re not rubbing fenders with the likes of Stokes, you can still enjoy the Clarence in a modest tinny or centre-console runabout loaded with a few rods and soft drinks. The unprepared can hire from Peter at the marina or enjoy a simple cruise on the 60-year-old former Sydney ferry “Clarence Head” across to Iluka. There’s even a jazz band on board every Sunday.
For those not ducking low branches or hopping logs on a mountain bike, there’s an almost endless foodie trail that takes you into the Eltham Valley, located halfway between Byron Bay and Lismore. You’ll need help from a navigator, virtual or human, to find the secluded Eltham Valley Pantry tucked away on Boatharbour Road out of Eltham. Proprietor, Julie Rhodes, wasn’t fussed that I turned up almost an hour late for breakfast at the little cottage amid the orchard trees and rolling hills adjacent the windy Wilsons River.
“Just in time for morning tea,” Julie announced with skilful creative deflection, “let me get you a coffee.” And this isn’t any ordinary coffee. Grown and roasted on the property, Julie’s local Arabica beans make a to-die-for latte and I immediately put my hand up for a takeaway bag. Her face falls. “We don’t have enough to sell anymore,” she tells me sadly. Such is the popularity, “but please have some of our pecan nuts, they’re fabulous!” and I’m suitably consoled.
Where does it end? Not at the Eltham Friendly Inn that’s for sure, where I’m quickly ensconced with a frothy ale and conversation before being led next door to the Eltham Siding Restaurant and a surf’n’turf replete with local on- and offshore produce.
The balance of your journey can easily be consumed with an alternative culture exploration of Nimbin or a retreat to the beachside holy grail of Byron Bay where the benchmark eco-resort of The Byron at Byron beckons with spa therapies and five-star cuisine for those not constrained by budget.
Whether you choose to explore by bike, Tarago, Range Rover or superyacht, the growing, if restrained, sophistication of the region now known locally as The Rainforest Way, will remind you that tacky tourist traps can be easily avoided.
Fast Facts
Stay
• $$$ The Byron at Bryon 1300 554 362 www.thebyronatbyron.com.au
• $$ Club Yamba 02 6646 3737 www.clubyamba.com
• $ Suzanne’ Hideaway (Clunes) 02 6629 1228 www.suzanneshideaway.com.au
Eat
* Pippi’s Café and Restaurant - www.yambabeachmotel.com.au 6646 1425
* Eltham Siding Restaurant 02 6629 1294
* Pacific Hotel Yamba 02 6646 2491
Activities
• Mountain Bike Tours, Bangalow, 1800 122 504 www.mountainbiketours.com.au
• Eltham Valley Pantry – Farm tours 02 6629 1418 – www.elthamvalley.com.au
• Eltham Village Gallery www.elthamvillagegallery.com.au
• Kay Cottee Fine Art Gallery Tour www.kaycottee.com
Getting there
From Sydney, exit the Pacific Highway at Woodburn and head to either Lismore or Casino. From here you have a number of options or stop at the Visitor Information Centre at Woodburn for more information.
Further Information: www.rainforestway.com.au www.clarencetourism.com
Niue: Stalking the Giant Uga
Niue for AAP
On a tiny Pacific Island, man still hunts to survive. Roderick Eime, goes in search of a real prehistoric monster that still haunts the Polynesian rainforest.
The uga (pronounced OONG-a) is not to be trifled with. It is a truly hideous beast that lives deep in the damp Niuean tropical forest and is the source of legend, rumour and folklore. Its claws, like deft mechanical pincers, can easily dismember a human in a blink and its demeanour is nothing short of monstrous. It is the world’s largest terrestrial arthropod.
It’s close to 9pm as we huddle with our guide Tony Aholima in a picnic shelter at Mutalau as a rain squall passes across the top of the tiny island nation of Niue (pronounced NOO-ay). Four of us are preparing to venture into the dense undergrowth in pursuit of this creature and Tony carries a large empty rice sack into which the captured beasts are to be flung. “We’ll get a big one tonight, I’m sure,” says Tony with a gleeful look that belies the impending danger.
Two days prior, we set traps along an overgrown rocky path designed to lure the uga from its lair in the jagged coral rock that is the substrate of the entire island. The traps, thankfully not maidens pegged to tree trunks, but simply ripe juicy coconuts split open and wedged into the crevasses - irresistible to the ravenous nocturnal hunter.
Niue, known in South Pacific circles as the "Rock of Polynesia", is just 259 sq km and perhaps the smallest nation in the world with just 1500 residents, although another 15,000 ‘nationals’ live throughout the Pacific, mainly New Zealand. Despite its size and population, Niue punches above its weight in both sporting and cultural circles. The men, lean and fit, are renowned rugby players, while the women dominate the region’s beauty pageants such as the coveted “Miss South Pacific” where they have captured the title twice in the last five years.
Located 600 kilometres northeast from Tonga, Niue enjoys a relaxed and unhurried pace that is laid back even by Pacific standards. The impeccably groomed and spotless communities are a far cry from some of their islands neighbours and the rich diet of fish gives Niueans a long healthy life. There are no mobile phones and I’m told the first ATM is on the monthly supply ship due next week. There’s free Wi-Fi though.
Sustainable tourism is not a token cliché on Niue, it is a necessity. With limited natural resources and hotel beds, tourism forms a delicate but important thread in the fabric of Niuean life. Air New Zealand flies in and out just once each week with a 152-seat A320, upped recently from a 737, but more capacity is being sought and a second flight, possibly via Tonga, is being negotiated. Visitors come to enjoy the superb scuba diving and snorkelling, where whales and dolphin encounters are more often than not, deep sea fishing (just a few hundred metres off shore), nature walks and the famed uga hunting.
Enough team talk, it’s time to set off on the hunt. We don LED head-torches and creep into the dark forest as fat rain drops catch our beams and create a dazzling curtain through which we walk. Barney the wonder dog, trots noisily by our side while the percussion of the heavy drops on the big leaves creates a sinister soundtrack. Suddenly there’s a loud crash behind me and an unprintable curse. I spin around expecting to see fellow hunter, Nick, in the jaws of an uga. There’s blood, but he’s just slipped on the slimy path and grazed himself. The casualties begin, but we press on.
“Wait here,” whispers Tony loudly, and he ventures ahead as we all crane for a look. “Come!” He signals to me with a vigorous hand gesture and shines the torch towards the coconut we laid out before. Sure enough, one of the creatures has succumbed to temptation and is perched menacingly on a pile of husks. Tony draws breath between clenched teeth, “I told you we’d see a big one!”
Tony moves in and the bright purple animal, alerted and on the defensive, rears up with its fearsome claws ready to remove any accessible appendage. But Tony is too quick; he lunges and snatches the beast behind the neck hoisting it up triumphantly. Young sisters, Tess and Elsbeth, squeal as much in delight as fear, but before the angry crustacean is secured in the sack, the victorious hunters pose for photos.
The uga, Birgus latro, is also known commonly as the coconut or robber crab and still lives in sufficient numbers on Niue to allow careful harvesting. Looking ominously like the dreaded face-hugger from Ridley Scott’s Alien movies, it is also common but protected on Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean, their populations are delicate elsewhere. While our prize is about the size of a football, specimens up to one metre across and over ten kilograms have been recorded.
Soaked to the skin, but satisfied in our haul of the grotesque delicacy, we pile back into Tony’s ute. “C’mon Barney, curry time!”
IF YOU GO
GETTING THERE,
Air New Zealand flies weekly from Auckland each Friday morning. (Flight NZ784) www.airnewzealand.com
STAYING THERE
The premier accommodation offering is the Matavei Resort but there are several more modest lodgings available too. See www.niueisland.com/hotels/ for details.
PLAYING THERE
Niue offers excellent scuba diving, fishing, nature walks and caving. Try a vaka (outrigger canoe) paddle or snorkel. A range of café-style restaurants are in the main town at Alofi and a 9-hole golf course is adjacent to the airport.
For details of all activities, tours and travel, see www.niueisland.com
Doing the Ho Chi Minh Trail of Saigon
Spurred on by an old scrapbook clipping, Roderick Eime finds himself staring history in the face.
I turn fifty this year and I‘m betting the retiring baby-boomers who were my school teachers, bullying big brothers and pop idols wouldn’t score too well on a Ho Chi Minh quick quiz.
Even at 14, I was following the conflict in Vietnam very closely and when the newspapers trumpeted the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975, I cut out the page and stuck it in my scrap book. If you do remember the front page images, one of two will invariably come to mind. One, the losers’, shows a Bell Huey helicopter loading frantic refugees while precariously perched on a rooftop. The other, the winners’, shows heroic tank 390 smashing down the gate of the Independence Palace, signalling the official capitulation of the city.
Except for our now geriatric fathers and long-gone grandfathers who may have witnessed similar events in the World Wars of the 20th century, such a sight is unimaginable for most of us today. Remember too that North Vietnam had been plugging away against fierce opposition for over 30 years to reach that point. No wonder it was a big day.
"And Ho Chi Minh?" I hear you ask, was the well-educated and worldly leader of the Vietnamese people, taking them from the days of cruel Japanese occupation during WWII, right through (almost) to the final victory. ‘Uncle Hồ’ died in 1969 from heart failure in Hanoi, but you can still visit him there in his mausoleum.
It wasn’t until 1995 that the US normalised relations with the one-party rule Socialist Republic of Vietnam and now the locals even feel compelled to gently remind visitors that their two countries were once at war. Vietnam, ever forward-looking and pragmatic, now welcomes French, US and Australian tourists like long lost cousins.
If you have a yearning for history there are a few key sites to check out in Saigon.
The Reunification Hall, formerly the Independence Palace, is now preserved in a permanent 1975 time warp, displaying trinkets, trophies and paraphernalia of the Big Day. Replica tanks sit on the lawn while inside, the map rooms, radio rooms and diplomatic chambers are all (more or less) the way they were on that day.
The Ho Chi Minh Campaign Museum is housed inside the former palace of the Cochinchina Governor on Ly Tu Trong Street. You won’t miss it because the yard is full of military vehicles and a whopping SAM missile. Pay your 50c and go inside to see dioramas, documents, maps flags and relics of those final days. Signs say ‘No Photos’ but I regularly ignore these. Just don’t make a spectacle of yourself.
The War Remnants Museum is the big daddy with all the hardcore material including weapons, aircraft, vehicles and photography of the entire conflict from all perspectives. In case you were left with any doubt after your visit, the Vietnamese won the war and, in that time-honoured tradition, they get to write their history. It’s confronting and at times disturbing, but enlightening all the same.
For me as a cowardly voyeur of human conflict, it was nevertheless a significant moment to stand at the gates where the tanks had once crashed through and share a little belated victory.
Want to know more? See Lonely Planet’s Saigon Guide || Helen Wong has Ho Chi Minh City tours
PNG: First Contact
alternate title: The Golden Wahgi
When gold was discovered in the highlands, it brought a million people into contact with the rest of the world. Roderick Eime traces the history of that first contact.
“The whiteman came from there,” said the old village elder gesturing toward the end of the valley, ‘we’d never seen such a thing. We were scared, confused.”
This scene played out time and time again as the Leahy brothers and their caravan of trackers and porters made their way to the unexplored inland in search of gold.
There were hints of gold lying in and around Papua New Guinea as far back as the mid-19th century and each new find was accompanied by a flurry of activity, but it wasn’t until 1926 that large commercial quantities began to be excavated by modern machinery. Even then, it wasn’t enough and exhausted diggers soon returned to Australia to join the growing lines of jobless as the Great Depression took hold.
Michael James “Mick” Leahy, born at Toowoomba in 1901, was no ordinary man, even among the hardy Australian bushmen of the time. Always rough and ready, “Masta Mick” as he would later be known, began a dynasty that persists to this day.
Mick Leahy in PNG
In 1930, Mick, along with fellow prospector, Michael Dwyer, began a series of prospecting trips into the interior beginning with the Ramu tributaries and culminating in the now famous discovery of the Wahgi Valley around today’s Mount Hagen. By this time Mick’s brothers, James and Daniel were well entrenched in the business, following him everywhere.
“They say Mick had the gold fever,” recalled Dan during the making of the 1983 Academy Award-nominated documentary ‘First Contact’, “well, we all had it.”
Sure, they found gold and lots of it, but Mick was also interested in documenting the discovery of the million or so previously unknown inhabitants of these vast, fertile valleys. His explorations grew more audacious and, after a few violent encounters, learned to travel well-armed and provisioned. He also took cameras.
“When the white man thought our leader was going to attack, he shot him,” recalls the same villager as he recounts that event to the filmmakers.
“The only reason we killed was to defend ourselves and all our carriers,” says Dan in defence of their actions,” if we hadn’t they’d have killed the lot of us.”
The documentary, made by Sydney filmmakers, Bob Connolly and Robin Anderson is a fascinating recounting of the heady days of prospecting and discovery in the wild highlands of Papua New Guinea. Hours of Leahy’s 16mm film were recovered and restored and then the crew returned to the Wahgi Valley and found surviving members of his expeditions and villagers who remember their first confrontations with these strange white ghosts.
Melpa men of the Tokua village near Mt Hagen, Papua New Guinea perform a moka where they exchange gifts and confer on village matters.
Today visitors to Mount Hagen and the surrounding valleys will meet people who, just two generations ago, were completely unknown to the outside world. While comparisons to the Leahy brothers’ empire might be regarded as overly flattering, Newcastle entrepreneur, Bob Bates, has created his own minor dynasty with Trans Niugini Tours.
For over 45 years, the Bates family have lived and worked in Papua New Guinea with their head office on the original site in Mount Hagen. Their network now extends beyond the initial modest 4WD safaris, to aircraft charters, wilderness lodges and river cruises. Son, Andrew, handles the company’s marketing and travels back and forth from the family property near Newcastle.
“Dad’s a bit shy really,” he notes with a wry grin and nods toward Bob who ducks out the back door, “but he’s got lots of stories to tell.” I’m sure! Bob is a regular around town and still drives an original Range Rover he bought new in the ‘70s.
Although I spend one night at the centrally located Highlander Hotel in downtown Mt Hagen, the remainder of my stay is at the superbly located Rondon Ridge, a new Bates family lodge overlooking the entire Wahgi Valley, or so it seems. Spacious and intriguingly decorated with Highland and Sepik art, it is powered by its own hydroelectricity plant and the kitchen serves organic salads and vegetables gathered from the many local market gardens. The avocadoes are to die for.
The Wahgi Valley is the domain of the Melpa people and their unique language is heard in the villages, markets and busy bus stops around town. PNG has over 800 unique languages, a legacy of its millennia of isolation and territorial nature of the many tribes. Even Leahy’s Papuan men had no way of communicating with the Melpa during their historic first encounters and everything was negotiated with sign and body language.
“If we wanted a pig for dinner, we’d grunt ‘oink, oink’ like that,” said Toa, one of Mick’s ‘boys’ to the camera, “and we’d buy the pig with shells.” The Melpa had never seen shells and they instantly became currency and were negotiable for all manner of goods ... and services.
Joseph, my driver and guide, takes me on a series of jaunts throughout the region visiting villages, gardens, markets and points of interest like the Gatak River, where the Leahy brothers found much of their gold.
“My father found a big nugget for Masta Mick,” recalls Joseph, pointing over to the river. Joseph’s dad was just a boy then, working for the Leahys.
Villagers in traditional attire demonstrate their ancient methods of agriculture, planting and harvesting. We’re invited to try roasted sweet potato and it’s delightful. The Wahgi Valley is now recognized as one of the first areas of human farming, dating back 9000 years and the Kuk Swamp site is UNESCO World Heritage listed.
The lodge also has a series of walking trails into the surrounding forest. Its secondary growth apparently, regenerated after Australian loggers came through and cleared out all the oak and beech in the ‘50s. Joseph shows me through the lodge’s orchid garden, protected by a moat from marauding pigs. It is their goal to collect every orchid that occurs in the valley, about 400, and they’re half way there now.
Mount Hagen is world away from the even the rest of Papua New Guinea, with obvious genetic differences between the coastal inhabitants. A visit there will help you understand the exhilaration experienced by Mick Leahy and his team who discovered both alluvial and cultural gold in the mist-enshrouded peaks of the Wahgi.
If you go:
Trans Niugini Tours [www.pngtours.com] offer an extensive range of tours and excursions throughout Papua New Guinea. +675 542 1438 service@pngtours.com
[as supplied] Getting there: Pacific Blue offer flights from Sydney to Port Moresby (connecting via Brisbane) with fares starting from $319 per person, one way on the net. Direct flights are also available from Brisbane on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays from $239 per person, one way on the net. If you're looking to keep entertained, simply hire the digEplayer. Your own personal in-flight system features movies, TV shows and a board array of music for an additional $20. If you fancy extra leg room, book the Blue Zone seating option for an extra $45. Check out www.flypacificblue.com for current specials, bookings and all your travel needs.
Both Air Niugini and Airlines of PNG fly daily to Mount Hagen.
Best time to visit: Mount Hagen Show is a cultural feast staged every August.
Further reading: “First Contact” available on DVD by Arundel Films
India: Tea and Toffs on the Brahmaputra
The Brahmaputra River in Assam sees few westerners yet delivers an unusual adventure as Roderick Eime discovers.
“The ambassador is missing!”
The urgent call came from somewhere within our little group, just disembarked from the tiny 4WDs used to carry us through RG Orang National Park. Deep in the backwaters of Assam, the thick undergrowth makes it difficult to see the vehicle behind and in front, let alone any wildlife that might be hiding just metres away.
“I didn’t see which way they went, anybody?”
Dicky (Sir Richard Stagg, British High Commissioner to India, on his business card), Lady Arabella (that’s ARAbella, thank you, not ‘Bella’) and their dashing, twenty-something lad, Charles, along with their armed escort have, for the moment at least, vanished into the dense foliage.
Minutes tick by and the possie of motley military men assigned to guard us gather for a discussion cradling their collection of antique small arms. Not all seem to share our concern as one squad stands obligingly for my camera while I snap a photo.
RG Orang National Park is one of several reserves put aside for endangered and vulnerable species like Indian rhinoceros, Asiatic elephant, Bengal tiger and pygmy hog. Orang, at just 79 square kilometres, is but a breast pocket in the overall scheme, with the neighbouring 430 square kilometre Kaziranga, the better known of the UNESCO World Heritage-listed collection.
The armed escort I thought was a bit of theatrical overkill, but Jimmy (Colonel Jimmy Evans,10th Ghurkha Rifles, retd.) reminds me there are still rebels active in Assam.
“These blighters still make a nuisance of themselves,” says Jimmy earnestly in a hushed tone. The last time Jimmy was here, he was throwing grenades at invading Japanese forces. He still has a scar from a sniper’s bullet and Military Cross as souvenirs.
Not half an hour prior, we’d all been sipping the local equivalent of billy tea; choice freshly-picked Assamese black, while a pair of rhino explored timidly in the tall elephant grass a few hundreds metres in front of us. These days the rifles protect them, but the rhino remain unsurprisingly gun shy.
“Still a bit flighty, eh?” remarked Dicky, to the assembled tea drinkers, relaxed on wicker chairs. Charles, a bit fidgety, was ready to trade the chai for a pint to go with his fag.
MV Charaidew under way
We’d all arrived that morning aboard the delightful MV Charaidew from Guwahati along the Brahmaputra River which feeds into the mighty Ganges just north of Calcutta. The Brahmaputra flows nearly 3000 kilometres from Tibet and China and is an important transport route for local farmers and traders. The 24-berth Charaidew is one half of Assam Bengal Navigation’s (ABN) fleet of classic river steamers plying both the Brahmaputra and Ganges on cultural and nature-based itineraries throughout the region.
In 2003 the Charaidew was rescued from despair on the mudflats after thirty years of toil. After a lengthy restoration, it reappeared as a classic river steamer for the Indo-British joint-venture company and has served a much nobler purpose ever since.
Not luxurious, but comfortable and perfectly at home in its new quasi-colonial role carrying loads of Anglos in this delightful throwback to the days of the Raj. Passengers are served authentic, mildly spiced local cuisine by charming young hosts and hostesses plucked from remote Assamese villages adjoining the Burmese border. Occasionally they are overheard chattering in their Dimapur village dialects, tongues totally foreign to Hindi and even Assamese-speaking Indians. Yet their English is cheery, clear and calm, more in keeping with their eastern cousins.
Children play on the banks of the Brahmaputra
To add to the adventure, the Charaidew had run aground on a sand bank within sight of the wharf at Guwahati just prior to our arrival. Harmlessly, but embarrassingly stuck, we became a headline news item in The Telegraph (of Calcutta): “Ship stuck in sand, foreigners taste the Orient”, the paper blurted. “Two Australians & seven Britons spend night in the middle of Brahmaputra after snag in vessel,” it continued, politely omitting our identities.
Two stout river tugs worked noisily all that night to free us and our ever-cheerful host remarked in the morning with some relief, “With the river level falling, we would have been stuck until the next monsoon.”
During our snail-paced passage upstream, we stopped at tiny villages and temples for an insight into rural life far from the major cities. Hordes of bemused villages line the shore as we’re tied up to the crumbling bank. Once ashore, our excursions took us to tea plantations, craft workshops, rowdy markets and quaint cafes. My favourite local pub, the unassumingly-dubbed, Drongo Wine Bar, served whiskey shots and local brew to a most discerning clientele.
The ABN also owns the Bansbari and Diphlu river lodges, strategically positioned to enable easy access to the nearby wildlife reserves and, interwoven with nights aboard Charaidew, form an enriching and highly unusual exploration of this seldom-visited region of India.
Tasteful, even trendy, the lodges are stilted bungalows with expansive views of the river and floodplain. Rhino often crash about nearby and one woke me in the middle of the night as he trampled saplings in his frolic. I assume it was a ‘he’.
Exploration of Kaziranga was, fittingly, by elephant back safari and the mighty pachyderms cause less agitation among the rhino population, allowing much closer access. Taking a photo however from the swaying back of meandering elephant is a challenge in itself. Tigers, if they still populated this park, remained unseen.
Back at Orang the consternation among our British colleagues is rising. Then, just as suddenly, the guards’ huddle breaks as two little Suzuki 4WDs roar toward us down the dusty track. Expecting to see panicked and ashen faces behind bullet-riddled windscreens, Dicky steps down from his mount apologetically and announces is his best Oxbridge; “Dreadfully sorry, seems we took a wrong turn, nothing to worry about. Hope you weren’t waiting long.”
Charles, looking the most relieved of us all, turns to me and quietly remarks “Had to make an urgent stop you know, call of nature.” He opens his wallet and reveals a single 1000 Rupee note, “and I was down to my last one! Expensive that.”
Fact File
Assam Bengal Navigation conduct 4-, 7- and 10-night cruises along the Brahmaputra combined with lodge stays and wildlife safaris. Prices are calculated at US$350 per person per day plus taxes. Single supplement applies. Discounts are sometimes offered.
The RV Charaidew accommodates 24 passengers in 12 air-conditioned, twin cabins, each with private facilities. Included buffet meals are served in the dining room and there is a separate lounge/bar/library in the bow plus a large rooftop sundeck.
Singapore Airlines flies from Australia to Calcutta (Kolkata) via Singapore. Domestic link to Guwahati such as Jet Airways (www.jetairways.com)
Contact: Active Travel +612 9264 1231
The writer was a guest of Assam Bengal Navigation and India Tourism
Marquesan Revival
[Aranui for Cruise Passenger]
On islands as far away as one can get, a once mighty Polynesian culture is returning. Roderick Eime disappears in the Marquesas in search of the original Tiki.
The islanders gathered around the newcomers, gazing curiously at their pale and pocked skin, examining their unusual garments and incomprehensible footwear. The strangers carried long metal objects, books and religious objects the like of which they’d never seen before.
Then, just as a simple dialogue began with hands and gestures, the wrath of God was unleashed. The sharp crack of a dozen muskets tore the peaceful air apart, followed by the gut-wrenching sound of flying metal on bare flesh. Before anyone knew what happened scores of men, women and children lay sprawled on the sand, now running red with their blood.
The year was 1595 and this was the Polynesians’ first encounter with Europeans, their ferocious weapons, pompous manners and short tempers. Álvaro de Mendaña de Neira was one of the elite Spanish navigators then scouring the Pacific in search of more gold and civilizations to plunder in the name of king and God. Despite the reprehensible carnage, there was still time for Mass before they continued their voyage.
Mendaña named the islands Las Marquesas de Mendoça after his patron and uncle, the viceroy of Peru, a name that persists to this day and still serves as an uncomfortable memory of those first meetings.
“Their faces and bodies were marked with representations of fish, and with various other devices, which were painted or wrought into their skins, of a blue colour: they were of good stature, and so well shaped, that in person they had much the advantage of ourselves. They had fine teeth and eyes, and good countenances: their voices were strong; but their manners gentle.” - Álvaro de Mendaña de Neira, Spanish navigator, who proceeded to murder two hundred of the Marquesans.
Almost two hundred years later in June 1774, our own Lt. James Cook re-discovered these islands and likewise found the inhabitants friendly, generous and attractive despite being forced to shoot one for theft. He moved on only to be followed by Americans Joseph Ingraham, David Porter, Herman Melville and many unnamed whalers. The stream of idealistic missionaries began at the start of the 19th Century and met considerable resistance, despite the bible-toting interlopers being treated well by their hosts. Racked with disease and bitter infighting, the once strong and healthy population collapsed into chaos and the islands finally fell to the French. By 1870 Les Îles Marquises were firmly established as part of their expanding collectivités d'outre-mer.
To sail into any of these stunning islands today, there is little to remind the visitor that such turmoil ever existed. Quiet villages swept by soothing ocean breezes dot the coastlines of the six inhabited islands, all splendidly isolated from the tribulations of modern life. For many, their only contact is the fortnightly arrival of Aranui 3 with her cargo of food, consumer goods and tourists.
Compagnie Polynesienne de Transport Maritime (CPTM) have supplied the marine lifeline to this far flung archipelago for almost fifty years and have progressively upgraded the service to the point where the 14-day voyage is now marketed as one of the world’s must-do adventure cruises.
If that sounds like an exaggeration, do a quick list check. Visited by an honour roll of the world’s most famous modern and historic explorers, these volcanic islands stick out of the ocean like a dragon’s bottom, with some peaks reaching up to 1200m. Vegetation clings desperately to sheer craggy outcrops cutting up vertically through the dense rainforest matting beneath. Next to that other Polynesian ‘paradise’, Hawai’i, the Marquesas are the most remote inhabited archipelago on Earth.
No romantic tropical island would be complete without a star-studded cast of eclectic artists and musicians. The Marquesas can boast strong connections with authors Robert Louis Stevenson, Herman Melville and Thor Heyerdahl. The troubled French painter Paul Gauguin created some of his masterpieces in the Marquesas, while publicity-exhausted chain-smoking Belgian idol, Jacques Brel sang his last notes on Hiva Oa.
Originally populated by as many as 100,000 thriving Polynesians before European arrival, the islands now maintain a paltry 9,000 having dipped as low as 2,000 in the early 20th Century. The ravaged Marquesan culture, nevertheless, is making a comeback. At each island visited, guests are feted with song, dance and feasting in a way something like the first Europeans may have experienced. Young maidens dance energetically to drum beats after the fashion that sent missionaries scampering for their rosaries.
Intricate and ornate carvings are offered in natural material such as basalt, bone and the much coveted flower stone – a kind of volcanic anomaly that produces tiny starbursts in the metal. Turtle, manta ray, tiki and whale motifs dominate.
One of the most prominent features of the revival is literally in their face. The ancient art of tattooing is enjoying such resurgence that it’s almost impossible to find a Marquesan man without them. And not some hidden scribble either, a Marquesan tattoo is an intricate saga that adorns a man (or woman) that speaks directly of their status. Those examples seen by early explorers would have almost covered the entire body with intricate and highly symbolic patterns. The Aranui’s crew will eagerly display their ancestral insignia.
Rich in vibrant Polynesian culture and history, a 3500 kilometre cruise through these islands will thrill you as it did the early visitors while refreshing your hope that years of cultural vandalism may be slowly repaired.
Highs:
Cultural Experience
Scenic splendour
Natural beauty
Lows:
French Polynesia is expensive
Try and travel with a confirmed English-speaking group
Doing it:
Aranui 3 sails year round on a 13-night itinerary with as many port stops at nine islands including Tahiti, Rangiroa and Fakarava.
Activities include cultural displays, hiking, museums, swimming, some diving, Polynesian dance lessons, sightseeing, horse riding and fishing. Most activities and all meals are included in the cruise price. Wine is included with lunch and dinner.
Accommodation is in four classes; 14 suites, 9 deluxe cabins, 63 standard cabins and 18 dormitory berths.
Prices start at AU$7999 for an 18-night package ex-Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane inclusive of pre- and post-cruise accommodation, transfers and economy airfares. Specials are sometimes offered.
Air New Zealand flies regularly to Papeete (PPT) via Auckland (AKL) in fully modernised B767 and B777 aircraft. www.airnewzealand.com.au
Contact: Ultimate Cruising www.ultimatecruising.com.au 1300 662 943
Aranui 3
Vessel: Aranui 3
Cruise Line: Compagnie Polynesienne de Transport Maritime (CPTM)
Star Rating: not rated
Tonnage: 3800 tons
Max Passenger Capacity: 200
Entered Service: 2003
Editor’s Notes
Image Gallery: http://rodeime.fotopic.net/c1809060.html
Travel Writing and Travel Photography – from Dreams to Hard Reality
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Battle of the Mekong
If you believe the industry hype, river cruising is riding the rocket of small ship and adventure products in a rapidly growing cruise market. I tend to agree. The anecdotal evidence points to more travellers seeking out products away from the traditional sea and coastal routes and looking inland to the great waterways.
Floating Village Mekong
One of the most famous Asian rivers, the Mekong, is set to stage a great showdown as operators from all over the globe take on locals in their own “warships” in an attempt to outdo each other for market share.
For those who didn’t get an A in geography, the Mekong is the 10th longest river in the world and stretches 4350km through Indochina. Working backwards from the massive delta at the bottom of Vietnam, it cuts a swathe through Cambodia, forms virtually the entire western border of Laos with Thailand and Burma before disappearing onto the Tibetan Plateau through China’s Yunnan Province.
Unfortunately the entire length is not navigable due to modern dams, rapids and shallows and most cruising is reserved to the lower reaches and Cambodia’s Tonle Sap.
“The French had a good crack at it though,” Trevor Lake of Discover Asia reminds me, “but like so many European adventurers, they were hopelessly under-equipped and it really was a comedy of errors.” (Read ‘River Road to China’ by Milton Osborne)
Trevor Lake on the Mekong in Laos
Trevor, by the look of him, has been travelling in Asia since forever and he makes several important observations about choosing a Mekong river cruise.
“With so many vessels and styles to choose from, and new ones launching all the time, travellers really need to discuss their plans with an experienced agent. It’s absolutely imperative that you find the right vessel to match your expectations.”
His company represents all the major cruise lines, many of the tiny ones too, and is one of the handful of agents able to speak independently for all products.
Robert Fletcher of Active Travel is another expert agency operating for over 25 years across the major lines who believes the Mekong cruise market is about to reach a defining moment.
“River cruising is a sound product and will remain so unless the Battle for the Mekong leads to ridiculous discounting and dilution of the concept and quality. I think 'The Battle' is on the brink - either the Mekong cruise market stays as a fairly exclusive experience with relatively high standards or it is reduced to a mass market, low cost, low service exercise with bums in berths as the driving force.”
The major players are:
La Marguerite
La Marguerite, a brand new 46-cabin luxury cruiser, built locally to luxury standards and decorated to reflect the colonial elegance, although externally she resembles many modern river cruisers. Still some teething issues, but shows great promise.
Heritage Line’s opulent Jayavarman is certainly one of the most anticipated vessels claiming “a marriage of avant-garde French colonial design with enchanting Indochine architecture”. The launch date has been revised from September to November and its itineraries boast Angkor Wat and Mekong Delta explorations.
The well-known Pandaw cruise line operates two vessels, the RV Tonle Pandaw and the RV Mekong Pandaw. While they rate a more modest 3.5 stars, they offer a rustic elegance that is in perfect harmony with the surroundings.
Trevor’s tip however may not suit all types, but challenges how we view river cruising.
“I just adore the Toum Tiou vessels from Compagnie Fluviale du Mekong (CFMekong.com). In my opinion they are the perfect way to experience the Mekong, compact, personal and thoroughly authentic. My other favourite would be to take a luxury private sampan – just the two of you – and travel undetected through the floating markets and villages. Brilliant!”
Both Richard and Trevor seem to be saying the same thing: choose carefully, consult an expert and avoid the cheaper alternatives. Meanwhile the ‘battle’ rages.
Active Travel
www.activetravel.com.au
Discover Asia
www.discoverasia.com.au
ANNUAL ADVENTURE CRUISE GUIDE
2009 Cruise Passenger Magazine Adventure Cruise Guide
Following on from the unqualified success of the first edition of Cruise Passenger Magazine’s Adventure Cruise Guide, the second edition is on newsstands now. Despite the economic gloom mongers, the 2009 edition is larger and more comprehensive than before and covers new destinations, vessels and itineraries.
Besides the new ships, this issue profiles the variety of activities available to small ship and expedition cruisers regardless of whether they want a hard-edged, heroic era experience like the Shackleton Crossing of South Georgia or just a deserted beach somewhere in the Pacific Ocean for a cocktail and massage.
Expedition and adventure cruising is proving to be the new ‘big thing’ in small group, eco-sensitive, responsible travel. If you are looking for an alternative to the crush of humanity in the world’s great metropolises or virtual experiences in crowded theme parks, avoid the queues and really get away from it all aboard one the world’s little ships.
Small ships make a big difference and you’ll find plenty of inspiration in the 2009 Cruise Passenger Magazine Adventure Cruise Guide.
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For further information and interview opportunities about the Adventure Cruise Guide, please contact:
Roderick Eime, Contributing Editor, 0418.214.028, or email rodeime@gmail.com