Lae, PNG Harbor

20 May Lea, PNG. The 5-day passage to Lae, Papua New Guinea (PNG) went quickly (I mistakenly thought our destination would be Port Moresby). We kept busy by entering patient data from Tonga and Vanuatu into a computerized database, attending meetings (including a refresher session on wound care with emphasis on a condition called “Yawls” - lesions in children caused by an infectious tropical agent similar to syphilis), and packaging medications for the PNG mission. I had a tour of the ship’s bridge - the navigation and steering center. I assisted in the ship’s medical ward by assessing patients, giving injections, dressing minor wounds, and removing sutures. But there was also time for relaxation - movie night on the flight deck. Yes, they set up a giant screen on the flight deck and showed “Just Go With It”. When was the last time you watched a movie under silvery clouds (that gave us a brief shower) and a full moon lighting a silvery sea, steaming along at 12 knots? The ship celebrated the 103^rd birthday of the Navy Nurse Corps, along with International Nurses Day. All of the nurses on board were proud to stand for speeches, pictures, and cutting of the cake with a ceremonial sword by the ship’s captain and the mission’s commodore.
We arrived at Lae on a rainy day with 0.5 mile visibility, which was considered unsafe for anchoring, so we circled outside of the anchorage for more than 24 hours before setting the hook on a beautiful clear morning. The port is busier than I expected, with numerous freighters present. The temperature and humidity today are lower than in previous ports so we’re encouraged that climatic conditions might be more tolerable for work here. The scenery in the harbor is beautiful - steep, rugged mountains with cloud-shrouded peaks (I was told that the tallest peak in PNG is 10,000 ft and gets snow). I’m imagining epiphytic orchids in the tree tops being kept cool and moist by the cloud cover. The ship’s liberty scouts visited a botanical garden today as a possible tour destination, but a tour there will not happen for various reasons. My contact told me that only a few orchids were in bloom - by his description probably Dendrobium - so I’m not as disappointed to not be able to visit as I might have been. My first work day isn’t until Sunday so I’m limited to the lovely harbor view until then. Some pictures will be on Flickr.
Cheers to all!