Flying over the Great Barrier Reef I see swirls of turquoise around atolls before they turned to blankets of green as we approached Kavieng the capital of the PNG province of New Ireland.

While waiting to join the boat I walk along the beach – covered with broken coral, seed pods and the most beautiful shells. I meet Agatha and Sebastian on the jetty and they show me their catch of the day.

We start the 5th of December with a visit to Atiliklikun Bay of East New Britain province. We went on land with the Explorers and were met by local buses and guides. Our little bus ( think of a Kenyan matatu) was driven by Richard in true Cypriot style.

One arm permanently dangling out of the window. You can excuse this – its devilishly hot. Our guide is Otto, perhaps appropriately named in that we are in the Bismarck Archipelago. Off we go through Palm Oil plantations which clearly are a source of income for them to the University of the Environment and Natural Resources. Otto who speaks Tolai is a student there. He tells us there are over 800 language groups in PNG. Along the murran road, thick vegetation, many bananas, cassava plantations, custard apple and jack fruit trees.

We are welcomed by the Baining people who dance for us.

Onto Florence’s Cocoa Farm where she splits several pods for us. We suck the sweet seeds which in fact are then slightly fermented and then dried. They are exported to countries like Australia where milk and other ingredients are added to make the chocolate products we all love.

We explored their husbandry and piggeries – and along the way there was an actual robbery by some rascals as they are called. Police apprehended one and are on the lookout for the others. Yes life can be unpredictable here. One thing which is a certainty is the breadth of smiles on all the people. Wonderful faces, big welcomes and young boys in school holding their pangas – rather big knives we would not want our 10 or 15 year old to be carrying around but they think nothing of it. The children are exceptionally beautiful.

The day finished with the amazing Fire Dances of the Baining People.

 The band for want of a better word are men sitting crossed legged holding onto to Bamboo sticks of different lengths. They bang them rhythmically on the ground. The Dancers come out dressed with giant masks which look like birds made with bark and cloth. They are apparently quite lightweight as they wear them on their heads for many hours. This event takes place only on rare events to celebrate young men and births.

In the beginning, the Baining would keep a distance from the fire, but as the dancing got wilder and wilder some of the brave men would run up to the bonfire and kick it so that flames and embers would fly into the sky. The dance lasts for hours apparently until the fire goes out.