Tufi was completely unscheduled for this trip. We have Cyclone Jasper to thank for this unexpected destination. This area of PNG is described as the fjords of PNG – dense forests leading down to the sea with frequent inlets. Waterfalls after heavy rain. An intense green colour to the sea.

We were taken into Natade village on our very own canoes on platforms of bamboo. The people who came to greet us were so beautifully decorated and handsome. Each boat was different and we loved saying hello to them as they circled round and we jumped onto them. Our boat man was called Lucas and he is just finishing school but wants to be an aeronautical engineer. We wished him well.

Westfield, a village elder greeted us. Moses and another man came out with headbands of couscous ( a local animal with white fur), spears, shouting and gesticulating. Some of the guests were uncertain about this. Then they issued a question to us – friend or foe ? We said Friend and they asked where we wanted to be – and we replied HERE – it was fine from there in on.

The dancers followed and they were all superbly dressed with elaborate head gear sporting feathers in rows from parrots at the bottom, cockatoos, eclectus parrots, birds of paradise at the top and cassowary feathers at the back. They wore tapas, bark cloth which has been hammered and painted by hand, long ones for the women and shorter ones for the men. The beat drums made of the rosewood tree which are paingstainkinly hollowed out and then covered at one end with lizard skin. The girls, bare breasted and also wearing elaborate head gear seem to be on the periphery of the male dancers as they weaved in and out.

When the sing sing was over we were accompanied to various work stations where we saw roofing being made from pandanus leaves, the walls of houses being built, a fire started with friction from a piece of wood rubbed vigorously along the side of a larger piece of wood. A woman having face tattoos. This was commonplace for younger women in the olden days but not often practised now.

An elder woman with facial tattoos.

We saw string being made with the fibres pulled out and then rolled, the hollowing out of the rosewood drums, the arduous work to make a canoe and the way the sago palm gives them not only sago ( from which they make sago flour ) but also every other bit of material which is used by the people of Natade village. Nothing is wasted.

The beautiful bark cloths come from the mulberry tree. The billums were colourful and abundant. There were many large shells for sale.

The welcome we received was so gracious and complete. Getting their village ready to receive us as well as their costumes must take hours of preparation.