WWII Tour of Rabaul PNG

In October we went on our second cruise to PNG. We were unable to visit Rabaul last time due to gang conflict so we were happy to be able to visit this time. Docked at the port, if you walk to the right you will see all the buses for the ship tours, and if you keep walking past and around the building you will see local tour operators. To the left is the way to exit the port. Exciting the port there are market stalls along each side of the street.

We looked through tours online and tours recommended in FB page Cruise PNG. If you look in the files section there are a lot of updated resources including tours by reputable tour operators. We chose Rabaul Cruise Tours and would highly recommend this company. We chose tour C, a 4 hour half day tour.

First stop was the Japanese Karavia Barge tunnels.

At the entrance to the tunnels we were informed by a local guide about the construction and history of the tunnels. These tunnels were built as part of a rail network during WWII to house barges, ships and ammunition for the Japanese forces. The Japanese forced locals and prisoners of war to dig out and reinforce the tunnels, to store equipment out of sight of the Allied forces.

There are five barges remaining in this tunnel lined up one behind the other and rusting. There is a raised walkway that is now closed due to the dangerous rotting timbers.

 Each stop included some form of markets. These were at the barge tunnel markets.

The roads are not very good and driving along the bumpy roads we saw many white crosses in front of houses. I'm not sure what they mean, maybe that the family that lives there is a Christian.

Next stop was the Rabaul Volcano Observatory. A great view over Rabaul, Mt Tavurvur Volcano and the port, including our ship Encounter.

The observatory was closed, so not a lot to see in and around the buildings. There is a memorial to Robin Cooke and Elias Ravian, who died while performing volcanological duties at Karkar Island on 8 March 1979. Also large volcano information plaques that were difficult to read and very hot to touch.

The earliest recorded eruption of the Tavurvur Volcano was in 1737. Other eruptions were:- 1791; 1878. 1937-43 and 1994-2014. The last big eruption was in August 2014 when an 18km high eruption took place with 1km high spouts of lava were observed.

Next stop was the New Guinea Club (Rabaul Museum) and Admiral Yamamoto's Bunker. There is not a lot is left of the compound. Originally an Australian Army camp in WWI, the New Guinea Club use to be the Australian Army Sergeants Mess.

The buildings were badly damaged during WWII and the New Guinea Club rebuilt. It was again damaged by fire in 1993 and volcanic eruptions in 1994. A section of the club was rebuilt and that is what remains today as a museum.

There is a lot of really good information and displays, but so little time to read very much. There is also a small WWII plane in the museum. We were given about 25-30 minutes at each stop, but certainly were not rushed along by the tour guide.

The museum has information about the history of the Rabaul area through German colonization, both world wars to today. The Germans settled here and established Rabaul as its capital from the 1880's to 1919, when after WWI Germany was striped of all its colonies. During WWI it was taken over by the Australians and used until the Japanese landed in February 1942. It became the Japanese Navy headquarters until the end of WWII.

It was a very hot day, PNG is only 700km south of the equator, so it was good that there plenty of seats to sit and rest. Sadly the fans not working, but cold drinks from an esky were being sold.

The grounds of the museum had a few market stalls and old rusting army equipment. Not far away in the grounds is Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto Bunker. It was used during air raids. It was a scary place and is in complete darkness - we needed to use our phone torches to see. 

There was not any information at the bunker and it was like a rabbit warren of rooms and passageways. We didn't go to all the rooms as it was so dark and there were not signs to say where rooms were. I found out later that Admiral Yamamoto was the leader of the Imperial Japanese Navy and planned the attack on Pearl Harbor.

We then went to the hot springs near the volcano. This is on private land and we entered through a gate. The soil was very black, and there was a slight smell of sulphur, and of course markets.

We were told that locals often cook their meals in the hot springs, much like they do in New Zealand's volcanic area.

Some people were prepared with their swimmers and went for a swim. Peter went out up to his knees and said the water was beautiful.

The closer to the hot springs Peter went, the hotter the water.

He couldn't walk in the water close to where the hot springs joined the bay as it was very hot, too hot to stand in.

The last two stops were the old airport runway, now all grown over, and what is left of a WWII plane rusting in bits on the side of the grassy runway. Only a few people got off the air conditioned bus to see the runway, and they were underwhelmed.

The last stop was the Rabaul Markets. Not one person on the bus wanted to walk around the markets in the heat, so we were taken back to the ship. We were told later that a passenger was injured at the markets that afternoon when a person tried to steal her backpack.

We enjoyed the tour and would highly recommend it.