Trekking Bougainville - Combining History and Culture by Carla Ewin

Trekking  Bougainville

Combining history and culture

By Carla Ewin

Credits: Air Niugini and Islands Business 

Mt. Bagana puffing away on the front cover of current Air Niugini's Inlfight Paradise Vol 2, April/May 2011 Issue. "Trekking Bougainville" is the story of the issue.

The dense wall of green before me was punctuated by spines and troughs of rugged terrain.

I strained to locate where our guide Mark Kari was pointing. “There. On that ridge, my father was a scout for the Australian soldiers during World War II, he reported to them about the Japanese.”

It was day two of walking the Numa Numa Track. It stretches approximately 65 kilometres from the east to the west coast of Bougainville Island, Papua New Guinea (PNG).

After traversing numerous steep descents into ravines and clambering up equally steep ascents, the heat and humidity started to take its toll.

We finally reached the top of a ridgeline and I took the opportunity for a ‘lik lik malolo’ (a little rest). I greedily sucked back water and looked around at the amazing landscape around us.

Off in the distance, the simmering Mt Bagana volcano was puffing away. I contemplated the American, Japanese and Australian soldiers who would have made their way across the same track during World War II.

Mark recognises the value of the history of this track and the potential to develop it into a sustainable tourism attraction.

He hopes the development of the Bougainville tourism industry will provide benefits to the members of his clan along the track and give the youth of Bougainville something constructive to focus their energies on.

While many will come to Numa Numa because of its World War II history and the lure of the challenging terrain, the track offers trekkers a multi-faceted experience.

Beyond the history of the area, one gains an insight into the customs of the villagers and the central role the track plays in their everyday lives.

The Journey

The Numa Numa track begins in the foothills of the old Numa Numa cocoa plantation, just south of Wakunai.

It crosses over the Crown Prince Ranges and finishes at Torokina beach, overlooking the Empress Augusta Bay. The beginning of our five-day journey was hampered by heavy rain despite being the ‘dry season’. In fact, the flow of water was a common theme throughout the trek.

The track traverses many river crossings. After the border of Wakunai and Torokina, it is possible to cross the river up to 22 times.

The wildlife along the track ranges from graceful butterflies, eerie floating green orbs of fireflies at night, and the peculiar noisy beating of the wings of hornbills bursting from trees high above. However, some of the wildlife should be avoided.

“Oh, and watch out for the bush pigs,” Mark casually remarked, “if you see one, best to get out of their way by climbing a tree.”

Sorry, what? Images of flesh eating pigs in a Hannibal Lecter film ran through my mind. The area we were walking in was apparently infamous for its inhabitants of territorial bush pigs. I thought Mark had to be kidding, but when I asked him about the large nut he was holding (which resembled a shotput in size and density), I realised he wasn’t. “It’s to hit the pig in the head,” he replied. An encounter with a family along the track later in our journey proved that the legendary pigs were not a myth. They proudly displayed the huge bush pig they had caught only hours before.

We reached the village of Kalokoki, just before dusk on the second day. The village is also known as Cease Fire village because of the cease-fire reached between the Australian and Japanese forces at the village.

Upon arrival, the chief of the village, Petrus Rureto, ushered us to sit around a fire with some of the villagers. I soon noticed I was under intent observation from a young boy, approximately six years old.

He fervently whispered something into his older cousin’s ear and then returned to his intent gazing. All of a sudden, his face twisted into the silent mask of a child about to let out a deep cry followed by tears. Sure enough, the sobbing began and Bruce (one of our porters) tried to calm him down.

The look of shock and concern must have been apparent on my face because Bruce quickly translated that the boy had never seen white people in the flesh before and he feared we were going to eat him.

The little boy’s reaction reinforced the fact that the track was one of the few connections the villagers had to the outside world.

The next morning, I was treated to a rather interesting meal. I was led to the main hut where the women were tending to a large bamboo tube over a fire.

Mark asked me if I knew what a ‘cuscus’ was. I soon discovered they were small mammals, similar to possums, and were a delicacy in the area. While I like most foods, I have to admit, cuscus meat is not my first choice for breakfast. Not wanting to offend, I chomped on the little forearm (with paw still attached), trying to ignore the strong smell of burnt fur. I thought about the benefits the extra protein would provide for the remaining trek.

Before setting off, I asked the chief about the necklets of bound vine worn by his children. The chief told me that their custom was to adorn the children in elements of the jungle from the time they were born in order for them to grow strong and feel connected to their land.

This respect for the jungle and the resources it provides stemmed from the reliance the villagers had on the sustenance the land provided them.

As we walked on towards the border of Wakunai and Torokina, evidence of World War II dramatically increased.

Spent bullets and mortar rounds could be found lying close to the track. Mark also pointed out landmarks such as a Japanese gravesite and an Australian constructed prisoner of war camp.

The Americans and their attempts to use vehicles along the track were responsible for some interesting engineering feats used to conquer the many river crossings and contours of the land.

We encountered a rusting bulldozer on the swamp flats outside Torokina, slowly decaying in the humidity and heat.

We finally reached Torokina around mid-afternoon on the fifth day of our trek. After cooling off in the sea, I sat with Mark on the beach and spoke to him about the development of the Numa Numa track.

While he was keen to introduce the benefits of tourism to his people, he recognised a delicate balance existed between maintaining a traditional lifestyle and culture, and managing the benefits of employment, an increased economy and improved standard of living.

Listening to Mark’s visions and ideas made me realised that the development of the track was in good hands.

Bougainvilleans are proud of their culture and connections to their land. Although they have endured various conflicts fought on their land, they still welcome the world to experience the rugged beauty of their part of paradise they call ‘ples blong san kamap’, the place where the sun rises.

Notes and thank yous: 

We were unable to get the pictures in time to be published together with the article. If we do receive the pictures from Air Niugini and Islands Business, we will include them into the article later.

Thank you Air Niugini and Islands Business for promoting and marketing Bougainville.