28 Oct 2023

Volcanoes, War History, Snorkelling and a Champagne Sunset at Rabaul

Today was a day of volcanoes, war history and fabulous markets as Heritage Adventurer arrived off shore of Rabaul in the early morning. We were all ashore by 0730, exploring a black sand beach and Sulphur-streaked boiling hot springs. The steam, black clouds over the Tavurvur stratovolcano and blue sea made for a moving backdrop.

Splitting into two groups we made a series of fascinating stops in old Rabaul at the New Guinea Club now a Rabaul Museum of German colonisation and War history along with great images of the eruption and destruction of Rabaul buried by ash.

We were able to visit Admiral Yamamoto's Bunker where he ran over 90,000 Japanese troops based on the peninsular. Visiting one of his 500-kilometres of tunnels to see where he stored his shore transport boats away from Allied forces aerial surveillance showed some the incredible effort Japan went to in basing its World War II operations in Rabaul.

A stop on a hill above Rabaul showed the extent of the three huge volcanic eruptions in 1880, 1937 and 1994 (one every 57 years!) - it also demonstrated why Rabaul boasts one of the best harbours in the South Pacific.

A stop at Kokopo War Museum filled in many history gaps followed by an hour at the local market at Kokopo as the heat and humidity had us looking forward to the air-conditioned comfort of Heritage Adventurer for lunch.

An afternoon on Pigeon Island snorkeling and enjoying a late afternoon sunset, champagne in hand, on a gorgeous white sand tropical island capped off an incredible day in Rabaul.

Images © S. Bradley, Heritage Expeditions