Two worlds: mix age-old traditions with luxury cruising on Ponant's Ancient Cultures of Papua New Guinea expedition. Photo / Margaux Coupez
Two worlds: mix age-old traditions with luxury cruising on Ponant's Ancient Cultures of Papua New Guinea expedition. Photo / Margaux Coupez
Combining a voyage of discovery with 5-star comfort, this upscale cruise is the perfect getaway, writes Sara Bunny.
I’ve been practising for days, a week more like it. Still, my one line of French is an awkward, school-girl attempt involving the word “Anglaise”, an apology, and a clear lack of talent for languages. I have also made a frenzied trip to the local op shop for anything cream-coloured that could pass as classy for the scheduled white party dinner. Ahead of my 12-day Melanesian adventure aboard upscale French cruise ship, Ponant Le Soleal, I’m buzzing with excitement but I’m not exactly “tres chic”.
Neither is my arrival on the boat. Embarking in Cairns, I’m already sweating from the tropical humidity when I realise I have somehow missed the memo about needing a negative rapid antigen test to set sail. Soon, a small group of us are whisked up to the ship’s doctor for nose swabs and escorted to our rooms to await the result. I have envisioned flinging open the doors to my private balcony with movie-style enchantment. Instead, I pace my plush stateroom in limbo, cursing my oversight until the doctor mercifully reappears with the all-clear.
Happily, my pre-departure language worries are way over the top. As we set sail, the chatter on deck reveals a mix of Australian, American and French accents. Out of the largely international team of crew members, most are impressively multi-lingual and, as with all Compagnie du Ponant voyages, all announcements and instructions are given in French and English.
A luxurious stateroom onboard Ponant Le Soleal. Photo / Ponant
Our itinerary on the Ancient Cultures of Papua New Guinea cruise includes stopovers at islands far from the usual tourist trail, and largely untouched corners that you can only visit as part of an organised tour group. These are the sort of destinations that offer a rare window into another way of life, but as a rookie cruiser more accustomed to camping holidays than chic sailing, my experience is another world in more ways than one.
Onboard, the sophisticated furnishings, smart bar and restaurant areas and seamless service are high-end, with every creature comfort carefully catered for. As an expedition voyage, adventure is the name of the game, and here, you get all the excitement along with a side of understated elegance. Crew members seem to magically appear just as you’re pondering another cocktail, the tablecloths are starchy white and the sun loungers on the pool deck are never out of place. But at the same time, nobody minds if you accidentally traipse a soggy trail of seawater back to your room after an excursion (guilty), or make a habit of ordering beers for brunch (also guilty).
Ponant Le Soleal boasts 132 elegant staterooms and suites, and can cater for up to 264 guests. Photo / Ponant
While Le Soleal provides top-level comfort, it’s the offshore excursions that dominate the dinner table chat. Over nearly two thrilling weeks, we juxtapose Western world indulgences with wandering sandy paths at villages where tribal allegiances are forged with shell trades, dancers in feathered headdresses skip to the beat of ancient chants, and restless spirits are believed to linger during the witching hour. It feels like turning the pages from Luxury Traveller to National Geographic and back again, the daily flip between worlds highlighting our immense privilege to experience the best of both.
Our first port of call is Alotau at the southeastern tip of Papua New Guinea, where locals in palm-fibre skirts form an arch of spears as we pile into a fleet of waiting mini vans. Oil palm plantations (with signs about sustainable management) cut conspicuous swathes across the countryside as we make our way to the village. Next to thatched-roof stilt houses under a canopy of leafy green, we watch demonstrations of war dances, weaving, and the launch of the war canoes now banned by the Papua New Guinea Government for anything except cultural festivals.
Traditional dance demonstrations at local villages are a highlight of the trip. Photo / Margaux Coupez
En-route to the town museum, our affable local guide tells us stories of village life in flawless English (the French guests are ferried in separate vans with an interpreter from the ship to translate). We hear about tying a person’s big toes together to check if they’re a witch, the time a spirit fell out of a tree, and how betel nut, a tooth-staining seed with six times the potency of caffeine, is the recreational drug of choice. “It makes you feel high,” he says. “You chew it when you need to get work done or when you want to have meaningful conversations. With the betel nut, people let their secrets out.” Before we head back to the boat, he farewells us with a decent rendition of Michael Bolton’s 90s hit, To Love Somebody.
Throughout Papua New Guinea, we meet plenty more local characters quick to crack a joke with their pasty visitors. At Dobu, a tiny volcanic dot in the D’Entrecasteaux Island group, there’s a comedy skit where the village women line up and pull each other’s bare boobs as the men twerk up-close to unsuspecting visitors in the front row, while everyone whoops with laughter.
Locals telling jokes for the camera at Fergusson Island, near Dobu, Papua New Guinea. Photo / Sara Bunny
At Kitava Island, we see a lively demonstration of the “cricket dance”, in honour of the sport the missionaries taught in the hope it would give villagers something else to do other than producing children. Next up, school kids treat us to a dance inspired by World War II, complete with gun battle reenactments, dramatic twitching on the ground, and rousing applause from spectators. There’s a villagers versus visitors tug of war on the beach, and no shortage of locals keen to practice their English, share stories and show off their market wares.
Market stalls under the trees at leafy Kitava Island. Photo / Sara Bunny
But in a country like PNG, there’s also plenty to be serious about. There’s the bare floors and peeling paint at the village schools, the rudimentary medical centres, the bloody warfare between tribes, the superstitions that run rife through communities.
Later, I strike up a conversation (part English, part hand gestures) with Jane, a proud Trobriand Islander who leads me on a village walkabout. A star attraction is the church, a signifier of the missionaries that turned up not only to tout the gospel, but to put a stop to the cannibalism that was common practice in the area until as late as the 1960s (although reports of a cannibalism cult on the mainland emerged as recently as 2012).
“We’re so happy they came,” she says, gesturing towards the church and rattling off the high percentages of locals who attend the various denominations. While ending cannibalism was clearly a plus, there’s a weird feeling she’s pushing the Christianity bit as she thinks it’s what I want to hear. Western mores feel redundant in these parts, where witch hunts are thought to be back on the rise in Papua New Guinea’s rural highlands. To this day, life remains a complex tapestry of tradition and ritual, much of it incomprehensible to outsiders.
Islands in the sun
Here, where you would be hard-pressed to find a square metre of sea or isolated patch of sand that doesn’t belong to someone, seeking permission to be there is essential. Our official go-between is Justin Friend from Austronesian Expedition Services, an Aussie adventurer so in touch with Melanesian culture he has been formally adopted by a Papua New Guinean tribe. Each morning as I sip coffee on my private balcony, I watch Justin and crew members zipping ashore on zodiac inflatables, to check with the chief that our presence is still welcome.
With the crew running the excursions like a well-oiled machine, most days consist of a morning zodiac ride over to a nearby sandy shore, a zip back to the boat for lunch, and afternoon activities including snorkelling, swimming, a walk or zodiac jaunt, or another village visit.
At the Solomon Islands on the second leg of the trip, we watch villagers play giant bamboo pan pipes by deftly whacking the tops with flip flops, and snorkel next to a shipwreck just metres from the beach at Roderick Bay in the Florida Islands group.
Zodiac inflatables line the shore at Kitava Island, with Le Soleal in the background. Photo / Sara Bunny
The shipwreck of the World Discoverer lies close to the shore at Roderick Bay. Photo / Elie Vannier
At tiny Fanalei Island near Malaita, we sit back in the shade as village performers entertain with smooth harmonies, and hermit crabs amble past our feet. Steadily succumbing to the rising tide of climate change, this island’s future is sadly uncertain. That, plus the fact we were only the second cruise ship ever to get the chance to visit, makes it feel even more special.
Village performers at Fanalei Island, Solomon Islands. Photo / Sara Bunny
More than cocktails
Back on board, settling into the comfortable rhythm of cruise life is all too easy. It’s not long before I have my favourite buffet treats and preferred cocktail-drinking spots down pat, plus a slew of new dining buddies to share the day’s banter with.
Fine dining at L'Eclipse restaurant onboard Le Soleal. Photo / Ponant
As one of the four sisterships in the five-star Ponant brand, Le Soleal can accommodate up to 264 guests (although we were travelling light at 147 passengers on this particular cruise) and boasts a spa and two restaurants.
But as an expedition cruise, learning new things is as much a part of the experience as the sunset drinks on the top deck. Throughout the journey, a team of expert naturalists and historians offer enlightening lectures that truly make you appreciate your surroundings that much more.
Our first night is a Melanesian 101 of valuable do’s and don’ts, where we hear insights like haggling in local markets is a cultural no-no, never to underestimate the strength of betel nut if we’re game enough to try, and not to be alarmed (or judgey) at the sight of the dolphin-tooth necklaces commonly worn in the Solomons.
Later, with talks on everything from volcanic activity in PNG to history lessons on the battles at Guadalcanal in Honiara, when we disembark the ship, we all feel as though we’re brimming with fresh knowledge as well as unforgettable lifelong memories. And by the end, I think I’ve even picked up a few more words of French.
CHECKLIST: MELANESIA
DETAILS
Ponant offers a range of cruises and expeditions throughout the globe, with the next Ancient Cultures of Papua New Guinea cruise setting sail from November 12-23. See ponant.com for details.
