Operation Walkabout

Itinerary

O P E R A T I O N W A L K A B O U T

Duration 22 days sign up justin@wanpela.com

Day

Date

Location

Itinerary

1	Wednesday	Los Angeles - Brisbane, Australia	Participants meet at LAX airport, Los Angeles. Depart for Australia
2	Thursday	Cross International	Date Line (a day is lost)
3	Friday	Brisbane	Last night in "civilization" Overnight at Heritage Motel
4	Saturday Port Moresby	Brisbane & Port Moresby (Air Niugini)	Arrive Port Moresby overnight at Mapang Guesthouse. Tour WWII Airfields In Port Moresby area, and visit National War Cemetery
5	Sunday	Port Moresby	Open Exploration Day individual or small groups - relaxing at beach, snorkeling shallow water wrecks, exploring local markets and sights, visit the base of the Kokoda Trail.
6	Monday	Port Moresby	Visit National Museum Tour of 20th Century (WWII Collection) with either museum (curator) Seneah Greh or (director) Soroi Marepo. Opportunity to utilize their archives for research.
7	Tuesday Town of Rabaul	Port Moresby & Rabaul (Air Niugini)	Rabaul Tour the town - volcano, Japanese HQ bunker, relics in the town and Prade Point.
8	Wednesday Japanese Bomber	Rabaul	Japanese Airfield Tour Bastion of the Japanese Navy, visit area airfields and wrecks at Lakunai, Vunakanau, Rapopo, Tobera abandoned aerodromes
9	Thursday Japanese Barge Tunnel	Rabaul	Hidden Fortifications Tour Secret tunnels (optional) and the boat tunnel built into a cave, visit near by villages
10	Friday Submarine Base	Rabaul	Submarine Base Underground Submarine base and hospital visit north of town. Zero and other wrecks.
11	Saturday Sunken Zero	Rabaul	Open Day relax at beaches, visit additional WWII sites, boat tour to nearby islands, snorkeling or diving
12	Sunday Madang	Rabaul Lae & Madang	NADZAB Brief stop over at this airfield built by Americans during WWII after invasion of Lae by paratroopers. ARRIVE Madang today, the "prettiest town in the South Pacific", during the war, was occupied by the Japanese, pounded by US bombers, and liberated by the Australians.
13	Monday WWII Truck	Madang	Village & Harbor Tours Tour Bil Bil village on the coast and view wreck sites. In the harbor, see sunken transports and the beautiful lagoon.
14	Tuesday	Madang	Sing-Sing Attend the Madang sing-sing, see Papuans from all over the country competing for local honor doing their traditional dances and costumes. See Highlanders and Mudmen. This is not a shoe for tourists, local pride is at stake.
15	Wednesday Wrecked Bomber	Madang	Alexishafen Japanese Abandoned Airfield with bomber wrecks, AA guns and shell craters. Conduct wreck survey and tour German mission.
16	Thursday Sunken Transport	Madang	Open Day Re-visit site, relax at the beach, take boat trip to nearby islands, scuba or snorkel wrecks.
17	Friday Cruise to Wewak	Madang	Travel by Ship (Mamose Express or Rita) to Wewak overnight. Cruise the north coast of what was Japanese held New Guinea as a PT Boat or Destroyer would see it.
18	Saturday Wewak Wrecks	Wewak	Wewak Visit WWII memorials and Japanese fortifications.
19	Sunday	Wewak	Visit WWII airfields, see wrecks and explore the Japanese Army bastion on New Guinea where their army withered on a vine.
20	Monday Port Moresby	Wewak & Port Moresby	Overnight at Mapang Guesthouse Final night in New Guinea... enjoy evening underneath the Southern Cross, and beneath the equator.
21	Tuesday	Port Moresby & Brisbane (Air Niugini)	Airport Heritage Motel overnight. Open Day in Australia
22	Wednesday	Brisbane & Sydney Sydney & Los Angeles (Air New Zealand)	Return to USA, then fly to respective homes.

Interviews & Oral Histories