The magnificent tropical fjords on Australia’s doorstep
On a map, the ragged Tufi peninsula in Papua New Guinea’s north-east looks like a corner of Iceland. And for a moment as I sail into its convolutions on board Le Soleal, I feel as if I might be in Norway.
Low mists slumps in the trees, the sky is grey and wet and small islands are dark silhouettes against the early morning light. All I can hear is the trickle and gurgle of rain.
Tufi is magnificent, no comparisons needed.Credit: Alamy
By the time I’ve finished my croissants in the dining room of my sleek French expedition ship, the landscape is transformed. The rain stops. Clouds lift and the brilliant blue couldn’t be anything but tropical.
The low lush hills of McLaren Harbour are topped with a raffish fringe of palm trees, and it’s hard to know why they’re often compared to fjords. Fjords have a stark and masculine majesty. Tufi is more rounded and feminine.
The hug of the humidity on the ship’s deck is nothing like Norway either. Tufi is magnificent and needs no comparisons. The sea is silvery, the coastline daubed in bright green. Colourful birds flit across the field of view of my binoculars.
There’s no other way to get to this remote part of PNG than to fly in on a bush plane or sail by expedition ship. I’m on a Ponant cruise return from Cairns, keen to explore PNG, our little visited and yet nearest neighbour.
Soon we’re nosing deeper into the magnificent landscape. Locals paddle out on outrigger canoes to take us ashore. The bare-chested young man paddling my canoe is called Simon. His face is decorated with white dots. As he paddles, his shell necklaces clank. His shyness reflects the few visitors that ever come here.
Villagers take visitors ashore on outrigger canoes.
As we scramble off on the edge of mangroves, we’re greeted by excited skinny kids in grass skirts and women with frangipani and pink feathers in their hair.
The villages are on the hilltops. This landing point is set up for tourists, but nothing is polished or feels contrived. We’re shown how sago is processed for food and how tapa cloth is made from the bark of the paper mulberry tree.
Tufi is particularly noted for its decorative tapa cloth while nearby islanders produce some of PNG’s best ceremonial masks and wood-carved figures.
After the morning’s meet and greet, Le Soleal is a blissful retreat from the humidity. It is a small ship of 264 passengers with considerable boutique-hotel chic and French savoir-faire but has an informal atmosphere.
The elaborate headdress worn at a welcoming ceremony in PNG’s Tufi peninsula.Credit: Ponant/ Oliver Blaud
The joy of expedition cruising is creature comfort in the most remote places. The air-con hums and my shower gushes. I tuck into barramundi fillet with pistachio crumb for lunch and finish with a lemon meringue tart.
Later that afternoon, we’re invited ashore to a sing-sing under giant trees from which orchids sprout. The women have flowers in their hair. The men sport headdresses made of long black cassowary feathers topped with white cockatoo feathers at the rear. At the front, brighter parrot feathers in red or orange flutter.
The dances are a rhythmic shuffle to the beating of drums made from rosewood and lizard skin. The forest throbs to the sound. I’ve never heard anything like this in a fjord.
Kids wave goodbye as we clamber back into Zodiacs. We sail out on a sapphire sea between emerald hillsides. The expedition team recaps the day, talks about the wildlife and gives an interesting account of PNG’s sago culture and production.
Lamb tenderloin with creamy polenta awaits, rounded off with chocolate and raspberry cake. While I’m sleeping, I’m transported towards another spectacular destination that, happily, is nothing like Norway at all.
The writer was a guest of Ponant.
THE DETAILS
CRUISE
A stateroom on board Le Soleal.
Ponant cruises take in PNG in October-November 2024 and January-April 2025. Itineraries include the Solomon Islands and Indonesia. The 13-night Ancient Cultures of Papua New Guinea cruise on expedition ship Le Jacques Cartier departs February 16, 2025 and sails between Cairns and Honiara (with a flight back to Brisbane) and costs from $13,440 a person. It visits numerous destinations in PNG including Tufi as well as the Solomon Islands. See au.ponant.com
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