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great_escapes_PNG_follow[i-1].body = "A trip to New Guinea may seem like a voyage to the end of the world, which is one of its great attractions. The rugged mountains and dense tropical forests of the world’s second largest island, which lies just below the equator, is evocative and wild, and the many native tribal groups make for fascinating cultural encounters. The island is actually divided into two political halves, the westernmost being one of Indonesia’s provinces (Papua, formerly Irian Jaya), and the eastern half the independent nation of Papua New Guinea. It is to this latter that we make our Great Escape.
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great_escapes_PNG_follow[i-1].body = "To reach Australia we are flying Qantas Airlines, which has the best and most frequent service to the island continent from the US. There are several other carriers, and they can be found online at Expedia.com.
When we head north to Papua New Guinea we use the national carrier, Air Niugini. It has direct flights from Cairns to Port Moresby, the capital, and then connects to Mount Hagen, the main town in the central highlands."; great_escapes_PNG_follow[i++] = new Array("","Field operators","","","","", "", "", "", "", "left", "", "", "93", "126", "", "", "", "", ""); great_escapes_PNG_follow[i-1].body = "Inside Papua New Guinea we are being taken care of by the premiere adventure tour operator in the country, Trans Niugini Tours.
There are several other outfitters in Papua New Guinea, including Melanesian Tourist Services, which specializes in expeditionary cruises to the outer islands and owns the luxurious Madang Resort on PNG’s northeast coast.
A listing of tour operators and hotels and other services in Papua New Guinea can be found at the PNG Business Directory.
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great_escapes_PNG_follow[i-1].body = "While in northern Australia we are staying at the Bay Village Tropical Retreat in Cairns, and from there we are able to visit the Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural Park.
Our first stop in Papua New Guinea is the Highlander Hotel in the Mt. Hagen area, the culturally rich Western Highlands region at 5000 ft. Afterward we journey to the Karawari Lodge, and travel up the Sepik River by boats to a small native village. Finally we head for the western border area at 7000 ft, near Tari, where we’ll be staying at the Ambua Lodge. These and several other eco-lodges are owned by Trans Niugini Tours. "; great_escapes_PNG_follow[i++] = new Array("","Our gear","","","","", "", "", "", "", "left", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", ""); great_escapes_PNG_follow[i-1].body = "Many of the digital cameras and printers we are using on this quest are on loan from Hewlett-Packard. These include the Photosmart R707 and M307 digital cameras, both with photo docks to connect directly to the Photosmart 375b portable printer and print to HP photo paper. (See Friends and Sponsors.)
Other media equipment includes several digital SLR cameras from Canon and Nikon, a Sony DSR-PS150 digital video camera and a Sony GV-D900 video deck, Sony MiniDisc digital audio recorders, Sennheiser microphones, satellite phones from Telenor and Nera, Brunton portable batteries, and Lexar compact flash (CF) and secure digital (SD) storage cards for digital imaging. We are also bringing several laptops, including a HP Rugged Laptop nr3600."; // END editorial data