In preparation for a forth-coming trip up the east coast of Papua New Guinea I decided to jump on Mr Beam and pay a short visit to Madang. Primarily to check road conditions also to confirm the feasibility of my intended route with the locals of that area.

I left Lae at around 10:00 am on Saturday morning. Ridding through the long flat plains of the Markham valley there was not too much to see. A few scattered villages and several large herds of beef cattle in huge open pastures. The only other notable sight was the scores of Brown Kits who patrol the highway looking for insects or animals that have been killed by passing car and trucks, remarkably like vultures. They wheel overhead as they search the Highway for the next road kill victim. Mr Beem is a very quite motorcycle and being smaller than your average semi-trailer we were able to surprise several groups of these bird who were just settling down on the road to a lunch of flattened frog or squashed snake. I felt as if I was in a Kids cartoon. Vroom a blur goes thru the middle of the assembled birds, loud squawks feathers fly in all directions and the birds settle back on the road, look at each other and say "What the hell was that".

About two hours out of Lae you get to the Ramu turn off. Here the scenery changes, it is still broad flat plains but now it is blanketed in two metre high sugar Cain as far as the eye can see. After half an hour of this the Cain fields end and give way to low rolling hills and you are back in cattle country again. Before you, you can see the mountains that you will have to cross in order to get to the coast and Madang. The Finistaires Mountains make for some interesting ridding. There has been considerable work done on the road over the last two years but the area is geologically still quite young. Therefore has a tendency to move from time to time. This has caused several sections of the road to slip. In some places slip away altogether and in others to drop down a couple of feet or so. Some parts of the road are newly laid bitumen; some parts loose gravel and other places are just slippery clay. As I said the Finisteres make for some interesting ridding. We got thru that and the rainstorm that accompanied it and arrived in sunny Madang a little after 1:30 pm, all in all a very pleasant trip.

In Madang I stayed at the Kennedy's Place, it has a proper name but everyone refers to it as the Kennedy's Place. It is one of Madangs best kept secrets. It is a little out of town, just off the North Coast Road. You follow the signs for Jais Arben Resort, but turn to your right before you get there, you can't miss it (famous last words). It is right on the water, on the edge of a sheltered lagoon. The setting is truly beautiful, swaying palm trees gently lapping water, the whole bit. But that is not the main attraction. This place simple throbs with good old Irish hospitality. I stayed in one of the four basic but clean bright and airy Bungalows. They are made mainly of traditional PNG bush building material with a few western improvements. All bungalows come with ocean views and they are as cheap as chips.

If you stay there and I recommend that you do, it should be considered mandatory to have a beer with your host. Adrian Kennedy maintains that he left Ireland (old Ireland, not to be confused with New Ireland) many years ago in search of adventure and fabulous riches.

To hear his lilting Irish accent you would swear that he stepped of the plane from Belfast yesterday. Adrian is full of stories, classic Irish mythology, tales of long dead Celtic Heroes and equally well told and interesting yarns of local Papua New Guinea custom and belief. The resort is family run and Adrian is a great man to pass time with.

Sit and sip a couple of icy cold beers at his waterfront bar as you watch the sun go down, 'perfect'. The price of a bungalow also includes the use of a canoe. This gives you access to the reefs and villages dotted along the edge of the lagoon and you can even head off down to Jais Arben and enjoy the facilities there. The Scuba Diving is a must.

In Madang I asked the locals about the roads and tracks further up thecoast. What the conditions were like, what the peoplewere like, if you could buy petrol all the questions you need to have answersto in order to plan a safe enjoyable trip.


I listened to the answers, had a little look for myself and decided that it was not only possible to ride a motorcycle from Lae through Madang up to Wewak and across to Vanimo on route to Irian Jaya it was also going to be a lot of fun.

Things tend to be more enjoyable if they are not sending you brook as you do them. To ride up to Madang have dinner and a few drinks, stay in a comfortable bed have breakfast and ride home again on Sunday afternoon cost me a little over K 120.00 that's what I call good value. You don't have to spend a fortune to have a memorable weekend. So go ahead pick up the phone and make a booking 8522370, Kennedy's Place.

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