Untitled Document

Mr Been on World Trip

(Post Courier, Friday May 17 2002)

Mr Beem's fantastic journeys have already begun, since arriving in Papua New Guinea this motorcycle has been up to thebase of Mount Wilhelm to see the big hills, and been to Betty Higgins trout farm to tickle the trout that live up there. He has been to magical Madang to see the sea and the beautiful beaches along the north coast road and this week he is off to volcanic Rabaul to start a two week adventure through New Britain Island all the way to it's Western most point at Cape Gloster. You will all get to read more about that in the Post Courier as the trip unfolds. Frank Butler will keep us informed blow by blow as he and his intrepid adventure companion Mark Tickell slip, slide, rev and roar their way through what must be one of the Pacific most strikingly beautiful Islands.

The New Britain trip will be used as shake down cruise, Frank feels that after that he and Mr Beem will be ready to makea Lae to Port Moresby crossing through the Owen Stanley Mountain range over the Bulldog track to meet with some of the countries top people and discuss what he and Mr Beem can do for Papua New Guinea when he is off visiting new friends in new places.

Then the plan is to leave Lae in early July and ride Mr Beem up to Madang, and then continue further up the coast road to where the highway meets the Ramu River. Here they will hire a small canoe or boat to make the crossing to the other side. Then it will be off road all the way up to the mighty Sepik River, another boat, another crossing and then on to the sleepy little town of Wewak. After a short stop in Wewak the Artefact carving capital of the South Seas, they hit the highways and bye ways again. It is planed that they will take the opportunity to stop in at Aitape and visit the people who suffered in the great tsunami disaster of 1998 and see how their lives are shaping up after such a tragic blow to their community.

Then it's only a hop, skip and a jump to the border town of Vamimo. In Vanimo Frank says that he would like to try and recapture some of the days of his youth. He left his home in England in 1978 to embark on a years around the world surfing holiday, he only got as far as Australia before his interest in SCUBA diving over shadowed his surfing ambitions and he decided to become a diving Instructor. Diving is what brought Frank to PNG in the first place, to work in the dive industry and explore the countries underwater marvels. Once he dived into the warm clear waters of New Guinea he was hooked. Now he wants to experience some of the above water fun on Vanimos legendary surfing breaks and catch up with the local surfing pioneers that are making a name for themselves and their township on the International surf scene.

Then comes the sad part, Frank and Mr Beam will be leaving Papua New Guinea. After sixteen years and some of the best times in his life Frank will take his BMW F650 Dakar motorcycle, Registration Number PNG AS 176, better known as 'Mr Beem' and head over the boarder into West Papua (Irian Jaya).

This will mark the beginning of a three-year odyssey. During which our intrepid travellers intend to see as much of the world as they possibly can. While on the road Frank says that he will try his best to be a good ambassador for Papua New Guinea and make sure that the people he meets along the way get to know and understand a little about the country where the great adventure began. Armed with only a photo album an address book and the love of telling a good yarn, he hopes to do more for PNG tourism than Bill Gates did for personal computers. Rather Ambitious.

The biker's proposed route is a list of mystical destinations, the sort of places you read about in 'Boys Own' Comic books. First theexotic Islands of Indonesia: Irian Jaya, Java, Sumatra and Borneo. Then across to the countries of Asia: first Malaysia, then

Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. After that, the sub continent of India awaits, the home of temples, holy men and curry. India is a large country with lots of things to see. So it will be a quick whiz around there and then a boat ride across the Indian Ocean to Africa.

Starting in Cape Town, South Africa the travellers will head north. Looking for the type of experiences that only Africa can offer. They hope to find Big Game, Lions, Elephant, Giraffe and Antelope. And of course Big Adventure: white water rafting, river canoeing and camping in the African bush. The countries they will visit include: South Africa, Botswana, Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania, Zanzibar, Kenya, Sudan, and all stops north.

Then they cross over into Europe and through a string of countries and cultures to numerous to mention. Europe is a treasure trove of Art and History. Frank hopes to get out of the saddle long enough to wander around some of the worlds great museums and churches and may even take Mr Beam back to the BMW factory in Germany for a complete physical.