Paradise accommodation in Wewak

In Wewak, I had noticed a motel on the way into town from the airport when I was here with Ted Stuyvender. So this time I decide we might give this a go. So we take a cab from the airport and the motel looks great. It’s right on the beach and the verandah outside the dining room is joining the sandy beach. We book our rooms, pick up a hire car in town and spend the rest of the day at the beach outside the motel which is called 'Windjammer'.

I know Wewak, having been here before and after we serviced the units at the army base, we drive to the hospital where we are told we can only switch the air conditioning off on a Sunday. It’s used every other day of the week, so we have to wait a few days for Sunday. We spend most days sight seeing in Wewak and on the beach outside the motel. It’s just like being on holidays, but we're getting paid.

Windjammer Motel in Wewak - Sepik District

We meet some interesting people in the Territory. Here in Wewak we meet a Belgian chap who is here buying artefacts at the Catholic Mission. He tells me he comes to the Territory twice a year, ships the stuff to Paris and makes a great living selling the artefacts there. He always flies first class. So there is  good money in artifacts. He also buys mounted butterflies and tells us he can get up to $500 for a good species. And there are lots of rare and beautiful butterflies in Papua New Guinea.


He asks us if we're interested in supplying him with butterflies for which we will pay top dollars. He shows us on paper what we would have to do, how to kill them and mount them so they're not damaged.

My mind starts thinking. Here I am in the Territory, getting paid to travel around and have great opportunities to buy artefacts which I could easily ship to Europe, and catch butterflies for him to collect once a year. I too could make a great living. We exchange names and addresses. I'll think about it.