Madang My Favourite Town in New Guinea

             A few days later, we’re on the plane to Madang.

Madang is another nice place in New Guinea. We book into the Smuggler’s Inn Motel on the lagoon. It’s an idyllic place. The motel is run by Marcia Barlow and her husband John. There are about 12 rooms in a separate building, a bar and a dining room in the main building plus a large verandah overlooking the lagoon. There is about a metre drop from the verandah to the water and we can see the corals below the water line with beautiful coloured fish swimming amongst them.

The Smuggler's Inn, my favourite motel in New Guinea

Phil and I move into our rooms and go to the bar for a couple of drinks. The barmaid is gorgeous and we are both drooling. We meet John and Marcia and have a drink with them. They tell us where to go to hire a car.

Next day, we head for the wharf to pick up our motor bearings. Our paperwork says we should pick up a small wooden box about the size of a suitcase. At the wharf, we advise them of the consignment note and they look around everywhere for this crate. After some considerable time, we are advised the crate is not in Madang. We go back to the motel. Several phone calls to Carriers in Port Moresby and the shipping agency in Port Moresby we are told the crate should definitely be on the wharf in Madang.  Back to the wharf with our confirmation that the crate must be there. They look again and insist it is not on this wharf. They however suggest they will look into the matter.

Without motor bearings, we can’t do any work. Each day we phone and each day we are told, no news yet. We’re on holidays again. The Smugglers Inn is the best place for it.