Probably when I was in high school, I became obsessed with Jules Verne, and I read Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and Around the Earth in Eighty Days.
Especially in "Around the World in Eighty Days", Fogg and his servants overcame difficulties and obstacles along the way, passing through the Mediterranean, red sea, Indian Ocean, Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, and finally returning to London, and finally returned to London, a seed planted in my heart: When I grow up, I will also travel around the world.
I thought that my childhood dream could only become a dream forever, but I did not expect that by chance, I participated in a 46-day cruise around the South Pacific. Although I was not able to travel around the whole world, this trip crossed the equator, crossed the international date line, and explored the places that were difficult for planes to reach, which was also a small fulfillment of my wishes.
Before I joined, I was looking forward to this trip. It wasn't until I was actually on the road that I realized what it was like to be separated from land for a full month and a half, and the gentleness of the cruise ship was like sleeping in the clouds every night.
Fast forward to the 11th stop of the 46-day South Pacific Cruise Tour, Alotau, Papua New Guinea.
There is a real problem with security here. Before coming, I searched for news like this: Chinese tourists arrived in Alotau "cannibals", and the embassy reminded them not to travel alone... In Alottau, Papua New Guinea, although "cannibals" have become a thing of the past, policing remains chaotic and looting is sporadic.
When I first got off the cruise, I was really nervous. After the mobile phone was connected to the signal, we did receive a text message from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reminding everyone to avoid traveling alone and prevent robbery and theft.
Fortunately, after getting off the cruise, the locals greeted us with songs and dances. They dressed in traditional costumes with colorful feathers on their heads, and some women even wore their upper bodies naked. Starting with the Marina Welcome Show, I discovered a different side of this mysterious South Pacific nation.
Speaking of this uncle, what kind of trouble is it to bite a pacifier when you are old? Haha, take a closer look, in fact, they are biting the shell pendant on the necklace. These accessories are really beautiful, and I would love to put on a whole set, and then bite a pacifier to swagger through the market.
It takes almost a quarter of an hour to walk from the port to the city center. After only a few walks, the sunscreen on my face melted with the sweat, and the tropical power was indeed very powerful. Passing by a small hotel called Waterfront Lodge and seeing that it had a shady coffee bar by the sea, we hurried over.
This shop is very rich, in addition to the coffee bar, by the road is a boutique, selling some local handicrafts. Upstairs is the hotel, and behind it is a small pier with a helicopter parked on it.
The Australian foreigner in the shop said that you can take a helicopter to the sea, charter a 12-minute flight for 600 Australian dollars, and sit up to 5 people at a time, but we did not sit, such a local tycoon activity is not suitable for me.
The café faces the sea and the south Pacific breeze blows in, with a hint of saltiness, which relieves our heat. Friends in the same group called for coffee, and we enjoyed the scenery while drinking coffee while listening to the singer's sister singing local songs, feeling relaxed and comfortable.
The locals here are very enthusiastic, there is no sense of the legendary "cannibals", and slowly I relaxed.
According to statistics, the fish species in Papua New Guinea are twice as good as in the Red Sea, and the species of corals in The Caribbean is ten times that of the Caribbean, so we naturally can't miss it.
Abu, a friend of the lady of the hotel, said that the waters around his island are very clean and can be reached by speedboat for more than an hour from here, making it a great place to snorkel. We were able to charter a boat together, about $13 each for 8 people, so we went back to the cruise to change into our swimsuits and gear and set off on a speedboat.
The whole sea seemed to be only our dinghy suddenly bursting out of a new world. We thought it was close, but we underestimated the heat. Although there was a sea breeze in the dinghy, there was no shelter, and everyone was sunburned and a little sleepy.
Suddenly out of the corner of my eye, I saw a fish jumping on the surface of the sea, and I shouted "dolphins", and everyone waited like a chicken blood suddenly, and sure enough, I saw dolphins jumping out of the water, and it was two groups of dolphins. Everyone was very excited, but unfortunately they swam too fast and didn't capture it, which was a pity.
We headed all the way to the island that Abu called. Upon arrival at the island, the shoals are beautiful, with white sand beaches covered with crushed coral and pale shells. But I didn't play on the island, so I got dressed and went snorkeling. Such a beautiful underwater world, fortunately I did not waste a little time.
The underwater world was very quiet while snorkeling, and I could hear my own heartbeat when it was quiet. Large expanses of coral took over my view, and a few small fish occasionally ran out of the coral crevices, swimming frightened into the distance.
The light on the surface of the sea sprinkled on the creatures on the bottom of the sea through the clear seawater, and I felt as if those creatures had their own breath, and they spread their breath far and wide with the flowing seawater.
Two naughty clownfish were found in a bush of sea anemones, probably the father and son in "Finding Nemo" who said it was not necessarily, which suddenly aroused my playfulness.
Although I don't recognize all the varieties of corals, I inexplicably find them unusually harmonious. The bottom of the sea should look like this, bustling.
A small pepper seabream was found, like suffering from ADHD, constantly shaking its head and tail.
On the way back, I passed by an unnamed island, and before I could dive enough, I went down to snorkel again. The corals and anemones in this sea seem to be more delicate and small, and the colors are also rich.
Some are like sponges, some are like tentacles, all kinds of corals are too beautiful, there is no crowd interference, free to grow in the transparent sea, swaggering, becoming the home of the fish.
There are also many sea urchins densely piled together, almost can't help but want to grab them all and eat them.
These two dive sites are very rich in underwater resources, and due to local security reasons, few tourists come, so they have not been too much damage, but we picked up the cheap.
Maybe it was too long to play, the white clouds in the sky turned gray, the whole sky darkened, and it was going to rain. The wind and rain at sea were actually a little scary, and everyone was nervous.
The boatman sped up, and everyone thought of hurrying back to land. There was no place to go at sea, there were no other boats nearby, there was nothing to give us a sense of security, we could only look at each other and comfort each other. After a while, heavy rain began, and everyone could only rely on life jackets and bath towels to shield the wind and rain from warmth, but they still couldn't stop it, and everyone was frozen and shivering.
I am relatively calm, maybe I once had the experience of spitting out in the dark on the boat because of too much wind and waves when diving, and this time it can only be regarded as pediatrics. Eventually, we arrived safely at the hotel pier.
The hostess came to pick us up with an umbrella and she was also worried and let the car take us back to the cruise terminal, which was touching. Back on the cruise ship, I was stimulated by the cold air on board. We hurried back to our room to take a hot shower, everyone was tired. But I was very satisfied, which was an unparalleled experience.
I paid a total of $15 for this trip, of which $2 was a tip. Such a long distance, although most of the time on the road, but snorkeling to see such a beautiful underwater world, I think it is still worth going. Soft corals, as concentrated and diverse as this, are rare even for deep diving in other places, but here you can snorkel. So really, if you don't go out for a walk, you never know what you're going to encounter, what you're going to experience.
I am Yan Ling
With an interesting soul
I've been walking on the road
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CFP/Ctrip contracted photographer, member of China Folklore Photography Association, Sohu gold medal author, Weibo signed self-media, seconds shoot master, Weibo travel video blogger, Lotto Travel Network columnist.