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In late June, we flew from SFO to Sydney, Australia to bein a 7+ week adventure, split between Australia and Papua New Guinea.

Having flown overnight, we picked up our rental car and drove to our long-time friends', the McCalls', home.  There we were cheerfully greeted by Lauren, Sue, Alex and Billy.  It is always a joy to catch up on their lives, share ours and engage in stimulating conversations about both of our country's politics, the state of the world, etc.

While we were in Sydney, Sue and us were also able to meet friends, Jon and Val Donovan, for lunch at an up-and-coming restaurant.  We had initially met them on our first expedition to Antarctica in 1998-9.  We talked non-stop with them, also, and hope they AND the McCalls will visit us at The Sea Ranch soon.

Even in 'winter', Bondi Beach has a certain charm as the breakers roll onto shore.  It was one of many places we visited in/around Sydney while we recovered from jetlag before leaving on an adventure to areas of New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory that we'd never visited.

Driving south from Sydney, we stopped to admire this view looking toward Wollongong.

A pair of colorful Rainbow Lorikeets caught our attention.

We drove out to Pebbly Beach to look for Eastern Grey Kangaroos to photograph.  Near the parking lot, we were rewarded with stunning views of this Crimson Rosella.

Rich made the mistake of taking out a bag of cashews for a snack.  He was soon mobbed by MANY birds.

A male King Parrot landed on both his head and his hand along with an immature Crimson Rosella.  Initally it was comical...

Then...even 'the Birdman of The Sea Ranch' found it bordering upon TOO intense.

Birds were EVERYWHERE.

Putting the cashews away, we made our way to the beach where we found many of the sought-after Eastern Grey Kangaroos.  Male kangaroos are called bucks, boomers, jacks, or old men; females are does, flyers, or jills, and the young ones are joeys.  The collective noun for kangaroos is a mob, troop, or court. 

This 'joey' had dived into his pouch head first.

Fortunately, this 'joey' was curious and provided Dean with the shot he was seeking.  The Eastern Grey Kangaroo (Macropus giganteus) species is less well-known than the Red, outside of Australia.  However, it is the most often seen, as its range covers the fertile eastern part of the continent.

Returning to our car, we had a fly-over of Black Cockatoos before proceeding to Bateman's Bay where we spent the night.

The following day, we headed inland to do some birding and stopped to look at this homestead.

An Australian Magpie sat still long enough for a photo.

Then we headed back to the coast and spent our second night south of Sydney in the quaint village of Eden.  This was the view of the harbor the following morning.

Driving west and northerly toward the Australian Capitol Territory, we spied a Common Wombat along the road.

Normally nocturnal, these are large, herbacious, burrowing mammals, who are quite skittish, as this one soon demonstrated.  Note the nearly absent tail.

Awakening in Canberra, the capitol of Australia, we drove to the top of Mount Anslie to photograph their old and new Parliment House buildings on Capital Hill across Lake Burley Griffin beyond the Australian War Memorial and ANZAC Parade grounds.

Initially it was planned to build Parliament House, in accordance with Walter Burley Griffin’s design of Canberra, before the first sitting of Federal Parliament in the city. Due to setbacks and problems with funding this could not be achieved, so a temporary or provisional Parliament House was constructed on the slopes of Capital Hill. This building, the prominent long whie one above the water, was opened on May 9, 1927.  It was used until the ‘new’ Parliament House was opened on May 9, 1988. The first sitting of Federal Parliament in new Parliament House was on 22 August 1988. The original building is now called (for consistency) Old Parliament House.

New Parliament House was the result of an international design competition with the winning design by Romaldo Giurgola conforming to the original thoughts of Burley Griffin. 

Closeup of the new Parliament House with its massive flag above reveals how much of the building is buried within Capital Hill.  The flag flown from the 81 metre flagpole is 12.8m by 6.4m, about the size of half a tennis court.  The flagpole weighs 220 tonnes and is made of polished stainless steel from Newcastle, NSW.  It is one of the largest stainless steel structures in the world. It was designed to be the pinnacle of Parliament House and is an easily recognizable symbol of national government.

Touring Parliament, we noted the green of the House of Representatives Chamber is based on the traditional Westminster green, but has been adapted to reflect the grey-green of Australia’s native gum leaves.  The House has 150 members representing electorates across Australia.  Each electorate is based on a population size of approximately 80,000 voters.  Electorate boundaries are adjusted from time to time so that they all contain approximately equal numbers of electors.  Elections for the House of Representatives are held at least every three years.

Mount Anslie, pictured above the 'old' Parliament House, is where we had driven to take the first photos of the Capital Hill area as seen earlier.

Later, we drove to the Telstra Tower on Black Mountain and rode to the observation area where this photo of the National Museum of Australia was taken.  It opened in 2001.  We visited it during a rainy day to explore the various displays about the land, nation and people of Australia.

Another view from Telstra Tower of Lake Burley Griffin and the water jet, which is part of the Captain James Cook Memorial.  The water jet is powered by two 560 KW motors driving four stage centrifugal pumps capable of pumping up to 250 litres per second against a head of 183 meters. The water velocity at the water nozzle is 260 km/hr. While running both pumps simultaneously the main jet throws approximately six tons of water into the air at any instant, reaching a maximum height of 147 metres.

After several days in Canberra, we drove north and easterly to the Blue Mountains, an area we'd wished to visit for many years.  The name derives from the blueish tinge the range takes on when viewed at a distance, which is caused by the release of volatile oils from the eucalyptus forests.

The Blue Mountains of New South Wales, AU, are located ~100 kilometres west of Sydney.  They are a range of sandstone geological structures, reaching at least 1,190 metres high. The Blue Mountains are not as the name suggests a range of mountains but rather a series of cliffs surrounding a plateau with rugged, eroded gorges of up to 760 metres depth.

We stayed in Katoomba at a delightful B & B whose owner suggested we visit Echo Point overlook where the Three Sisters are viewed best.  This image was early in the day.

A closeup of the Three Sisters, which was taken in the late afternoon.  The Aboriginal dream-time legend has it that these three sisters, 'Meehni', 'Wimlah' and Gunnedoo' lived in the Jamison Valley as members of the Katoomba tribe.  These beautiful young ladies had fallen in love with three brothers from the Nepean tribe, yet tribal law forbade them to marry.

The brothers were not happy to accept this law and so decided to use force to capture the three sisters causing a major tribal battle.

As the lives of the three sisters were seriously in danger, a witchdoctor from the Katoomba tribe took it upon himself to turn the three sisters into stone to protect them from any harm. While he had intended to reverse the spell when the battle was over, the witchdoctor himself was killed. As only he could reverse the spell to  return the ladies to their former beauty, the sisters remain in their magnificent rock formation as a reminder of this battle for generations to come.

Leaving Katoomba, we drove to the entrance of the Jenolan Caves located west of the Blue Mountains.  While there we went on a tour of one of the 400 caves in the area.

Many years ago an earthquake produced this broken column.

A 'curtain' of stalagtites from the ceiling of one of the rooms within the cave was stunning.

This pattern was called the 'waterfall'.

After finishing our tour of the cave, we drove to Singleton in the Upper Hunter Valley where we spent the night.  The next day we toured several winerys in the lower Hunter Valley, including Rosemont Estate, whose wine we'd had in the US.

At Mount Pleasant Winery, we enjoyed a 'sumptous' lunch in Elizabeth's Restaurant before driving back to Sydney where we again stayed overnight with the McCall Family.

The next day, we were up early and after turning in our rental car at the Sydney aiport, we flew to Darwin, capital of the Northern Territory.  Like the ACT, it is not a state.  Here we joined other members of a Field Guides Inc. birding tour led by John Coons. 

This is a photo of the forebay from the Timor Sea near Darwin.

Amongst the habitats we visited were several mangroves, which we enjoy as there aren't any near The Sea Ranch.

A Masked Lapwing moves away cautiously.

Note the bright red eye and forked tail on this cooperative Spangled Drongo.

Though we had excellent looks at this Torresian Imperial-Pigeon at the Darwin Botanic Gardens, we failed to see a Rufous Owl despite 3 attempts.

We flew a regional airline to Kununurra in Western Australia.  While on a boat trip, we had excellent views of stunning Red-combed Jacanas.

We also saw this nearly adult Black-crowned Night Heron.

Returnig to Darwin, we ventured into Kakadu National Park where we saw many water birds.

We also watched this Zitting Cisticola nearly due the 'splits' as it perched.

Amongst them were these Pygmy Geese with their intricate wing patterns.

The water lillies were beautiful, too.

Snowy Egrets are beautiful on any continent.

We stayed in Pine Creek and one afternoon took a boat ride on the Yellow River.  Our guide quietly manuevered our group within close proximity of this LARGE crocodile.

We also had superb views of pre-historic looking Magpie Geese and beautiful Plumed Whistling Ducks (below).

We also saw nesting Jabiru: note the youngster still has a brown head/neck.

Nearby was a nest of nearly mature Darters, too.

Along the bank we saw this cooperative Sacred Kingfisher...

Finally we spied a Little Kingfisher, also.

An unidentified butterfly species added to our enjoyment of the boating adventure.

Later, Dean posed near a XXX termite mound.

A Little Corella paused before taking flight.

An immature male Hooded Parrot posed briefly.

Several Hooded Parrots gathered at a water hole to drink.  The hooded parrot Psephotus dissimilis is a little known grass parrot inhabiting open woodlands, grassland and savannah of the Northern Territory. Like the closely related golden-shouldered parrot P. chrysopterygius and the extinct paradise parrot P. pulcherrimus, the hooded parrot excavates nests in termite mounds and is thought to have a relationship with a moth, the larvae of which feed on the nestling’s waste and are thought to keep the nest-cavity clean.

White-throated Grasswrens occur only in largely inaccessible, rugged sandstone country.  The great Arnhem Land escarpment is a major feature of Kakadu National Park and that is where most people go to see this species, in particular to Gunlom, a popular camping spot on the South Alligator River. There, John Coons leds us on a steep climb up the escarpment alongside Waterfall Creek to an area where this species of grasswrens can usually be seen.

Not only did this yield wonderful views...

But we also found the White-throated Grasswren, too. 

On another morning, we went to Anbangbang in the shadow of Nourlangie Rock where we saw Rock Wallaby and other species.

We marveled at the Aborigini Rock Art Paintings, too.

Returning to Darwin from Katherine, we spied these Royal Spoonbills.

We then flew to Cairns and after birding part of the day, we continued on to Bamaga near the tip of the Cape York Peninsula for a couple of days before returning to Cairns.

While we were in Cairns a short time, we visited the Centenary Lakes where we saw this Pacific Baza, which has a short posterior crest as shown below-

After returning to Cairns from Cape York, we had breakfast the following morning at the Cassowary House, owned by Field Guide's own Phil Gregory and his wife, Sue, who is a chef extraordinaire.  Luck was with us and several Southern Cassowaries came near to eat and drink.  The one above is an adult male.

The casque on top of the head and the 'gobble is very colorful.

The medial 'dew claw' is quite sharp.  It has been used by the species to disembowel Aboriginal hunters when the bird felt cornered.  The long bone above the feet is used by people in Papua New Guinea and elsewhere to fashion a pointed dagger.

A Helmeted Friarbird came in to try and feed from the sugar/water feeder.

Macleay's Honeyeaters came to feed, also.

An Emerald Dove posed nearby.

Two Spotted Catbirds, so named for their call, ventured into the fruit feeder.

Rich carefully fed a juvenile Southern Cassowary chick some fruit from his hand.

Suddenly, a second chick appeared.

A Musky Rat Kangaroo, which is the smallest kangaroo of the family, scurried about attempting to find food, too.

An Australian Brush Turkey scratched for food near the feeding station, too

Wandering down the road where the Guest House is located, we spotted a Laughing Kukuburra perched on a wire.  Later in the day, we birded the Esplanade in Cairns before saying goodbye to our group and flying on to Brisbane, where we joined another Field Guides trip led by Phil Gregory and Jay VanderGaast to Papua New Guinea.

Papua New Guine represents a travel destination Rich had desired to visit since reading Margaret Mead's book _Growing up in New Guinea_ in college.  It did not disappoint.  To understand his fascination, it is important to have some background -

PEOPLE
The indigenous population of Papua New Guinea is one of the most heterogeneous in the world. Papua New Guinea has several thousand separate communities, most with only a few hundred people. Divided by language, customs, and tradition, some of these communities have engaged in low-scale tribal conflict with their neighbors for millennia. The advent of modern weapons and modern migration into urban areas has greatly magnified the impact of this lawlessness.

The isolation created by the mountainous terrain is so great that some groups, until recently, were unaware of the existence of neighboring groups only a few kilometers away. The diversity, reflected in a folk saying, "For each village, a different culture," is perhaps best shown in the local languages. Spoken mainly on the island of New Guinea--composed of Papua New Guinea and the Indonesian province of West Papua--some 800 of these languages have been identified; of these, only 350-450 are related. The remainder seem to be totally unrelated either to each other or to the other major groupings. Most native languages are spoken by a few hundred to a few thousand, although Enga, used in part of the highlands, is spoken by some 130,000 people. However, the Enga people are subdivided into clans that regularly conflict with each other. Many native languages are extremely complex grammatically.

Melanesian Pidgin serves as the lingua franca. English is spoken by educated people and in Milne Bay Province. The overall population density is low, although pockets of overpopulation exist. Papua New Guinea's Western Province averages one person per square kilometer (3 per sq. mi.). The Chimbu Province in the New Guinea highlands averages 20 persons per square kilometer (60 per sq. mi.) and has areas containing up to 200 people farming a square kilometer of land. The highlands are home to 40% of the population.

A considerable urban drift toward Port Moresby and other major centers has occurred in recent years. The trend toward urbanization accelerated in the 1990s, bringing in its wake squatter settlements, ethnic disputes, unemployment, and attendant social problems, especially violent crime.

Approximately 96% of the population is Christian. The churches with the largest number of members are the Roman Catholic Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church, the United Church, and the Seventh Day Adventist church. Although the major churches are under indigenous leadership, a large number of missionaries remain in the country. The bulk of the estimated 2,000 Americans resident in Papua New Guinea are missionaries and their families. The non-Christian portion of the indigenous population, as well as a portion of the nominal Christians, practices a wide variety of religions that are an integral part of traditional culture, mainly animism (spirit worship) and ancestor cults.

Foreign residents comprise about 1% of the population. More than half are Australian; others are from the United Kingdom, New Zealand, the Philippines, and the United States, most of whom are missionaries. Since independence, about 900 foreigners have become naturalized citizens.

Though cultures vary widely, traditional Papua New Guinea social structures generally include the following characteristics:

The practice of subsistence economy; Recognition of bonds of kinship with obligations extending beyond the immediate family group; Generally egalitarian relationships with an emphasis on acquired, rather than inherited, status; and a strong attachment of the people to land, which is held communally. Traditional communities do not recognize a permanent transfer of ownership when land is sold. Though land and other possessions may be inherited through the female line in some cultures, women generally are considered and treated as inferiors. Gender violence is endemic. Patterns and frequency of sexual activity, though never publicly discussed, contribute to the current rapid spread of HIV.

Most Papua New Guineans still adhere strongly to this traditional social structure, which has its roots in village life.

HISTORY
Archeological evidence indicates that humans arrived on New Guinea at least 60,000 years ago, probably by sea from Southeast Asia during an Ice Age period when the sea was lower and distances between islands shorter. Although the first arrivals were hunters and gatherers, early evidence shows that people managed the forest environment to provide food. There also are indications of gardening having been practiced at the same time that agriculture was developing in Mesopotamia and Egypt. Early garden crops--many of which are indigenous--included sugarcane, Pacific bananas, yams, and taros, while sago and pandanus were two commonly exploited native forest crops. Today's staples--sweet potatoes and pigs--were later arrivals, but shellfish and fish have long been mainstays of coastal dwellers' diets.

When Europeans first arrived, inhabitants of New Guinea and nearby islands--while still relying on bone, wood, and stone tools--had a productive agricultural system. They traded along the coast, where products mainly were pottery, shell ornaments, and foodstuffs, and in the interior, where forest products were exchanged for shells and other sea products.

The first Europeans to sight New Guinea were probably the Portuguese and Spanish navigators sailing in the South Pacific in the early part of the 16th century. In 1526-27, Don Jorge de Meneses accidentally came upon the principal island and is credited with naming it "Papua," a Malay word for the frizzled quality of Melanesian hair. The term "New Guinea" was applied to the island in 1545 by a Spaniard, Íñigo Ortiz de Retes, because of a fancied resemblance between the islands' inhabitants and those found on the African Guinea coast. Although European navigators visited the islands and explored their coastlines for the next 170 years, little was known of the inhabitants until the late 19th century.

New Guinea
With Europe's growing need for coconut oil, Godeffroy's of Hamburg, the largest trading firm in the Pacific, began trading for copra in the New Guinea Islands. In 1884, Germany formally took possession of the northeast quarter of the island and put its administration in the hands of a chartered company. In 1899, the German imperial government assumed direct control of the territory, thereafter known as German New Guinea. In 1914, Australian troops occupied German New Guinea, and it remained under Australian military control until 1921. The British Government, on behalf of the Commonwealth of Australia, assumed a mandate from the League of Nations for governing the Territory of New Guinea in 1920. That mandate was administered by the Australian Government until the Japanese invasion in December 1941 brought about its suspension. Following the surrender of the Japanese in 1945, civil administration of Papua as well as New Guinea was restored, and under the Papua New Guinea Provisional Administration Act, 1945-46, Papua and New Guinea were combined in an administrative union.

Papua
On November 6, 1884, a British protectorate was proclaimed over the southern coast of New Guinea (the area called Papua) and its adjacent islands. The protectorate, called British New Guinea, was annexed outright on September 4, 1888. The possession was placed under the authority of the Commonwealth of Australia in 1902. Following the passage of the Papua Act of 1905, British New Guinea became the Territory of Papua, and formal Australian administration began in 1906. Papua was administered under the Papua Act until the Japanese invaded the northern parts of the islands in 1941 and began to advance on Port Moresby and civil administration was suspended. During the war, Papua was governed by a military administration from Port Moresby, where Gen. Douglas MacArthur occasionally made his headquarters. As noted, it was later joined in an administrative union with New Guinea during 1945-46 following the surrender of Japan.

Postwar Developments
The Papua and New Guinea Act of 1949 formally approved the placing of New Guinea under the international trusteeship system and confirmed the administrative union of New Guinea and Papua under the title of "The Territory of Papua and New Guinea." The act provided for a Legislative Council (established in 1951), a judicial organization, a public service, and a system of local government. A House of Assembly replaced the Legislative Council in 1963, and the first House of Assembly opened on June 8, 1964. In 1972, the name of the territory was changed to Papua New Guinea.

Elections in 1972 resulted in the formation of a ministry headed by Chief Minister Michael Somare, who pledged to lead the country to self-government and then to independence. Papua New Guinea became self-governing in December 1973 and achieved independence on September 16, 1975. The 1977 national elections confirmed Michael Somare as Prime Minister at the head of a coalition led by the Pangu Party. However, his government lost a vote of confidence in 1980 and was replaced by a new cabinet headed by Sir Julius Chan as Prime Minister. The 1982 elections increased Pangu's plurality, and parliament again chose Somare as Prime Minister. In November 1985, the Somare government lost a vote of no confidence, and the parliamentary majority elected Paias Wingti, at the head of a five-party coalition, as Prime Minister. A coalition, headed by Wingti, was victorious in very close elections in July 1987. In July 1988, a no-confidence vote toppled Wingti and brought to power Rabbie Namaliu, who a few weeks earlier had replaced Somare as leader of the Pangu Party.

Such reversals of fortune and a revolving-door succession of prime ministers have characterized Papua New Guinea's national politics. From 1988 to 2002, the country had numerous prime ministers. A plethora of political parties, coalition governments, shifting party loyalties, and motions of no confidence in the leadership all lent an air of instability to political proceedings. For the first 27 years of independence, a "first past the post" electoral system resulted in many parliamentarians elected with less than 15% of their constituency. Fractious politics and a 75% loss rate for incumbents precluded the development of strong political parties or a stable national leadership. Many hope that limited preferential voting, introduced in 2003, and an organic law on political parties will stabilize national politics.

In the 2002 elections, virtually the entire previous cabinet lost their seats. The government was formed by a coalition of several parties, and Sir Michael Somare, the leader of the National Alliance (and the nation's first Prime Minister in 1975), was elected Prime Minister. The 2007 elections returned Somare as Prime Minister. His government was the first to complete a 5-year term since independence.

GOVERNMENT AND POLITICAL CONDITIONS
Papua New Guinea, a constitutional monarchy, recognizes the Queen of England as head of state. She is represented by a Governor General who is elected by parliament and who performs mainly ceremonial functions. Papua New Guinea has three levels of government--national, provincial, and local. There is a 109-member unicameral parliament, whose members are elected every 5 years. The parliament in turn elects the prime minister, who appoints his cabinet from members of his party or coalition.

Members of parliament are elected from 19 provinces and the national capital district of Port Moresby. Parliament introduced reforms in June 1995 to change the provincial government system, with regional (at-large) members of parliament becoming provincial governors, while retaining their national seats in parliament.

Papua New Guinea's judiciary is independent of the government. It protects constitutional rights and interprets the laws. There are several levels, culminating in the Supreme Court.

Papua New Guinea's politics are highly competitive with most members elected on a personal and ethnic basis within their constituencies rather than as a result of party affiliation. Members of parliament are now elected in a limited preferential voting (LPV) system. There are several parties, but party allegiances are not strong. Winning candidates are usually courted in efforts to forge the majority needed to form a government, and allegiances are fluid. No single party has yet won enough seats to form a government in its own right.

Papua New Guinea has a history of changes in government coalitions and leadership from within parliament during the 5-year intervals between national elections. New governments are protected by law from votes of no confidence for the first 18 months of their incumbency, and no votes of no confidence may be moved in the 12 months preceding a national election. In an effort to create greater stability by reducing incessant votes of no confidence, the Integrity of Political Parties Act was passed in 1999, forbidding members of each party in parliament from shifting loyalty to another party.

In 2003, the electoral system was changed to limited preferential voting, which many hope will encourage politicians to strike alliances and to be responsive to constituent concerns once elected. The new system was first used in a 2004 by-election with modest, but positive results.

On Bougainville Island, a 10-year rebellion was halted by a truce in 1997 and a permanent cease-fire was signed in April 1998. A peace agreement between the Government and ex-combatants was signed in August 2001. Under the eyes of a regional peace-monitoring force and a UN observer mission, the government and provincial leaders established an interim administration and made significant progress toward complete surrender/destruction of weapons. A constitution was drafted in 2004 and provincial government elections were held in May 2005. The elections were deemed to be free and fair by international observers, and Joseph Kabui was elected to serve as the first president of the Autonomous Bougainville Government.

Principal Government Officials
Governor General--Sir Paulias Matane
Prime Minister--Sir Michael Somare
Deputy Prime Minister--Puka Temu
Foreign Minister--Samuel Abal
Ambassador to the United Nations--Robert Aisi
Ambassador to the United States--Evan Paki

Papua New Guinea maintains an embassy at 1779 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20036 (tel. 202-745-3680; fax 202-745-3679). The Papua New Guinea mission to the United Nations is at 801 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10017 (tel. 212-682-6447).

ECONOMY
Papua New Guinea is rich in natural resources, including minerals, timber, and fish, and produces a variety of commercial agricultural products. The economy generally can be separated into subsistence and market sectors, although the distinction is blurred by smallholder cash cropping of coffee, cocoa, and copra. About 75% of the country's population relies primarily on the subsistence economy. The minerals, timber, and fish sectors are dominated by foreign investors.

Manufacturing is limited, and the formal labor sector consequently also is limited. High commodity prices in 2005 continued to lift both sectors after several years of declines.

Mineral Resources
Papua New Guinea is richly endowed with gold, copper, oil, natural gas, and other minerals. In 2005 mineral export receipts accounted for 49.7% of GDP. Government revenues and foreign exchange earnings depend heavily on mineral exports. Indigenous landowners in areas affected by minerals projects also receive royalties from those operations. Copper and gold mines are currently in production at Porgera, Ok Tedi, Misima, and Lihir. A consortium led by Exxon/Mobil hopes to begin the commercialization of the country's estimated 22.5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas reserves through the construction of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) production facility. Interoil, an American-owned firm, opened Papua New Guinea's first oil refinery in 2004. It has the capacity to produce 30,000 barrels of product a day.

Agriculture, Timber, and Fish
Papua New Guinea also produces and exports valuable agricultural, timber, and marine products. Agriculture currently accounts for 30.4% of GDP and supports more than 85% of the population. Cash crops ranked by value are coffee, oil, cocoa, copra, tea, rubber, and sugar. About 40% of the country is covered with exploitable trees, but a domestic woodworking industry has been slow to develop. A number of Southeast Asian companies are active in the timber industry, but World Bank and other donors have withdrawn support from the sector over concern for unregulated deforestation and environmental damage. Recently enacted forestry legislation has exacerbated those concerns. Papua New Guinea has an active tuna industry, but much of the catch is made by boats of other nations fishing in Papua New Guinea waters under license. Papua New Guinea is a signatory to the South Pacific Tuna Treaty (SPTT), under which U.S. purse seiners fish for tuna in the exclusive economic zones (EEZs) of the Pacific Island parties. Locally produced fish exports are confined primarily to shrimp.

Industry
In general, the Papua New Guinea economy is highly dependent on imports for manufactured goods. Its industrial sector--exclusive of mining--accounts for only 9% of GDP and contributes little to exports. Small-scale industries produce beer, soap, concrete products, clothing, paper products, matches, ice cream, canned meat, fruit juices, furniture, plywood, and paint. The small domestic market, relatively high wages, and high transport costs are constraints to industrial development.

Trade and Investment
Australia, Singapore, and Japan are the principal exporters to Papua New Guinea. Petroleum and mining machinery and aircraft have been the strongest U.S. exports to Papua New Guinea.

Australia is Papua New Guinea's most important export market, followed by Japan and the European Union. The U.S. imports modest amounts of gold, copper ore, cocoa, coffee, and other agricultural products from Papua New Guinea. Most of those exports take place through third countries.

With the 2003 withdrawal of Chevron/Texaco, Australian companies are the most active in developing Papua New Guinea's mining and petroleum sectors. Exxon/Mobil retains a major share of natural gas reserves and is currently exploring the feasibility of building a liquefied natural gas processing facility. Interoil, an American-owned firm backed by an Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) loan, operates an oil refinery in Port Moresby. China is increasing its investment in Papua New Guinea, including development of the $1 billion Ramu nickel mine.

Papua New Guinea became a participating economy in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum in 1993. It joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 1996. It is an observer at ASEAN and a member of the ASEAN Regional Forum.

Development Programs and Aid
Australia is by far the largest bilateral aid donor to Papua New Guinea, offering about $300 million a year in assistance. Budgetary support, which has been provided in decreasing amounts since independence, was phased out in 2000, with aid concentrated on project development. In 2004, Australia and Papua New Guinea embarked on the Enhanced Cooperation Program (ECP), under which Australia agreed to provide direct assistance, including 210 line police officers, to the Papua New Guinea constabulary. The ECP met with initial success, but was abruptly ended when Papua New Guinea's Supreme Court stripped Australian police officers of immunity in May 2005. Virtually all ECP personnel left Papua New Guinea following the court's decision. The governments of Papua New Guinea and Australia are now involved in protracted negotiations on a scaled-down version of the ECP.

Other major sources of aid to Papua New Guinea are Japan, the European Union, the People's Republic of China, Taiwan, the United Nations, the Asian Development Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank. Volunteers from a number of countries and mission church workers also provide education, health, and development assistance throughout the country. Foreign assistance to Papua New Guinea is approximately $46 per capita. The U.S. funds a $1.5 million-per-year HIV/AIDS project in Papua New Guinea.

Current Economic Conditions
After years of decline and government deficit, Papua New Guinea was bolstered in recent years by a general rise in commodity prices and by government steps toward spending control. The economy continues to grow modestly and the government recorded a modest surplus in 2006. However, the economic improvements are based almost entirely on high commodity prices and the nation continues to have serious problems of corruption, a lack of law and order, land tenure concerns stifling investment, political interference in business, and a lack of political will to adopt needed sweeping reforms.

FOREIGN RELATIONS
Papua New Guinea's foreign policy reflects close ties with Australia and other traditional allies. Papua New Guinea is by far the largest Pacific Island nation and has traditionally viewed itself as part of the Pacific. However, in recent years it has also been cultivating relations with Asian nations. Its views on international political and economic issues are generally moderate. Papua New Guinea has diplomatic relations with 56 countries.

After an overnight in Brisbane, AU, we flew to Port Moresby, the capital of Papua New Guinea located on the south central coast.  Here our Field Guides' Tour began...

Ambua (which translates as 'yellow' in the local languarge) Lodge was our 'home' for 6 nights in the Western Highlands.  Note how the King of Saxony Bird of Paradise is incorporated into their logo above while plants spell out the name below.

Ambua Lodge is a collection of eco-friendly 'huts' on the hillside.   A favorite of Sir David Attenborough, it has it's own hydro-electric plant. 

The security guards at the entrance to Ambua Lodge.

The macheete is almost as big as the young man.

An immature male Ribbon-tailed Astrapia perches momentarily.  It was one of the 23 Bird of Paradise species that we enjoyed seeing during our trip through Papua New Guinea.

Stopping along the road, this native Huli man was carrying his bilum, a woven string bag and an umbrella.  The 'arse grass' barely covers his buttocks in the back, while the 'lap-lap' covers his genitalia in front; this leaves the sides open. 

A close-up of this Huili man's necklace reveals colored beads above black Southern Cassowary quills linked together over a Blyth's Hornbill's beak between 6 pigs' tusks.

While it isn't our culture, we prefer seeing the bill on the living bird.

This Huli man, perhaps a Christian, wears second-hand clothing from one of the missions though he carries a bilum, too.

This man was smoking the local tobaco in a hand-carved pipe.  The odor was not unlike something we'd tried in our youth.  He carried a bilum, also.

Coffee beans ripening on the tree before being picked and dried.  PNG is the number 2 producer of coffee, Brazil being #1.

As houses in the highlands lack windows, the smoke from the cooking fires fill up the thatched huts where the women and young children live.  Here it makes its way out just under the juncture of the thatched roof and woven walls.

The highland jungle was a mix of ancient tall trees and low thick ferns.

A male King of Saxony Bird of Paradise displays his long plumes.

Trans Nuiguini Tours arranged for us to attend a small singsing (cultural show) at a village near our Ambua Lodge.  Ambua means yellow as the clay for creating one of the important face paints is dug nearby.

This man's appearance is made possible by a real human hair wig decorated with tufts of cus-cus (opposum) over his ears; lorikeet wings, parrakeet feathers, and Raggiana Bird of Paradise plumes on the top; a Southern Cassowary quill through his nose and others joined together around his neck.