The mainland is split by a massive mountain range which includes some of the highest peaks in the Pacific. Most of the country is covered by tropical rain forests with ancient mangrove swamps, crocodiles and wide savannah grasslands. Mary and I stayed on New Britain, a crescent shaped island some 520 kilometres long with a width varying from 29 to 146 kilometres. 

Walindi Plantation Resort by Kimbe Bay was originally a cocoa plantation which had been started in 1935. A dwindling prospect, Australian agriculturists Max and Cecilie Benjamin purchased it in 1969 and the following year changed the crop from cocoa to oil palm, a most lucrative plant. In 1983 they expanded the plantation to provide diving with accommodation. Various boats were acquired and a partnership was formed with Peter Hughes to provide a Dancer fleet liveaboard. 

Unfortunately Mary developed ear problems on her first day of diving in Kimbe Bay which despite the best efforts of the local doctor, precluded her from any more diving. With little else to do in the resort but dive, this was particularly unfortunate. One of the few excursions available for the non-diver was to view two World War II relic planes, the jungles of Papua New Guinea being littered with the wrecks of Allied and Japanese aircraft in various stages of disintegration. Mary and I saw a North American B-25H and a New Zealand Lockheed Vega Ventura both of which in World War II had come to rest on a short airstrip in emergency life or death situations. 

I also enjoyed inspecting the underwater wreck of a Japanese Zero not far from Walindi Plantation Resort. Over 800 Allied and Japanese aircraft came down over New Britain Island or its surrounding seas during World War II and this plane lay in about 17 metres of water, having only been discovered in the year 2000. In December 1943 Honda Tomiharu had flown the Zero as part of a Japanese force to combat US marine landings on the western end of New Britain where the Japanese were strongly defending their positions. The air battle which followed was an intense and bloody struggle. It is not known why he ditched the Zero but there were local stories suggesting he did at least survive. 

Diving in Kimbe Bay, I saw pygmy seahorses and mandarinfish but very few exotic small sealife nor did I have any close encounters with large sea life. I did see glimpses of whitetip and grey reef sharks and briefly saw one bumphead parrotfish. However happily on a boat ride to Bradford Shoals we were lucky enough to follow two whales. I had no idea that whales could smell – it was appalling! I was told the dreadful smell came from their breath. Whatever the cause, it was horrendous. 

A huge treat for me was seeing and photographing saltwater crocodiles for the first time – the first such opportunity falling on my birthday. Thanks to Charmaine crew members James and Dominic who acted as my minders, I was able to get close enough to these potentially dangerous subjects to successfully photograph them. 

Some of the reef patches between the coral at Bradford Shoals were covered in small olive-brown coloured anemone-like creatures. I was wearing a lycra suit that despite a dive briefing to the contrary, I assumed would protect me. So I gently settled in the anemones ignoring a slight irritating stinging sensation through my lycra suit. Later I noticed numerous small little spots principally on my left thigh but also on my right thigh and part of my right hand which looked and felt rather like sand fly bites. I had lain on Corallimorpharian. This can produce a mass of special white filaments called acontia, which have huge stinging nematocysts with potent venom. Overnight these small little spots on my left thigh merged into one swollen enraged area but fortunately a combination of antibiotics and anti-histamine given to me by Cecilie Benjamin swiftly dealt with this problem. 

The underwater visibility in Kimbe Bay varied greatly so although the underwater topography included delights such as huge barrel and elephant ear sponges and red whip gorgonians, often poor clarity spoilt their visual impact. I left with mixed feelings about the diving here. Mary and I had arrived with very high expectations - too high in retrospect. I found a typical Kimbe Bay dive site was pretty good and there were undoubtedly some special diving moments during our stay but overall it fell short of being world class, an adjective all to easily awarded.