Alotau town water supply. 19th May 2008

I asked my friend Tom if he could help me out and walk to one of the Waterfalls that you can see in and amongst the surrounding Mountains of Alotau. He told me of a good one that was only one hour away, and was the source of the town’s water. It also passed through a settlement which was full of Trobriand Islanders and this suited Tom as these were his wantoks. Some of the other waterfalls with settlements were not so well known by Tom and he didn’t recommend that just the two of us should wander there by ourselves.

So, off we went acknowledging Tom’s wantoks with a casual “Beuna Kwaiai”; the Kiriwina phrase for “Good Afternoon”. Some of Tom’s female wantoks wanted to know where Tom was taking their “husband” and we all had a jolly good laugh…

Naturally, a waterfall is part of a water course so we followed a small stream up into the shade of the mountains, which was a welcome relief from the afternoon sun soaked Kunai grass fields where the track started. We crossed the stream continuously as we passed into cool jungle and the filter point of the town’s water supply. Some young workmen were repairing the filter inlet after recent flooding had closed the pick up point. We continued on up into the mountains.

By this stage we were walking in the creek/stream and our feet were wet yet cool. Eventually we made it to a waterfall which consisted of a tree that had fallen over and a small trickle of water. Anyway, the stream was fantastic to look at and it was a cool, peaceful location for a rest. Tom was right with the time to get there, just over the hour.

We then walked back down from where we came, our boots and feet getting wetter and wetter and we stopped to chat to some gardeners tending their crops and also join in a quick game of street soccer.

An enjoyable way to spend an evening.