 |
 |
 |
|
| At the first site we visited at Divune in Oro province inland from Popondetta, we were treated to a full ceremonial welcome from the people of Waju Village. What was planned to be a full day looking at the sites in the field ended up in a day of feasts and speeches | |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Our proposed weir site for the Divune power station is
located at the point where the Luwini creek discharges from the Owen Stanley
ranges onto the slopes leading to the valley below. The local kids were
in for the swim. On the way up to the village we had a police escort. I
would not like to mess with the commander of the Kokoda police station,
his shotgun would be a good deterent. In 2007 the province had tropical cyclone Guba go through (a rare event at these latitudes) which took out twenty six bridges |
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Palm Oil production is the main economic driver for the province, but the history is not far below the surface. Mt Lamington (above left) erupted in 1951 in a series of violent pyroclastic flows which killed over 3,000. The wrecked Liberator Bomber and the memorials at Kokoda highlight the war time history of the area which saw the Japanese army try to push over the Owen Stanley ranges and on to Port Moresby only to be repulsed by the Australians | |
 |
|
