Ok, , ,

    I'll be heading out next Saturday for Papua New Guinea!!
<Yeaaaaaaaa!!!>  It's going to be quite a journey getting there and
(afterwards) getting home. I've done this before (different routing) so
I'm pretty aware of what to expect although there are always
surprises!!  Prior trips to that part of the world I flew Air New
Zealand through Auckland.  Those trips took me from Atlanta to Los
Angeles to Auckland to Australia to PNG.  This one departs on Saturday
the 3rd and takes me Non-stop on a Korean Air flight from Atlanta to
Seoul where I change planes and do another Non-stop to Sydney.  I'll
arrive in Sydney on the morning of the 5th. I'll be in Sydney till the
afternoon (I think) of the 7th when I fly up to Brisbane.  I'll spend
the night there and on the morning of the 8th I'll hook up with some
buddies of mine and fly through to Port Moresby.  I'll hook up with some
other buds  and spend another night on the road <Arghhhh> and on Friday
the 9th we'll fly up to Kaviang to board the Paradise Sport.

    This will be my second trip with Mike Ball Expeditions.  In 94 I
went on the Spoilsport out of Townsville and it has always been on my
list of "Best Trips"!!  This boat is supposed to be very similar to the
Spoilsport which was roomy and a very comfortable boat to dive from.
I've been to PNG before too.  The other trip got me spoiled on diving in
that region.  In 97 I flew in to Hoskins and then traveled to Walindi
very similar to the trip Viv recently went on.  I dived a few days with
Walindi and then went to the Witu's on the Star Dancer.  I'm really
looking forward to the diving in Kaviang!!

    Anyway, , , I'll keep y'all up-to-date with this adventure.  I'll
hopefully be tipping a beer or two with Strike and Sylvia while
traveling through and the fancy hotel I'm staying in says they have High
Speed connections so I'll be able to communicate!!

    Now I've got to look up that Crocodile Hunter guy!! <hehehe>

SeeYa,

Alfred Kirkland
Dahlonega, GA.