Day 991: Thursday, June 1, 2017

As I am flying tomorrow I could not SCUBA dive today so I made arrangements to take a tour of what the area has to offer on land. I was able to hire a van (the same vans I have been riding at about $0.70 USD a ride) with driver/guide for the equivalent of $110 USD for the day. Phil my driver/guide arrived at 9am.

Our first stop of the morning was the Sulphur springs at the foot of the steaming volcano that erupted in 1994. I did not have time to hike to the top of the volcano but for about $20 USD you can get a guide there to walk to the top with you. They said it was a 2 hour round trip.

From there we went to see the crash site of 2 Japanese Betty Bombers. The partial remains of the 2 planes are there but are not much to look at. Near there we went to a Japanese big gun emplacement that had a commanding view of Rabaul and the surrounding area. These guns were very similar to the ones I found on the island of Nauru.

After that we went to Admiral Yamamoto’s bunker and adjacent Rabaul WWII museum. Admiral Yamamoto is famous for leading the attack on Pearl Harbor and he was the head of the Japanese Imperial Navy in the Pacific. Rabaul was the HQ of the Japanese Imperial Navy during the war so Yamamoto spent a lot of time here. The bunker itself is not very big but it has 2 war rooms that are each maybe 10 meters by 5 meters in size. The museum had a lot of pictures of Rabaul before, during, and after the war. It also had a lot of information on Admiral Yamamoto. Unlike the other WWII museums I have been to that focused heavily on artifacts (guns, tanks, ammunition, etc.) this one was a nice change of pace.

We went back to my hotel at noon where I took a much needed lunch break for an hour. In the afternoon we went to see a huge cave complex that the Japanese used for their hospital during the war. It had 3 levels to it! There was also a guillotine outside the cave where the Japanese would behead prisoners that did not cooperate.

Just a few hundred meters down the road was another cave but this one was much different. It was a single huge tunnel dug into the side of a cliff. The tunnel is about 500 meters from the water and somewhat uphill. The Japanese Navy had a series of these caves for the purpose of storing boats out of sight of the US pilots bombing the area. They used rails to get the boats from the sea up and into the caves and pulled by hand using slaves and/or prisoners. Each cave held 4 of these boats. Only one cave still has boats in them and that is the one we saw.

After that it was on to the Volcano Observatory that sits high on a hill overlooking Rabaul and looks right at the active volcano. The last stop of the day was at a Japanese submarine base on the other side of the island. The site was chosen because at that spot there is an immediate 300-meter drop-off so the submarines could come right up to the shoreline. In addition the shoreline there is a cliff as well so they dug caves into the cliff. These caves were used for storage. The Japanese submarines would bring supplies to Rabaul and drop them here. Of course this area was also protected by a big Japanese gun on top of the hill.

By the time we were done with all of this I had Phil take me back to the hotel where I did nothing the rest of the evening except to pack my bags for an early departure tomorrow morning.

My driver & guide for the day, Philip.

Tavurvur Volcano, Rabaul that erupted in 1994 destroying the city.

These large Japanese guns have a commanding view of the bay at Rabaul.

One of 2 war rooms in Admiral Yamamoto’s HQ bunker.

A Japanese cave with boats near Rabaul.

Looking down on Rabaul and surrounding area.

Day 992: Friday, June 2, 2017

My flight this morning from Rabaul to Port Moresby was at 7am which meant leaving the hotel at 5am. I got to Port Moresby at 8:15am and at 9am Christine, my Airbnb host was there to pick me up and give me a ride to her place.

After resting a bit I got a cab to a shopping mall about 2 kilometers from the National Museum and Art Gallery that I wanted to see. I had nothing to eat all morning so I was hungry and had to eat before going to the museum. I had all day so I wandered around the mall for a while before settling on some Chinese food for lunch.

After eating I walked the 2 kilometers in the hot sun to the museum. There was not nearly as much WW2 stuff there as I was led to believe so in that regard it was disappointing. However, there was a building housing a lot of the regions history going back thousands of years. It was okay but you may know that I am not a fan of such museums so others might consider it better than I did.

I walked back to the mall after I had enough of the museum, got food for tonight’s dinner and then got a ride back to the apartment. After nearly 2 months traveling the South Pacific I am excited to be getting back to Australia tomorrow and the western world.

A P-39 Airacobra at the PNG National Museum. Saw one of these diving in the SI.

Day 993: Saturday, June 3, 2017

My wonderful Airbnb host, Christine took me in her car to the airport at 7am. My flight to Cairns was on time so I caught my bus from Cairns airport to my hostel in the city as planned. I tried checking into the hostel where my reservation was but they told me I was too old. They said they only accept people up to the age of 35. Okay so they didn’t believe me when I said “Well then, I am 35” and they asked for my passport. Busted. I usually have an alternate place to stay in mind in case of any mix-up and in this case I did. Fortunately there is another good hostel on the same block so I walked around to it and got checked in.

In the afternoon I went next door to ProDive dive shop which is the company I am using for my 3-day, 2-night SCUBA diving adventure to the Great Barrier Reef. I got all the paperwork done and got fitted for the gear I will use on the dive. I was told to be back at their shop promptly at 6:20am tomorrow morning.

Back at my hotel room I rearranged all my bags so I only took on the boat what I would need which is not much. Basically I will be living in a swimsuit the next 3 days!

Day 994: Sunday, June 4, 2017

I got to the dive shop on time and we were on the boat by 7am. In total there are about 24 divers on board plus a crew of 8. The ride out to the reef took 3 hours in very, very rough seas. It wasn’t until we were parked just inside the reef that we were in protected enough water for rocking motion to subside.

Within a few minutes of anchoring the boat we were ready for our first of 4 dives of the day. The last dive of the day was a night dive at 7:30pm. After dinner at 9:30pm I went to my cabin to relax and read a bit thinking it was much too early to go to sleep. What ended up happening of course is that I feel asleep in half a minute with the lights on, cabin door open, and cell phone in hand. It wasn’t until 2am that I woke up enough to properly get myself in bed. Diving is exhausting.

Day 995: Monday, June 5, 2017

Today was another full day of 4 dives including another night dive. I have now had enough dives on the Great Barrier Reef to form an opinion of it as a diving destination. The coral formations on the Great Barrier Reef make for interesting topography to dive through. They form pinnacles that you can weave in and out of and that tower over your head as they reach almost to the surface. There are also several species of larger fish that I did not see anywhere else in the South Pacific although surprisingly I saw fewer fish in total here than in other places.

Day 996: Tuesday, June 6, 2017

We did 3 dives this morning and were out of the water from our last dive by noon. The boat then made the 3 hour trip back to Cairns. It was rough most of the way but not nearly as bad as on the way out a few days ago.

Back in Cairns I went back to the hostel, got settled in and then got a late lunch. In the evening I went out for dinner. After eating I was walking back to the hostel but in no rush and nothing to do when I came across a duo singing on the street corner. Of course most people just walk on by as do I but this time I stopped to listen. I took a seat on a bench thinking I would listen to a song or two. The surprise was that this duo was really, really good. One song they played is one I had not heard before but I really liked it. I said to them as much and they said it was an original. Wow! It reminded me fondly of my years living in Atlanta and going to Eddie’s Attic in Decatur for open mic nights. I ended up listening for about 1 ½ hours. In that time so many people passed by without stopping and I thought that they just don’t know the talent they are missing out on.

I put a 5 in the their guitar box before leaving and they told me they would be performing tomorrow night at the main bar in the casino just up the street if I’d be interested. That is now on my to-do list for tomorrow. The duo calls themselves Mojo Jacket. I wish them all the success in the world.

Day 997: Wednesday, June 7, 2017

Today I had no plans other than to buy some things for Buenos Aires and to catch up on my blog. I ended up finding just the right rice cooker for our home in Buenos Aires. The last time I was there I could not find a rice cooker to save my life so now I will be able to cook my rice. I even found authentic Japanese rice and although it is heavy I could not resist buying 3 kilos. In addition I only have very light-weight cloths and it is winter in Buenos Aires now so I got a couple pair of jeans that will hopefully keep me warm enough while I’m there.

I spent a good 4 hours at a Chinese restaurant that had free Wi-Fi working on my computer. By that time my computer’s battery was at 1% so it was time to quit. It is a good forcing factor to get up and move.

Sure enough in the evening I went to the casino’s bar to listen to Mojo Jacket. Needless to say the setting was nicer than on the street corner and I indulged in a rare beer, Kirin draft no less, while I listened to a one-hour set.

The fantastic singing duo, Mojo Jacket.

Day 998: Thursday, June 8, 2017

I packed my bags today. If things go as planned it will be a while before I live out of a backpack again. I started my journey nearly 1,000 days ago. I thought the feeling of today and the significance it has would be more dramatic for me. But I just took things in stride, did what needed to be done, passed the time, and did not dwell on it. The one exception is that I called up my buddy Nomad Roy and we chatted for a long time. We had a lot of catching up to do anyway but I also knew he could understand me at this moment more than anyone. I wonder if or when the full reality of the changes ahead will hit me.

Tomorrow is an early start with the airport shuttle picking me up at 6am so it is early to bed tonight.

The full moon over a palm tree on my last night. How fitting.

Day 999: Friday, June 9, 2017

Today I had a 24 hour journey from Cairns, Australia to Buenos Aires, Argentina. The day started with a 6am pickup by an airport shuttle to take me from my hostel to the Cairns Airport. It did not start well as the shuttle did not come. After standing on the sidewalk for 20 minutes another shuttle company came by to pick someone else up so I jumped on that one even though the other was prepaid. I could only hope that the rest of the day would go better; and it did.

The flight from Cairns to Auckland was on-time and I had 5 hours to kill in Auckland before boarding my flight to Buenos Aires. The flight from Auckland on Air New Zealand is on a Boeing 787 which is a plane I love to fly on. Even then the 13 hour flight was long and felt even longer.

Upon arriving in Buenos Aires I got a SIM card for my cell phone, cash from the ATM, and a ticket for the shuttle bus to the domestic airport an hour away but very near my home in Belgrano. The bus was at 6pm and it was 6pm so I ran outside to the curb and saw my bus. I got to the bus just in time. As I climbed the steps of the bus the driver was right behind me. Thirty seconds later we were on our way. Upon arriving at the domestic airport I grabbed a cab to the house. Being Friday night the traffic was bad and what should be a 10 minute ride ended up taking over 30 minutes. At home I was greeted by Patri after last seeing her on April 15 in Brisbane.

Life is changing for Nomad Dave from today. I have reached the end of the continuous travel part of my quest to travel to every country in the world. I need to settle down for a while. I will be spending the next 5 weeks in Buenos Aires with my girlfriend and then returning to Olympia, Washington where all my family is but where I have not made home for 17 years now. In Olympia I will buy a house and reestablish myself in what most people would consider a “normal” lifestyle. I will continue to travel and to chase my extremely challenging goal of visiting every country just in a different way. I expect I will keep a permanent residence going forward and just take 2- to 3-month long jaunts to knock off what is left. I already a have a bunch itineraries in my head just waiting to become reality. I will continue improving this travel blog to help others interested in adventure travel make their dreams come true.

Day 1000: Saturday, June 10, 2017

I pulled out of the driveway of my parent’s house in Olympia, Washington on my motorcycle 1,000 days ago today. In general as I have been traveling I take life day-by-day. I wake up in the morning, do what I need to do, and then go to sleep only to wake up the next day and do it all over again. On any given day usually nothing seems extraordinary. Sure, some days are more challenging than others. Other days are more enjoyable than those before. Some days are boring. Some days are exciting. But each is just a day in the life of a manic nomad.

Today I took a bit of time to look at the past 1,000 days in totality. Over 100 countries, 7 continents, 2 full passports, 100,000 kilometers on my Triumph Tiger Explorer XC, 2 crashes survived, dozens of people around the world that I now consider true friends (you know who you are and thanks for making my journey that much more special), met and fell in love with one special Argentinian woman, traveled for months with my great friend Nomad Roy, kayaking in the Antarctic, sledding down a volcano in Nicaragua, getting eaten by mosquitos in the Amazon jungle, 3 weeks in Iran, entering Afghanistan by motorcycle, diving in the Galapagos and the South Pacific, skydiving, riding a camel in the desert, hiking the Inca Trail, and the list goes on and on.

People I meet along the way often tell me that what I am doing is incredible. Living in the moment I had a hard time feeling that it was true and I would shrug it off. Upon my reflection today of the past 1,000 days in totality I am going to allow myself to agree. It has been absolutely incredible!

1,000 days ago. I never could have imagined…