The next day we leave Bagaman Island for the port of Bwagoia on Misima Island, where we have to clear in with Customs and Quarantine. Bwagoia�s very hot and dusty with about 5 trade stores which all seem to sell the same things (happily this includes Twisties and icecream), and a vegetable market. The town is basically subsidised by the Canadian-owned gold mine further along the coast which has also paid for the hospital, the high school and the electricity. (However, whether any of these services survive when, in a few years time, the mining company pulls out, remains to be seen. The town also suffers from some problems associated with western influences: alcoholism, fighting, and people generally getting used to having money in their pockets, not to mention the environmental impact on the reefs of having a mine operating 24 hours a day for the last 10 years.)

The highlight of our stay in Bwagoia is the cultural show put on by students at the local high school for Independence Day. I went to something similar when I stayed in the Solomons last year - it was great fun, especially when strategic bits of the boys� costumes started falling off during the vigorous dance routines. This, however, is amazing. These kids have obviously spent weeks on their costumes, they�re so beautiful: ornate headdresses, brightly coloured feathers and shells, intricate face painting and hundreds of bagi, the traditional bright red shell necklaces found all over PNG.

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