Oil Search Pacific Games Relay Goes to the Star Mountains

The Oil Search Pacific Games Relay got off to an early start today and headed to Telifomin – Papua New Guinea’s highest town, located in the Star Mountains in the centre of the island of New Guinea.

The Baton team had a magical trip flying in over a blanket of white cloud with black mountains peeping out. Telefomin used to be difficult to get to but thanks to work on the Frieda River Mine it is now accessible and the team saw five planes and three choppers land whilst they were there for hour.

The people were shy and hung back until welcomed and then kids in packs appeared from nowhere, all eager to see and touch the Baton. The team then headed off to Nuka and were welcomed by thousands of people at a spectacular singsing ceremony.

Those in the trucks with the Relay team and those making speeches all were amazed that Nuku had been selected as a destination for the Baton as previously it has not been a place of high visitation.

Our first Baton carrier on the Nuku eight kilometre Relay through the mountains and valleys was the Village chief, Andrew Kamboni, a war veteran proudly carrying his war medals on his traditional wear. Nuku is a district perched on the star mountains.

The Relay team left to an incredible and quite confronting display from the Wakai singsing group and their large penis gourds. From there the Baton headed across the Sepik plains to Lumi district, home of the world famous tenkile wildlife conservation park where we met by a tumbua welcome and left with gifts of spears and shields for Team PNG.