Oil Search Pacific Games Relay in Mt Hagen, Western Highlands Province

Yesterday the Oil Search Pacific Games Relay was finally stopped by weather.  Thursday the clouds and fog descended on Mendi and the Relay was unable to get to its afternoon stops at Ialibu and Pangia and then by Friday morning the team was unable to fly out of Mendi to Hagen.

The Relay cant stop and so took to the road, driving to Mt Hagen. This meant the Relay was very late arriving into Mt Hagen and the days celebrations had to be quickly moved around.

Regardless, the town came out to see the Baton.

A brief welcome by all the games sponsors at Queens Park was conducted and the official handover to the province by Oil Search representative Fiona Smare took place before heading out on to the PNG Power cherry picker for the Kimininga Police Barracks who demonstrated their own marching style twirling the Games baton.

From there the Baton was driven around town as the very busy Hagen Friday afternoon crowd watched on.

Next was a stop at the Hagen International School where a number of schools had congregated to collect the UNICEF Just Play Tura piksa buks and show the team their fantastic posters supporting the Games, homemade flags for each of the participating nations and a medial dias where they received the Baton.

The final stop for the day was at Rebiamul Primary and Elementary School, the oldest school in the Highlands, opened in 1934. The former head teacher and now Catholic Archbishop of Hagen, Douglas Young, ran the Baton into the school and spoke of how sport can play an important part in building character and how all the students should have an active and healthy lifestyle.

Today the Relay heads to a coffee plantation and the Kuk Agricultural World heritage site tomorrow before spending Sunday in Jiwaka Province.



Photo credit: ​madNESS photography.