Goldie River, Central Province, PNG

Yesterday, my friend asked me if I wanted to go to Sogeri. As I haven't been there for a while, I agreed. However, this plan quickly changed this morning when we got at the meeting place over at Erima and I was told that we were going to Goldie river.

The road to the river takes you through the Hiritano highway. You take the left fork at the nine-mile intersection. You will go through three narrow steel bridges, several copses of trees and a bit of rough track once you turn off from the highway. You turn right before you see the rubber tree plantations. The dirt track is very muddy and slippery. There is also a part where you have to go over a shallow rocky stream.

I was told by a local guide that there is a gold mine closeby hence the name. The river is composed of two strongs streams of water flowing down and converging into one. The banks are rocky and the river is quite shallow though there are parts where it is deeper and you can take a dive. There are some shallow rapids here where you can lie down and let the water refresh you all over.

The foresty department has an office here and several picnic huts have been set up for visitors to have a barbeque. There are grills available and our group brought lamb chops, sausages and of course, some foil to cook the meat on. The picnic area also has some sandalwood and eaglewood trees surrounding adding to the pleasantness of the area.  There are quite a lot of butterflies fluttering around the area.

It was indeed a pleasant afternoon spent with friends having a good feed and a yarn. On the way back to Port Moresby, we passed by a curious sight. A hunter was selling some wallabies by the road.

I recommend visiting this place on the weekend. It's nice and close to the city. Ciao!