Oceania

[Visited: August 2023]

On my previous visit to Rabaul, I had already stepped into Admiral Yamamoto's bunker, and now that I am back in the northern city on New Britain, it is time for another visit. When we are about to arrive, we hear energetic singing coming from the nearby church. We make sure to walk in and have a look. The sides are open, and a welcome breeze blows through the building where people are singing and dancing - whatever their age. What an unexpected, upbeat experience! Next to the church, we find Admiral Yamamoto's bunker, but the entrance is locked, and the key is kept by Rabaul Hotel. We walk around the grounds, see old artillery and even a torpedo lying on the grass, ammunition, and a building saying the New Guinea Club, Est. 1919. I know that the Rabaul Museum is inside, but it is also closed.
We walk through town, and meet our arranged guide near a supermarket. He turns out to be a jovial person known by many, and shows us around some remarkable sights around Rabaul, most of which I have already seen. On our way to Tavurvur, which we decide to climb at the end of the day instead of very early in the morning like all guides seem to advise, we pick up the key a the Rabaul Hotel. We walk to the bunker of the Japanese Admiral, and our guide tells us his whole history. How he decided on the attack of Pearl Harbor, how he plotted conquering the Pacific, and how he ended up in the bunker we are about to enter. He also tells us how the Americans were aware of his flight details, and how his plane was shot out of the sky on its way from Rabaul to Balalae Airfield near Bougainville in 1943.
We enter the bunker, which is mostly empty nowadays. We see Japanese writing on the walls, as well as maps of the region on the ceiling in some of the rooms. We wonder how much time Yamamoto must have spent inside here during what would be the last phase of his life. Next, we walk to the building and the guide asks us to wait outside while he disappears. After a while, he opens the door from the inside, and we have a look at the many historic objects on display inside the hall. Two wrecks of warplanes, photos, scale models of ships, flags, documents like the original declaration of surrender of the Japanese, ending World War II in Papua New Guinea, and many more interesting artefacts. After a thorough visit of this little gem, we head towards the south, where we will take a small boat to visit the megapode egg hunters before climbing Tavurvur volcano.

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Personal travel impressions both in words and images from Yamamoto bunker (Papua New Guinea). Clicking on the pictures enlarges them and enables you to send the picture as a free e-card or download it for personal use, for instance, on your weblog. Or click on the map above to visit more places close to Yamamoto bunker.
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Yamamoto bunker > Papua New Guinea > Oceania

[Visited: August 2023]

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