Eastern Highlands revival

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The recent announcement by Eastern Highlands’ Governor Mal Smith Kela of his plans for a revival of the province – with emphasis on tourism and agriculture - is indeed a breath of fresh air after a long period of stagnation.

Not only for the province, but also for Papua New Guinea as a whole, as Eastern Highlands and its capital Goroka are such wonderful places.

“I want to revive the province to its former state of being one of the very peaceful and prosperous provinces,” the former Vietnam pilot and Pacific Helicopters/Airlink owner told the first provincial assembly session.

“Eastern Highlands will become a model for other provinces in PNG.”

View of Goroka Town :

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Goroka’s picturesque surroundings, perennial spring climate said to be “the best in the world”, and the carefree and unhurried lifestyle of its residents is among its many appeals.

Eastern Highlands is an ideal tourist destination within the Highlands of PNG.

The town has all the amenities for the international traveler and the attractions are varied and many.

Eastern Highlanders like to think of themselves as the most peaceful, industrial people in their part of Papua New Guinea.

And with good reason too!

In the grounds of the Bird of Paradise Hotel, Goroka :

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Since the early days of white exploration, the many varied groups living within the administrative “fence” labeled as Eastern Highlands have dropped the old ways of tribal fighting with greater ease than many others.

That’s not to say the people do not have quarrels.

They do, and occasionally, the matter is settled with a bow and arrow or the nearest hunk of wood.

Nevertheless, for an area only “discovered” 71 – 75 years ago, and only settled in a definitive way since the 1939 – 1945 war, the people of Eastern Highlands have adjusted remarkably.


Coffee is the backbone of the Eastern Highlands :

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The early German Lutheran missionaries first discovered Eastern Highlands about 80 years ago.

In 1933, German Lutheran missionaries George Pilhofer and Wilhelm Bergman, went into Bena Bena, and on to the Asaro Valley, where the town of Goroka now stands.

Famous Asaro Mudmen :

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Goroka became the headquarters of what was initially termed the District of Central Highlands, in November 1946.

From those humble beginnings, by 1953, Goroka had grown to become the hub of the Highlands.

It had over 300 white people, had named streets and a water supply, new industries, schools, and training establishments.

House in the Arona Valley :

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Author, Colin Simpson, recalled Mrs Ellen Pitt’s guesthouse being finished, complete with resort – style dining room and hotel bar in stained New Guinea cedar.

Goroka had coffee plantations already producing coffee, a sawmill, a corn mill, and a mill that pulped passion fruit for Cottee’s fruit drink.

Jim Leahy – who had an amazing farm with cattle, sheep, pigs, turkeys, and crops – was putting in a coffee mill.

Jim Taylor had a thousand coffee trees on land he was one of the first four white men to walk on.

Canoe paddles across Yonki Lake :

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“Black figures were astride steel girders on a big new hangar going up beside the airfield and other dark figures with pig – greased hair and bows and arrows still in their hands squinted up at them, but hardly turned to watch the shining Douglas take off and lift towards the Western Divide,” Simpson wrote in his well – acclaimed Plumes and Arrows.

“Five and a half thousand feet above the heat of the coast, the air was like a well cooled hock after soup.

“All the Highlands has the climate of a rainy springtime, with warm days the year round and crisp cold nights and mornings.

“But nowhere else is there, in the government stations and settlements strung throughout the valleys, another Goroka.”

Arona Valley House :

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At the end of 1954, several white settlers were engaged in coffee planting in the Kainantu, Bena, and Goroka districts.

They came from all walks of life – pilots, graziers, ex administration officers, miners, traders, businessmen, and missionaries.

These pioneers, many of whom went on to become legends, contributed a great deal towards the Goroka we know today.

Mal Smith Kela, himself a legend in Eastern Highlands, is now tasked with continuing that great legacy of the pioneers.

Clouds, Mountains, Greenery and Water at Yonki :

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The Bird of Paradise Hotel, situated in the heart of town, is regarded as the best in the Highlands.

There are various other smaller hotels and lodges to stay in while at Goroka.

All the services a tourist would need are conveniently located in town.

Driving out of town to the Asaro Valley and up the Daulo Pass towards Mount Hagen can take your breath away; likewise, to Kainantu, Arona Valley, and Kassam Pass towards Lae.

Eastern Highlands Cultural Centre:

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The J.K McCarthy Museum, named after a famous Australian patrol officer of the 1930s, is a place worth visiting.

J. K. McCarthy Museum :