Port Moresby

This book is about Port Moresby-the capital of Papua New Guinea-but it is not about the city of today. Rather, it is about taim bipo (a Pidgin English term meaning 'previously' or 'as it was'), about how life was lived in Port Moresby in the two decades before 1975 when PNG was still under Australian control. These were years of peace and progress-when it was still a 'lovely and gentle city'-far removed from the somewhat turbulent times that followed PNG's independence. With over 400 illustrations, this volume is a fascinating slice through time, capturing page after page of this unique period of history that Australia and PNG share. Anyone who has ever lived in Port Moresby or has the slightest affection for how the town used to be will find it impossible to put this book down. The ambience of a place arises from a complex mix of inputs that interact at any given time. Today, 300,000 people live in Port Moresby, the sprawling capital city of Papua New Guinea. There's a high rise CBD, peak hour traffic, over-taxed infrastructure and all the other frustrations of modern urban life. The city also has the unenviable reputation of being consistently rated as having the worst or near worst 'liveability' standard of 140 capital cities around the world. Fifty years ago, Port Moresby wasn't like this. At that time-in fact, for most of the two decades leading up to PNG's independence in 1975-the mix of inputs was entirely different. Then, the ambience was far removed from the raskol-blighted aura of today's Port Moresby. This book returns to this taim bipo, to a time when life in Port Moresby was gentle and secure, when Port Moresby was a place where people enjoyed living. Profusely illustrated, this book intimately captures the flavour of those times.