Family history across the seas

My 2025 A to Z theme is Airports, Airstrips, Aircraft, and Airlines I’ve known and flown with. I’ll be using IATA codes where they’re available. My inner travel agent emerges at this point as I’m the FTO (family travel organiser) and now, the online travel agent.

POM   Port Moresby International Airport, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea

Moresby airport, more commonly known as Jackson’s, was my first introduction to Papua New Guinea. Coming down the steps to the tarmac, you walked in to a solid wall of heat and humidity. The ground crew wore laplaps or sulus with TAA written down the side. After living in Brisbane, a very white-bread city, it was also noticeable to see so many brown faces. Hanging out at the airport was kind of like a visit to a mall, sitting and watching the passing parade. In a surviving letter to my parents a week later I said:

            “As we flew into Jackson’s Airport, we could see the various islands and got a good view of the countryside – the trees seem different from those in Queensland. The roads we saw were all dirt roads and in some places you could see miles and miles of cleared trees where the electricity wires ran”. The pilot told us it was 90F, or 32.2C, actually not all that hot but definitely humid. I had to laugh at my comment that I took my stockings off in the hotel and hadn’t worn them since – well – duh!

Of course, Moresby was our flight hub to anywhere outside PNG and so we passed through many times. You can read what I wrote about Jackson’s in my A to Z in 2019.

Some more memorable moments:

• Seeing the first Jumbo land at Jackson’s
• When arriving back at Jackson’s from Brisbane, en route to Manila, the plane just kept roaring past the terminal and the aero club. All those familiar with the airport had their “feet flat to the floor” knowing we were heading for the end of the runway and a road. The pilot did manage to stop and turn right at the very end, putting wheels in the dirt. Interesting.
• Having a flying lesson in the Grumman Tiger and seeing the Jumbo take to the air like a pelican. An image that’s remained with me for over 50 years.
• “Circuits and bumps” out of Jackson’s when taking flying lessons.
• Farewelling family and friends as they left PNG for good (going finish)
• Our final flight in 1978 as we went finish and using the camera as a barrier to prevent tears.
• The excitement of returning in 2012 and heading to Milne Bay.

PER     Perth Airport, Perth, Western Australia

Perth his our least-visited Australian airport. We spent New Year there in 1998/99 and explored the south-western regions. I don’t remember anything about the airport except getting a speeding ticket on an unfamiliar road as we left Perth. We also had a ridiculous amount of luggage as we’d acquired many gifts at our early big- birthday event in Brisbane.

Our flights in 2013,  from Darwin to Dubai then Nairobi required an overnight stay at Perth. I just remembered that on the return leg, we had to catch the bus between the domestic and international terminals as we didn’t have an overnight stay. So much for Perth.

PRG     Václav Havel Airport, Prague, Czech Republic

Our 2014 flight to Prague took us from Paris via Frankfurt with Lufthansa (LH), arriving about 11pm. “Our view of the full moon and the city lights as we came into land was spectacular, and no less pretty over the city’s many spires as we drove to our accommodation”. A couple of nights later, we were surprised to see fireworks burst into the sky. Travel doesn’t offer special treats like that very often.

Leaving Prague a few days later, Facebook reminds me “We are at Prague airport heading to Athens via Zurich (what can I say, the flight was cheap)”. Unfortunately, I wasn’t feeling 100% thanks to rosemary in the meal the previous night.

I had looked at one site for airports for the tricky letters, Q and X. My friend Anne from https://anneyoungau.wordpress.com/ blog, commented that she’d looked at this Wikipedia site for world airports. The Wikipedia one is faster but the other lists the country more clearly, making it easier to browse. I disappeared down that rabbit hole with a traveller’s glee.

Why not have a browse just to learn more about places around the world that would be fun to visit or that you’ve visited by car or boat or ship. Let me know if you’ve visited any P airports or towns.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lists_of_airports#By_IATA_code

OR

https://www.world-airport-codes.com/alphabetical/airport-code/p.html?page=1

On my own wish list for travel, which may not occur, is a visit to PPT or Papeete in Tahiti.