Madang - the Venice of the South Pacific

but without the mediaeval bulidings and St Marco's. The St Petersburg of the Melanesus. The islands are just 100 and 200 metres off shore and they glitter over the water from the mainland at night. We ate at the Smugglers Rest Restaurant on Saturday night where the setting was much more enjoyable than the meal. My friends A, S and T went up there for the weekend, having left at 6am Saturday and having returned by 6pm last night. Anyway I was saying about the setting for dinner. Madang further around the coast is protected by islands but the Smugglers inn faced the open sea and the waves, blown in from a strong sea gale, were crashing against the balustraded outdoor setting spraying us with foam and mist while small crabs nibbled our toes and the noise took us away into a Hemmingway or Conrad fantasy. If only the airline industry were more open and competitive, Australians would come here as an alternative to Bali, Fiji or anywhere else. The tourism industry needs to become a bit more sophisticated though. We ordered prawn, calamari and fish but we were served a gravy like concoction with two prawns that I was aware of on a bed of a very well done piece of steak! For K39. We suggested K20 was a more payable price.