Papua New Guinea - Geodetic Monitoring Site
Site ID
NAMA
Station Location
Namatanai
Station Number
GS 19461
Station Address
Namatanai Airstrip
Namatanai
New Ireland Province
WGS-84 Station Coordinates
Latitude
S 3°39'58".54
Longitude
E 152°26'06".14
Ellipsoidal Ht
Ht
SITE OWNERSHIP
Owner / Authority
Civil Aviation Dept. c/- New Ireland Provincial Govt.
Site Contact/s
Daniel (Airport Manager)
also Patrick Chee (District Works Manager)
Phone
Patrick 984 3081 or PTB 984 3011
Fax
Address
Email
STATION DESCRIPTION
Station marker
Brass plaque in concrete
Inscription
19461
Reference marks
3 x iron pins set in concrete
Witness marks
Windsock
Azimuth marks
GS 19462
Station constructed by/date
National Mapping Bureau, 9th March 1989
special instructions
Site soil / Geology
Pliocene-recent coral platform
SITE ACCESS
Airports
Flights to Namatanai from Tokua(Rabaul) and Lihir
Islands Nationair (several times per week)
Airlink (occasionally & erratically)
Fare from Tokua is about K105 (15 mins)
Islands Nationair is recommended
Station mark is 200m or so west of the terminal
Mark is adjacent the windsock
Boats
Daily PMV boats from Kokopo arrive
on the west coast (20 km by road)
K20 boat PMV + K5 to get to Namatanai by road
K50 to hire a vehicle to get from west coast to Namatanai
Roads
Road from Kavieng (Boluminski Highway)
268 km (4-4.5 hrs) first 80km is bitumen
then good coronos to Fissoa
then fairly pot-holed to Namatanai
Vehicle rental
Kavieng has Hertz/Avis/Budget outlets
Hertz special rate for ANU
delivery of Avis vehicle to Namatanai is K100
delivery of Hertz vehicle to Namatanai is K250 !
Elias at the Namatanai Hotel can provide
local transport for about K25 per hour
Hertz special offer for RSES, ANU campaigns;
Toyota Hilux twin-cab 4WD;
1-6 days remote area K220.00 (inc VAT)
7+ days remote area K193.60 (inc VAT)
125km free per day then 99t per km (inc VAT)
SITE FACILITIES
Power
Namatanai Hotel has mains power and standby gen set
mains power is off between midday and 6 pm daily
but is still erratic, with irregular voltage
Patrick Chee can also provide recharging facilities
Shelter
Tent required for receiver
Accommodation
Namatanai Hotel (managed by Elias and Elmah)
is only 500m from site. (Phone/fax 984 3057)
PO Box 48 Namatanai NIP
Single room K85, Double K120
dinner K18, Breakfast K8
rooms have fans/ tv / cold water showers
hotel is overpriced, but management is v. helpful
There is a guesthouse in Namatanai which is well worth
investigating. Apparently a lot better value than the
Namatanai Hotel
Security
Young lads in nearby houses (K10 per day each)
overnight security is recommended as antenna was
disturbed in 2000
Labour
None required
Communications
phone lines are erratic
the hotel phone line can be used for ISP access
at K8 per hour though may drop out often
Adverse conditions
SITE DIAGRAMS
Access map
NAMA Location (Namatanai cadastral map)
Site diagram
NAMA Sketch (NMB) 1989
NAMA Sketch 1998
NAMA Sketch 1999
NAMA Sketch 1999 (2)
site photographs
Windsock 221 kB
Mark 208 kB
Elevation mask
OCCUPATION SUMMARIES
1998 Tony Purcell, RSES and Rueben Mesan, Unitech
1999 Steve Quiva, Tony Kanas, Unitech
2000 Richard Stanaway, RSES, Adam Heffernan, UCSC, Melchior Karesa
Last updated: 25th October 2000
Richard Stanaway
Research School of Earth Sciences, The Australian National University