Bulolo

Bulolo is a town in Morobe Province, located in the Bulolo Valley roughly 40 km south of Lae. It was the centre of the PNG gold rush in the 1920s and 1930s, when Australian dredging operations extracted massive quantities of alluvial gold from the Bulolo River. The dredges — huge floating machines built in Australia, disassembled, flown in by Junkers aircraft, and reassembled on site — were one of the most remarkable engineering feats in colonial PNG. The Bulolo goldfields produced over 100 tonnes of gold.

Today Bulolo is a quiet Forestry College town. The dredges are rusting in the river, and the economy has shifted to timber, cocoa, and oil palm. For visitors, Bulolo is a fascinating destination for gold-rush history, with museum displays, dredge wrecks, and the remains of the Junkers aircraft operations at the Bulolo Airstrip.

By Plane

There is no scheduled service to Bulolo Airport. Lae Nadzab Airport (LAE) is 40 km north (1 hr by road).

By Train

Limited Information available

By Car / Road

Bulolo is 40 km south of Lae on the sealed Bulolo Highway (45 min–1 hr). PMVs from Lae run regularly (K15–25).

Walkable town. PMV trucks for surrounding villages.

• Bulolo River dredges — the remains of the huge gold dredges rusting in the river; the largest is No. 17 Dredge, visible from the highway bridge.

• Bulolo Forestry College Museum — displays on gold-mining history, local timber species, and colonial-era aviation.

• Bulolo Airstrip — the historic grass strip where Junkers G31 and W34 aircraft landed during the gold rush; still in use for charters.

• Gold-dredge tour — guided walk to the No. 17 Dredge (the best-preserved example) with a local guide from the Forestry College.

• Bulolo River swimming — the river offers clean, cool swimming holes below the town.

• Bulolo district village visits — arranged through the district office.

• Bulolo guesthouse — Highlands and coastal cuisine: fish (imported from Lae), chicken, sweet potato, and taro. K20–50.
• Market stalls — fried fish and kaukau. K5–15.
• Lae (45 min) — has full restaurant options.

Bottled water essential. Beer (SP Lager, Niugini Ice) at trade stores.

• Budget: Bulolo Lodge or Forestry College guesthouse — K80–150/night.
• Mid-range: Lae (45 min) has several hotels from K250–600.
• Upscale: none in Bulolo.

Bulolo Market — fresh produce, betel nut, and cocoa beans. Trade stores for basics. The Forestry College sometimes sells seedlings and honey.

• Lae (40 km north, 45 min) — Morobe capital, Botanical Gardens, WWII wrecks, market.
• Wau (15 km south, 15 min) — gold-rush town with the Wau Ecology Institute and jungle airstrip.
• Lae Nadzab Airport (40 km north, 45 min) — air connections to Port Moresby, Mount Hagen, and Madang.