The dirt road in front turned into an asphalt road, which surprised Yang Jing and them, and Howard explained with a smile: "There is a very small peninsula in front of it, called Matupit, and there is also a residential settlement there, where about nine hundred people live, and this road leads to that settlement. ”After a pause, afraid that Yang Jing and they would not understand, Howard continued to explain: "In the past, Rabaul occupied the east coast of the entire Simpson Bay, counting from the place where we just turned the corner, all the way to the southernmost tip of the entire peninsula, it is the east city of Rabaul, which is also the main city of Rabaul.At that time, his headquarters was also stationed here.Alas, do you see this flat area ahead?
”A piece of land that looked flat appeared in front of them, and the area was not small, which made Yang Jing and the others very surprised.Along the way, apart from the induration of the volcanic ash in the mountains, it is rare to see such a large and flat area.Chris hesitated for a moment before saying, "Mr.
Howard, was this an airport before?"
”Howard slapped his fingers with one hand and snapped his fingers with the other, "It's still Mr.
Patton smart, yes, this used to be Rabaul Airport."
During World War II, it used to be a field airfield built by himself, and later it became Rabaul Airport after the war.But a volcanic eruption 20 years ago flattened the airport. ”Yang Jing looked up at the Tawulu volcano, which was less than two kilometers southeast of the airport, and also felt that the devil was a little brainless back then.You say that you don't have to find a good place to build the airport, but you have to build the airport at the foot of an active volcano."
If we don't leave tomorrow, I can take you to the Rabaul War Memorial, where there are many precious photos of the Second World War era, and one of them is very interesting, which is the scene of the pilot who flew the Zero fighter at the airport, and behind the pilot is the Tauru volcano."
Hearing this, Yang Jing's face couldn't help but show a strange look.I don't know what that devil pilot would have thought if he had known that the volcano that had served as his background had destroyed eighty percent of Rabaul fifty years later.Of course, if this volcano suddenly erupts at that time, presumably the US-Australian coalition forces can directly take Rabaul without blood!
Along the way, Yang Jing finally understood why both the Germans and himself built the main city on the east shore of Simpson Bay, but the wide and flat area here is much larger than the northern city.The widest distance from the coastline to the foot of the mountain in Beicheng is only about 500 meters, but in the east, the width of the narrowest place is about a kilometer, and the widest place is even more than two kilometers.It's just that although the geographical conditions here are good, it's a pity that it's too close to two active volcanoes, and these two active volcanoes can bring ruin to the city with a casual sneeze.A group of five people rode their bikes to the old airport site, and Howard said, "Further south is the settlement, and there's nothing to see."
If you're in the mood, we can now climb the extinct volcano on the eastern side of Tauru Volcano, which is the best vantage point to enjoy the surrounding scenery of Rabaul, and every time I return to Rabaul, I climb the Bahai mountain. ”Guo Xiaoxiang hesitated for a moment and asked, "Captain, can you be sure that the mountain is okay?"
What if, I mean, if that volcano erupts as well, wouldn't we be dead?
”Yang Jing shook his head helplessly and said, "Fatty, you are not too young, how can you ask such a low-level question?"
Even if a volcano is about to erupt on a large scale, there are signs long in advance.Before any volcano erupts, there will be extremely strong signs, and you don't expect a volcano that has been silent for an unknown number of years to erupt before any eruption signs are revealed, that is impossible. ”"Okay, brother, you won, I was really brain-dead just now" Yang Jing is right, volcanic eruptions are different from earthquakes, it is difficult for humans to predict the eruption of earthquakes, but they can easily predict volcanic eruptions.The reason is that before any active volcano erupts, there will be obvious or even strong eruption signs, often a few days or even dozens of days in advance, which seems to remind people that if you don't want to die, stay away from me, buddy can't help but erupt and the two volcanoes in front of you, even if one of them has only erupted for twenty-four years, but now it is quiet, and there is no sign of eruption at all.However, Howard's words made Yang Jing think.Except for climbing a mountain in Mount Hagen some time ago, these days are either floating on the sea or flying in the sky, to be honest, Yang Jing really wants to feel the grandeur of climbing high and looking far away again.In particular, the extinct volcano named Ba Ai that Howard mentioned is located on the coast, and although it is only about 500 meters high, it is conceivable that once you can reach the top, you will definitely see a spectacular view of the sea and sky.didn't bother with Guo Xiaoxiang anymore, Yang Jing asked Chris and Adrian: "How is it?"
Do you want us to climb?
”Chris spread his hands and smiled: "Boss, I don't have any opinion, the mountain is not high, you can climb it in half an hour at most." ”Adrian: "You're the boss, I'll listen to you." ”Yang Jing waved his hand excitedly: "Let's go, let's go over and climb this extinct volcano." ”The group rode southeast along the flat airfield, and halfway through they saw a fairly flat dirt road, and after walking a short distance along this dirt road, they saw the culprit that destroyed Rabaul twenty-four years ago, the Tauru volcano.This active volcano has no temper at all now, and is as quiet as a little girl.It's just that although this mountain is less than 200 meters high, and the crater above is still missing a large piece, no one dares to underestimate this volcano.As long as it's an active volcano, it's one of the scariest things on the planet, and it's quieter than anything if it doesn't erupt, but when it does, it's more irritable than anything else, and absolutely no one can afford to mess with it.And although this volcano is quieter than the quietest little girl now, compared with the lush mountains around it, the vegetation on this mountain is sparse, especially near the crater, and not even a single tree can be seen.You must know that this is a tropical region, more than 500 kilometers north of this mountain, is the equator, but there is no vegetation on this mountain, and the surrounding two extinct volcanoes form a sharp contrast, which is enough to explain the horror of this mountain.The dirt road skirts the foot of the Taulu volcano and makes a big bend to continue onwards.A few people quietly admired the terrifying volcano at the foot of the Taulu volcano for a while, and then continued on their way, and soon followed the dirt road to a relatively flat meadow.This meadow is located at the foot of Mount Baai and is very flat.There were some wooden houses on the grass, and some tents.Obviously, this place has been used as a gathering point by tourists and locals alike."
More than 10 years ago, after the Tauru volcano calmed down, some tourists set up a small tourist gathering point here with the cooperation of the locals.Visitors who come to see Mount Tauru or Mount Baai will take a break here before continuing their travels.We can put our bikes here and go up from here, but we can't ride them. ”Led by Howard, they came to a large wooden house on the edge of the meadow, and out of the room came a man in his fifties, who was a local by the color of his skin.The local man was very happy to see Captain Howard, and after a warm hug with Howard, he began to talk to Howard enthusiastically in the local language.After the two men exchanged for a while, Howard walked back and explained: "This is my neighbor when I was a kid, we can leave the car here, and he will take care of it." ”After the group put the car away, they said hello to the local, and then began to climb the mountain under the leadership of Howard.Although the Baai mountain is the second highest in the Gazel halfway up after the extinct volcano to the north, it is not very difficult to climb.The hillside is very soothing, and there are several paths that have already been trodden out by tourists, and several of them each hold a western wooden stick and go up the path, only need to pay attention to the snakes that come from time to time and some insects, there is nothing difficult about the others.Howard walked and collected some unknown wildflowers from the side of the road, and by the time he was about to reach the top of the mountain in more than twenty minutes, he already had a large bouquet of wildflowers in his hand."
My grandfather's mausoleum has long been buried by volcanic ash, and now I can't find a specific location, so every time I go back to Rabaul over the years, I climb this mountain to pay tribute to my grandfather, and at the same time to pay tribute to the buried Rabaul, there are too many memories of my childhood."
Only then did everyone understand why Howard was collecting these wildflowers on the road.The top of the mountain was quickly trampled under the feet of everyone.It's just that the summit of this Baai Mountain is not large, only more than 100 meters long and about 70 meters wide, and the center of the summit is slightly concave downward, and the surrounding edge is slightly higher than the center.Obviously, this is also a volcano, but I don't know how many years it has been silent, and the original crater has been filled with ash.Howard ascended to the top of the hill and went alone to the northwest corner of the mountain, where he could see all of Rabaul.And Yang Jing and the others did not follow, but walked to the southeast edge of the mountaintop.