New Guinea Club & Rabaul Museum


Established in 1933, the New Guinea Club was a businessmen’s club with strict guidelines for membership, although that didn't prevent a young Errol Flynn from charming his way in. It was badly damaged in WWII and rebuilt in the 1940s to its former glory, only to be destroyed again by fire in 1993. It has been partly restored and is now home to a small and interesting museum.

There's often a fee collector or local historian in attendance, otherwise ask at the Rabaul Hotel for the key.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby attractions

1. Admiral Yamamoto’s Bunker

0.02 MILES

There are Japanese tunnels and caverns in the hillsides around Rabaul, though nearby to the Rabaul Museum is Admiral Yamamoto’s Bunker. It is rather…

2. Japanese Peace Memorial

0.42 MILES

The Japanese Peace Memorial, the main Japanese memorial in the Pacific, is dignified and testament to the forgiveness of the local people. There’s another…

3. Catholic Church

0.55 MILES

The barn-like St Francis Xavier's Co-Cathedral was built in 1965 replacing the much more attractive original building, which was destroyed in WWII.

5. Japanese Aircraft Wrecks

1.46 MILES

In the same area at Matupit Island, there’s quite a smattering of Japanese aircraft wreckage scattered among the palm trees and now semi-buried in earth,…

6. Vulcanology Observatory

1.49 MILES

A worthwhile site is the Vulcanology Observatory, about 900m off Tunnel Hill Rd, from where you can enjoy million-dollar views over the bay and the…

7. Hot Springs

2.31 MILES

These hot springs are an impressive sight amid an eerie landscape where locals cook and devour their megapode eggs.

8. Beehives

2.42 MILES

The two rocky pinnacles rising from the centre of Simpson Harbour are called the Beehives and are said to be the hard core of the original old volcano…

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