PM Jacinda Ardern will fly into Papua New Guinea ahead of the Apec meeting. Photo / AP
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is scheduled to arrive in Papua New Guinea late this afternoon for an Apec leaders' summit like no other.
The country known for its rampant crime, grinding poverty, lethal earthquakes and endemic corruption will attempt to show its best side to the world for the weekend.
For Ardern it will be a shift from the seemly order of Singapore, where the East Asia Summit was held, to the unpredictability of the first Pacific Island Apec.
Ardern will receive a traditional welcome when she lands at about 6.30pm before heading off to meet PNG Prime Minister Peter O'Neill at Apec Haus, the NZ$40 million convention centre built by China, along with a six-lane boulevard.
The locals have already taken to the streets against the event - as many did in Auckland in 1999 - spurred on by the purchase of three Bentleys and 40 Maseratis for the occasion, which O'Neill insists will be sold after it.
Security will be tight, as it always is with an international summit involving 21 economies. Up to 30 New Zealand SAS personnel will be there, along with a P3 Orion surveillance plane and the HMNZS Otago patrol vessel.
That pales compared to Australia's contribution, which includes a warship a fleet of choppers,1500 defence force personnel and at least $140 million to help host the event.
Thousands of officials and media will be staying on cruise ships, although the New Zealand media will be staying at the New Zealand High Commission's residence.
Foreign Minister Winston Peters went ahead early and Trade Minister David Parker has been there too for meetings with their counterparts.
Politically the event looks set to be like no other. This is not just PNG's Apec, but China's too.
The new Cold War has come to the tropics over influence in the Pacific and is set to play out at Apec where Donald Trump's absence is being exploited.
China's President Xi Jinping will hold his own summit with Pacific leaders specially invited by PNG for the event.
Xi will almost certainly leave PNG with a trophy - the launch of free trade talks with Papua New Guinea.
That is likely to rankle with New Zealand and Australia who have failed to convince PNG or Fiji to join the Pacer Plus agreement concluded last year with Pacific countries.
Australia, however, has one over China, having agreed to develop Lombrum naval base on PNG's Manus Island, which China was initially interested in doing.
The primary goal is to keep China from establishing any naval or air facility from which it could base itself in the Pacific.
Australia has just signalled an aggressive strategy to compete with China for
influence in the Pacific.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison last week announced a "return" to the Pacific as members of the "Pacific family," backed up with a $2 billion fund for infrastructure initiatives, five new diplomatic missions, greater engagement by the Australian Defence Force with Pacific Forces, and more free Aussie TV content.
It is a battle for hearts, minds - and pockets.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern had a full diary during her trip to Singapore for the East Asia Summit.
TUESDAY
Chocks away from Whenuapai on RNZAF Boeing 757-200 10 minutes early. Joining Ardern in first class are chief of staff Mike Munro, chief press secretary Andrew Campbell, foreign affairs adviser Paula Wilson, Ministry of Foreign Affairs chief executive Brook Barrington, and head of Asia division Ben King. Ardern holds a standup for media at the stop in Cairns.
Campbell tells media that the PM will be sitting next to US Vice-President Mike Pence at the gala dinner on Wednesday, at his request.
PM holds a standup at stopover in Cairns. The main question media have is why Pence asked to sit next to her but no one knows the answer.
Maybe it is that with Ardern as a dinner companion, he is guaranteed not to get stuck with a dictator, a bore, a drunk, an idiot or a Canadian.
We land in stunning Singapore at dusk. There is no such thing as an ordinary building in Singapore. We pass the Marina Bay Sands hotel on the way from the airport, the least ordinary building in the world.
Campbell confirms Ardern will have bilateral meeting with Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi in the morning.
WEDNESDAY
Singapore turns on thunder and lightning spectacular.
Ardern appears on popular Singapore TV breakfast show, on Channel News Asia, the first of three foreign media appearances (BBC and Bloomberg too).
Fifteen minutes quizzed by three hosts. All kindness. No sweat, and no controversy.
The meetings begin at the Suntec convention centre. Aung San Suu Kyi is grim. She does not have anything to smile about, drawing global criticism for the treatment of the Muslim Rohingyas.
Ardern removes a dictaphone from the table before Suu Kyi comes in and hands it to security. It turns out to belong to one of Suu Kyi's official's and it is returned to her.
Scott Morrison, the new Australian Prime Minister, knows New Zealand so well he suggests the next bilateral talks could be held on Waiheke Island. Ardern suggests the Waikato instead. Morrison muses about a leaders' summit in Te Awamutu.
More questions from media on what she will be discussing with Mike Pence over several hours at dinner.
The leaders of 16 countries in the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) meet under the stewardship of Singapore PM Lee Hsieng Loong. The talks have stalled but the good news is that Lee has found a way to pronounce the worst acronym in trade deals. He calls is R-C-E-P instead of Arse-Ep. At last.
She meets Li Keqiang, China's Premier, and reminds him of the record of Labour leader with China. She says afterwards she raised the issues of human rights and the treatment of Uigher Muslims in Xinjiang in detention.
There is still no confirmation of her hoped-for trip to Beijing.
Ardern's dinner date turns out to be Mrs Karen Pence, not Mike Pence.
THURSDAY
The day begins with media standup at hotel with Winston Peters alongside. He arrived in time for the gala dinner from opening embassies in Stockholm and Dublin, and attending World War One commemorations in France.
How is Ardern going to spin her way out of the awkward reality of crossed wires over the Pence dinner date? Easy. Deny that anything was different to her expectations. It was always going to be the Pences and then look perplexed that she is even being questioned about it.
Ardern is off to meetings at the East Asia Summit convention centre.
First is Singapore's Lee Hsieng Loong
Japan's Shinzo Abe is always in a hurry. He doesn't walk, he walk-runs. The last time he met Ardern was a year ago in Danang, Vietnam, where he offered his sympathy on the demise of her cat, Paddles. Happier times this year. He offers her congratulations on the birth of her daughter and says she is symbol of a society where women shine.
Next up for a meeting is Dr Mahathir Mohamad aged 93. Winston Peters aged 73 positively shines at meeting him again after 21 years and possibly the realisation that he might be mid-career.
Peters gets agitated that the news media are in the room when Mahathir talks in unflattering terms about China, then has to dash off to Apec.
Ardern is left to placate the media. Deny there was anything to be read into the situation and look perplexed she is even being questioned about it.
FRIDAY
Australian newspaper reports Ardern turned down a request for Nauru refugees to holiday in New Zealand. A clear case of border protection, says a former Aussie Minister. "Welcome to our world."
Ardern attends a business breakfast and gives a speech that Bill English might have left in the bottom drawer of the Beehive. Well almost. New Zealand wants your foreign direct investment, she says. We are open for business.
Before speaking to the media about Nauru etc, Ardern holds a huddle with Campbell, Munro, Wilson and Barrington. There is great scope to offend here. Words matter. She denies the story. She is perplexed as to how it came about, and no, she doesn't think the Australian Government enjoys seeing her squirm of the issue of secure borders.
And no, she will not be riding in one of PNG's newly purchased Maseratis at Apec. It will be a Toyota Highlander for her.
The popular cafe, housed in a 66-year-old tugboat, has an asking price of $220,000.