One of my friends, Bryceson, rang me and asked if I wanted to go to the Solomon Islands. Sure, sounds good.
GETTING THERE
It was a long journey to get there - car to Newcastle Airport, flight to Brisbane, overnight at Brisbane, taxi to International airport, flight to Honiara, domestic flight to Manaoba airport, jungle walk and finally a 1 1/2 hour boat ride to Solwata. Definitely, getting there was a fun and varying journey.
The lodgings at Solwata were on a small man-made island on the massive Lau Lagoon. We were the only two westerns there so we had a room each. The food was good though pancakes most mornings was a bit of an overkill.
The view from our deck was over the lagoon facing towards the distant surf.
The weather was blisteringly hot when the sun was out but generally it wasn't. There were frequent squalls of rain and strong winds. three seasons in one day type of weather.
THE SURF
The surf just over a metre on our first two days but it steadily decreased in size with the duration of our stay.
We surfed the outside reefs on the first two days as the winds were slight but after that the winds were strong and only one surf break on the inside of the reef was protected.
The waves were good but small. Still, we had fun and surfed once or twice a day depending on the winds and tides. The best waves were from mid tide to high tide.
Every surf involved a boat ride. The boat was crewed by Thomas and Skipper. They knew where the breaks were but had little knowledge of actually surfing. So decisions were up to us. That worked out most of the time except once when the waves at one break stopped breaking and the water running over the reef became a vicious current which tried to dragged us out to sea.
There was no one there except us surfing. On the inside break, there were heaps of local kids on locally crafted out of any thing surfboards. It was fun to surf with them but we could let them us our boards or get too close as the village would demand compensation if the kids got hurt.
Besides surfing there was a lot of other fun things to do.
THE CANOE
We tried paddling the local canoes. They were a bit unsteady at first but we got the hang of it and paddled over the channel to the neighbouring island. Luckily, for us there was no wind.
CHURCH
On Sunday, we rode the boat over to the mainland village to go to church. The tide was low so the boat could only go so far then we had to get out and walk about a 100 metres across the mud flats. In sections, we sank up to our knees. Once on dry land we were able to wash off at spring fed shower.
We wandered along the paths through the village. there were no roads so there were no cars or motorbikes. Boats were the main means of transport besides walking. The village was interesting and we received smiles and inquisitive stares mainly from the local kids.
The Anglican church was a large churchy-looking building with an alter at the front and two aisles of pews. The women sat on one side and men on the other. Also, the youngest sat at the front and the oldest at the back. There were a lot more women there than men.
The singing was beautiful. They sang in a six part harmony with the different harmony's taking turns singing louder.
Towards the end of the service, we were asked to come to the front and introduce ourselves to the congregation and give a short speech about ourselves. Afterwards, we were politely surrounded by kids and took heaps of photos.
BEER VILLAGE AND SPRING
Our beer was in low supply so we took a boat over to another village for buying some.
The boat travelled a short way through a mangrove channel which opened up to to a relatively wide area where there was a village. We continued motoring a short distance more till we reached the end. There were many girls/women washing clothes. There was also a clean fresh water spring. Jack the lodge owner filled some containers with water.
We backtracked to the village and had a walk around while Jack got the beer. The village was very pretty with well constructed hoses with flowery gardens. We chatted with a few of the locals.
THE JUNGLE HIKE
The tide was low so we walked across the mud flats to the mainland. Once again we sank in mud in the last stage before the mainland.
Thomas, our local guide, lead us along a jungle track to the village.
The track was narrow, slippery, wet and steep in parts. Thick vegetation keeping our balance required a lot of concentration. The vegetation was thick right to the edge of the path. It felt very snakey.
We past by a number of houses and gardens. Thomas had to ask permission at each property we walked through. One place had a pretty Dusty Lori bird.
Eventually, we reached the village. Unbeknownst to us Thomas had arranged for a boat to meet to meet us at the village. Once again, we trudged our way through the mud flats to the boat but it was a shorter trudge than backtracking
THE SNORKEL
It was pouring rain so may as well have a snorkel on the reef edge.
It started off shallow with a lot of staghorn coral and nemos fish dartinf between the fronds.
After that, it was pretty ordinary with a couple of coral clumps with a variety of fish clamping around it.
The best was the large eel that entertained me for quite a while.
Most of the coral had been used for island construction.
On the far reefs the coral probably would have been better but the currents were pretty strong out there.
THE MANGROVE PADDLE
The sun was out and the tide was high so we picked up our surfboards and paddled over the mainland mangroves. Of course we were followed by the island kids.
It was fun paddling around the mangroves especially where the growth was thick and there was only a small space to paddle through.
THE REEF WALK
Low tide so it was out on the reef, well, really seaweed, for a wander.
There wasn't a great deal to see but still there were some interesting finds - urchins, long thingy type creatures, shells and a sea snake.
After the walk, Bryceson got the kids to clean up the rubbish around the island.
THE MARKET, JASPER'S HOME AND JASPER ISLAND
We rode the boat a fair distance to visit the local market.
We moored the boat and walked through mad to the shore. From there, we walked through the village and along a beach to get to the markets.
We must have been a bit early as there wasn't many stalls set up but that soon changed. Boats pulled in and people were ferried across the river.
The market sold fruit, vegetables and some hardware items. The biggest seller was the betel nut. The vendors didn't even make it to the market before they were swamped by people, who walked off with large bags of it.
We walked around and took photos from strategic spots. It was very interesting watching the people. Not many smiles as this was serious survival/money business.
After the markets, we walked to Michael Jasper's house in the village. Michael was the head man.
He told us of his vision to setup a homestay. We met his family and his wife Lady Di. They were all genuinely nice and friendly.
We walked back to the boat and motored to Jasper's manmade island.
We were treated as honoured guests. Jasper gave a 10 minute speech on the milestone of having visitors, the kids did some dancing that was pretty weird and we had a feast (not really) of some pineapple and bananas.
The big draw card for the island was the potential for some good snorkeling.
Micheal really had a long way to go before he could seriously have visitors staying but his heart was in the right place and I hope it works out for him and his family.
THE HILL HIKE
Bryceson wanted to get some photos of the area for a height.
This involved a boat to the mainland, permission to walk through the farmers land and a hike up the steep and slippery hill. Along the way, we passed an old abandoned church and a number of graves which marked where the missionaries were buried.
The view at the top was okay but would have been better at sunrise.
MARK'S ISLAND
Thomas, who was one of the boat crew had a friend, Mark, he thought we might like to visit. And so we did.
Mark lived on a manmade island in the lagoon with his family. The island was laid out very neatly and with a lot of loving care. There were various areas to sit cordoned off by small rock walls. Each area was different. Some were sandy based of different colours, some were in in the shade of trees and some had a grass base. The seats sometimes were in a circle of faced outwards towards a view of the land or ocean. All very nice.
Mark's brother played guitar and they sang us some local songs which with Thomas they sang in a three part harmony. Very pretty.
Mark also had a vision of a homestay but lacked a decent boat to attract surfers.
DANCE NIGHT
Early in our stay, we organised a dance performance on our last night.
There were quite a number of dancers in traditional costume, music, a speaker system and lights.
Unfortunately, there were problems with the sound system and when they sorted it out it was dark. The lighting system didn't work properly so the dancers were mainly in the dark. Haha then it started to rain heavily. We escaped to one of the island house verandahs and watched them dance in the dark and in the rain.
Finally, they stopped when the wind howled through.
GETTING HOME
On the final day, we said our farewells and left by boat to Manaoba Airport. Along the way, I had a surf on the inside break. We had plenty of time. After an hour, they called me back to the boat to tell we had to go as the plane was getting to Manaoba early.
So we got to the airport early and were told that the plane was now going to be late by two hours. We laid on the benches for 4 1/2 hours before the plane arrived.
At Honiara, we were taken to the King Solomon Hotel. The hotel was on a hill and our room was at the top. We sat in a small cabin and were slowly taken along the tracks to the top of the hill. The room was okay. It was now dark so we had dinner in the hotel restaurant and back to our room.
In the morning, we had a bit of a wander around town. It was a mixture of businesses, industry and and shops. A bit run down I thought. There were lots of signs warning of dengue fever.
Later that day, we caught our plane to Brisbane. On arrival, we had a temperature check and were told it was okay to travel fly to Newcastle.
It was a long journey home and now we are both in home isolation for the next 14 days but that's another story.
.JPG)
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