A Short History of Everything Since Honiara...

We've been a bit remiss in the updates, part of the problem is that it is too hot to be sitting inside typing. The sweat is pouring off me as I write this. Its going to be another hot and humid evening. Thunder and lightening overnight has been standard for sometime now. We are approaching the end of the tradewind season (and into the NW monsoon) which means light winds (although I think that may be the norm here anyway). We have motored most of the way from Honiara to here - here being Mbasroko (Mbaeroko, Bairoko) Bay on the mainland of New Georgia Island in the Western Province. Today we managed to sail for a very short time only. For several hours the sea was glassy calm and we could see turtles and also flying fish leaping from the water and flying away. As I write this, Jim is busy entertaining the local kids, who have come out in a canoe; lots of giggling going on.

The last couple of weeks have been spent in and around the greater Marovo Lagoon. Here, a central island is surrounded by fringing islands and reefs and the interior is dotted with small bush clad islands. We have been snorkelling and diving and we are getting a bit spoilt with good dives. Marovo Lagoon is also famous for its carvers, whom you get inundated with at some anchorages but Jim has enjoyed trading/buying some small carvings; some of the work is quite impressive. At one anchorage we explored the wreck of a WWII plane (B24) that had crashed at the end of the bay. The alumininum was in amazing condition and you could see the fuselage, propellers and engines and also several large holes presumably where it had made contact with trees on impact. From here we also watched the daily back and forth flights of hornbills who fly over during the day to eat narli (sp?) nuts and back again in the evening. They have a very distinctive (and loud) wingbeat.

When we left Honiara we had a quick trip to the Florida Islands where we motored through a passage between the islands and anchored for one night at a small uninhabited island. We would've liked to do some diving here but a few yachts have had unpleasant experiences here (the 2am knive weilding thug variety), so we decided to give it a miss. We managed to catch a wahoo in the Mbole Passage, one of very few fish we have managed to catch in the Solomons - we have seen heaps of wahoo while underwater so our lack of success is definitely down to our fishing techniques (or lack thereof!). From here we motored (again) to the Russell Islands: deep anchorages, pouring rain and beautiful reefs. Unfortunately, the weather didn't play ball for diving (a W wind when we needed the prevailing SE for the anchorage to be tenable). Another motor saw us at an island called Mborokua according to the chart and Mary according to everybody else. This is a small island between the Russells and New Georgia with a beautiful little cove which is just too deep and coral filled to make for a comfortable anchorage (particularly if the one night you are there it is windy after, and followed by, days of calm), but we stuck it out for one night as we met up with a group from Honiara who were camping on the island and diving. We enjoyed some dives with them, especially being able to dive from their boat which avoided all the problems we have with the logistics of where to leave the dinghy etc. Also discovered the local dive boat mooring in a lovely calm spot... we'll know for next time. From here we did an overnight drift to Peava just outside of the Morovo Lagoon our last stop before we entered the lagoon proper and hopped (and even had a couple of lovely sails!) through, and in and out, of the lagoon. And that is a very brief outline of what we have been up to since Honiara! Its now time to head outside with a cold drink to enjoy the sunset.

Honiara

When we got to Honiara, there were quite a few boats already anchored there, as well as some local boats on moorings. We managed to squeeze ourselves in to a spot reasonably close in. We had heard that in the past yachts tied stern-to against a wall but while we were there this was filled with decrepit local ferries and traders. The anchorage was all calm when we arrived but we were told, and then discovered for ourselves, that it can get quite choppy in the afternoons. Ashore, there is a landing spot for the local coming in from the off lying islands, colourful, small fibreglass boats. This meant that these boats came roaring through the anchorage all day and into the night (5 knots, what 5 knot rule?) although the tender to a large motorboat that anchored outside was no better!). Next to this was the Point Cruz Yacht Club, a hang out for wealthier locals and disgruntled Aussie expats. It was also very cool (at least compared to the yacht), served cold beer at reasonable prices and (best of all, at least for Jim) had a resident cat. We could have done with a cat on board to keep away the flocks of small birds that liked to perch on the stays of the anchored boats and make a mess on deck. Our first task in Honiara was to complete customs and immigration clearance. This was quite pricey but not as bad as Vanuatu, and at least here we have seen a few more working lights and beacons etc than in Vanuatu so feel we are getting something for our money (the port dues, which were charged in US dollars then converted to local currency, accounted for most of the fees). We also did a bit of stocking up in dusty, rubbish-filled, downtown Honiara. There was rubbish everywhere, including being burned in large piles with the not so fragrant smoke drifting over the anchorage. The beach where we landed the dinghy was strewn with rubbish including broken glass and rusty tin cans, enhanced by what appeared to be virtually an open sewer running nearby. One of the other charming aspects of Honiara were the betel-nut chewers who spit red juice all over the pavement. Betel-nut, which is chewed as a combination of a nut, leaf (or bud) and lime (as in the mineral not the citrus), and individual cigarettes were for sale every few metres along the main road. So why did we stay here for well over a week...

...the diving! We were lucky enough to make contact with a friend's brother and his wife who are currently living in Honiara. Paul is a keen diver and took us to three dive sites near Honiara. All three were wrecks of Japanese naval cargo ships which had been sunk trying to land supplies ashore in WWII. Two of the wrecks were accessed straight from the beach and one involved about a 200m swim out from the beach. All three were excellent dives (we did 5 dives in total). The life, fish, coral, fans etc, was beautiful and we did some lovely swim throughs with great light filtering in through cargo hatches and shell holes. On one dive we swam up through a shell hole. Jim enjoyed spotting various bits of ship construction. All in all some great diving -thank you Paul!

I also managed to get off the boat for a night (leaving Jim to look after the boat -there is no truth in the rumour that he spent the entire weekend ashore drinking beer and sharing fish and chips with the cat!) to go for a walk up into the hills with Paul and Nicki. We camped at the site of a Japanese campsite during WWII. There were a lot of relics remaining, including guns, shells and bullets. Thankfully, the Japanese embassy had recently repatriated most of the bones. We spotted an eagle overhead and the nights sleep was interrupted by cicadas that sounded like car alarms, but we were not disturbed by the ghosts that are reputed to haunt the spot.

We finally left Honiara for one night in the Florida group before heading across to the Russell Islands. We found out that on our last night in Honiara, a couple of boats in the outskirts of the anchorage had had stuff stolen.

...but did we mention the diving was excellent!