Blogs from Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands, Oceania - page 2

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Oceania » Solomon Islands » Guadalcanal August 5th 2009

Early Friday morning we left Honiara for Avi-Avi Marina about 24 mile away on Ngelic Island. We arrived at 11.00am picking a mooring outside the Pamler’s house (friends of Brian). The boat was situated so that the dinghy could be used to go backwards and forwards to the house by a pulley system. The Palmer family is affluent by the standards of outer islands Solomon people. They have electricity for about 14hrs a day. The Marian has a generator producing electricity which they are able to tap into. Brian hooked us up to shore power and he was able to do the welding required on the jobs he needed to get done for the boat. The Pamler family have five children from 11 to 1 years old and grandparents living in what seems a small house ... read more
Mud Crab

Oceania » Solomon Islands » Guadalcanal July 29th 2009

We arrive in Honiara Monday evening after a 9 ½ hr journey from Marail - southern end of Guadalcanal. Again we were going down wind averaging 6.5 - 7k. It was a peaceful sunny with a few squalls very pleasant. Brian has mooring buoy about 50m off the Honiara Yacht Club. The plan was just to pick up the buoy and we would be set for the evening - We arrived just as it was getting dark at 6.30pm to find a catamaran had attached a sunken vessel next to Brian’s mooring which was no where in site. After a few choice words with the owner of the cat, running aground on the reef near by, we went on another mooring for the evening. Mike (a yachtie who had met Brian 3 years ago) came over ... read more

Oceania » Solomon Islands » Guadalcanal July 28th 2009

We left Wallis island on 14th July at 3.00pm, however, not before I visited the dentist. All weekend and during the public holiday I had problems with my tooth. We decided to take the precaution and make sure everything was OK. It wasn’t. The dentist diagnosised a tooth abscess and gave me antibiotics for the trip. It worked a charm and felt a lot better, however it puts an end to the diving until it is repaired. So I will probably be home early. We went out the same narrow channel where we entered Wallis Island. Fortunately, the current was with us and we traveled out at a speed of 10 knots with the engine barely ticking over for about ½ mile. It was quite scary and I was glad when we were clear of the ... read more
The main mode of transport here in Solomons

Oceania » Solomon Islands » Guadalcanal January 26th 2009

Solomon islands were the last stop on my journey. And probably the most difficult. Anyway, they were well worth the effort. First of all, there are battlefields, shipwrecks and rusty iron from the WWII. And the atmosphere is pristine since there are almost no tourists. In six weeks that I’ve spent there, I only met one backpacker. And a couple of tourists in pricey resorts. The other foreigners you meet are normally people working on some research, humanitarian projects or British medical students doing their internships in the local hospitals. The reason for absence of tourists is probably remote location and the fact that you need both time and money to travel Solomons. And not many people have both :)) Since there is not a lot of information available online about the Solomons, I would present ... read more
Honiara streets
vendor on the market
nice guys

Oceania » Solomon Islands » Guadalcanal March 10th 2008

Saturday, March 8, 2008 Today was a sea day as we are still enroute to Guadacanal. The lecture series has been very interesting as they do a very good job of summarizing the conflicts in this area and some of the early history of the area. They covered the Battle of Savo Island, which I had not really heard about but was one of the biggest defeats for the US Navy in history. If you watch the old movie Guadacanal with Willian Bendix, that movie actually does a good job of covering what happened on the island and nearby at sea. Tonight’s show was a cast show called: “Hit the Deck.” This was the same show that was on the Statendam last summer. It is a good show but we had seen it when the ship ... read more

Oceania » Solomon Islands » Guadalcanal March 9th 2008

Sailed into the Slot and Iron Bottom Sound, past Suva Island at dawn. Arrived at the Guadalcanal dock, not to be confused in any way with a cruise ship terminal. The line handlers are bare footed! There are towers of containers and a small gazebo type structure with a couple of hammocks and a small fire. My guess it’s for the night watchmen. The gangway presents a challenge and it is one of the strangest configurations I have ever scene. Even the Security Offices was grinning. A group of locals in native dress (loincloths’) and body paint welcome us with drums and pipes and dance. I can’t help imagining what the Marines felt when they first sighted the island. The jungle lowlands are backed by large volcanic peaks. These troops were not well trained or equipped ... read more

Oceania » Solomon Islands » Guadalcanal November 3rd 2007

Before clearing Vanuaut we spent one extra day in Luganville. I was keen to scuba dive the Coolidge another time, so myself and 3 others got up early and caught the morning session. This time the guide took us inside the wreck! We went in a door at about 100ft down called Ewett's door, supposedly the last place Mess Cpt. Ewett was seen as the liner sank. Dropping into the door veritcally was like floating down an elevator shaft that decended into darkness. Armed with torches we eventually were 3 floors down and began to traverse horizontally down a large corridor. Incredibly surreal. Way up you could catch a glimpse of blue light through the odd port hole. Coral and angel fish are everywhere. the hallway ended in a large room with an old fireplace ... read more




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