Blogs from Honiara, Solomon Islands, Oceania

Tuesday Honiara Guaranteed a shore day with Honiara having a port berth, we looked forward to seeing some military sites on some sort of tour. This cruise with PNG and Solomons being the shore destinations has meant less chances for us to do our own thing ashore with most destinations having little infrastructure such as taxis or buses to take us independently to where we wanted to go. Today was no exception. Honiara which means place of east wind is the capital of The Solomon Islands, population 80,000. Rich in WWII history with much of the major fighting between the Japanese and the USA and its allies occurring in this area.There was a lot set up on the wharf with stalls and maps and the advice from the information desk to seek a tour outside of ... read more

THE SOLOMON ISLANDS OFF TO A BAD START The Solomon Islands…the name conjures up stories from my childhood memory. When I was young I had a set of Christian books about Kings, and of course King Solomon is one I remember. On the other hand, I know next to nothing about the war in the Pacific. I don’t even know where my uncles served during the war, and now family members who could have told me have all passed away. The first time I visited the Philippines many years ago there were still remnants of the military presence in the Philippines. On this trip I discovered wrecks abound in Papua New Guinea. The German Channel in Palau was a site of military activity in WWII. But I didn’t learn about the war in the Solomon Islands ... read more