Our time in Solomons was short, mostly due to the extra time that we had
spent in other places throughout the year and our keen desire to be south of
the southern hemisphere cyclone belt before November. So we picked a short
route through the western Solomon Islands group, stopping in at Kolombangara,
New Georgia and Vona Vona Lagoon. What a treat we were in for!
We did the short 5nm totter around from Gizo to Fatboys Resort and dropped
anchor just next to a lively coral filled bay. We took the dingy trip around
the point to the resort bungalow bar, constructed of palm tree timbers with
palm leaf roofing, located on stilts atop a coral plateau where sharks circle
for dinner as the lights extend their glow onto the encircling reef. That is a
lesson in good dingy alighting right there! The resort for us was sublime, a restaurant meal
in a gorgeous location and we treated ourselves to a bottle of overpriced
Australian wine. We could almost smell Australia from here, there were subtle hints of our arrival in the southern hemisphere wherever we turned. After our
sumptuous dinner of fresh snapper and crayfish and over-enjoyment of the wine,
we made the bouncy and somewhat hairy ride back to the boat, carefully picking
our way around the extending coral reef in the strong southerly gale that had
whipped up while we were imbibing. A little wet and somewhat salty, we made it
back to collapse for bed.
A few days in the picture perfect reef and we decided to move on to Ringgi
Cove. We did not really know what to expect here, but after dropping anchor
inside the bay which ringed by dense jungle with two small family houses just in sight through the thick green walls, we got a visit from some
gorgeous local girls who gave us a bunch of flowers. What a treat! We gave them
some school books and pencils. The following day we were visited by some more
canoe going locals and we traded sugar, flour, tea, milk powder, soap and kids
clothes for a veritable feast of fresh vegetables. This was very exciting as
our fresh food stores had been pitiful for over 2 weeks. We spoke to one of the
families who told us that they work for the KFPL logging company which does
rotational logging on the mountains beyond.
There was no village here and only one of the boats that we saw had an outboard, the locals get around in hand paddled canoes and live in small family houses. We took the dingy on a long journey around the south of the island where we were taken by some local boys to see Japanese WWII anti-aircraft gun emplacements. It was a fascinating experience to have to machete our way through the dense jungle growth and clamber over tree roots and soggy mud holes to see these enormous gun emplacements that must have been hauled in by a vehicle (hence a road would have to have been built first) to bring the guns inland. The guns were dug in, such that the gunner would have been sitting in a mud pit, swatting mozzies and trying to spot aircraft overhead while up to 2m of rain fell on them throughout the year, I did not envy their circumstances.
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| Some more kids visited us in their canoe and we decided to tow them home, much hilarity ensued! |
There was no village here and only one of the boats that we saw had an outboard, the locals get around in hand paddled canoes and live in small family houses. We took the dingy on a long journey around the south of the island where we were taken by some local boys to see Japanese WWII anti-aircraft gun emplacements. It was a fascinating experience to have to machete our way through the dense jungle growth and clamber over tree roots and soggy mud holes to see these enormous gun emplacements that must have been hauled in by a vehicle (hence a road would have to have been built first) to bring the guns inland. The guns were dug in, such that the gunner would have been sitting in a mud pit, swatting mozzies and trying to spot aircraft overhead while up to 2m of rain fell on them throughout the year, I did not envy their circumstances.
Our next destination was the grimy fish cannery town of Noro, which was
also the main port for all of the Solomons for international shipping. We
intended to only be here for as short a time as possible to do the formalities
of checking out before heading south. The day was miserable, it was humid with
little breeze and it was raining. This would not have been such a problem if we
did not have to use good spotting to make our way into the tricky anchorage at
Noro. It lay behind a coral bar where a shallow (3m deep) and narrow (6m wide)
entry had been blasted to allow passage to a sandy bottomed cove. Up on the bow
I could see the reef entry ahead, but as we drew nearer, the cloud cover came
in and all I could see was a shiny surface. We balked at this anchorage and
trudged on to find another spot. Two more attempts at anchoring and the
visibility was not improving, the whole enormous channel was ringed by dense
coral walls that extended out and gave way to depths greater than 40m which is
no good for our anchoring. After skirting a reef, we finally found a spot
for our anchor at the far southern end of the bay and Hugh went on the long
dingy trip ashore to see the officials and check out while I played the role of
boat cat. Shortly after he left the mother of all rain storms hit and I was
busily collecting rainwater in our tanks when I saw what looked like a dolphin
fin off the bow. Always loving a dolphin show, I went up to have a look to see
to my surprise not one but two manta rays swimming close to the surface to
scoop up their plankton fill! What a sight. I stood there in the pouring rain,
like no self respecting boat cat should, for about an hour watching them glide
around the boat, and as they turned and delicately flicked the edge of their wing at
the surface. It was absolutely magnificent to see these rare creatures lapping
up their micro-prey. They were also interested in our boat as it must have been
right in the middle of their tidal plankton sushi train and they did laps
around checking it out.
I managed to get some quick footage while the
rain paused for a moment. Then shortly afterwards Hugh came zooming back in the
dingy from town. I quickly gestured at him to come in and we grabbed our
snorkels and jumped in for a swim with them while they continued their gorge
fest. It was amazing; they were completely disinterested in us being there, and
we did not get in the way of them. We could see the green plankton cloud
pluming out close to the surface which the mantas would swim through with their
mouths wide open scooping up a belly full before turning back for another lot.
They were completely fine with us swimming around them too. In the end, we saw
about 5 manta rays getting about. Guess we lucked in with the best manta
restaurant! Amazing. It was so amazing that when we happened to stay there for
one more day due to bad weather, we joined them for another afternoon. Our very
own manta swim tank!
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| Our manta visitor |
It was hard to top such an intimate date with
the manta rays, but we pushed on southward to stop in at Vona Vona lagoon and
the Zipolo Habu Resort at Lola Island. Thankfully the lagoon is absolutely
breathtaking, because the arduous reef dodging that we needed to do to get in
there was like delicately tip-toeing through a live mine field while
blindfolded, and I needed a stiff drink after that!
The wait was slow for a weather window for
our final Pacific Ocean leg to Queensland. The weather was inclement at anchor,
but better than being in the Solomon Sea copping 40kts of wind and the sea that
would be whipped up. For an adventure we decided to take the dingy for the 6nm
trip to Munda, which was not our brightest of ideas. The trip looked easy enough
on the map, but it turned out to be a hairy ride across some shallow reefs and
being exposed to the trade wind swell that risked swamping us and sweeping us
out to sea. But we made it, bought some beautiful timber carvings from the
local carvers and said goodbye to our final Solomons town.
The carving work is one of of the few ways that many locals make some cash money, as they mostly trade food or just live off the food they grow to survive, living a subsistence lifestyle. The many types of wood including kerosene wood, king and queen ebony, pandanus timber and coconuts make for a wide variety of colours, textures and weight in the many different works produced. There are many very skilled carvers in this part of the Solomons and we loved talking to them and seeing how they do their work with limited tools.
It certainly felt
like we had not finished our trip in the Solomons and it is definitely a place for a
return visit. After one false start we were off, commencing
the final 800nm crossing to Australia...where it all began 18 months ago.
16/10/2014
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