Solomon Islands 2023

The ageing twin prop Dash 8 aircraft has just lifted off from Henderson Airport in Honiara.I have the seat nearest the cockpit. I am surprised at how young the pilot looks and am a little uneasy when she removes a folder from her briefcase labelled’training le’.However,she then hands it to the co-pilot.We touch down at Suavanao airstrip at the top end of Santa Isabel Island. Two of my Solomon friends Jerold and Casper are waiting for the arrival of myself and two other guests,Guy and Danny,who are from around Byron area.Our ‘taxi’,a 5-metre open runabout with 60hp motor,is waiting to transport us to Kagata village 90 minutes further north.We battle with a stiff headwind and enough swell to make the voyage less than comfortable.

On arrival at Kagata various family members,who I last saw in 2020,meet us. e children have obviously changed enormously in 3 years and Grena (16 years old in 2020) is now married with a 9-month-old son,Levi,and with a second on the way. Joseph and Veronica,who were newlyweds in 2020,are expecting their second child in February.

We settle in to our leaf hut just in time to hear the dinner bell. e food here is simple but sustaining.A typical lunch would consist of sh (prepared in a myriad of ways),sweet potato (boiled, mashed or chips),one of the various green leafy vegies and fresh pineapple.Dinner is similar and fresh coconut features strongly in many dishes.

Next morning after breakfast,we take a boat ride out to the reef,about 10 minutes away,for our rst surf. It is quite windy - the waves are not so great - but we can’t resist diving into the warm, turquoise,tropical water.I always pack a couple of shing rods,so I trolled (dragging a line behind the boat) on our return to the village and managed to hook a couple of trevally that would cover our lunch and dinner.

Day 2 and Jerold is keen to sh.He likes to surf as well but prefers to wait for a good swell. ere is a tight budget with the fuel for the boats (very expensive out here) and they allow for two trips a day.So,Jerold has a plan to send the other two guests off sur ng and we head off in the small 15hp boat,before breakfast,to get some sh.We go to what Jerold describes as ‘his secret spot’to the very north of the islands,and it doesn’t take long to start reeling them in. We return for a late breakfast with ve Spanish mackerel (up to 8kg) two rainbow runners and a barracuda. ere is no refrigeration in the village but nothing is wasted – three sh are delivered to our neighbours across the lagoon at Legaha.

Tomorrow is Friday and Jerold is keen to catch plenty of sh so they can ‘dry’some for the ‘Sabbath’(they are mostly Seventh Day Adventists). is time we take an extra driver,Peter,so we can have two shing at a time.It is another successful morning at Jerold’s ‘secret spot’with ve mackerel,but I lose one good lure and one sh when our lines become tangled.

Suffice to say there continued to be a plentiful supply of sh for the 20 days I spent in the village. e village dog,Rasta, has assumed the role of my ‘keeper’- sleeps on the doorstep of my hut and lies under my table at meal times. ere is a litter of pups in the area attributed to him. e bearer of said pups is a bitch named Lebu that lives at Legaha about one kilometre across the lagoon.We are all very surprised when Lebu swims across the lagoon to visit Rasta.Unfortunately,the romance is cut short when a canoeist from Legaha arrives to escort Lebu back to her village. e surf continues to disappoint right up to the day Guy and Danny are due to leave. e swell does pick up eventually and there is a reasonable wave at Kale (pron: Karlay),the most consistent surf break.After a couple of good wipeouts my back is feeling sore and I wake the next morning with considerable back pain.We are expecting good waves today so I drop a couple of painkillers before motoring to the next surf break south called Kookadaka. ere is a perfect right hand wave rolling through and Jerold and I can’t wait to get amongst them. e next day we return for more of the same with not another surfer within miles. e whole procedure takes less than 10 minutes.And the payment – two mackerel! By the next morning,my back feels much better.

A couple of kilometres from home the motor suddenly falters as the last of our fuel budget drains out of the tank.Luckily,Jerold manages to ag down another boat way in the distance and they change course to come to our rescue with a litre of fuel.

By the third day,the swell has dropped slightly,but still waves to be surfed.My back has not responded well to my 2 day ‘surf therapy’, so I decide to take the day off.I discover there is a local ‘witchdoctor’named Natta who,I am told,knows a thing or two about sore backs.So, we set off on the half hour journey to his abode near the village of Kia.I trail a line on the way and hook a couple of mackerel - one a solid 10kg. Natta is a tall elderly man with just one front tooth.He gets me to lie down on an old foam mattress and pokes and pushes around the tender area while Jerold lifts and slightly twists my right leg, under Natta’s instructions.

Many of the men smoke tobacco,usually ‘rollies’. ey buy ‘Solomon tobacco’in Kia, but Jerold tells me he grows his own,packs it in a tube of bamboo and oven-dries it,as the Kia stuff has a chemical added.

On Saturday 21st I wake to the sound of a boat engine – it is 3am – that’s strange. Next morning I discover that Veronica had been having strong contractions and had headed to the clinic in Kia with Joseph,Revua (Joseph’s mum) and Pina (Veronica’s niece).Communication with Joseph proves difficult,but eventually word reaches us on Monday that Veronica has given birth to a baby girl.By that afternoon,they return to the village. e clinic in Kia has no medications (one of the down sides of living in 'paradise') so I supply Veronica with my remaining paracetamol. e trip to the Suavanao airstrip is another rough one. Luckily,I have remained dressed in my sur ng attire as I soak up the combination of sea spray and driving rain. e ight has been cancelled due to heavy overnight to the reef for a surf.Left my board at the airstrip! No problem – I get to choose one of the many spare surfcraft on offer,have a wave then return for a scrumptious meal,all courtesy of Solomon rain so the airstrip manager directs us to Papatura, a low-key sur ng resort just 10 minutes away and run by an Australian family. is is an unexpected bonus – I am shown to my leaf house and invited to join one of the groups of guests heading out

I bought a cheap laptop computer back home as a gift to the local primary school. I learn that the school is no longer at Kagata,but is now at Kupicolo a slightly larger village ve minutes away.It is my last day and I present the computer to Lisa,one of the three teachers,and am touched by the reception I receive.I have quite an audience as I go through a few basics with Lisa.I am presented with a garland of owers and the children sing a couple of songs in my honour.

Chinese logging companies have made inroads into much of the previously remote rainforests of the Solomon Islands. e many small islands on the northern tip of Santa Isabel had been untouched. is time I saw the rst signs of logging. e low-key village stay tourism is one of the few avenues to protect these islands,giving the villagers an income so they don't need to sell the timber rights.

It is my last night and the mandatory farewell party is prepared. e women have been cooking all day and we get together with the Legaha folks for a smorgasbord type feast.After dinner the children (12 in all) assemble to belt out a few hymns (actually it is Quite a few). ey love to sing and it’s with some relief that two of the older girls have joined them for a couple of 'choreographed' pop songs.

Airlines.A day at Papatura ‘trumps’a day in Honiara every time.

I return home and re ect on the multitude of stuff cluttering my life compared to the basic essentials of my Kagata friends.