Solomons Part 2

(click on a place to go there)

Most travel was Gizo-Vanga-Gizo

We now know why flies are an important part of biblical plagues. The boat was literally black with them when we decided to depart Mono at 4AM. You could barely breathe because they were so thick. They stayed on the boat even when the wind rose above 30 knots, hiding in wrinkles of canvas. Only biblical-grade rains in 30+ knots managed to wash them off.

We'd had squalls blow through for days so when it seemed they had lifted, we tried to make a dash for Vella Lavella, 55nm away. It should have been an easy day trip. It wasn't easy and wasn't a day. We were battered with squall after squall, winds gusting to over 45 knots with horizontal rain. We finally gave up trying to beat into it and ran downwind for a few hours, which was a fast run but in the wrong direction. When it was obvious we couldn't go as east as we needed and dusk was approaching, the capt decided to change course and make it an overnight trip. By the time the boat approached Gizo Harbor at 7AM the wind had eased and the weary boat and its crew motored to safety.

A shot of Gizo Harbor, complete with tub.

After 24 hrs of recuperation and chaos control, we emerged to see how much Gizo had changed since the tsunami. The answer was, after 2 months of reconstruction, not much.

This is one change. The hills around the town have these tent cities where the locals retreat for the night. The difference between the one in Mono and here is that here we see spiffy donated nylon tents, making it look more like an Aussie campground.

Here we see damage caused by the earthquake. St Peter's lost its steeple and lots of other masonry.

One big change seen on the street is hordes of expats driving around in NGOmobiles. This place was just another third-world dump but has now become a poster-child for aid. This seems to be doing wonders for Gizo itself, but the outlying islands and villages may never recover.

The view from Gizo Hotel

Don't get us wrong, we have a certain affection for Gizo and certainly love the Solomons and its people.

One of the reasons for heading to Gizo was to enable the admiral to fly to the US in order to be there for the birth of a new grandchild. So, what did the newly single hub do, party hardy? Not hardly. First, he was seduced by the advent in Gizo of WiFi. Suddenly, he could surf to his heart's content, wasting many untold hours as a cyber couch potato, catching up on all kinds of useless first-world trivia.

But potato-hood (yam-hood around here) has its limits and once the $54m pants suit had been settled and the Phil Spector trial was underway, there seemed little left to yearn for. Even Paris was off the radar. In addition, the weather in Gizo is often quite squally and nasty. One night the winds hit 40kts and the The Tub had to motor into the wind to stop dragging into the mangroves. If you think it's simple to single-handedly hoist the anchor of a 50' boat in a high wind , in the dark, think again. It seemed time for a change.

This is what change looks like. This is a view out of Vanga Point, the site of an Catholic agricultural school as well as a teachers college. Note the nice flat water. No carvers, just crocs, which tend to be much less aggressive.

Here's The Tub with its loathsome awning up. It may be unsightly, but in a place where it rains 5-6 times a day it helped keep things dry while they were being varnished. It also keeps things cool in a sheltered spot with little breeze.

Here's something the Solomons excels in, cute kids. The Hub had been asked by friends to contact some people there. When he went to the dock he met these friendly and very polite young boys who agreed to help Capt Stanley find his Livingstones. Unfortunately, Stanley had been given a wrong name and was not aware that 2 institutions were present, not just the ag school. So, they dutifully took him to the ag school only to find no one had heard of either Livingstones. Next stop was the teachers college. There he met a nice woman who told him that "Jerry" was in Honiara and "Anna" was, well she didn't say. That's because Anna didn't exist and she was too polite to say so. So Stanley left, bereft of either contact. Such are the wages of Adventure.

Stanley decided he could at least play tourist, so he whipped out his camera and started shooting. This is a typical house. Note how tidy and well-built it is. Fortunately, Vanga Point was not flooded like Gizo and places elsewhere that were much further away from the earthquake.

Not everything was spared. There used to be a concrete dock here, complete with light railroad. Now it can only be seen underwater.

What can we do with flat water? Go up the mast, of course. Fortunately, acrohub has no problem w/heights, as can be seen hanging from 65' up.

What can you see from up there? How about the Point in Vanga Point? If you look carefully you can see pasture, where they graze cattle, and their associated flies.

What's outside? The big island of Vella Lavella, maybe 20nm away, across the Vella Gulf.

What's it look like from outside? Here's Vanga Point at sunrise, the giant cone of Kolumbangara in the distance.

What does Gizo look like from Vanga? See the big cloud? Gizo lies under it. Wonder why the weather there is often nasty? Wonder no more.

What was accomplished at Vanga? Look at the nicely folded mast steps that go all the way to the top. There are 36, each with 4 drilled & tapped screws. That's 144. Many hours of pleasure boating. Hanging from the top in a bosun's chair in the hot sun. Get the picture?

Tired of questions? Me, too. The main question is when the admiral will return to bring discipline to the wasted, web-addled crew. Before it's too late.

Well, the admiral did return, just in the nick of time. She was joyfully welcomed by the crew and the cruise was finally rejoined.

Right after returning we spent a few days at Mbambanga Island, a few miles east of Gizo. Here we saw a rainbow over Kennedy Island, so-called because JFK and his PT109 crew swam ashore there in 1943.

After the brief Mbambanga visit, which involved removal of significant growth of sponges and mussels on the hull, we motored back to Vanga so the admiral could make her inspection. Here she records some of her admirers.

Here we see the hub attempting to cross a lazy mountain stream. What he did not appreciate was the hidden presence of that most vile of creatures, the despicable sand fly. They seem to like it here because it has lots of cool fresh water, their favorite habitat, aside from human ankles. The bites take many itchy weeks to heal.

This is a view of the Vanga Teacher's College.

This is Jerry, the head of the college, along with his adorable brood.

A rather less adorable denizen was our neighbor, seen here proudly displaying his remarkable dentition. His presence somehow tended to deter the admiral from her usual preference from living aquatically. There was not a day that we did not spot a lurking croc circling the perimeter of the mangroves.

. While we liked Vanga Point, we really needed to continue our mini-cruise of the Western Province, which we'll begin on another page we'll call Solomons Part 3.

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