Friday 7^th October

Snapshot: Pete is on deck in the pouring POURING rain chopping up vegetables and cursing under his breath at the bluntness of each and every knife on board.  John is lying happily on some (slightly damp) couch cushions, reading James Michener’s Alaska.  He looks very relaxed and happy in spite of not having caught any fish on our way here up the Sandfly Passage.   I too have been lolling on the damp couch, reading, but now I have struggled to a less supine position to write a bit of blogstuff.  Pete and I are inordinately pleased with ourselves because we have just crossed the 8^th parallel – what a long way we have come, from Hobart, on the 42^nd Degrees South parallel!  Surprisingly, it is cooler today than it has been since we arrived in the Solomons – only about 28, as opposed to 38.  The tropical rain is bucketing down relentlessly, and I am making the most of the opportunity to rinse and wash, with big buckets and containers all over the deck catching lovely fresh water for this purpose.

You may, if you are observant, have noticed some absences in this snapshot…Kerry and Rina have left us.  They jumped ship at the water wharf in Honiara and were last seen disappearing, with many beautiful baskets and shells and artifacts strewn about their persons, in a big white taxi.  Possibly it all got a bit Big Brother, on 2XS…

Yesterday we cruised off into the Sandfly Passage.  (Yes I know I said we were going to Morovo Lagoon in the Western Province, The Most Beautiful Place In The World…but I was wrong.  That is after we leave Honaira on the 11^th…)  We anchored on a lovely bit of reef and were straight in the water.  I stayed in till I got extremely wrinkly; it was just so wonderful.  A long expanse of coral, dropping off into the deep blue on one side, and to sandy shallows on the other.  Lots of very healthy coral, with not a single Crowns of Thorns starfish in sight.  And so many fish!  A myriad tiny ones, drifting in and out of a big bommie not five metres from the boat, absolutely enchanting.

Eventually ofcourse I did have to climb up the ladder and start drying off.  We had ltos of canoe visitors, ofcourse… Peter, who runs a small Eco Lodge, came out to tell us, firmly but kindly, that we were in an MPA (Marine Protected Area) and that this would mean that we would have to pay him $25 each for the privilege of swimming on the reef.  This seemed eminently reasonable ($25 Solomon = about $3.50 AUS…)  We also made friends with a most delightful, gentle man called Willy, who had his small son Billy in his canoe.  Billy didn’t respond to anything much happening around him, and Willy said, a bit sadly, “He is deaf and dumb.  He goes to school to try to learn signs with his hands.”  I just happened to have done a wee bit of shopping in the Honiara Chinese shops so I whipped inside and found a small notebook and some crayons; Billy’s eyes lit up, so did Willy’s… Later, just as it was getting dark, Willy turned up again, with an older, thinner man, John, who had a guest book he wanted us to write in.  And they also had brought, for “Laura” and for 2XS, an enormous bunch of beautiful local flowers, in a bark and coconut free-standing vase arrangement.  We dined al fresco (before the rain rain RAIN) with our floral decorations centre table.

This morning, some of Peter’s boys from the Eco Lodge arrived to take “Laura” snorkeling, to see the giant clams she had missed on her fist extensive/intensive exploration of the reef.  Willy arrived soon after, with his canoe jam-packed with wonderful carvings he had done – he is self-taught, and has only been doing these for three years.  I bought a gorgeous rosewood conch-shell, very simple, and John bought a similar shell in kerosene wood and big thwack weapon which, he says, will be great for stunning tuna.  It poured with rain so all of these boys sheltered, in their canoes, under 2XS.  Very happily!  Pete said, “They are never going to leave!  They will bob about beneath us forever, they are being so well fed and watered…”  Well yes…I cooked up a huge pot of popcorn for them, and made them red cordial, and gave them butternut snaps, and bread with peanut butter and jam… They were all so pleasant so cheery and uncomplaining as they waited for us to look at carvings, go snorkeling, chat.  Eventually it cleared a bit, and we all went to look at the giant clams.  The visibility was nowhere near as good as yesterday because there was a big layer of cold fresh water on top of the sea-water – it was like looking through thick glass, quite extraordinary.  I couldn’t see the giant clams at all but nodded happily at Joseph and Charles every time I saw them anxiously looking at me.

Our first visitors, I forgot to say, were Benjamin and Joseph.  Benjamin was very chatty and said he would try to catch us some crayfish.  I asked how much they would cost and he said, “We will do some trading, no money necessary.  Because I love you and you love me.”  His wife, Jessie, came out this morning, with a tiny boy, Christy, in her canoe.  Benjamin had arrived very early on with an enormous branch of green bananas ( no crayfish…) and she had come for payment.  Not so much love flowing… I asked what she wanted and she said, curtly, “Anything you give me.”  These were her only words of English, and she was lying.  I went off, at Pete’s suggestion, and came back with Rina’s beautiful flowery summer dress (she had left it behind with instructions to toss it overboard.)  Jessie looked at it expressionlessly and handed it back to me.  So I brought a drawing book and pencils and these too were rejected.  I asked Willy what was up and he said, “She doesn’t want clothes for herself, and Christy doesn’t go to school so doesn’t need pencils.  She wants a shirt for the little guy.”  No probs!

Rina not only left some of her personal items behind – and I am very sure there will be a girl who will be thrilled to bits with the very nice dress – but she also, veryngenerously, on her penultimate day, hit the Chinese shops bigtime.  As she was waiting for the taxi, she showed Pete the treasures to be distributed – about a dozen sparkly bras, cotton underpants, sewing kits, textas and notebooks.  Dear Pete sat looking faintly bemused through this demonstration but he promised to distribute sparkly bras to worthy women on many South Pacific islands.  (I have already sent a pink set of underwear off for Willy’s wife, and I am sure she will be thrilled to bits.)

I forgot to say we met some very nice Tasmanians, working here for the Hydro.  They had met John at the airport and were going to give him a ride into town..  One of them looked at Pete, and said, “You must be Martin Headlam’s father."  He was James Butler, a very nice young bloke.  With him was Bruce Taylor, equally nice if not familiar with James and Kate…

We are back in Honiara for a few days so there will probably be a few more regular blogposts before we disappear into the wide blue yonder again.