After a sea day yesterday, we arrived in Solomon Islands today. Of note, yesterday we — a team with Oregonians, Californians and Canadians — won trivia so earned our second wooden tulip.
Today we spent the day in Honiara on Solomon Islands. More specifically, Honiara is the capital city, and it’s located on an island named Guadalcanal. Yes, that Guadalcanal, the one you might remember learning about when you studied World War II.
Solomon Islands is another poor country, even poorer than Papua New Guinea (our next destination, Vanuatu, is almost as poor as Solomon Islands). It gained its independence from British Rule in 1978, though it remains part of the Commonwealth. Today over 800,000 people live in Solomon Islands, including about 56,000 in Honiara which is the largest city.
It was gray when we arrived, and it soon started raining. Not really a surprise as we’re in the tropics during the rainy season. And at least no significant wind. Needless to say, it was warm and (surprise!) humid. There was topography, greenery, and interesting flora and fungi — as well as interesting birds and I saw (but did not photograph) my first willy wagtail which really does wag its tail.
Six of us hired two taxis for the drive up to the Guadalcanal American Memorial. It was nicely done and especially meaningful for the one friend whose father served in the area during the war.
We were glad to have the taxis. The road was windy and very narrow, so it was tight when we passed another vehicle. Yes, it’s another country where they drive on the left (later in the day we learned how many countries drive on the left). We’d thought about taking a taxi up to the memorial and walking back, but it didn’t feel like a great idea (even had the weather been ideal) so we asked the drivers to wait for us. On the way back down, our driver, Timotea, warned us to watch out for the “drunken boys.” Later in town a woman who seemed very sincere (but might have been a distraction) warned us that young boys are good pickpocketers here.
We went to the central market. Rows and rows of bananas, watermelons, fresh vegetables. There was also a section for fish, though by the time we arrived in mid-morning many of the fish vendors were gone. Didn’t buy anything, but the aroma of the produce was refreshing. Note that the prices of the watermelons look high, but it takes 8.12 Solomon Island dollars to equal 1 USD.
We were drenched and had seen the important things — the memorial and a cache or two — so we returned to the ship to dry off. Later we went out again to attend an event cache. The event was at Unity Square which had a nice view of the ocean and some interesting artwork. The statue was across the street, the panpipes was my favorite of the 8 or so individual statues, and there were several of the more intricate carvings and large faces.
And my favorite sign of the day … please be careful of those naked lights.
Today a slightly different group (all 5 Oregonians and June) extended our winning streak at trivia, winning the tiebreaker which asked how many countries drive on the left. I think the ship’s answer was 76 but the internet offers slightly different (conflicting) numbers.
Not a place I ever expect to visit again, but it was a pleasant day spent with friends exploring a new place. No complaints.
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