Life in the Solomons

Well, everything here in the Solomon islands is what I hoped it would be! Blue skies, clear water and palm trees dropping fresh coconuts all around. Day to day life here is in itself an incredible experience. Everyday I wake up and climb out onto the deck to watch the sunrise. As the sun get's a bit higher in the sky and I finish a cup of coffee, I usually go for a swim or snorkel in the clear waters of the coral sea. Follow that with an afternoon of wonderful local fruits, great cooking by everyone on board and a few drinks to toast the sunset! Life is tough!
We spent the past few days exploring a couple of islands nearby before coming back to this small bit of civalization to drop one of our crew off for her return to Australia. It's incredible to visit a lot of these islands where the people all paddle out to your boat in their dugout canoes wanting to trade all kinds of fruits and vegetables. I of course try to refuse the vegetables, but there are those on board who like them so I guess it is ok. Along with getting fresh food from the locals, it is incredible to see the smiles on their faces when you can give them clothes or a kitchen knife or some nails and see how happy it makes them! It is a difficult thing to make anyone that happy and here it is such a simple task. I don't think that I have been anywhere in the world where all of the people have been as nice as those here. They are very soft spoken and generous. Of all of the places I have ever travelled, walking around the different islands here, being the only white person for miles, I always feel safe. Everyone says hello and smiles when you walk by! What a great place to be.
Yesterday, Bill and I did a dive on a world war two wreck. It was called the Toa Maru. The boat is a 486' long Japaneese Cargo ship that was sunk during world war two. Encrusted in coral and lying in fairly shallow water, this is the most impressive wreck I have ever dove on. You can still see bottles, type writers and miscellaneous other things all scattered around the wreck. Not bad for my first dive in the Solemon islands!