Jump to Other Countries:  Tonga, More Fiji, Tuvalu, Nauru, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea

Day 960: Monday, May 1, 2017

I dove the past two days so I did not want to dive today. In the afternoon I was scheduled to go on a boat ride to a few nearby islands but after a few people canceled I was the only one wanting to go. Needless to say the excursion was canceled. That left me with nothing to do all day. When that happens I get time for working on my blog.

Day 961: Tuesday, May 2, 2017

I left Mana Island today to head back to Nadi. I have an early flight tomorrow to Tonga so I needed to go back to Nadi today for one night. The boat back to Nadi from Mana was supposed to leave at 11am but that did not happen. Survivor was filming a challenge between 10am and 12pm on the beach just 500 meters from where I was staying so they did not allow any boats to operate in the waters off the beach. The challenge must have gone late because the all clear was not given until 1:30pm.

The hotel I was staying at was kind enough to offer a free lunch to the 5 of us guests that were leaving that day. So at 1:30pm we got on the boat for the 45 minute ride to Nadi. At Nadi they took me directly to my hotel. The hotel was nice enough and had a pool and restaurant. What more could I need? It was already late afternoon and with an early flight tomorrow I just relaxed by the pool, read a book, and later had dinner.

Jump to Other Countries:  Fiji, More Fiji, Tuvalu, Nauru, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea

Day 962: Wednesday, May 3, 2017

I arrived in Tonga right on time and my ride to take me to Friendly Islands Kayaking Company was there to meet me. I arrived for my 3-day kayaking trip at 11:30am but the other couple that was scheduled for the trip was not there. We waited with anticipation but they never showed up. By 2:30pm it was too late to go out that day and be able to make it to our destination for the night.
In addition to the other couple the weather was not great with some wind and a forecast for a lot of rain and wind over the next few days. The trip got canceled. I had planned this trip from before I even left Argentina and is something I was really looking forward to. So it was a big disappointment but I took it all in stride.

I called up the hotel I was already planning on staying at on the night of the 5th to see if they could take me in. They had space so I got a cab ride to the hotel. The hotel was way out of town with nothing around to do so I felt a bit stuck. Having said that, it is only a $3 USD taxi into town so it was not really that bad. I stayed at the hotel all afternoon but in the evening a couple other guys staying at the hotel were going into town for dinner so I joined them. We had a good time and good meal. When the others ordered their 3rd beer it was time for me to go back. I got a cab back to the hotel.

Day 963: Thursday, May 4, 2017

There is literally nothing to do in Vava’u. I am here during the low season as far as tourism goes. A couple of the town’s watersports activity centers had closed up shop for good. There are no good beaches near town.

The son of the gal that looks after the hotel is visiting from the US now and in the afternoon she lent him her car so we could drive to the north end of the island to a lookout there. Three of us went. We couldn’t drive all the way to the lookout as the road turned to mud. Even then it was only a 30 minute hike from where we parked to the lookout. The lookout is high on a cliff overlooking the expansive Pacific Ocean. Down to one side was an idyllic beach. It looked so beautiful. We had heard there is a trail going down to the beach so we went in search of it.

The trail was relatively steep and was mostly wet clay which made it a tricky trek. We had also heard that the beach was inhabited by a crazy man with a hatch that threatens people that make their way to it. I thought it was a myth. When we got to the beach we looked down to the left where it looked like it had the best shade and walked that way. At the end of the beach there was a small cave and we could see the man’s clothes hanging on the rocks, his machete, snorkeling gear, and a perch high up in the cave where he was sleeping.

We quietly retreated and made our way to the complete opposite end of the beach where we went snorkeling. Despite how beautiful the beach and bay looked from the lookout, under the water there was practically nothing to see. It was a disappointment from a snorkeling perspective but the water was refreshing. We hiked out and back to the car where we headed back to town and the hotel.

At 7:30pm we all went into town where one of the few bars was holding a trivia contest. It was a fun way to mingle with the local expat community and I saw several of the same people that were at the restaurant that we ate at last night. By the time we were done with the trivia the only restaurant left open was the Chinese one. I went there, had a very mediocre dinner and was happy to get back to the hotel and into bed.

Idyllic “Secret Beach” from the Lookout.

Recluse’s hideaway on “Secret Beach”, Vavau’u, Tonga.

Day 964: Friday, May 5, 2017

I woke up this morning to sunny skies and no wind. I contacted the Friendly Islands Kayaking Company to see if we could do just a day trip. I got the thumbs up so Epeli, my guide, came an picked me up and we were on the water by 9:30am.

After a 2+ hour paddle we made it to a small island with a nice beach. The whole area around the island was coral and made a great place for snorkeling. After the long paddle I was more than happy to get in the water. I must have snorkeled for over an hour. Back on the beach we ate some sandwiches Epeli had prepared.

After lunch we got back in the kayak and paddled to another spot where I jumped in for more snorkeling while Epeli stayed with the Kayak. When I had enough I got back into the kayak (without tipping it over) and we made the 2+ hour journey back.

By the time we hit the dock I had had enough for one day. I went back to the hotel, took a shower, drank a Coke Zero and took a much needed rest. I went into town alone for dinner tonight and after dinner straight back to the hotel.

Amazing water colors while kayaking in Tonga.

Watch out fishes. Here I come.

Jump to Other Countries:  Fiji, Tonga, Tuvalu, Nauru, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea

Day 965: Saturday, May 6, 2017

The flight to Fiji was uneventful with the notable exception that the flight actually departed 40 minutes early! I don’t remember ever being on a scheduled flight that actually departed more than a few minutes early. In this case all the passengers were there and the plane was ready to go so I guess they figured “why not” and off we went.

Upon arriving in Nadi, Fiji I had an hour wait for the public bus that travels between Nadi and Suva on the other side of the island. My resort hostel is along that road about 2 ½ hours from Nadi. Given the distance it is incredible that the ticket cost all of $4 USD.

I ended up getting to the place which is called Beachhouse around 5:30pm. By the time I got settled in my dorm-style room it was dark. Meals are included since there is nothing else around. After eating dinner I had a long conversation with others staying at the place as is typical when staying in a hostel.

Day 966: Sunday, May 7, 2017

Today I didn’t do much of anything. The weather was decent with periods of rain and high wind. There was still enough sun that I got in plenty of time in one of the hammocks stretched between the numerous palm trees lining the white sandy beach.
I heard from Patri today that our cat Misho is very ill and seems near death. It is a very sad, sudden, and unexpected development. It sucks to be away at such a time. I am going to sleep tonight hoping for a miracle and news that Misho will be alright.

Our Misho on a better day.

In Loving Memory. We Love You Misho.

Day 967: Monday, May 8, 2017

Today was a big day. I went diving with sharks at the world’s premier site for shark diving. While a few weeks ago on Mana Island I did a shark dive it was just with White Tip and Black Tip sharks. Today’s dive included Bull Sharks.
I was up early and had to be in the taxi at 7am to get to the Beqa Adventures Dive Shop in Pacific Harbour by 8am. The boat ride to the offshore reef took about 40 minutes. We did 2 dives each of about 45 minutes.

This is not your normal SCUBA dive. The dive boat anchors on a buoy, the divers get in and then descend straight down. For the first dive we dropped down to 30 meters where there is a natural ledge in the reef. At that point we simply stayed put. The dive masters had large garbage cans full of shark food and hung those in front of all of us sitting on the ledge. The sharks then came to us swimming within inches.

This same process was basically repeated at different depths as well as on the second dive. I was never scared although once I had to pull back quickly because it appeared a Bull Shark’s tail was going to hit me hard against my head. It missed me but not by much. We did not ever swim freely around. There were several dive masters in the water with us with metal poles that they would wave at the sharks if they were coming to directly at us.

The dives were exhilarating to say the least but an orchestrated dive like this is a one-time thing for me. After the ride back to the dive shop I got changed and repacked my backpack. The dive shop gave me a lift out to the main highway where I caught the bus to Suva, Fiji’s capital city. My flight to Tuvalu tomorrow is from Suva’s airport thus I found a hotel there to stay at for the night.

A huge Bull Shark coming my way.

After all the sharks this eel was a pleasant surprise.

Jump to Other Countries:  Fiji, Tonga, More Fiji, Nauru, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea

Day 968: Tuesday, May 9, 2017

I had to be to the airport by 7:30am for a 9:00am flight to Tuvalu today. The taxi was 45 minutes early and I was 10 minutes late. Poor guy had to wait nearly an hour for me. The flight was practically full and I don’t know how I got so lucky but the seat next to me was empty. Score.

I was on the correct side of the plane to get a good look at Tuvalu and its large lagoon on the approach to the air field. Upon landing I got stamped into the country and got my luggage. Just outside the building I was met by the hotel owner who showed me to the hotel. It was all of a 2 minute walk.

Checking in I asked about things to do and as I expected there is nothing. There is not even a good place for snorkeling. There are supposed to be mopeds for rent but because of a big sporting event of school kids from all the islands going on they were all taken. Thus, I couldn’t even venture to the end of the island. Besides that it was really hot so I didn’t want to be outside during the midday heat anyway.

At dinner I ran into some Aussies and when I told them I was a tourist they were shocked. There are really very few tourists that come here. The 3 of them happened to be doctors visiting the hospital here.

A partial aereal view of Tuvalu Atoll.

Tuvalu Atoll’s narrow strip of land.

Day 969: Wednesday, May 10, 2017

Today was my one full day in Tuvalu. There is a national nature reserve that is a separate island in the atoll and thus can only be reached by boat. The boat to go there and back costs $200. It would not be bad if you had 4 or more people to share the cost but given I am the only tourist in the country right now it was too much to justify going by myself.

That left me with the option to go to the very end of the main island which is just a sliver of a piece of land. There were no motorbikes available for rent but one guy at my guesthouse that did have a rental agreed to let me use his for the morning. That was really kind of course and it allowed me to make the trip.

I was told that at the end of the island, just past the island’s dump there was a pile of military equipment that the USA dump there at the end of WWII. The lagoon of Tuvalu at its peak during WWII had about 450 warships there at one time. It must have been quite a sight. I tried to picture it with my imagination. I did make it to the end of the island, past the dump, and discovered there is absolutely nothing left there from the war years.

I got caught in a rain storm on the way back to town so had to take cover for 30 minutes while the squall passed. Of course before I found shelter I was already soaked but the intense heat of the sun dried my clothes before I made it back.
The rest of the day was spent just hanging around my guesthouse and working on my schedule for the Solomon Islands which is coming up pretty quickly.

This scooter is a far cry from my Triumph Explorer but it did the trick.

A couple outriggers with the Tuvalu lagoon in the background.

Colorful canoes with the Tuvalu lagoon in the background.

Day 970: Thursday, May 11, 2017

Today was a travel day. My flight out of Tuvalu was not until 1pm so I was able to take it easy in the morning with nothing to do and nowhere to go. I had to pay cash for my hotel and they only accept Australian dollars. The country does not have any ATM’s. I had enough cash to pay for the hotel. Well I was actually $1.50 short. Despite the total bill was $166 the lady was not really happy that I was short. I told her that I would give her my Internet card that still had 300 MB credit which in Tuvalu was a $10 value. She was satisfied with the compromise.

I landed in Suva, Fiji at 4pm. My flight at 1am to Nauru departs from Nadi which is on the other side of the Fijian Island. My original plan was to take a bus that runs between Suva and Nadi and costs only $9 Fiji dollars (FJD). What I discovered though is that the bus does not depart from Suva Airport but from the city center of Suva which is 40 minutes away. The cost of a taxi to get there is $30 FJD. With the bus taking 4 hours and being a not so comfortable bus at that I had the brilliant idea of seeing if there was a flight I could get on. I thought if the ticket cost $100 FJD (equal to $50 USD) that I’d take it and save myself a lot of hassle and discomfort. There was a flight at 6pm for $235 FJD. A no go. But as luck would have it there was a 7:30pm flight for just $79 FJD ($40 USD). I told the guy I’d take it and 5 minutes later I was sitting in the airport’s coffee shop sipping a Coke Zero where I would be for the next 3 hours.

The first 1 ½ hours was spent talking with a group of Aussies that were on my flight from Tuvalu and whom I had dinner with a few nights ago there. They were on the 6pm flight to Nadi so they left at 5:30pm. That left me with another 1 ½ hours to work on my computer and have a light dinner.

The flight to Nadi was all of 25 minutes and upon arrival there I had another light dinner. My flight was not until 1am and check-in did not start until 10pm so I sat in the departures lobby until I could check in. The flight to Nauru left right on time. Surprisingly the plane was really nice. It had the most legroom in coach class that I’ve seen since the 1970’s.

Leaving Tuvalu.

Jump to Other Countries:  Fiji, Tonga, More Fiji, Tuvalu, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea

Day 971: Friday, May 12, 2017

The flight from Fiji arrived in Nauru at 4:00am. What a strange time to arrive. Surprisingly another flight from Brisbane had arrived just a few minutes before my flight. I couldn’t believe it but my hotel had arranged for a pickup service for me but when I came out of customs there was no one there to meet me. A Nauru Airlines staff member called the hotel for me and it turns out the driver and come and left without me thinking I did not show up. Apparently he did not know there 2 planes. He promptly came back and got me.

I was expecting to have to sit in the lobby of the hotel for several hours before I could get in my room but to my surprise and relief they gave me a key right away. I went to my room and immediately went to sleep and didn’t wake up until 10:30am.
For lunch I wanted to go to a restaurant on the other side of the island (it is a very small island) so I went out to the road in front of the hotel and started hitchhiking. It took all of 1 minute before someone stopped and picked me up and took me all the way to where I was going. The driver was a New Zealander that is working for Australian Immigration that processes refugee applicants that are being held here on Nauru.

Lunch was great. Hitchhiking was just as easy going back with a paramedic in an Emergency Response Vehicle stopping to give me a lift. Needless to say I was pretty shocked he could or would stop and give me a lift. The paramedic was an Australian that was sick of the low pay he got in Australia as a paramedic so he came to Nauru to work. He works 6 weeks straight, makes a good wage, and then has 6 weeks off and uses the time to travel around SE Asia. Not a bad life.

My main goal in Nauru is to explore some Japanese WWII relics still on the island. The Japanese invaded Nauru during the war and shipped most of its 5,000 residents to Truk Island as slave labor to build an airfield there. On Nauru they setup defensive positions. The island was never invaded by the US so there are a few big guns and several bunkers along the highest point on the island that are in good shape.

On the map there are 2 ways to get to where I was going. I took the one that looked shorter. But after getting 80% of the way there a trail that was supposed to exist did not. Locals told me I had to go back to where I had started and go the other way. That mistake cost me 45 minutes of walking in the hot sun. But determined as I was I continued on my quest. Going the other way I followed the directions I had read about online. It was a long, circuitous path that took me to the north end of the series of bunkers and guns that runs north to south. Getting there I discovered that the area is covered with high pinnacles. I thought “this is a great defensive position” because the pinnacles are very high and hard and even dangerous to crawl around. Furthermore I was shocked at how the Japanese could possibly have built the bunkers where they did and get the guns in place where they did. It seemed like impossibility. I was able to make my way to a couple bunkers but I could not get to the 2 gun emplacements even though I could see them.

With a 45 minute walk back to the hotel at 30 minutes before sunset I had to head out before seeing all that I wanted to see. That meant another trip would be needed tomorrow. I got back to the hotel just as it was getting dark. I was exhausted and every bone and muscle in my body ached. It wasn’t until 10pm that I got up enough energy to go downstairs and get dinner at the Chinese restaurant attached to the hotel.

Two Japanese gun emplacements. One in the foreground and one in the background.

A Japanese WWII bunker. This one I was able to get inside of.

Rock pinnacles that are everywhere in the interior of Nauru.

Day 972: Saturday, May 13, 2017

This morning I was determined to give the Japanese gun emplacements another shot. My plan today was to take another trail that I had seen but not taken yesterday that approaches the location from the south side. It turned out to be the right way to go and much shorter. Going this way I was able to make it right up to one of the gun emplacements. I was even able to sit in the turret of the big guns. I spent a good 45 minutes around the gun trying to imagine what happened there 75 years ago.

It was extremely hot today and the sun was at its peak. I had forgotten my water bottle so I was getting dehydrated. By the time I started walking out of the bush my clothes were drenched in sweat and I was feeling dizzy. I wanted to explore more but had to call it quits. Back at the hotel I took a cold shower (well there was no hot water even if I wanted it) which felt great.
A little later I went out for lunch. I had received a recommendation for another restaurant in the opposite direction of the one yesterday so I thought I’d give it a shot. It took about 5 minutes this time to get a ride and it was a minivan full of 20 year old locals. There were 6 of them plus the driver. I didn’t notice until too late that all of them, except the driver, were drinking cans of beer. They were friendly but very loud and very drunk. The only reason I did not jump out was because the driver was not drink or drunk. Fortunately the ride was only 10 minutes. I got out quickly when we got there and thank them for the ride.

The restaurant was not open so it was back to the road to catch a ride with the intent of going to the other side of the island and back to the restaurant I was at yesterday. Again I got a ride fairly quickly. This time the driver was a local man that worked for the government in the department of finance. He was nice and took me to the restaurant. It was a much better ride than the previous one.

Lunch was good again and the location is nice so even after eating I hung out for a long time just reading news on my phone and playing some games of Sudoku. At 4pm I thought it was time I should head back. This time it was not easy to get a ride. There were hardly any cars heading my way. There was no shade on the side of the road I needed to be on so I stayed in the shade on the other side of the road. When I saw a car come I would cross the road and stick out my finger. After doing this several times and after about 15 minutes I finally got a ride. Upon getting the ride I thought I’d be back at my hotel in 15 minutes.
I was picked up by a local couple that is in their sixties. They both work for the phosphorous mining company that is the biggest enterprise in the nation. In the heyday of phosphorous mining on the island they were the 2nd richest country in the world on a per capita basis. Instead of driving on the paved ring road back to my hotel they decided to take me on an inland tour of the island. They explained to me all about the island, the phosphorous mining operations, and history of the island. What should have been a 15 minute ride turned into over an hour ride.

Something very interesting I learned is that the pinnacles I found all around the Japanese gun emplacements and everywhere else on the island for that matter was not like that in the 1940’s. Before the phosphorous mining took place the ground was fairly level although hilly. Phosphorous looks like dirt and is soft unlike the hard rock that makes up the pinnacles. The phosphorous formed from thousands of years of bird dung accumulating between these pinnacles making the ground fairly level. Thus, when the Japanese build there bunkers and gun emplacements most likely they did terrain looked nothing like it does today. So my amazement as how they could have done it was probably unfounded.

The mining process simply digs out the phosphorous accumulations between the pinnacles but leaves the pinnacles in place. I learned that the entire island has now been mined and in fact will be completely finished within another year. They are now exploring ways to cut out the pinnacles that remain and get at secondary phosphorous deposits not yet possible to get to.
I felt so lucky to catch this “ride” back to my hotel. As it turns out all of the rides I got while hitchhiking were different and interesting experiences. I should do it more often.

A big Japanese WWII gun emplacement – front view.

A big Japanese WWII gun emplacement – rear view.

Taking it for a “drive.”

Jump to Other Countries:  Fiji, Tonga, More Fiji, Tuvalu, Nauru, Papua New Guinea

Day 973: Sunday, May 14, 2017

Today was another travel day for the most part. My flight from Nauru to Honiara, the capital of the Solomon Islands on the famous island of Guadalcanal was not until 2pm so I took it easy in the morning and left the hotel at noon. The flight left an hour late so by the time I arrived in Honiara it was already 4pm. Staff from the hotel came to pick me up which was great. We got to the hotel at 5pm.

Being Sunday most places were closed but I did find a Chinese restaurant for an early dinner and my only meal of the day. After that it was back to my room. The hotel’s Wi-Fi was basically not working and I can’t get a SIM card until tomorrow so I worked on my computer trying to condense my plans so I can get home earlier.

I usually write about what I did and experienced each day. Usually my feelings are pretty much in check. I live one day to the next. But today I will share something else. I am feeling tired of traveling. Every day for the past few weeks I think “I just want to be home.” and “I want to get back to a normal life.” whatever that is. I feel a lot like I did when I was in India and made the decision to send the bike home and supposedly stop traveling. Well you can see how that turned out. I always feel torn when I feel tired of traveling. I am also a very stubborn person and I want to achieve the goal I set out for myself. Anyway, as it stands tonight I have my schedule cut down by 2 more weeks which will get me back to Olympia on July 18th. At that point I plan to try and find a normal life but if I am still unsettled I have the next leg of my journey planned out.

Leaving Nauru.

This is how I was welcomed to The Solomon Islands; Airport urinal.

Day 974: Monday, May 15, 2017

Today is the day I have been waiting for with great anticipation. I am in the Solomon Islands. I am on the island of Guadalcanal. This is where the US land offensive against the Japanese all began 75 years ago this coming August. I bought a great book called “The 25 Best World War II Sites – Pacific Theater” by Chuck Thompson and it tells of all the places to see that are war-related. In Guadalcanal alone there are 27 places.

I rented a 4-wheel drive truck this morning for today and tomorrow so I can make my way around to all these places. Complications with the rental meant I did not get a start until 11am which is a few hours after I had planned. In addition, each stop took much longer than I had anticipated so I did not get as much done today as I had hoped but I still saw a lot and had a very full day.

My first stop was Vilu Museum which is not a building but a field full of war relics. When I arrived there was no one around but there was a sign that said the cost was $100 Solomon Island dollars (SBD), about $12 USD. My thought was that it is a lot of money. By the time I finished my tour I thought it was well worth it.

A lady appeared to collect my money but she did much more than that. She spent an hour walking around the site with me explaining each artifact in detail and pointing out things that I never would have noticed on my own. She knew all the planes and guns down to the minutest details. I was quite impressed.

My next stop was a Sherman Tank abandoned in the jungle by itself. I had a hard time finding it so I stopped to ask a guy walking along the road near where I thought it should be. He said he’d hop into the car and show me the way. I was a bit leery. His teeth and lips where stained red (as is the case with over half the people here) from chewing something that I don’t know what it is called. It reminds me of the stuff people in Peru chew. But I let him in into the back seat (since I had a bunch of my stuff in the front) and we drove another 3 kilometers and turned onto a side road that was dirt of course and very overgrown. A kilometer down the road was the tank. I paid him $30 SBD for his troubles and let him off back at the main road.
I got back to Honiara about 3pm and grabbed a late lunch. I then headed East from town and to the US War Memorial that sits atop a hill with commanding views of Iron Bottom Sound. The memorial was free to visit. There are a series of plaques that explain what took place on Guadalcanal and in the Solomon Islands.

The next place I went is called Mt. Austen Road with a few points of interest along the way. On Mt. Austen Road my first stop was a Japanese Memorial comparable to the US one but much more simple. It is located on top of a hill where a significant battle took place. Unfortunately they charged $50 SBD to get in and that was really a waste of money.

I then came across a commemorative marker signifying the location of “The Final Destruction of Organized Japanese Forces”. It was on private property of course, as is practically everything in all the South Pacific Islands and I was expecting the people living there were going to hit me up for some money. They didn’t and it would not have been worth paying to see up close.
Beyond this the road got really bad but thanks to my 4-wheel drive truck I had no problem. I made my way to a village called Gifu. This was really interesting. At the end of the road which was in the center of the village I felt a bit awkward as villagers from all directions were looking at me. I got out slowly from my truck. A man came out of one of the huts with a welcoming smile on his face and I relaxed.

There was a large collection of wartime stuff surrounding his hut. There was supposed to be a hilltop where a major battle was fought near this village. I enquired and the man said of course it is here and I will take you there. He said nothing about cost but I was expecting something as I am now conditioned to that. We walked about 5 minutes down a path away from the village and then we broke out into an open area with a hilltop surrounded by steep sloping sides all around.

Of course the Japanese held the high ground and American forces attacked up the hill. This is where the origin of the term “foxhole” came from. There was a commander named “Fox” and he ordered his men to dig holes into the sides of the hill for protection. My guide had cleared away a lot of brush to expose several foxholes that still exist to this day. Looking around we could find several bullet casings just sitting on the ground just as they feel 75 years ago. My guide went on to tell me that there were probably about 1,000 foxholes around the area but most are covered with brush now. He has plans to clear more of the site and draw more tourists. It felt surreal standing on such hallowed ground. We got back to my car, I looked more carefully at his collection of relics and then he asked for the $100 SBD that I was expecting he would ask for. I paid happily for the services he provided.

That was a lot of sightseeing for one day and I got back to my hotel exhausted just before dark.

Just one of many relics on display at Vilu Museum.

Remains of a Corsair fighter.

Standing on top of a Sherman Tank

My guide Willie Besi by a couple of foxholes at Gifu Battlefield.

Just a few of the many relics Willie has collected.

Day 975: Tuesday, May 16, 2017

I had another full day of touring WWII sites today. First up was the Betikama Museum which was much smaller than the one I went to yesterday but it did have some different things so it was interesting enough.

From there I went to Alligator Creek on the beach where it runs into the ocean. Right on this spot a major battle took place, one of the very first ground battles of WWII against the Japanese. In the mini-series “The Pacific” the battle is shown in detail. Thousands of Japanese died in a banzai attack exactly where I was standing. The Americans were far outnumbered but held their ground and won the battle. It was a surreal experience standing there. There is a small village in this spot and a boy from the village showed me around. He invited me over to his hut where his father (I presume) showed me some American bullets. They also pointed me to a Japanese memorial honoring the Japanese who died there.

The next place I went was Bloody Ridge. This is another famous battlefield and also documented in the mini-series “The Pacific.” There is both a US memorial and Japanese memorial along the ridge about 500 meters apart. Other than the fact this battlefield looks today a lot like it did in 1942 there are no artifacts that I could find except one Japanese dirt bunker deep in the ground.

From Bloody Ridge I stopped by Henderson Field (where the Honiara International Airport is now) and saw a Japanese gun that sits in front of the terminal building. Henderson Field is arguably the most important airfield during the Pacific War. The gun on display here is in excellent condition which is very difficult to find anywhere else based on my experience so far so it was worth the stop.

My last stop was another 25 kilometers east at Tetera Village. In Tetera there is a spot that the US used as a dumping ground for Amtraks they could no longer use. There are about 30 of them on a small plot of land. This was interesting to say the least.

I Googled “Parish Pressed Steel Co.” Bankrupt in 2007.

Alligator Creek from the Japanese position; Americans just across the creek.

American bullet casings found at Alligator Creek.

Japanese gun in great condition found at Henderson Int’l Airport.

One of about 30 Amtraks that can be found at Tetera Beach.

Day 976: Wednesday, May 17, 2017

This morning I went diving about 45 minutes west of Honiara at a place called Bonegi 1. This is a Japanese shipwreck. It was uninteresting compared to diving the SS President Coolidge in Vanuatu. There was not a lot to see, the visibility was poor, and there was nowhere to penetrate inside the ship. Unfortunately both dives were on the same wreck so it felt like a wasted trip and money.

I was back in Honiara by 1pm. I had originally planned to stay the night in Honiara and take a ferry over to Tulagi Island the next morning. The problem was that the ferry is not operating for the time being so I went down to a beach (right in town) where local boats take passengers to other islands. These boats do not run on a schedule. They run on one 40hp outboard motor and do not carry life jackets. I asked around and found a boat leaving at 2:30pm. Perfect. I went across the street and found a good Indian restaurant, had lunch, and was back at the boat at 2:10pm.

Of course the boat did not leave at 2:30pm. At 3pm the skipper called out that it was time to go. Several people came over to the boat. All the passengers were expected to help in pushing the boat down the beach and into the water. We all complied. After all the luggage was loaded I counted room for 5 people to sit. There were 10 of us in total. Somehow we all managed to get in but there was nobody on the boat that was comfortable. The ride took nearly 2 hours. I must admit I got lucky with my seat. Even though it was very uncomfortable I rarely got splashed as I was in the front. The poor people behind me were constantly getting hit with spray and were soaking wet. On the return trip on Saturday morning I sure hope I get a spot in the front again.

I was exhausted by the time I got to Raiders Hotel from the diving and from holding on for dear life on the 2 hour journey over. I got checked in and went to my very comfortable room and even got a hot shower. I went down for dinner at 7:00pm and realized I am the only one staying here. The next guests will not arrive until Friday noon.

This is where you find a boat to your destination.

Trying to make this long and extremely uncomfortable ride look fun.

Arriving at my new home for the next 3 nights.

Day 977: Thursday, May 18, 2017

Diving is the word for today. It was just me and the owner of Raiders, Bob acting as dive master. We visited 3 different dive sites today all just about 10 to 15 minutes from Raiders Hotel but in different locations. Bob and Yvie, the owners have a really great dive boat and excellent equipment making the diving a joy.

The first dive was on a reef that has 2 lava tubs that go straight down into an underwater cave and out through a larger opening on another side of the cave. The tube we went down is about 2 meters wide and goes down about 20 meters (65 feet). It was a fun experience. Once exiting the cave we came out on a reef with plenty of fish life to enjoy.

We went back to the hotel for an hour or so break and then went out for our second dive. This dive was on a US seaplane called a Catalina. It sank during WWII (of course) from an accident where the plane landed and the boat that came out to pick up the crew rammed the plane by accident and it sank. The visibility was just okay but not great. One wing was missing but the other wing was intact.

Once again we went back to the hotel but this time for a longer break and lunch. You really can’t ask for a better setup for diving. It is so great to be able to lie in a hammock between dives. The third dive was on a Japanese seaplane called a Kawanashi. It is a much larger seaplane to the American one. Its demise was a direct result of an attack on the Japanese seaplane base they had on the island next to Tulagi Island. Several of these seaplanes were caught by surprise when the Americans attacked. The visibility I would say was poor for this dive. I had to stay close to Bob as not to get lost. Unfortunately I was unable to even come close to seeing all of the plane at once. It would have been a very impressive sight if I could have. This plane has 2 engines on each wing and all were attached. It made for a good photo op. Despite the poor visibility the dive was a great one.

By the time I was done with the 3 dives I was exhausted and the hammock on the beach had my name written all over it. I think I spent the next 2 or 3 hours there until dinner. Bob and I decided we’d do another dive tomorrow morning at 7am.

Entering the abyss.

Inside the cave surrounded by nothingness.

Diving on a US Catalina Seaplane.

Another view of the Catalina seaplane.

The Kawanashi’s engines still intact.

Day 978: Friday, May 19, 2017

Today started out early. I was on the boat at 7am. Bob went over the dive with me. We were going to dive on a US oiler ship that sank in 1942 from an attack by Japanese Zeros. The dive was going to be a deep one at about 50 meters (165 feet). We would only have 9 minutes of time at depth before we would have to go up to our safety stop. The ship was large and despite being an oiler it had 2 separate defensive gun placements on its deck. Again the visibility was not great and at that depth there is not much light. Thanks to Bob I had a torch that he let me use so I could see better than without it.

After the dive it was back to the hotel for breakfast. I then took a tour of the island’s WWII relics on land. The main goal was to get to the top of Hill 281 which is the highest point on the island and where the Japanese had a small defensive gun. The gun is gone but the gun mount is still in its place.

I thought that there would be a clearly defined trail leading there but that was not the case. Along the way I had to ask a few locals where to go. One told me to “go that way” pointing in a direction but where there was no real path. I went anyway. Soon I found myself trudging through a field of marijuana plants. Imagine doing that in Mexico! You’d be shot instantly. Not here. Unlike in Guadalcanal the locals here did not even ask me for money to pass through their property.

Before getting to Hill 281 I came across a Japanese U-cave, a cave in the shape of a U with an opening on both ends. One opening opened up on the side of a cliff though so I doubt anyone used that exit. Next I came to a Japanese “foxhole” or so it is described in literature I found. But really it is a manmade cave in the side of a mountain. It was the strangest mountain. On 3 sides the sides were exactly straight and about 25 meters high. I don’t think I have ever seen anything like it. Inside the cave they had dug a deep hole and at the bottom of that hole you could see another tunnel going into the hill further. I really don’t know how they could make such tunnels.

Coming out of the tunnel I knew I was close to Hill 281 but there was literally no trail. I did see a ridge off to my left and I figured if I made my way up I should find a trail along the ridge. Crawling uphill through brush as high as my head I made it to the ridge. Still there was no trail but at least there was less brush to contend with. I turned left at the ridge and continued uphill. After another 10 minutes or so I found what I was looking for. There was even a sign welcoming me to the spot. It was strange to see such a sign in a place that didn’t even have a trail leading to it.

There was a commanding view of the Friday Islands from this location. I took the obligatory pictures of the gun mount and they started down. I decided to take a different way down as there was supposed to another place with Japanese tunnels down the other side of the island. That was not easy either but after much effort I found my way to a village and just there I also stumbled across the tunnels I was looking for. I didn’t stay long as by this time I was very hot; sweating profusely, and had already gone through all the water I had carried with me. It was time to go back.

Back at the hotel I felt I had earned a beer so I had my first one in a couple of months. The my exhaustion just the one beer gave me quite a buzz. Still thirsty I went back to my preferred drink, Coke Zero.

The day was still not done. After lunch Bob took me on the boat to a nearby island and a bay called Tokyo Bay. There can be found the wreck of an American PST ship. Only the bow is there as the rear of the ship was blown to pieces. A few minutes from there is a sunken Japanese destroyer class ship but after the war it was pillaged by scrap iron scavengers and there is hardly anything left above the water line. Still it is possible to make out the size of the ship and a couple gun mounts can be seen.

Bob, owner of Raiders Hotel and dive master and I ready to dive.

Backward entry into the water above the USS Kanawa.

The still intact guns of the USS Kanawa were the highlight of the dive.

A guidemap to WWII points of interest on Tulagi Island.

A Japanese “foxhole” on Tulagi Island.

It was not easy getting here but I made it.

The bow section of LST 342 sitting in “Tokyo Bay”, Solomon Islands.

Day 979: Saturday, May 20, 2017

The day started with an early morning boat ride back to Honiara from Tulagi Island. The boat left at 7am and thanks to calmer seas than the other day the trip only took just over an hour and was much more comfortable.

Once in Honiara I went to the Breakwater Café which is just a block from where the boat let me off. My flight was not until 2:30pm so I had a lot of time to kill. I had some doughnuts which were pretty authentic so it had been a long time since I had that treat. The place got really busy. At one point I counted 16 people in line for ordering. It was all foreigners in the café.

I stayed long enough that I had lunch there as well before heading to the airport at 12:45pm. It took me about 15 minutes for a public van to come along. There was nothing going all the way to the airport so I had to change to another van along the way. It cost me a total of about $1 USD for the whole trip and about 45 minutes.

The flight left on time and an hour later I found myself in Munda. A staff from the Agnes Gateway Hotel was there to pick me up in a car. How nice. The car started moving and literally one minute later we were at the hotel. I can’t believe he came in a car. It is all of a 3 minute walk from the runway to the hotel.

I didn’t do anything the rest of the day.

Arrival in Munda. The 2 white guys, Gordy & Matt took me surfing.

Munda is home to the Solomon Islands’ tuna industry.

Day 980: Sunday, May 21, 2017

Last night I had arranged with the tour operator here at the hotel, Billy to take me this morning on a half-day tour of some war sites that are only accessible by boat. He told me to meet him at 8am. Of course I was on time but he had already left with another group of people taking them somewhere else. The hotel manager felt bad for me as my plans were ruined and I was stuck with nothing to do. She proposed that the hotel take me in their boat over to Hopei Island which is a small, uninhabited island within site of the hotel. We put a kayak in the boat so I could come back to the hotel whenever I wanted.

I got dropped off on the island and I tried some snorkeling but it pretty much sucked. Back on the beach I spread out a blanket on the sand under the palms and did nothing but in quiet, scenic setting. Around noon I got in the kayak and headed back to the hotel. At points the water was deep and at others it was only 3 to 5 meters deep. The paddle back took 45 minutes so it was quite a way.

After lunch and waiting out a couple hours of rain I headed out on foot to explore the area around Munda and its WW2 sites of interest. At the end of the runway is where Bob Hope once put on a show for GI’s. I found another museum called the Peter Joseph WW2 Museum and it was really great. There weren’t any airplanes or tanks like I saw in Guadalcanal but there were a lot of rifles, machine guns, bombs, hand grenades, helmets, and more there. Barney Paulson, the proprietor was knowledgeable about everything there, most of which he found himself over the past 15 years by scouring the jungle up above is home where a lot of fighting took place. More items came from digging that took place when they were recently lengthening the airport runway including an unexploded 500 lb bomb. From the museum I walked further to a place where there are a couple of Japanese guns; one surface to surface gun and another surface to air dual-barreled gun.

Just behind the guns in the jungle is an American junkyard of sorts. A young guy living on the property offered to show me around (for a small fee of course but it was well worth it). This junkyard is overgrown by the jungle but there are seriously large pieces of metal here stacked high. For the most part you can’t tell what anything is with the exception of a few Amtraks. These piles of metal reach 30 feet high.

Dusk was setting in and from this point I had a 30 minute walk back to town. Shortly after I started walking an old man on a bicycle came up slowly from behind me. He said “hi” as he pulled up beside me. He slowed down a bit and I sped up my walking a bit so we could carry on a conversation. It turns out he was 5 years old when the Japanese invaded and he had many stories to tell. After 5 minutes of him riding very slowly and me walking very fast he got off his bike and walked beside me. For the next 25 minutes we talked about the war years. It turns out his 14 year senior older brother was a coast-watcher during the Japanese occupation and was awarded 3 medals from the US military for his service. It was my lucky day to meet Donald along the road and have him share his memories of the war years.

Found at the entrance to the Peter Joseph WW2 Museum

Proprietor Barney Paulson showing off his collection.

Japanese anti-aircraft guns along the shore in Munda.

Just one small example of the large American Scrapyard from WW2.

Day 981: Monday, May 22, 2017

Today was my day for SCUBA diving. I did 3 dives, one was a dive on a downed US fighter plane, another was a sunken Japanese freighter, and the 3rd was a wall dive. I had high hopes for some good diving here. The dive on the airplane was okay but being a small fighter it took only 10 minutes to see all of it twice over. From there we explored the reef. There was a lot of large fan coral that nice to see but there were very few fish and there was not a lot of color in the coral.

The second dive which was only 5 minutes from the first dive was on a sunken Japanese freighter. It was a nice dive but you could not penetrate the ship which is always nice if you can do it. It wasn’t a large ship but it was pretty much intact which was a plus. After 40 minutes we had seen it all and headed up.

The third dive was an hour away. We dropped in close to shore but once down at 20 meters you could see a deep wall that dropped off and the dark blue of deep ocean to the right. We continued along the wall keeping an eye out towards the deep where sharks, rays, and other large fish hangout. Unfortunately on this dive we only saw one reef shark briefly and a pair of Eagle Rays not so close to us. The shallows had some interesting topography but not much else to see.

All in all I would rate the diving as mediocre at best. This area has more than 15 dive sites though so maybe other spots are better.

This is a WW2-era Wildcat fighter plane sitting upside down on the ocean floor.

“Flying” over a huge coral.

Taking the helm on the Kashi Maru at 30 meters depth.

Day 982: Tuesday, May 23, 2017

At 8am I met up with a couple guys about my age from New Zealand that are here with their surf boards and whom I had dinner with a few nights ago. They were nice enough to invite me to go out with them for some surfing and snorkeling on an outer reef. The 3 of us and 4 locals that they are friends with headed out for morning on small boat. The reef we went to is located just off Skull Island about 40 minutes from the hotel.

They had with them 6 boards so I got a chance to try my hand at surfing. What I ended up doing is spending 1 ½ hours just paddling my board trying to get out past where the waves were breaking. The effort was futile. It seems the more I paddled the further back I got pushed. I found myself back at the boat tired and slightly dejected. When everyone had enough of surfing we snorkeled around the boat for a few minutes before heading back to the hotel.

I was back earlier than expected so I had no plans for the afternoon. Two young couples from Australia who I have had the pleasure of hanging out with the past few evenings as well as doing some diving with were planning an afternoon excursion to a waterfall that involved a one hour hike through the jungle. It was a good opportunity to do something so I joined in on the tour. The trip through the jungle was fun and a bit challenging as it involved crossing a creek several times. The cool, fresh water of the creek felt good and made the anticipation of swimming in the pools under the waterfall great.

At the waterfall we all got into the deep, cool pools and enjoyed the serenity of the jungle and waterfall. It was a picture right out of a travel brochure. To my surprise the jungle was unexpectedly free of bugs and pests. There were not any mosquitoes to speak of. It turned out to be a really enjoyable trip.

By the time I was back at the hotel I was pretty exhausted from the day’s activities. My new friends from Australia invited me to join them for dinner which I happily did and we sat around talking travel until 9pm. Today was my birthday and despite being “alone” I was not alone at all due to the friendliness of strangers. I am often asked if it is not lonely traveling solo but I tell people that while I am traveling alone, on any given day I am with “friends” and some even become lifetime friends just in faraway places.

Me and my new buddies after the jungle hike and waterfall excursion.

Waterfall near Munda, Solomon Islands. Picture by Trent Mulligan.

Day 983: Wednesday, May 24, 2017

Today I flew to Gizo. From Munda the flight is less than 15 minutes. I could have gone by boat but there are no scheduled boats between the two towns. Having never been here before I was unsure of the geography or how things worked here. When doing my planning I thought it would be too risky to not have scheduled transportation since I had a hotel reservation in my destination and SCUBA diving setup for the next day as well. As it turns out I had to wait all day for the 4:30pm flight. In hindsight I could have found a small local boat to get me there at a fraction of the cost. Having said that there was a lot of rain today so most likely I would have gotten soaked if I went by boat.

So I spent most of the day sitting around the hotel working on my computer until it was time for my flight. Everything was right on schedule and upon arriving at the Gizo airport I found a guy to take me on the 10 minute boat ride across the bay to the town of Gizo where my hotel is located.

The hotel looked fine when I researched it online but upon arriving at it I was feeling very let down. The place was not nice at all. Not only was the place not nice the town of Gizo is disgusting. I am not at all comfortable here. This is definitely not a place for budget travelers. The surrounding islands are indeed beautiful. If you want to spend $200 per night and stay at a remote resort for relaxing and snorkeling it would be a nice place. For solo travelers on a budget though it is not a nice place.

I am stuck here for 4 nights and can’t wait for the time to pass. My only hope now is that the diving is spectacular to make up for the disgust of the town and my hotel. There is one nice hotel (but out of my price range) in the town of Gizo and only a 5 minute walk from my hotel. This evening I went over to that hotel (Gizo Hotel) and had dinner. I took my laptop with me and stayed 3 hours working trying my best to pass time without having to be at my hotel.

Leaving the Agnes Gateway Hotel in Munda for Gizo.

These stubby bananas are really sweet and good! Price for the bunch $1 USD.

Day 984: Thursday, May 25, 2017

I went diving today. I was at the Dive Gizo’s dive shop at 9am. We waited until 10am for another diver that was supposed to go. In the end he canceled so just me the dive master and the boat driver went out. The plan was to just do 2 tanks today. Both dives were only 20 minutes from the dive shop.

The first dive was on a reef with somewhat of a wall to it. I took my GoPro down with me as usual but this time I found nothing to take video of. It was a pretty boring dive. Back in the boat I was feeling pretty bad about my diving experiences so far in the Solomon Islands. Sure there have been some interesting things but on a whole there is not a lot of color in the coral and not much fish life to see.

For our interval between dives we pulled onto an idyllic beach of a small, uninhabited island. It was really a nice place with a rare soft, sandy beach. The dive master made up some tuna fish sandwiches for a snack. I had a sandwich and then walked around part of the island. From this island I could see Kennedy Island. Kennedy Island is the island that John F. Kennedy and his crew swam to after getting hit by a Japanese destroyer at night during the war. When I was a kid and read about the story of PT109 and John F. Kennedy I imaged an island with nothing else around it. But in fact the island is just one of many islands all within a lagoon and in close proximity to each other.

The second dive we did was just a stone’s throw off of Kennedy Island and called “The Pinnacle”. Since it was so close to the last dive location I was not expecting much. I back-rolled off the boat into the water, dropped down 20 meters and felt I was missing something. Sure enough I had forgotten my GoPro. It was too late to get it but given the diving so far I felt it was not going to matter. But of course this dive turned out to be spectacular. The good thing about it was that I was not distracted by taking video. Instead I just enjoyed all the sea life around me. This time there were fish everywhere. The highlight was a large Eagle Ray swimming right towards me. They are so majestic. There were also a lot of cod which are large, lazy fish and fun to look at.
Because the dive sites were close and because we just did 2 dives I was back to my hotel by about 2pm I think. After taking a shower and getting cleaned up I went back over to the Gizo Hotel and hung out there the rest of the day and evening.

Today I made the following post on Facebook:

About this time 3 years ago I had a meeting with my boss and told him I was quitting my job. He asked “What are you going to do?” and I remember hearing myself utter the words “I am going to go travel the world.” The idea that had been building in my mind from a fleeting thought and growing to a passionate desire over the previous six months became a glaring reality.

One of the most frequent questions I get is how did you decide to do this? The answer is 1) I was healthy, 2) My daughters are married and don’t rely on me anymore, 3) My grandkids still needed diapers changed and I don’t do diapers, 4) My parents are getting older but are still in good health, 5) I was not married and did not have a girlfriend, and 6) I had saved enough to do this without it being an obstacle. All of these things I think can be legitimate obstacles to doing what I have been doing. In my case I felt very fortunate that the stars aligned for me but I knew they would not stay aligned forever. So when my dad told me I was at the peak of my earning potential and should work I politely disagreed and said it was now or never. I chose to do it.

Today things have changed. My window of opportunity is closing. I knew the day would come, I just did not know when. My grandkids are 3 years older and they need me home (or should I say I need them). I want to get home and play golf with my Dad while he can still beat me. I want to get home so my Mom can stop worrying about me (well that may not happen even if I am home). No doubt I have spent a lot of money and should try to recharge the account. I now have a girlfriend that I met along the way that I want to spend more time with and make a home with. And I think that I have been backpacking the past 2 months with a stress fracture in my foot that is causing significant pain. The only thing that has not changed is that my daughters are still married and do not rely on me.

So with that I have decided on July 9 to end my travels earlier than planned and without having reached my goal of going to every country in the world. It is not the end however. The only thing this means is that my intention is to move back to Olympia and once again establish a residence and find some work I can be passionate about. After the past 3 years I will never stop identifying with my Nomad Dave persona. I have not given up on my goal to go to every country in the world. It is just that the next trips may be only 3 to 4 months in length and not doing it all at once. I will continue my journey. I will achieve my goal.

Thank you so much for following along these past 3 years. The support and encouragement I have received through my Facebook friends and followers has been invaluable and greatly appreciated.

Kennedy Island.

Day 985: Friday, May 26, 2017

I was supposed to do a full day tour of WWII sites around Gizo but a couple other people that were going to do it pulled out. It seems to be a theme lately. The tour was a no-go. It has finally dawned on me what the problem with tourism in the Solomon Islands is. There just isn’t enough of it. If you read up on the Solomon Islands for tourism you will find a lot of places that sound interesting and enjoyable to visit. And it is true that there are but they just don’t have the critical mass of tourists to make it practical to do the things you might want to do at a reasonable price and within the time one would want to spend. Even tours you may book in advance of traveling are not a sure thing, at least not if you are a solo or even a couple traveling. Maybe that is why I have yet to run into another “backpacker” in the Solomon Islands.

Given the cancellation of the tour I spent all day doing nothing of interest. At noon I packed up all the stuff I needed, walked over to the Gizo Hotel, had lunch, worked on my computer all afternoon, had dinner, and then back to my hotel for the night.

Day 986: Saturday, May 27, 2017

After suffering through yesterday I was looking forward to going out diving today. At 9:00am I went to the dive shop and everything was ready to go. There were even 3 other divers going out with me today.

The first dive was on a sunken WW2-era freighter called the Toa Maru. It is the most popular dive in the Gizo area. The dive on the Toa Maru is really nice. It is not too big of a ship and you can easily see all of it in one dive. The cargo holds are also easily accessible. One cargo hold is filled with lumber and another has a small 2-man tank. Although the tank is upside-down it is in otherwise good condition. There were also a lot of sake bottles and other artifacts in the 2 other holds.

After the first dive we stopped at a small island with a beautiful sandy beach. While I walked around the island the dive master was cooking up some lunch. When lunch was ready we each took a couple of leaves in the palm of our hand and used that as a plate. This is common throughout the South Pacific I have discovered. Lunch consisted of fried rice, fried yellowtail tuna, and fried pumpkin. I am not much of a fish eater but here in the Solomon Islands I have “had to” eat a lot of it. Many times it is the only thing being served. Today’s fish was really good just like all the other fish I have had here. I might have to stop saying I don’t like fish.

After lunch we did our second dive just meters off shore from the island. It was a wall dive. In this case there was very little to see on the wall itself but that did not matter. We went down to 20 to 25 meters and then drifted along the wall staying close to it. The current at times was swift and we held on to the wall a few times to stop ourselves. The whole dive the focus was on looking out to the deep sea. There we saw numerous Eagle Rays, Reef Sharks, tuna, barracudas, and some other large fish. It was a really great dive.

Back in Gizo, just off shore in the bay, we went down for another short but sweet dive. There is one US float plane and one Japanese Zero fighter plane sitting on the bottom pretty close to each other. Neither plane is in very good condition but it was still a nice bonus dive.

Diving was over about 2pm and I was back to the hotel and showered by 2:30pm. The rest of the day I passed the time as best I could. The Internet was working badly today and my email was also blocked for some reason and I’m still trying to get that sorted out so that limited what I could do.

Day 987: Sunday, May 28, 2017

My flight to Honiara was not until 5:00pm so Denny at Dive Gizo offered for me to go out on the dive boat today and do some snorkeling. Because I was flying today diving was out of the question. They had 3 divers and me on the boat. We went to different places than I had gone the 2 previous days so that was nice. Between dive spots we had a snack on an island that was really cool. It was just a small piece of sand sticking out of the ocean with a narrow strip of sand about 50 feet long connecting to another very small island. For sure that was the highlight of the day.

I got back to the dive shop about 3pm, got showered and changed, repacked my bag for travel, settled my account with Dive Gizo and then they took me in the boat across the bay to the airport. The flight to Honiara was on schedule and I landed there right on time at 5pm. On the flight I met a guy about my age from Seattle. He has a very interesting job at NOAA and is a scientist studying ocean currents in the South Pacific trying to better understand el Niño’s.

We shared a cab into town and then met up for dinner at a nearby Chinese restaurant. In talking with him it turns out his brother-in-law is a man that I knew from my days working in the cruise industry. What a small world!

Lunch break between dives near Gizo, Solomon Islands.

Maybe the smallest airport I have ever flown from - Gizo.

Jump to Other Countries:  Fiji, Tonga, More Fiji, Tuvalu, Nauru, Solomon Islands

Day 988: Monday, May 29, 2017

Today was a travel day. I left the hotel at 8am and went over to the Breakwater Café for breakfast. I just sat down and to my surprise I saw Bob from the Raiders Hotel on Tulagi Island where I was about 10 days ago. It was nice to see him again. At 9am I had to catch a cab to the airport for my flight to Port Moresby. Once in Port Moresby I had few hour layover until my flight at 3:30pm to Rabaul.

From the Rabaul Airport which is actually in Kokopo I needed to catch some local vans to get from the airport to my hotel in Rabaul about an hour away. First I had to get the 9a van from the airport to the market in Kokopo at a cost of 2 kina (about $0.60 USD). Fortunately there was a van waiting outside the terminal and he waited for me to get my bag. After a 15 minute ride, at the Kokopo market, I changed to the 1a van going from Kokopo to Rabaul which is 20 kilometers away. It was already 5:30 and I could see it was going to get dark before I got to Rabaul which made me a bit nervous because the vans do not run much past dusk and I still needed to transfer to another van upon reaching Rabaul. The ride took over an hour which I think was unusually slow. The van was packed, hot, and with the windows open, very dusty. When we arrived at the market in Rabaul it was already 30 minutes past dark and the driver was done for the day so instead of having to change vans he offered to continue on to my hotel and drop me there. He said he lived near there anyway so it worked out great. This ride cost $1 USD.

I checked into the Rabaul Hotel and got to my room where I found nothing to be working properly. I had to have them fix the AC, the TV, and the hot water in the shower. Despite the initial problems I do have to give it to them kudos as they fixed everything quickly and I could get much needed rest for the remainder of the night.

Boarding my flight in Port Moresby heading to Rabaul.

My first experience mingling with the locals in Papua New Guinea. Bus stop in Kokopo.

Day 989: Tuesday, May 30, 2017

I am staying in Rabaul which was the capital city of New Britain Province until 1994 when 2 volcanos simultaneously erupted destroying the city. The population was relocated to a town called Kokopo about 20 kilometers away. The dive shop I am using for diving is located in Kokopo as there is not much of anything left in Rabaul even 23 years after the devastating event. So I had to do the trip I made yesterday upon arrival only in reverse to get to the dive shop. All went smoothly and I was at the dive shop by 10:30am. Gavin at Rabaul-Kokopo Dive was great in getting everything situated on very short notice so I could get 2 dives in today and plans for 2 more dives tomorrow.

Today’s first dive was a wreck dive that was a small cargo ship specifically sunk about 20 years ago as a dive attraction. It was not related to the war. The second dive was along a sheer wall going deeper than the eye could see. Visibility was probably better here than anywhere else I have dived in the South Pacific so far.

After diving I took the first van from the dive shop to the main market in Kokopo. From there I walked about a kilometer to the city’s outdoor museum which had a lot of WW2 artifacts. It had many Japanese guns and vehicles that are in very good shape compared to other places I have seen to date. One reason may be that Rabaul was the headquarters of Japan’s naval forces for the entire Pacific but was never invaded by the U.S. It was heavily bombed but there was no physical invasion. I spent an hour mulling around.

The most interesting part of the day however turned out to be the ride on the van getting back to Rabaul and my hotel. I was trying to get on in the van at rush hour and there were many more people trying to get on than could possibly fit. Despite that people were insistent on making sure I got on and had as good as a seat as is possible in such a van. They really were so kind. About half way through the ride the lady sitting next to me started to talk with me. She wanted to know where I was from and then many more questions followed. The interesting part about it is that everyone around us were all listening so intently to what I was saying, smiling at my every word. They were all so curious about this white guy riding in the public van. I guess it doesn’t happen that often. I am finding the people here to be so kind and friendly to me. It is a big surprise and very different from what I had been told to expect in PNG. Today, despite being tired from 3 years of traveling I found myself in better spirits and glad for my experiences having experienced the kindness of strangers in a strange land.

Japanese anti-aircraft guns at the Kokopo Museum.

A Japanese light tank at the Kokopo Museum.

A good assortment of bombs at the Kokopo Museum.

A front seat in an extremely crowded passenger van.

Day 990: Wednesday, May 31, 2017

This morning Gavin at the dive shop had the dive boat come over to Rabaul and pick me up at the Rabaul Yacht Club or as the locals call it the Rabaul No Yacht Club. It is easy to see why they call it that because there certainly are no yachts in sight. Today’s first dive was on a Japanese freighter sunk during the war. It was not that interesting though as there was nothing in any of the cargo holds, no gun mounts on the top deck, or anything else to identify it as a WWII-related wreck.

The second dive was all the way back across the bay where I dove yesterday. We were going to dive along a wall at the island next to the island we dove on yesterday but just as we were dropping anchor there was an angry voice shouting from shore “Get out! Get out of here!” I guess the guy believed he had rights to the ocean, not just the island. I was surprised when the boat driver and dive master obeyed and said we were going to move. In doing so we went back to the exact same spot we dove at yesterday. Needless to say I was disappointed. Dives are expensive and Rabaul is promoted as this great place for diving with hundreds of dive sites to choose from. Here I was diving at the same spot I dove at just yesterday.

After diving I went to Kokopo and before getting on the van to Rabaul I had a late lunch at a KFC rip off called Hot Rooster. I ordered 6 more pieces to take back to the hotel with me for tomorrow’s lunch and dinner. I found the food at my hotel’s restaurant to be too expensive, small portions, and not so good so the chicken made for a good and much cheaper alternative. I also went to the market and picked up a fresh pineapple and bananas. With that I was set for the rest of what I needed until I leave for Port Moresby on Friday.

Diving with Rabaul Kokopo Dive Shop.

Ready to blow some bubbles in Kokopo/Rabaul, PNG.