Finally the time came to leave Honiara, but only after three hours of waiting at the airport. Our plane had broken down so we were put on another flight that was diverted to drop us off.
Flying over Isabel we could see the impact of the logging here. Miles and miles of roads to nowhere wove through the catchments of streams that spewed red-brown mud into otherwise picturesque lagoons and we saw the odd ship stacked with logs ready to go to the mills in Malaysia. They served as a reminder of who would benefit from this industry, or more poignantly, who would not benefit; those who depended on dying reefs for food.
We landed on the paddock at Suavanao. It had received a new layer of sand with the tsunami last week. Dixon, a conservation officer from the Arnavon Islands, and his nephew picked us up in a 20ft, open hull boat and we were on our way to Kia, cruising between reefs and over Pacific swells.
We arrived at Kia and I was quickly introduced to all the lads at John’s shop, and we were, just as quickly, away again to Putua, a small island of which Gary and I were the only human inhabitants. Unfortunately though, our outboard spluttered to a halt on the way so we were to be without transport for a while. I’ll let the photo’s tell the story from here.
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| Chateau de Putua. |
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| Sunrise over Kia. |
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| Strong fish. Note the bent spear. |
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