Flashback – Moti Sunsets by Turner

13th December 2007, end of the trouble. Sogavare Government has lost the vote. Moti is to be deported. It’s all over. Everyone is breathing easy. We meet Julie Webb on the deck of the IBS for drinks and to watch the sunset. The luxury boat that’s been in the harbour for a week suddenly departs and we speculate that Moti is fleeing yet again. Later it turns out not to be the case, although who knows who was really on it. Still, we talk of it as being Moti’s escape yacht. Sunset wasn’t bad either. Turner would have had a go I reckon.

Go Finis

The parties are all done but one, the packing is near complete, and we’re into the final phases of pretty much everything. It’s go finis time. We’re having friends over tomorrow, a kastom meal with locals on Thursday and that’s it.

I’ve been thinking for a few days about what would make an appropriate last Solomon post and the best I can think of is to review my list of things I would miss and wouldn’t miss from last year (Nov 19 rather than Nov 18), to see if anything has changed.

Things I’ll miss:

• The little bird that immitates the sound of the microwave (hasn’t been around lately)
• The wrecks at Bonege (I can’t dive any more, but Louise goes diving tomorrow one last time)
• Lizards everywhere (yes)
• Kakobono Fried Chicken (KFC) (not really)
• Frogs hopping about in the rain (we found out they are cane toads)
• Intense rainstorms (YES, I’ll sure miss those)
• Walking through Koloale to Chinatown with the kids (won’t really miss that any more)
• Franjipani Ice (no)
• Watching the cargo ships in the harbour (Not really)
• All the weird letters to the Solomon Star (haven’t been reading it)
• Getting to know new kinds of plants with the kids (’bwip’ grass, sensitive plant, etc) (yes but I can do it in Adelaide too)
• Amazing two-minute sunsets (OH YES)
• The kids playing with ‘kastom’ toys made from leaves (YES)
• Eveyone saying ‘morneeng’ to each other on the street, even at 3pm (YES)
• Saying ‘hem alright’ and ’stacka’ and ‘tumas’. (YES)
• Enny, Takin and other local girls who play with the kids (YES)
• The fact that everywhere I go, someone knows Cody (NO, it’s gotten annoying)
• Amazing diving and snorkelling (Yes although the jellyfish are making it hard)
• Andrew Iro, one of our security guards (NO left last year)
• The islands on the horizon (YES)

In addition I’d add:

• Having all the housework done
• Having all the housework done
• Having all the housework done
• Having all the housework done
• Having all the housework done

Things I won’t miss:

• Sweat (YES)
• Bites (YES)
• Rashes (YES)
• Squashed, dessicated frog carcasses all over the roads (YES)
• Worrying about Malaria (YES)
• Lack of places to go (YES)
• Hopeless staff in shops and offices (YES)
• Inadequate services (YES)
• Crummy shops (YES)
• Worrying about unrest (NO, hasn’t seemed an issue since the new government took power).

Nothing further to add.

On balance it looks as though the won’t miss is out-weighing the miss by a considerable degree and it is definitely time. Two years was about right. The money has been great in the second year but things are getting more and more expensive, the bad exchange rate is hitting people hard, and new taxes aimed mostly at RAMSI staff are being introduced, so we feel like we’re going home at about the right time anyway.

So, lukim ifala lo Somonon, sometime in the future maybe, but we are all Australia bound.

Thus ends the Solomon Phase of the Sweetness Machine.

Steve, Nov 18th 2008.

Louise Kleinig Dives the TOA Maru

Wouldn’t you know it but the very last (main) thing Louise had to do for work was a trial in the provinces? Myself and pikininis were left bereft in Honners last week while she had her lawyerly way with the accused out West, gone from Saturday to Saturday. (Dude got his ass kicked, natch).

Problem for me was that I had been diving earlier in the week (see the last post) and come a cropper from the jellyfish larvae stings, to which I have now developed an allergic reaction and can no longer dive.

No jokes about Housedad’s Ear or Snorkler’s Neck this time – I was seriously sick, and got tested for malaria and meningitis just to be on the safe side. BTW, please, no concerned notes or calls about how I am; I am now fine, although a little distorted, and bummed out about the fact that I cannot have one final dive with Louise, as the water is still full of them. Honiara is full of people that look like this. Anyone would think there was a measles epidemic on.

ANYWAYS…

Louise on the other hand has had no such problems. While not busy serving up steaming hot chunks of justice, she dived a ww2 wreck with a torpedo hole in it, name blo hem Toa Maru, and her buddy (a policeman) took these photos. Lucky bastards. Click to enlarge.

Anyway she’s back now, and that’s IT for the provincial trips, IT for the diving (for me and probably Louise) and IT for the high-end lawyering. She’s writing a capacity building report in her final days and that’s all. She has one-an-a-half days of work remaining.

We have a work function on Saturday (can’t wait for those speeches), a farewell for friends on Sunday, the kids finish up school on Thursday, and we fly out Friday morning.

I am anticipating making one last Solomon post early next week before packing the computer up, and then maybe one or two ‘Back to Adelaide’ posts before putting this blog into hiatus.

Steve.

Johnson Dongga Dives Bonegi

Just a note to interested parties in Solomons and abroad to say that Johnson Donnga of the Tetepare Descendants’ Association has done an Adventures in Scuba Diving session at Bonegi Beach with Grant Joslin of the Invader Dive Charters company, and may hopefully receive credit for this towards an Open Water Certificate in the coming months. (I believe he has sponsorship from the Ministry of Tourism to that end).

before

after

A bit of background:
we met Johnson in Tetepare in Feb 2008 when Canadian Volunteers Mike and Janine were still on the island and discussed the notion of setting up a dive shop on Rendova to service the island. Johnson visited us in June and we attempted to further the idea by taking him diving with Franck Bouley on two occasions, and there was some prospect that I might be in a position to assist whim with writing a grant to further the scheme.

However, Solomon Time being what it is, Johnson only got approval from the TDA recently and we’re out of here in a week’s time, so I’ve baled on the project, and made various attempts to pass the scheme on to new people.

Anyways, maybe we’ll be back someday (probably in about five years) to find a nice shiny dive shop outpost on Rendova, so we can see those dugongs close up and personal…

in the meantime, we’re outta here!!!

All the best,

Steve.

School Sports Carnival Results

School Sports Carnival Results For Your Family
Child runs towards encouraging parent rather than finish line	☺
Child comes stone cold last in his or her main race	☺
Child given wrong uniform due to admin error	☺
Child needs to go to toilet just as race is being marshalled	☺
Child crashes into other child during race, ruins result, cries	X
Child has tantrum for losing, even when coming second or third	X
Child more interested in food, decoration and uniforms than sport	☺
Child learns ‘house’ chant backwards but then fails to remember on the day	☺
Children declare “it’s too much” and that they dislike competitive sport, want to leave early.	☺
Children compete furiously with one another all day after having left carnival early	☺
Overall: 8/10 Comment: Excellent result with room for improvement! Parent Sign: S MCK Teacher Sign: J. POH.