17/09/09  Well more news from Lady Emily we finally had to leave the Solomon’s and travel back through PNG and again, a great trip the wind was from the south so our little ship had all the sales up for 3 days and arrived at Budi Budi Island. What a great stop over. The utmost extremity of PNG to the south very isolated. We had been there before and the locals remembered us, they did not hesitate to call us by our first names with out being introduced again. They made us feel very welcome so we left the last of our trade stuff there and promised to come back with more clothes for the kids and some timber for calving fish hooks. Plastic bottles for water are a very sought after item; I will never look at a plastic bottle the same again.

We left Budi in a strong wind warning and faced 5 meter seas all the way to Woodlark. The ship handled the weather like a true champion pedigree. The weather came down at last so we then headed to Alotau. This town is very friendly and has a great infrastructure loads of stores, meat, chicken, electrical equipment, people to fix stuff and a slip way for 40 ft ships ECT.  We again found that we were welcome and were remembered. Our visa had expired and again they gave us no grief they let us travel through the country on route to Aus. We brought lots of carvings here and walking sticks out of ebony to sell back into Aus. The most magnificent pieces are now on board after almost a year at sea. We have need for a slip way and to unload our cargo of artifacts so if you want some gives us a call.

 We then headed to Moresby this town is all so very grown up with a population of 800 000 people. Banks. Also Millions of dollars in infrastructure, gas pipe lines, personal Ex Pax you name it, it can be done here. Rite in the middle of all this is the Port Moresby Yacht Club run by Grant this facility has got to seen to be believed, it must compare on a world scale service. Social friendly nothing is too much trouble and totally secure and safe. 

Left for Australians and we advised customs that we were on route to Australia to Thursday Island, did not know what to expect this time from Aussie customs. But we were pleasantly surprised that all went well thanks to the customs staff. Special thanks to Mathew, George and crew. Of coarse Andrew from immigration, for treating us so kindly, there were some issues with my wife as she is an N Z citizen and was therefore an ILLEGAL ALIEN   but Andrew sorted it out with little fuss. I would not recommend coming to Thursday island before advising immigration well before you enter Australia. Our guns have been a small contribution to our entry; you need import and export for fire arms. But again all concerned have just been great and really helped sort out any issues that came up. T I police are the best in Australia. So that’s it for now we are heading back to PNG in November and hope fully we will have more stories to tell.

14/08/09  More news from the Solomons. We were getting involved with WW2 sites and then it came to pass that on the 7/ 8/ 09 was the anniversary of the Guadalcanal  landing and the war effort. We witnessed U S  navy bring their warships into Honiarra, a spectacular event and the local people made them all very welcome.
So on my return by light aircraft back to Norro was a special flight over all the islands and surrounding area.
 
We also have been involved with some training of some of the local tradesmen in the areas of refrigeration and air-conditioning and then I have been invited to do some training at the cannery - SOLTAI. It is compairable to the largest cannery in the area and were given a guided tour which has now turned out to be an offer of employment to share some training techniques. In one week we have transformed some of the work areas and increased production. All good fun and adds to the adventure of it all.
 
We are due to leave the Solomons within 7 days now and are looking forward to going back to sea, heading back to PNG and to the Torres Straits will up-date website possibly from Alotau.
We have left our tow vessel with friends we have met in PNG at Wood Lark gold mine, Willy
and Stuart Honey have been so great.   more to come .

25/7/09  We are still in the Solomons presently. We met some young adventurers in a kayak travelling from Honiara to Choisal and around. We were very surprised to see these two Australians - Miles and Georgia just paddling around the Solomons living in the villages with the locals. They sure appreciated a hot shower and a warm bunk for a couple of nights while they shared their stories with us. Amazing ...just goes to show you that the Solomons is a safe place to travel.

The weather here is still great. No wind, a little rain every day, not much humidity and we are turning the aircon off at night time .We have found some wrecks of aeroplanes in the bush and due to the lack of tourists they have to refund every time so you pay a guide 40 sol a day to find the plane then you hack away at the undergrowth for a couple of hours then take the pics so we have taken GPS marks with a hand held and marked the ones that we have found and given it to the local guides and Simon Kfpl.

The boat Lady Emily needs to be slipped now and we found a great small slipway in as new cond. supported by the Seventh Day Adventist SDA .Have been able to aquire all necessary paints etc at Noro not really a walk up start but available. Slipway is at a village called Kukundu about 6 miles from Gizo on Kolunbungara. From there we will go to the Shortlands and Treasury group.

22/06/09   We have visited and stayed in many places including Roviana Lagoon and Vona Vona Lagoon , Blacket Straights , Kolombangara Island .
We are finding WWII sites which still have not been exploited by tourists and they are the real deal - without the fanfare.
Have been to unexplored places like Skull Caves where we are the first and only ones to see. This is the stuff adventure is made of.
Of all the publications there is very little info about where things are, and there are little or no charts to where we have been so we have charted these waters with GPS and plotter accurately. I am now going to open this site with info and pictures for all to see.
Gizo is a country town with a rustic atmosphere facilities are to my mind good, there is no hurry here.
Danny Kennedy is there as owner the local dive shop and has been there for 25 years.
Shane Kennedy (no relation to Danny) owns the Gizo Hotel he is a former Stradbroke Island lad so must be a good bloke.
Fat Boys is owned by his brother and run by his daughter and husband. I found my time here helping them out repairing equipment very enjoyable so I was privileged to see the nitty gritty of it all , at no time have we felt threatened or uncomfortable REMEMBER WE HAVE 6 OF US ON BOARD - TWO SMALL CHILDREN AND TWO 17 YEAR OLD BOY AND GIRL.
The weather here is the most pleasant thing the nights are cool to 25 degrees the days never go over 29 and there is a cloud cover to keep the sun off.
Wind speed is never over 10 knots and often less, so not much sailing here just driving on flat calm seas.
There is little or no current to speak of also the tide here is less than one metre rise and fall.
We are currently in Noro with good bitumen roads and a great infrastructure, phone, banks and there are some business people here from all parts of the world.
Our friend Alfredo owns Noro Deli - a general store and a supply shop.
Jimmy Crocket is an Aussie contractor here - just a great bloke. He has been here for years now and that says a lot about the Island's lifestyle and location.
There is fuel available here and the cheapest in the whole of Solomons, it is an international shipping port with the feel of a country town .
Munda is another unknown destination with WWII sites everywhere.

More pics