We arrive in Peava (Ngatakoe island) on 10 December 2008. We are now theoretically out of the cyclone region.
We drop the anchor in the small lagoon, a beautiful place but deep and fairly narrow for us. We see with relief many children swimming on the beach, jumping from the trees in the water, singing as they pass Chasse spleen in their dugged out canoes. The atmosphere is clearly more relax, people looks happier than in Russell. We were initially planning to stay for two weeks; Chasse Spleen was still anchored in Peava Lagoon 4 four months later!

There is hardly any electricity, no phone, no road. This is a very safe environment for our boys and they stay on shore and play with local kids in the water for hours . Nicolas becomes famous within a few hours and visits every kitchen of the village. He enjoys any opportunity to grab something to eat or play with fire under the supervision of all the Mums of Peava. A few expats have settled here and the arrival of white skins kids is nothing unusual for the locals.
The marine life is very rich; the coral in the area is stunning, very diverse and in very good condition. The visibility is outstanding and "teethy" encounters are numerous: tuna, kingfish, barracudas, giant trevalis, rainbow runners and a lot of sharks (inquisitive grey sharks, black and white tips and occasionally small hammerheads). The playground for spearfishing is exceptional. On our first day we meet Kelsi who becomes Marc's friend and fishing partner. The locals are very keen and efficient spear fishermen mostly targeting big game despite their self-made spear guns.
The inhabitants are very keen to trade fruits and vegetables from their garden, which are delivered to Chasse Spleen by canoe. We also have numerous visits offering wood carvings. Carving is a very big activity in the Western Province. Some of the items shown to us are really pieces of art. This is definitely the best carving in the Pacific. It ranges from traditional characters such as Nguzu Nguzu , animals (crocodiles, fishes) to less traditional items such as bowls in shell shapes or little boxes. They mainly use Pacific walnut, hardwoods, ebony or rosewood with small inserts made with nautilus shells for the patterns.
The village tourist lodge bakes bread for us which is a relief as Mum's trials have never been very satisfactory; and a few ladies happily do my laundry on shore with clear water. After the daily school sessions onboard Chasse Spleen, the boys are picked up in canoes by their friends to spend their afternoon onshore. It is holiday time and we always find older kids or Mums happy to keep an eye on our boys.
We spend Christmas in Peava which unfortunately is not celebrated by Seven Day Adventists. However for the New Year, we are invited to the community dinner whereby each household brings some food to share. Our input is a big bowl of pasta which is a curiosity to most but proves successful.
As school resumes we decide that our boys should attend the local school. Villagers are surprised, but we think the experience should boost Alexis self confidence. It is very refreshing to go through his homework. The kids count in crocodiles, pineapples and canoes. We also learn that important means of communication are the conch shell and the wooden drum! Leaving the boys at school allow us to spend more time on shore with our friends. I can go to the garden with Caroline (Kelsi's wife) while Marc repairs solar panels for the chief of Kavolavata (village nearby). We enjoy visiting other villages (Mbiche, Subiro), going diving or fishing without having to worry about the boys.

In February, Marc makes a return trip to Honiara to obtain our visa extension (only valid 3 months). He decides to travel with the locals on "Bikoi", an old Taiwanese passenger ship commuting between Solomon Islands. As the only white man onboard, the journey is proving an interesting experience. He has plenty of opportunities to speak with other passengers who seem quite amazed to see a tourist onboard. The conditions are not overly comfortable; everyone sits on the floor (first class passengers) and enjoys the regular visits of cockroaches as big as "helicopters". He manages to bring back all the goodies requested by the cook who had drawn an especially long shopping list.

A big event for Chasse Spleen and the villages is the arrival of our friend Hugues from Europe. We are thrilled to share our experience with our friend. Activities include fishing, diving, visits to villages, local delicacies testing (such as coconut crab and kingfish sashimi), rides on the dinghy surrounded by dolphins and finally having a closer look at Kavachi (an active underwater volcano). We will renew the Kavachi experience with Chasse Spleen at a later stage on our way to Ghizo.
A few carving shows are organised and Hugues'interest makes us even more popular among our local friends. Tourists (especially Americans) are becoming rare and money is badly needed, mostly to pay school fees. As Hugues heads back to Europe and once the school term finished, it is time for us to lift the anchor.

We head towards Ghizo with our friend Kelsi onboard. Ghizo, capital of the Western Province and second town of the country, is a good size village with intermittent electricity, one road with a few pickup trucks and a small airport only accessible by boat. The inhabitants are relaxed, the shops (all run by Chinese) offer a reasonable range of products and they are a few decent restaurants. The market (fish, fruits and vegetables) is very colourful with a substantial choice. Overall the little town is clean. The anchorage is nicely protected provided that the anchor is not jammed by some rubbish (as we will experience later). We enjoy watching our neighbours in the Gilbertese village crossing the anchorage with their canoes to go to school, church or to the market. It is quite amazing to think we are in the second town of the country.
The Ghizo area consists of many islands and reefs reachable within a 30 minutes dinghy ride. The reef has been very damaged by a tsunami 3 years ago but there is still plenty of fish. There are some nice resorts in the area with accessible bars/restaurants on the water. We will return to Ghizo to clear out of the country and finalise our last food provisioning before our trip to Papua New Guinea.