From Noro we headed towards Gizo. Despite it being a central tourist hub for divers, Gizo is still a backwater. Smaller than we had expected and a little grubby with only dirt roads, a few Chinese supermarkets and local shops (the best is Wings), two banks with ATMs (ANZ and BSP), the dive shop, and cafe/restaurants where playing darts seems to be the thing to do. PT-109 is the preferred restaurant to leave a dinghy and for a quick basic meal. There is also a newly opened shop housed in a container just west of PT109 that sells Ozzie meat and condiments and we stocked up on some mince and a couple of steaks that looked pretty frost free.
The most impressive building in Gizo is the hospital which looks like a set of modern apartments from a distance but not so smart close up. In fact Gizo looks very attractive from a distance with its wooded hill and colourful markets on the shorefront. Just a shame it doesn't carry through.
PT-109 is named for the patrol boat that John F Kennedy and his crew swam from after it was rammed by a Japanese destroyer. Apparently, there was some discussion over whether it was rammed deliberately or accidentally as the destroyer made its way west. Regardless, the PT-109 sunk and they were forced to swim to nearby Plum Pudding island. The island was later renamed Kennedy Island and a small shrine to Kennedy erected on it. The fact that Kennedy and his crew took over 3 hours to swim to the island and had no shark or crocodile encounters was pretty amazing. We had thought of visiting the island which had been a public place but have heard that the surrounding reefs are in poor condition and the new "owner" is charging a stiff fee for entry. There are plenty of alternative islands and so we didn't bother. We were to find it common for "kastom" fees to be charged for many tourist attractions, particularly those associated with the war. While some were legitimate often they were hopelessly unrealistic - asking SBD100 to simply take in a view!
pudding island photo
Just east of Gizo are two resorts: Fat Boys and Sanbis. Sanbis is known for its pizzas and so we anchored off the resort and dropped in for lunch. Hans is the owner and builder of the resort which opened in 2005. He is an easy going guy and we chatted with him about the complexities of owning a business and leasing land in The Solomons. Nothing is certain and relationships need to be actively managed. He also mentioned that the only place to get reliable fuel was from the main dock in Gizo. Unfortunately, we had just bought petrol from a family operation next to the dock. Nairy and her brothers are delightful people but we discovered that the fuel we had purchased had been an old batch with 30% ethanol - not necessarily something they knew. Many of the locals were buying it too but our skittish 4 stroke Honda was having none of it and has been spluttering and stopping ever since.
On 18 April we headed east across Vona Vona Lagoon to a small resort on Lola island. Vona Vona Lagoon is a beautiful area of islands, beaches and mangroves. Its also quite shallow in some areas particularly in the narrows south of Kohinggo Island. Rod on State of Mind had loaded tracks from Max on Peri and so we followed closely behind them. The shallowest we saw was 3.5 metres on a mid rising tide to the west of Kohinggo.
Zipolo Habu Resort on Lola Island is run by Lisa, whose family owns the island, and Joe, an expat American who is married to Lisa. Its a particularly tranquil setting with a regular evening show of reef sharks and mullet stirring up schools of bait fish. We could have happily stayed there for a week or two. Once a year in October they hold the Stunned Mullet Fishing Competition - so not so tranquil then but we have heard from friends Laura and Bruce that it is a lot of fun.
A short dinghy ride from Lola is Skull Island which was a burial site for chiefs. This used to be a sacred, tabou site but now days you can visit it for a modest kastom fee.
8 5.79276S 156 50.62624E
8 14.27327S 157 11.83136E