We are now anchored in a particularly lovely little hole bordered on one side by reef and two sides by islands, one of them being Tavaipupu. This is perhaps the most famous "secret" spot in the Solomons, and we have it all to ourselves! Is this a bad sign? There is a village on the big island and a small resort on Tavaipupu. The anchorage is nestled deep inside Marau Sound at the southern tip of Guadalcanal.

We started the day at 4AM to ensure a timely arrival. There's lots of water on the way into this spot but there are reefs all over and it is always nice to make this kind of entry close to noon. It was a very starry night but as the sun came up cumulus clouds formed everywhere. The pressure was 1008, which would be alarmingly low farther south. Closer to the equator it seems you see lower pressure more often. The pressure climbed rapidly to 1014 throughout the day and the convection started as the sun began to cook things.

Later in the morning conditions stabilized and it was a beautiful blue sky day overhead, with 5 knots of wind. There were little isolated squalls coming off of Malaita blowing across toward Guadalcanal. We vectored in on the back of one and got a nice 17 knot ride for almost an hour in the shade of the squalls back shelf. It was the first time we had shut down the motor in a day while underway.

We entered Marau Sound through the east channel at close to noon. It was a deep and easy pass, particularly so because the sea state was so calm. We enjoyed motoring through all of the beautiful islands and took lots of good pictures. Incidentally our picture folder is filling up, it will be good to make Honiara and finally upload all of them to the blog.

We asked an adult villager on shore if we could anchor in the little reefed bay and he said "certainly!". The Solomon Islanders have been very friendly and welcoming. We also saw someone from the resort and they said we were welcome to anchor as well.

Upon arrival we were met by quite a group of folks. Anchoring in this little hole puts you close to shore and a village giving anyone who can paddle easy access to you by canoe. This is ok, but sometimes you want to rest a bit once you anchor! Nothing doing here. You will meet several new friends within minutes of settling in. We met three kids who were quite gregarious, I had to warn them to stay off the boat so that the vicious dog wouldn't get them (har). Joe came to welcome us also and traded me some coconuts for soap and sugar. We love drinking coconuts.

Joe was going to come back to show us shells for trading but we missed him. This is good because I like to trade with the villagers (they are very reasonable and are just looking for T Shirts, sugar, rice, that sort of thing) but I don't like to encourage the shell trade. I'd much rather get fresh fruit and vegetables.

I think the older generation folks here are wonderful. They are respectful and want to trade you something they think you will value for things they need. It is a pretty fair anchorage fee given the benefits on anchoring here, not to mention the yummy coconuts and papayas! The kids, unfortunately, seem to be going down hill. Some kids come aboard your boat without asking (never had an adult do this). Some kids ask for gifts without considering your interests, and a few have the nerve to ask for Walkmen, Stereos and IPods!

The materialism and population expansion seems to be taking its toll. I was told by a boy on Uki Ni Masi that Makira (San Cristobal) was embroiled in constant land disputes among the inhabitants (no guns yet but "fighting"). To the point that the church had to build the secondary school on a separate island (Uki Ni Masi)! The under 18 population is huge here so matters are not likely to get better soon.

The government has wisely in the past not emphasized tourism. Tourists bring "cargo", material things, kids see these gadgets and want them. Honiara is overpopulated with young men who have come to the city to make money at a job that doesn't exist. In the villages the people need nothing from the outside world. In Honiara, or elsewhere in the materialistic world, they are wards of the state. Everyone should be allowed to form their own destiny but it is sad to see a healthy culture falling into shadow.

I shouldn't paint too bleak a picture. The Solomon Islands (our vast experience is three anchorages now) are lovely and the people, even the lusty kids, are truly wonderful out in the islands. The adults are kind and considerate, and some of the kids are courteous and wonderful as well, the others are really just being kids and hopefully will get over the iPod envy.

In the afternoon Margaret went for a several hour snorkel on the shallow reefs at the head of the little bay we parked in. I joined her for a bit and it was a nice swim. The reefs are pretty healthy in most places though a few were taken over with algae. There were hard corals, soft corals, lots of little fish and some good size trevally, and even a couple of big black tip sharks.

Once we settled back at the boat the owners of the Tavaipupu resort came over to say hi. They invited us to dinner and we thankfully accepted. Their launch came to pick us up and bring us around to the south side of Tavaipupu where they have a jetty and a lovely beach. Sam, our driver from a nearby island, beached the boat and we jumped off into an amazing little hideaway. The resort has been here for 30 years but it has been inaccessible for a good bit of the last 10 due to the strife on Guadalcanal.

Guadal Canal has a lot of Malaitians (folks from the island across the channel) living on it. The land rights became a big issue, again, and fighting broke out with a lot of senseless destruction. The Tavaipupu resort survived unscathed, largely due to the respect the locals had for the founder Dennis. Unfortunately the airport at this end of the island was shut down and the boat trip is a good three hours. The Australian RAMSI peace keeping force arrived at the behest of the government a few years back and Guadalcanal is almost back to normal now. The south airport is supposed to have its first flight in years tomorrow.

The Tavaipupu Resort is a small 6 bungalow private island. It is magical in every way. You feel like you've gone back in time. The dinning room is a large Solomon islands style open wall building with huge timbers and towering rafters holding up the steep pandana covered roof. Everything is candle lit at night. The resort has a generator but they try to conserve its use. There are palm trees everywhere and if you want to get away from it all I couldn't imagine a more enchanting place to sit on a comfy padded ratan chain under the rustling palms, drinking an icey gin and tonic while reading a good book.

The resort is also very cruiser friendly. We were picked up and dropped off. We had an amazing lobster dinner served over rice in a hollowed out pineapple. Even home made chocolate ice cream and piping hot espresso! The prices are very, very reasonable for the level of quality and service. If we didn't have to get Margaret to Honiara we might have ended up here for some time. If you come to the Solomons by yacht and don't visit the Tavaipupu resort you are missing something special.

We will be able to report in on the state of affairs in Honiara, the big city, tomorrow...