Striking gold in the Solomons

Anderson Dua  stands by the remains of a Japanese bomber. Photos by Gillian Vine.
Anderson Dua stands by the remains of a Japanese bomber. Photos by Gillian Vine.
Primpo Pukukesa has developed a cultural village on the outskirts of Honiara. His red mouth is...
Primpo Pukukesa has developed a cultural village on the outskirts of Honiara. His red mouth is from chewing betel nut.
The gene that gives this youngster blond hair is unique to the region.
The gene that gives this youngster blond hair is unique to the region.
Bullet holes in the tail of an American plane at the Vilu War Museum.
Bullet holes in the tail of an American plane at the Vilu War Museum.
Betel nuts on sale.
Betel nuts on sale.
In the 16th century, Spaniard Álvaro de Mendana introduced chickens to the Solomon Islands.
In the 16th century, Spaniard Álvaro de Mendana introduced chickens to the Solomon Islands.

The Solomon Islands are considered the hottest Pacific destination, says Gillian Vine.

They're handy, they're warm, you don't need a visa and everyone speaks English, all reasons for the increasing popularity of Pacific Island holidays.

New Zealanders' top Pacific choice is Fiji, followed by the Cook Islands.

Each year, 100,000 of us head to Fiji and almost 65,000 to the Cook Islands.

Samoa and Vanuatu are also up there but not the Solomon Islands, tipped as the hottest new Pacific destination.

The Solomon Islands stretch 1600km across the Pacific northwest of Fiji.

The nearest neighbour, just a dugout canoe ride from Ovau, is Bougainville in Papua New Guinea, while to the southeast is Vanuatu.

The early history of the islands is a bit hazy but archaeologists suggest settlement began at least 3000 years ago.

A small museum in the centre of the capital, Honiara, gives an interesting overview from prehistoric times to the present day.

The first European here was Spaniard Álvaro de Mendana, who in 1568 made the hazardous journey from Peru in search of gold.

I suspect he was a bit of a con artist, as he named the islands after King Solomon, giving rise to the belief that they were chocker with riches.

One story is that a chief gave de Mendana a gold nugget but that was all.

The metal was later discovered on the main island, Guadalcanal.

After various small operations, a large open-cast mine opened at Gold Ridge in the 1990s and at its peak, it accounted for 20% of the country's GNP.

It closed last year.

De Mendana did make a useful contribution: he brought chickens to the islands, and everywhere a variety of flamboyantly coloured poultry forages.

Chicken is on every menu but I skipped it and treated myself to fresh fish with cassava chips or crayfish, incredibly cheap and utterly delicious.

Tourism has come late to the Solomon Islands but its below-the-radar profile is starting to change as the Government looks to attract more visitors from New Zealand and Australia, aiming for a total of 25,000 this year and 32,000 by 2020.

The starting point is Honiara, on Guadalcanal.

A three-hour flight from Brisbane, the city has a population of some 65,000 and most of the things you'd expect in a town of this size, including banks, businesses and good hotels.

Just outside Honiara is an unusual roadside market, concentrating on sales of betel nut, which men and women everywhere chew.

Heavy use turns the gums and teeth red, considered attractive here, but the lime of ground coral with which it is mixed to bring out the flavour may be carcinogenic.

To see how it is prepared, I go to the cultural community of Lumatapopoho, in Kakabona village.

Here, under the direction of headman Primpo Pukukesa, visitors are welcomed by children, some of whom are blond, thanks to a gene unique to the region.

There are demonstrations of traditional crafts such as tapa making, food cooked on hot stones and how to prepare betel nut for chewing.

The taste of local lettuce baked in a bamboo tube does not excite me, but I am fascinated to see a fire started in less than two minutes simply by rubbing two pieces of wood together, something I never mastered as a girl guide.

''Ah,'' Primpo explains, ''the secret is the right wood and it must be very, very dry.''

Travelling further east on an unsealed road brings us to Anderson Dua's Vilu War Museum, a reminder of the battles fought throughout the Solomon Islands during World War 2.

New Zealand's army, navy and air force were involved, fighting alongside American marines and Australian forces in the 1942-43 push to repel the Japanese.

Estimates of total deaths vary between 28,000 and 38,000, two-thirds of them Japanese.

At least 9000 of the Japanese died of malaria or starvation.

New Zealanders showed great bravery and memorials at the museum recognise their sacrifices, but what draws most visitors are the big guns and downed aircraft, which Anderson's stepfather began collecting in the 1960s, retrieving items from the sea and jungle.

Above Honiara is the Solomon Peace Memorial erected by the Japanese on Mt Austin, a 410m peak used during the war as a base to shell the Allied-held airfield below.

Almost opposite, on Skyline Ridge, is the American memorial.

When it was being constructed, the remains of a fallen American were found and a plaque marks the spot ''of this unknown warrior who gave his life for freedom''.

Loyal Solomon Islanders also died, risking their lives daily by manning lookouts or paddling dugout canoes close to enemy ships so they could report on activity.

From both memorials, there are impressive views out to sea.

Iron Bottom Sound looks peaceful but some 41 sunken ships and numerous downed aircraft lie under the water.

Diving around wrecks here and in other parts of the Solomon Islands is an increasingly popular tourist activity, with divers trumpeting the Solomon Islands as the world's best scuba-diving destination.

Even those who do not dive agree it is no hardship to help the Government achieve its tourist target, because the country is enchanting.

• Gillian Vine travelled to the Solomon Islands as the guest of the Solomon Islands Visitors Bureau (www.visitsolomons.com.sb).

In Honiara, she stayed at the Heritage Park Hotel (www.heritagepark hotel.com.sb).

 


At a glance

• The Solomon Islands have a tropical climate, with an average daytime temperature of 28degC. The best time to visit is from April to November, when the weather is drier.

• Solomon Airlines has daily flights from Brisbane to Honiara. In June, a Sydney-Honiara service begins: early flights from Christchurch will connect to the Sydney service.

• The country is one hour behind New Zealand (two hours during NZ Daylight Time).

• Electric power points use the same three-pin plugs as New Zealand.

• The currency is the Solomon Islands dollar, worth approximately 17c NZ.


 

 

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