Solomon Islands SonShip trip 2005! - Part 2
Yep, still working on this one too
Once we had managed to board our plane, and I had gotten over the size of the plane, we were finally on our way again! We weren't flying all that high so we could see the islands we were flying over really well, it looked so beautiful! Also, it was a nice smooth flight too!
Up in our "big" plane... looking back at Honiara
Our plane..
Oh, i need to mention that our pilots had only flown in the Solomons a couple of times before, a very comforting thought.... and so they had their maps out the entire way!
Some of the small islands we flew over
Braden demonstrating his "physic knowledge"... and see Clinton, we did think of you... if only once! :oP
Unfortunately, i don't have any pictures of the airstrip that we landed on (but i'll find one for you eventually) but i can tell you that it was a TINY bit of land! It wasn't a comforting feeling coming closer down and all you can see under you is water... and then you can see the corral... and the details of the corral.. and then finally - LAND!
We were glad to see Helen and Trevor who met us at the airstrip!
The entire team on the tiny airstrip!
Once we had collected our luggage and carried.. yes, carried - not wheeled, it to the boat, we went on our way to Gizo. This is the boat that we travelled everywhere in.
At Gizo we were given 10 Solomon Dollars, which is half a days wage, to find lunch with. The markets were open, as well as some shops. In the end, most of us ended up buying Cream buns (real cultural food hey..) and some various other thing.
After Gizo we hopped back onto the boat and headed for Kolumbungara (don't ask me about the spelling!), which was the Island on which we were staying. Instead of going straight to the SonShip house, we went to Kukudu, where we had a lovely welcome and "refreshement" waiting for us.
All of us recieved lei's too, which were just beautiful!
We tried to convince the kids to play us a tune on the bamboo pipes, but they weren't convinced! But they were cute anyway!
Then we started on the "refreshments". That's a running joke in the team. Everywhere we went there was "refreshment"... however, their version of refreshments equally a meal to us! We were extremely well fed!!
And then started the obsession with the babies! Their gorgeous dark eyes and skin just had all of us girls.. well, obsessed!
And even Braden had to admit they were cute!!
After our "refreshments" and a quick tour of the Clinic (photos of that to come later!) we jumped back onto the boad and headed over to the SonShip house!
We lined up all the lei's we'd been given in the past two days, and it looked so lovely - not to mention it smelt great!!
Now, for a quick tour around the SonShip house....
Inside(kitchen is to the left, bedrooms and bathroom just to the left and straight ahead, veranda to the right)
The "girls" room, where Oralae, Ruth-Ellen, Steph, Kim, Becky and I slept
The kitchen
The "boys bedroom"
Some of our "substitute mums". They were great on the trip, always looking after us and giving us "mum hugs" when we needed them.
Cooking in the SonShip house was great fun....
Just as was guessing what we were cooking with!
Best of all though, was our view from the house. It was so refreshing to just sit outside and enjoy the view.
Once we had managed to board our plane, and I had gotten over the size of the plane, we were finally on our way again! We weren't flying all that high so we could see the islands we were flying over really well, it looked so beautiful! Also, it was a nice smooth flight too!
Up in our "big" plane... looking back at Honiara
Our plane..
Oh, i need to mention that our pilots had only flown in the Solomons a couple of times before, a very comforting thought.... and so they had their maps out the entire way!
Some of the small islands we flew over
Braden demonstrating his "physic knowledge"... and see Clinton, we did think of you... if only once! :oP
Unfortunately, i don't have any pictures of the airstrip that we landed on (but i'll find one for you eventually) but i can tell you that it was a TINY bit of land! It wasn't a comforting feeling coming closer down and all you can see under you is water... and then you can see the corral... and the details of the corral.. and then finally - LAND!
We were glad to see Helen and Trevor who met us at the airstrip!
The entire team on the tiny airstrip!
Once we had collected our luggage and carried.. yes, carried - not wheeled, it to the boat, we went on our way to Gizo. This is the boat that we travelled everywhere in.
At Gizo we were given 10 Solomon Dollars, which is half a days wage, to find lunch with. The markets were open, as well as some shops. In the end, most of us ended up buying Cream buns (real cultural food hey..) and some various other thing.
After Gizo we hopped back onto the boat and headed for Kolumbungara (don't ask me about the spelling!), which was the Island on which we were staying. Instead of going straight to the SonShip house, we went to Kukudu, where we had a lovely welcome and "refreshement" waiting for us.
All of us recieved lei's too, which were just beautiful!
We tried to convince the kids to play us a tune on the bamboo pipes, but they weren't convinced! But they were cute anyway!
Then we started on the "refreshments". That's a running joke in the team. Everywhere we went there was "refreshment"... however, their version of refreshments equally a meal to us! We were extremely well fed!!
And then started the obsession with the babies! Their gorgeous dark eyes and skin just had all of us girls.. well, obsessed!
And even Braden had to admit they were cute!!
After our "refreshments" and a quick tour of the Clinic (photos of that to come later!) we jumped back onto the boad and headed over to the SonShip house!
We lined up all the lei's we'd been given in the past two days, and it looked so lovely - not to mention it smelt great!!
Now, for a quick tour around the SonShip house....
Inside(kitchen is to the left, bedrooms and bathroom just to the left and straight ahead, veranda to the right)
The "girls" room, where Oralae, Ruth-Ellen, Steph, Kim, Becky and I slept
The kitchen
The "boys bedroom"
Some of our "substitute mums". They were great on the trip, always looking after us and giving us "mum hugs" when we needed them.
Cooking in the SonShip house was great fun....
Just as was guessing what we were cooking with!
Best of all though, was our view from the house. It was so refreshing to just sit outside and enjoy the view.
posted by Sonja @ 2:08 pm
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