Tuesday 13th November.

27 days to go.

I have missed out on providing a couple of pieces of activity due to the local political situation.
Baby Nemo returned from 2 weeks holiday in Oz yesterday. Today Guru departs after 4 weeks here. The team at Aspen, the medical facility for RAMSI staff, are on best behaviour as they have their boss visiting at the moment. I know that my dear reader has been waiting for these riveting pieces of information.

Work is still rushing headlong into tedium. A lot of time is being spent at the computer, with only short breaks to speak to people. On one of these short breaks I met a cameraman for the BBC Wildlife section. He is here with another couple of cameramen preparing for a documentary series on the Pacific. They are chasing some wildlife that is unique to this part of the world. One of which is a skink. This lizard is large for a skink and lives in the Mt Austen area of Guadalcanal. The team has been in various areas of the Solomons doing similar shoots on other creatures. According to James they will be here for about 3 more days. I shall ask him when they think the program will go to air.

As promised here is some information on the Solomons.

The Solomons are believed to have been populated for 30,000 years. Over 990 Islands make up the Solomons covering almost 29,000 sq kms. They were “discovered” by Alvaro de Mendana in 1568 and named by him. As his name suggests he was Spanish and sailed from Peru. When he arrived, legend has it that he was given an egg made of gold. The local tribe thought it was a special egg of their tribe’s totem, the eagle. Mendana thought it was a sample of the riches of the Island and that he had discovered the mythical King Solomons Mine. He subsequently named the Islands.

Missionaries started to visit the Islands in the mid 19th century. Locals were taken to New Zealand and Australia to work in the fields. The Islands became part of the Empire, no NOT the Star Wars one, the British Empire, in the early 1890s. They passed into German hands but were again returned to British rule after WW1. I have told you about the action here in WW2. Just after this the Capital was moved to Honiara to utilise the infrastructure left behind after the war.