Santa Cruz and Santa Anna, The Solomon Islands

We arrived in Santa Cruz at the port of Graciosa Bay and checked in at the town of Sola. The officials were rather eager to get aboard and inspect our plethora of goods, but we had very little to surrender. We lost the bananas, after picking and peeling a bunch for freezing, but we thankfully held onto the pumpkins, which had been gifts in Vanuatu. We were told sternly not to throw the seeds overboard but to place them in the amnesty bins at the Point Cruz yacht club.

On our arrival into Graciosa and also on our departure we were treated to some spectacular displays of dolphins jumping completely out of the water and doing all sort sof tricks. It was fantastic. We really enjoy it every time. This time we tried to get some on camera and accomplished only a short segment. I guess they are shy animals?

Our first experience of the ever-present betel nut stains was realised here in Sola. Everywhere you walk or sit or lean or lie is within the radius of a betel nut stain. It is quite amazing and such a different and seemingly idiotic manner in which to get high and away from it all. Of course there are worse drugs around, but for a dentist this place would be hell on earth. You see the technique includes the mixing of three elements. One - the betel nut which is harvested from the areca palm, Two - the seedlike structures which are found on another local tree. It looks like a Pine tree quill only smaller and Three - the addition of white lime! That is correct LIME. As in the stuff the groundskeeper marks the sports field with. Anyway these three items masticated together in the correct proportions evidently results in a rather pleasing effect. But as I say for the dentist this self inflicted tooth decay is somewhat mind boggling. The rotting, staining and permanent loss of teeth from 100 percent of users is a permanent reminder of how bad this addiction is.

Anyway that is the custom and it will take time for the change to occur. After two nights in Graciosa we did an overnighter to Santa Ana Island and enjoyed the villagers there. We high tailed it over the island to the Eastern coast and planned on seeing a cultural kastom house but when we arrived it was the celebrations for All Saints Day and so we had no one to assist us out in the house. So we did not go in. We did enjoy the walk back though and leisurely sipped on the coconuts provided for us by the band of merry guides. When we returned to the harbour we picked up there battery and recharged it for them in return for their efforts to guide us to the Eastern village.

We also picked up some wonderful carvings which the people from Santa Catalina Island carved. They are real traditional carvings and really pleasing to the eye. As we had no money due to the bank in Sola no longer exchanging foreign currency we traded for everything. It was a great introduction to the Solomon Islands trade circuit.

We have seen some excellent artwork in these parts and one in particular needs to be explained as it truly is magnificent. The artist starts with the inside lip of the giant clam shell and slowly sands the hard rock like substance down until it is finer then glass. They make a perfect circle of it and then they cut out a beautiful design from tortoise shell and place this over the white background. A very thin piece of tortoise shell by the way! Then they finish it off with a necklace of braided coconut fibers. It is truly beautiful and also expensive.

We also purchased some red feather money which is a truly unique form of money in this part of the world. It is still used today for marriages in the islands. It is a beautiful stick of tiny red feathers harvested from live caught bulbuls or finches? Then they glue it to the stick which is made from coconut branches wattled down and then add a fluffy white plumage to the top. It was meant to signify royalty and superiority in the old days