WanToks Visit

We have had some awful weather the last 4 days, from some Cyclones that have formed and are heading towards Australia.  Luckily where the Solomons are we don't get Cyclones we make them!  After the number of earthquakes in the past few weeks there have been a number of geologist gathering data, even two from GA Tech!  So for the first time we had some people from Atlanta here (except for when john visited J ). 

Andrew and Zack, from GA Tech, chartered one of our boats to go retrieve some equipment about 70 Km from Gizo, I figured I would tag along as they were going to some interesting islands, and with such a long drive we needed a back up driver on the boat.  We were going to visit the islands of Rendova and Tetapare.  Rendova has some famous head hunters that used to be from there, and Tetapare is the largest uninhabited island in the Pacific!  It is an Eco-Reserve, that the ancestors established a long time ago, to protect the nature there.  So it is full of crocodiles, dense rain forest, turtle nesting grounds, and some beautiful reefs.

 

So we set off early Tuesday morning from Gizo, the plan was to pick up the geologist at Lola Island, then head down to Tetapare and stay at a lodge there, and retrieve four instruments along the way, returning on Wednesday back to Gizo.  We left Gizo with lots of rain and it just got worse, after picking up the guys at Lola, we lost visibility, we could barely see the front of our 7 M boat!  Since all navigation is by site, we just stopped in the lagoon and waited till we drifted to an island, and waited the rain out for a few hours then returned to Lola.  We stayed there in the night, and had a very hospitable host Joe, that had to put up lots of people stuck in the weather as all flights were cancelled, so his resort went from empty to full.

 

The next morning we got up a bit before dawn and loaded the boat waiting to see the weather.  It was over cast but not much rain, so we set off, we had to run on the outside of the islands so that we could get the instruments, the wind was not strong, but a large swell.  It is intimidating being in 8 ft seas in a 20 ft boat, but John our driver was very good, and we bounced along for 6 hours collecting the instruments.  Some had quite hairy landings where I would jump in and hold the boat off the reef in the swell while the guys jumped over my shoulders and ran up the reef.  No worries though I wore a life jacket, and John and I were always in control, taking our time, and timing the waves. 

 

On Rendova, the earthquakes had cause heaps of land slides, taking whole sides off the mountain of rain forest and dumping it in the sea, so there were large logs and debris everywhere.  At Tetapare, we got the machines there, I jumped in for a short snorkel, but the seas were so rough, we didn't hang around long.  We started back to Lola, and maybe Gizo if we had enough time.  On the way back I drove most of the way to give John a break, since he had been driving for hours in the rough seas.  We got on the back side of the island and were able to get back in 2 hours, as the boat was light, and we got it up to 60 Km an hour for parts (the nerdy science guys had a GPS)  After getting to Lola, we got some more fuel and made a run back to Gizo.  I hopped off at fatboys to stay there for a night and recover, and they just got hot water!  It was so good, as I had been soaking wet from sea spray and rain for the past two days.  I didn't have any dry clothes so just went to a huge 4 course dinner in board shorts with no shirt, just another reason why I love this country!

 

Still waiting for the sun,

 

Luke

Crazy Europeans!

So this week since getting back has been busy.  We have a fun group from all over Europe, that were lead by an extravagant Spanish man, that spoke some english, but has been the talk of the town.  While his english did not always translate, his actions did.  He made our first traffic jam, by pushing my staff down the road in a wheel barrow and holding up a queue of taxis!  He was quite fun diving, as was the whole group.  I had one openwater student, and an advanced open water student out of the group.

The had some cool photos of there trip, and I stole some to share, as they had a nice camera, and I don't often take photos at work.  I hope you all enjoy them and see how stressful my job can be!  I think i'm getting white hair, but it might just be from the sun bleaching it out?  The one of the divers in the water was quite funny, as Juan, was coordinating the photo shoot from the boat, with a 2,000 dollar camera around his neck, and all of his other dive gear on.  The weather has been so stunning lately, just perfect to be honest, No wind, No waves, Nice Sun, and rain at night!  I hope all is well around the world, and you all are enjoying your winter, mine has been quite mild as you might have noticed (sorry rubbing in yalls faces!).

Luke

Earthquakes

Just to let everyone know about our quake situation.  There has been no damage in Gizo where I live, really no injuries either, we have had about 14 quakes since Monday morning, some of them in the low 7's.  I have actually managed to sleep through everyone, or been out on the boat diving.  There has been some damage in other parts.  Rendova received some small waves from earthquakes which damaged buildings on the shore, and some minor injuries to people, but no deaths that we have heard about, and Titapari, has had some buildings damaged, as well as some boats sinking (some say one is in a tree still?  But just rumors.)  So we are all fine, from what i gather but lots of rumors going around.

We are busy at the dive shop, I am diving lots, and just tired to be honest, definatly went out of shape some on holiday and need to get back into it!

Luke

Rockin' Home

I just got back home to Gizo this morning which has been getting quite a few earthquakes lately.  3 so far today, and more to come, but just thought I would let everyone know that I am home alright, and no injuries or problems in town from the quakes, and no Tsunami's.  So Rockin' Home literally.  But have no worries my house is high on a hill away from the water, and it is almost impossible for a wave to hit town as it is protected by lots of islands, it is the villages that are at risk of a wave coming.

Luke