And you would never believe it, but guess who saw Archbishop Desmond Tutu!!! We did. We had just had dinner at the Kitano Mendana Hotel in Honiara and were about to get a cab home, and then he rocked up! Amazing, and then he said good evening to us! What a legend, our first celebrity siting of the trip!!!
Anyway we are now in Surfer's Paradise near Brisbane and arrived last night. We plan to go surfing today, it only seems fitting! The we are off to Sydney tomorrow morning, before heading to Christchurch on Monday.
Update soon xxxx
Sunrise in the Solomons
At Maravaghi resort
Sydney Opera House and Bridge
Thursday, 30 April 2009
Monday, 27 April 2009
Malaita - Langga Langga Lagoon, and my Birthday in Auki
Hi all
Well, we have deifintely had a busy busy weekend. Matt arrived on Thursday afternoon after a long trip from England. For those who don't know, he is Anna's boyfriend. So we had dinner out at Jina's, a chinese/vietnamese/japanese restaurant, and met up with the Birmingham students as well. I think we ate more than we could ever have imagined, but it was such good food. We then headed over the the Casino, and realsied we were the only non-chinese people in the entire place, with the exception of the staff!!! Was sun though, and we all lost some money, except Anna, who made a fiver! lol
Friday, myself, Anna and Matt were up early to go catch the boat to Malaita at 9 in the morning. It took 3 hours, and was the coldest boat in the world. It was nice to goutside to warm up! We arrived in Auki on Malaita and were greeter by Sereh, of Sereh's Hideaway, where we were going to be staying for the next few days. So whilst waiting for the public boat down to the Lagoon, we sat eating coconuts etc in the shade. Then we took the boat, just as it started raining, so it was quite a wet trip. 45 minutes later and wearrived at Sereh's, which is a gorgeous, idyllic, peaceful little place in Langga Langga Lagoon. It was amazing, so so quiet and just a little bit of paradise. We served lunch and then just chilled out and did a bit of snorkelling. The food we had was amazing, lots of traditional Solomon food - barracuda, coconut rice, stir-fired veg, sweet potato chips, mangrove fruit stew. All unbelievable, and she always made far too much so we could never finish it. There was however a very willing and persistent cat who was happy to eat what we couldn't.
Sereh's place was quite basic, and only had limited water, so the shower was a bucket and smaller bowl, and there was no electricity at all. So by 1815 every evening it was pitch black and we ate our dinner by the light of kerosene lamps! The stars were stunning though and worth the lack of electricity. We were in bed at 9 each evening after playing a fair amount of cards.
The rooms were nice though, but I did get horrifically munched on by mosquitoes, and the bites are still really itchy! We were all up by 0630 as it gets so light and the whole lagoon is up by then, so sleep is really an option. Our days consisted of reading, playing cards and swimming in the lagoon and snorkelling. not bad, eh?!! Was so nice to relax and do nothing. We also saw and fed some reef sharks, and a couple of moray eels.
Shell money making is prolific in thsi area of the SOlomons, and they break down shells and make small round 'beads' with them and make them into chians, which they can exchange for other things, such as wood and canoes. It was really interesting to see the process they have to go through to make it all, and then we bought lots of necklaces to bring home.
We left Sereh's on the Sunday afternoon and she showed us around the other lagoons on the way back, telling us about the history of the place. Sereh helped us to find a place in Auki, as the motel we were meant to be staying in was fully booked. Stayed at the Travellers Inn, which was basic but would do for a night. Had dinner at the one and only restaurant, and we all had chilli squid. We were 3 of 4 people in there! Went vack to the Inn to play cards and have some drinks. However, mid game the power cut off (as it had been doing all afternoon) and we were left sitting in the dark, and it was pitch black! Managed to get a torch to carry on playing but the room got so hot as the fan and air conditioning went off. The power came back about 2 hours later, by which point we were quite drunk and now ready for bed! The power kept going off during the night so we would wake up hot and sweaty! Oh well.
I woke up on my birthday listening to Matt singing Happy Birthday at me from across the room, lovely! We went back to Auki motel for breakfast - so good. Toast, cereal, fresh fruit and a pot of tea. We then met up with Silas, who was going to take us to the caves in one of the local villages. After getting a cab to the top, we trekked down through some villages to the caves, got a ladder and the started climbing down! We only had 2 torches between the 4 of us, and they were of the wind-up variety!! But was awesome, and really dark. It was so muddy as it has been raining and we were covered in mud pretty quickly. The small cave opened out into a big sink hole, full of trees and vines, and across the other side was the big cave. We walked in and were deafened by screeching bats! It was amazing, there were loads of them. We carried on further into the cave through some small holes until we got to an area full of little pools of water, which ended up bigger and bigger. We emerged from that cave trip very hot, very sweaty and very muddy! We met the cab driver back at the top of the hill who took us back to Auki, and then we walked to the beach on the other side of a little village. The beach was gorgepus, white sand and crystal clear sea. But the moment we sat down we were surrounded by small children, about 25 of them, all staring at us and giggling. So Matt broke the ice and played some football and we tried to chat to them but there English was non-existent! Still we had fun and took lots of photos of them, which they loved! We left the beach still muddy and sweaty. It started to rain so we took cover and ate some ice cream. I was happy to run around in it for a while though as I was so hot! We managed to clean up and get changed at Auki motel and they drove us to the airport. I say airport, where I actually mean a concrete hut with 1 x desk and 1 x weighing scales, and the runway was barely concrete, mainly grass and chickens! The plane was tiny - big enough for 8 passengers and 2 pilots. There were 6 of us and the pilot, and it was definitely one of the most surreal moments of my life. Really scary but so so good and the views over the sea and the islands were amazing. The flight only took us 30 minutes and then we were in Honiara once more. We met Joff at Kiwi House and ended up at Club Havannah, a french restaurant at Honiara Hotel. It was defnitely pricey, but worth the money. It was Joff's last night and my birthday so we ate a ridiculous amount of food! I had a seafood soup to start and steak with a blue cheese sauce. I couldn't face dessert. The others had sashimi/french onion soup to start and canneloni/snapper stuffed with a shallot mousse, and then Anna and Joff had desserts! Amazing food. We then went to have a cheeky cocktail by the pool and then home to bed!!! SO an action packed birthday. Thank you everyone for lovely messages etc, was really nice to read when I got back.
Today - Joff has gone back to Australia. We have shown Matt the delights of Honiara and are heading to the Yacht Club for dinner. Matt is staying at Kiwi House tonight for the full Solomon experience! We are hiring a car tomorrow so we can see all the war memorials and opther beaches, and then we will be heading to Australia ourselves on Thursday.
Hope everyone is well
Lots of love
Kylie, Anna and Matt
Love Kylie, Anna and Matt xxx
Well, we have deifintely had a busy busy weekend. Matt arrived on Thursday afternoon after a long trip from England. For those who don't know, he is Anna's boyfriend. So we had dinner out at Jina's, a chinese/vietnamese/japanese restaurant, and met up with the Birmingham students as well. I think we ate more than we could ever have imagined, but it was such good food. We then headed over the the Casino, and realsied we were the only non-chinese people in the entire place, with the exception of the staff!!! Was sun though, and we all lost some money, except Anna, who made a fiver! lol
Friday, myself, Anna and Matt were up early to go catch the boat to Malaita at 9 in the morning. It took 3 hours, and was the coldest boat in the world. It was nice to goutside to warm up! We arrived in Auki on Malaita and were greeter by Sereh, of Sereh's Hideaway, where we were going to be staying for the next few days. So whilst waiting for the public boat down to the Lagoon, we sat eating coconuts etc in the shade. Then we took the boat, just as it started raining, so it was quite a wet trip. 45 minutes later and wearrived at Sereh's, which is a gorgeous, idyllic, peaceful little place in Langga Langga Lagoon. It was amazing, so so quiet and just a little bit of paradise. We served lunch and then just chilled out and did a bit of snorkelling. The food we had was amazing, lots of traditional Solomon food - barracuda, coconut rice, stir-fired veg, sweet potato chips, mangrove fruit stew. All unbelievable, and she always made far too much so we could never finish it. There was however a very willing and persistent cat who was happy to eat what we couldn't.
Sereh's place was quite basic, and only had limited water, so the shower was a bucket and smaller bowl, and there was no electricity at all. So by 1815 every evening it was pitch black and we ate our dinner by the light of kerosene lamps! The stars were stunning though and worth the lack of electricity. We were in bed at 9 each evening after playing a fair amount of cards.
The rooms were nice though, but I did get horrifically munched on by mosquitoes, and the bites are still really itchy! We were all up by 0630 as it gets so light and the whole lagoon is up by then, so sleep is really an option. Our days consisted of reading, playing cards and swimming in the lagoon and snorkelling. not bad, eh?!! Was so nice to relax and do nothing. We also saw and fed some reef sharks, and a couple of moray eels.
Shell money making is prolific in thsi area of the SOlomons, and they break down shells and make small round 'beads' with them and make them into chians, which they can exchange for other things, such as wood and canoes. It was really interesting to see the process they have to go through to make it all, and then we bought lots of necklaces to bring home.
We left Sereh's on the Sunday afternoon and she showed us around the other lagoons on the way back, telling us about the history of the place. Sereh helped us to find a place in Auki, as the motel we were meant to be staying in was fully booked. Stayed at the Travellers Inn, which was basic but would do for a night. Had dinner at the one and only restaurant, and we all had chilli squid. We were 3 of 4 people in there! Went vack to the Inn to play cards and have some drinks. However, mid game the power cut off (as it had been doing all afternoon) and we were left sitting in the dark, and it was pitch black! Managed to get a torch to carry on playing but the room got so hot as the fan and air conditioning went off. The power came back about 2 hours later, by which point we were quite drunk and now ready for bed! The power kept going off during the night so we would wake up hot and sweaty! Oh well.
I woke up on my birthday listening to Matt singing Happy Birthday at me from across the room, lovely! We went back to Auki motel for breakfast - so good. Toast, cereal, fresh fruit and a pot of tea. We then met up with Silas, who was going to take us to the caves in one of the local villages. After getting a cab to the top, we trekked down through some villages to the caves, got a ladder and the started climbing down! We only had 2 torches between the 4 of us, and they were of the wind-up variety!! But was awesome, and really dark. It was so muddy as it has been raining and we were covered in mud pretty quickly. The small cave opened out into a big sink hole, full of trees and vines, and across the other side was the big cave. We walked in and were deafened by screeching bats! It was amazing, there were loads of them. We carried on further into the cave through some small holes until we got to an area full of little pools of water, which ended up bigger and bigger. We emerged from that cave trip very hot, very sweaty and very muddy! We met the cab driver back at the top of the hill who took us back to Auki, and then we walked to the beach on the other side of a little village. The beach was gorgepus, white sand and crystal clear sea. But the moment we sat down we were surrounded by small children, about 25 of them, all staring at us and giggling. So Matt broke the ice and played some football and we tried to chat to them but there English was non-existent! Still we had fun and took lots of photos of them, which they loved! We left the beach still muddy and sweaty. It started to rain so we took cover and ate some ice cream. I was happy to run around in it for a while though as I was so hot! We managed to clean up and get changed at Auki motel and they drove us to the airport. I say airport, where I actually mean a concrete hut with 1 x desk and 1 x weighing scales, and the runway was barely concrete, mainly grass and chickens! The plane was tiny - big enough for 8 passengers and 2 pilots. There were 6 of us and the pilot, and it was definitely one of the most surreal moments of my life. Really scary but so so good and the views over the sea and the islands were amazing. The flight only took us 30 minutes and then we were in Honiara once more. We met Joff at Kiwi House and ended up at Club Havannah, a french restaurant at Honiara Hotel. It was defnitely pricey, but worth the money. It was Joff's last night and my birthday so we ate a ridiculous amount of food! I had a seafood soup to start and steak with a blue cheese sauce. I couldn't face dessert. The others had sashimi/french onion soup to start and canneloni/snapper stuffed with a shallot mousse, and then Anna and Joff had desserts! Amazing food. We then went to have a cheeky cocktail by the pool and then home to bed!!! SO an action packed birthday. Thank you everyone for lovely messages etc, was really nice to read when I got back.
Today - Joff has gone back to Australia. We have shown Matt the delights of Honiara and are heading to the Yacht Club for dinner. Matt is staying at Kiwi House tonight for the full Solomon experience! We are hiring a car tomorrow so we can see all the war memorials and opther beaches, and then we will be heading to Australia ourselves on Thursday.
Hope everyone is well
Lots of love
Kylie, Anna and Matt
Love Kylie, Anna and Matt xxx
Sunday, 19 April 2009
Maravagi
Hello again,
Well it is now Monday once more. Can't believe how quickly our time in the Solomon Islands is going.
Well the rest of the week was spent either in the hospital or by the Pacific Casino Hotel pool. Friday night was chilled out, as myself, Anna and Joff had to get up early on Saturday for our weekend trip away.
We went to the resort of Maravagi for the weekend, which is a gorgeous little place on an Island in the Central Province or also know as the Nggela Islands. The boat trip there alone was spectacular, with loads of little islands covered in trees and gorgeous white sand beaches.
So after an hour and half of boat journey, and now quite sunburnt, we were greeted with lei's and a really yummy fruit drink and shown to our rooms. Basic but had an 'en-suite' of sorts. And then we had an explore around and had lunch (beef chop suey - so good) before de-camping to the beach. After spending a few hours reading/sleeping/holding hermit crab races, we went snorkelling. There are numerous coral reefs just off the islands with a huge array of fish and coral, all in about 1m depth of water. So we spent a good amount of time doing that before returning to our books. Dinner was equally, if not more yummy. It is possibly competing for best meal so far. It was a buffet dinner and for 12 quid there was steak, squid, coral trout, meat loaf, sausages, salad, sweet potato salad etc etc and it was all so so good!
Then there was some entertainment put on by the local kids, who had kind of built a band. They were so good and knew a fair variety of songs.
Early to bed than night, as we got up at 0615 to watch the sunrise. It was so pretty and definitely worth doing. We had breakfast at 7, but then were told about 0830 that we had to pack up and get the boat home. We were quite disappointed as we were told by Tourist Info that we could go home when we wanted to but they insuisted they were onyl doing one boat trip and we had to be on it. So that was annoying, but we went anyway, taking our time to pack up our stuff!
But in the end, we spent the afternoon at Honiara hotel by the pool and drinking fruit smoothies, so not a bad end to the day.
Monday, and we managed an hour in the hospital before going home! Not much going on and we were ignored by one of the reg's so we gave up. We still have a few more days left.
We are currently in town, as we are off to Malaita on Friday and need to confirm flights and ferries etc.
Another afternoon by the pool, what a hard life!
Love Kylie xx
Well it is now Monday once more. Can't believe how quickly our time in the Solomon Islands is going.
Well the rest of the week was spent either in the hospital or by the Pacific Casino Hotel pool. Friday night was chilled out, as myself, Anna and Joff had to get up early on Saturday for our weekend trip away.
We went to the resort of Maravagi for the weekend, which is a gorgeous little place on an Island in the Central Province or also know as the Nggela Islands. The boat trip there alone was spectacular, with loads of little islands covered in trees and gorgeous white sand beaches.
So after an hour and half of boat journey, and now quite sunburnt, we were greeted with lei's and a really yummy fruit drink and shown to our rooms. Basic but had an 'en-suite' of sorts. And then we had an explore around and had lunch (beef chop suey - so good) before de-camping to the beach. After spending a few hours reading/sleeping/holding hermit crab races, we went snorkelling. There are numerous coral reefs just off the islands with a huge array of fish and coral, all in about 1m depth of water. So we spent a good amount of time doing that before returning to our books. Dinner was equally, if not more yummy. It is possibly competing for best meal so far. It was a buffet dinner and for 12 quid there was steak, squid, coral trout, meat loaf, sausages, salad, sweet potato salad etc etc and it was all so so good!
Then there was some entertainment put on by the local kids, who had kind of built a band. They were so good and knew a fair variety of songs.
Early to bed than night, as we got up at 0615 to watch the sunrise. It was so pretty and definitely worth doing. We had breakfast at 7, but then were told about 0830 that we had to pack up and get the boat home. We were quite disappointed as we were told by Tourist Info that we could go home when we wanted to but they insuisted they were onyl doing one boat trip and we had to be on it. So that was annoying, but we went anyway, taking our time to pack up our stuff!
But in the end, we spent the afternoon at Honiara hotel by the pool and drinking fruit smoothies, so not a bad end to the day.
Monday, and we managed an hour in the hospital before going home! Not much going on and we were ignored by one of the reg's so we gave up. We still have a few more days left.
We are currently in town, as we are off to Malaita on Friday and need to confirm flights and ferries etc.
Another afternoon by the pool, what a hard life!
Love Kylie xx
Tuesday, 14 April 2009
Diving at last...!
Hi all, well since last Friday plans haven't exactly gone according to plan!
All the others went to go diving on Friday afternoon, but we were hit by a massive storm whilst on the beach. They spent a total of 7 minutes in the water, losing each other as the visibility was so poor and came back out again. I helped them take all their kit off and was equally as wet as those who had been in the sea as the rain was so hard and powerful! Still was nice to stand out in the warm rain and sea at the same time!
The rain eventually stopped and we went to Honiara Hotel for cocktails that evening. It's one of the poshest hotels in Honiara and has a olympic sized pool, which all the expats/police/army use in their free time, as long as you buy a drink or two.
Saturday, well saturday turned out to be the wettest day so far. I think it started raining again about 4 in the morning and didn't stop until about 9 in the evening - and it was proper torrentail downpours. Myself, Anna and Minali all stayed in reading our books and witnessed a tree falling down about 30m from our house. It narrowly missed one of our neighbours houses and the poor guy spent the rest of the day cutting it all up, as it had landed on their power cable. We had tempermental electricity during the day aswell, but was back on once the rain stopped in the evening. The others all ventured into town to do shopping, and use the internet etc and came back absoloutely dripping wet, despite the fact they had raincoats etc. Apparently they had to wade through calf deep puddles at times. Also, we found out that the rain and flooding was so bad, it destrouyed a part of the bridge where we go divinbg, so now only one side of traffic can go down it at one time! Also about 18 people died in the flood waters somewhere on the island.
Anyway, we ended up at the Yacht club for dinner, and had our first burger since being here! It was amazing, especially when taken down with a SolBrew (The Solomon Islands very own beer!!).
Sunday, well the rain had stopped but the flood waters and rivers had washed so much silt and crap into the sea that the visibility was too bad to dive. So the others all did their theory exam and then we spent the whole day up at Honiara Hotel just sunbathing, swimming and eating. And oh was the eating good. They have a BBQ lunch on a Sunday, and so me and Anna shared some salad, and possbily the best tasting grilled fish ever! We were glad to have splashed out on that food! Got a little bit red that day, the sun is more powerful out here than I can remember experiencing, so slapping on the suncream is routine.
Again Monday, the weather conditions were no good for diving. But seeing as we had made the trip to the beach, me, Anna and Joff all decided to stay and spend the day on the beach. We eventually made it home when one of the doctors from the hospital gave us a lift back into Honiara. We also had our first tast of Frangipani Ice, the local ice cream, which is ver very good. Being Easter we also bought some hot cross buns for breakfast the next day and headed back to Kiwi House. The others who didnt stay on the beach went to the Botanical Gardens and to the War memorial, which me and Anna intend to do at some point, maybe when Matt has joined us.
We shared cooking that nice with Claire and Philappa and had a rather yummy concoction of rice, sardines and veg, which reminded me very much of my Hong Kong days! We had some drinks that night at King Solomon Hotel,. but left at 11 when they closed.
Tuesday - well I didn't feel very well, the return of D+V unfortuantely. So I spent the day chilling out at Kiwi House, whilst the others went into the hospital for the morning, and then managed to get their first proper dive in after lunch at last!! Only 1 week since all their theory work....! Still they all enjoyed it.
The water situation at Kiwi House is more tempermental than the electricity so we went up to Pacific Casino hotel for showers before having dinner there. Cheeky, bu thtey don't mind as long as we spend money!
Today is Wednesday and we have spent all morning back at Bonegi beach where the open water divers have just completed the rest of their dives (they did 3 today) and are now finally finished! I went along with them this morning and finally managed to do some snorkelling. The sea was so nice and calm and there was loads of coral and fish to sea quite close to shore. There is also a ship wreck from WWII which I could see part of from the surface. I managed to use my underwater case and take some phtoos underwater - not overly clear but their are definitely some fish visible!
So a good day so far. We are going to try and book a trip away this weekend to somewhere exciting, and will try and do that today. We also want to go to Malaita for some time when Matt gets here so need to look into that.
It is also Claire and Philippa's last night here as they fly to Gizo, in the Western Province, tomorrow so I'm sure some farewell drinks will be had.
Anyway food is now calling me, so will speak soon.
Love Kylie xx
All the others went to go diving on Friday afternoon, but we were hit by a massive storm whilst on the beach. They spent a total of 7 minutes in the water, losing each other as the visibility was so poor and came back out again. I helped them take all their kit off and was equally as wet as those who had been in the sea as the rain was so hard and powerful! Still was nice to stand out in the warm rain and sea at the same time!
The rain eventually stopped and we went to Honiara Hotel for cocktails that evening. It's one of the poshest hotels in Honiara and has a olympic sized pool, which all the expats/police/army use in their free time, as long as you buy a drink or two.
Saturday, well saturday turned out to be the wettest day so far. I think it started raining again about 4 in the morning and didn't stop until about 9 in the evening - and it was proper torrentail downpours. Myself, Anna and Minali all stayed in reading our books and witnessed a tree falling down about 30m from our house. It narrowly missed one of our neighbours houses and the poor guy spent the rest of the day cutting it all up, as it had landed on their power cable. We had tempermental electricity during the day aswell, but was back on once the rain stopped in the evening. The others all ventured into town to do shopping, and use the internet etc and came back absoloutely dripping wet, despite the fact they had raincoats etc. Apparently they had to wade through calf deep puddles at times. Also, we found out that the rain and flooding was so bad, it destrouyed a part of the bridge where we go divinbg, so now only one side of traffic can go down it at one time! Also about 18 people died in the flood waters somewhere on the island.
Anyway, we ended up at the Yacht club for dinner, and had our first burger since being here! It was amazing, especially when taken down with a SolBrew (The Solomon Islands very own beer!!).
Sunday, well the rain had stopped but the flood waters and rivers had washed so much silt and crap into the sea that the visibility was too bad to dive. So the others all did their theory exam and then we spent the whole day up at Honiara Hotel just sunbathing, swimming and eating. And oh was the eating good. They have a BBQ lunch on a Sunday, and so me and Anna shared some salad, and possbily the best tasting grilled fish ever! We were glad to have splashed out on that food! Got a little bit red that day, the sun is more powerful out here than I can remember experiencing, so slapping on the suncream is routine.
Again Monday, the weather conditions were no good for diving. But seeing as we had made the trip to the beach, me, Anna and Joff all decided to stay and spend the day on the beach. We eventually made it home when one of the doctors from the hospital gave us a lift back into Honiara. We also had our first tast of Frangipani Ice, the local ice cream, which is ver very good. Being Easter we also bought some hot cross buns for breakfast the next day and headed back to Kiwi House. The others who didnt stay on the beach went to the Botanical Gardens and to the War memorial, which me and Anna intend to do at some point, maybe when Matt has joined us.
We shared cooking that nice with Claire and Philappa and had a rather yummy concoction of rice, sardines and veg, which reminded me very much of my Hong Kong days! We had some drinks that night at King Solomon Hotel,. but left at 11 when they closed.
Tuesday - well I didn't feel very well, the return of D+V unfortuantely. So I spent the day chilling out at Kiwi House, whilst the others went into the hospital for the morning, and then managed to get their first proper dive in after lunch at last!! Only 1 week since all their theory work....! Still they all enjoyed it.
The water situation at Kiwi House is more tempermental than the electricity so we went up to Pacific Casino hotel for showers before having dinner there. Cheeky, bu thtey don't mind as long as we spend money!
Today is Wednesday and we have spent all morning back at Bonegi beach where the open water divers have just completed the rest of their dives (they did 3 today) and are now finally finished! I went along with them this morning and finally managed to do some snorkelling. The sea was so nice and calm and there was loads of coral and fish to sea quite close to shore. There is also a ship wreck from WWII which I could see part of from the surface. I managed to use my underwater case and take some phtoos underwater - not overly clear but their are definitely some fish visible!
So a good day so far. We are going to try and book a trip away this weekend to somewhere exciting, and will try and do that today. We also want to go to Malaita for some time when Matt gets here so need to look into that.
It is also Claire and Philippa's last night here as they fly to Gizo, in the Western Province, tomorrow so I'm sure some farewell drinks will be had.
Anyway food is now calling me, so will speak soon.
Love Kylie xx
Thursday, 9 April 2009
Diving
Hi again,
Although have had quite a quiet week, it also turns out we all have a 4 day weekend here! Easter is time to massive celebrations, and we are not missing out.
So far this week, me and Anna have spent our first night in Kiwi House. This is a little shack known as the hospital accommodation. It is for 8 of us, but only has one shower, one toilet and the sink is actually the kitchen sink. Still it has its charms and has been home to so many medical students over the years from all over the UK and Australia. We had our first night together in the house last night, celebrated with gin and tonics and lime vodka and lemonade. We also played card games and got really rather noisy! Was nice and a good way to settle in.
We are surrounded b y local people, who were partying until the early hours last night. One of the families also owns a cockerel, who delighted us by announcing the break of day for 3 long hours.......and with the noisy birds and proximity of the main road out of town we were guaranteed an early morning!!!
Still it's nice to be closer to the hospital and to the local hotel with pool.
The others have been training hard this week in preparation for their first open water dives. I will be taking lots of photos from the surface and snorkelling above them. Turns out their are loads of ship wrecks off the coast of Guadalcanal so we're going to be swimming among a few of those!
So that is how we are spending our Easter weekend, not bad, eh?!
I would also just luike to mention that Steve is now officially 2Lt Knight once again, as of 45 mins ago (aka midnight Thursday) and I am very happy that he manages to escape Sandhurst and can have a little bit of freedom once again. Congratualtions boyo!
Hope everyone is well. We are feeling much better now and are a little more acclimatised to the heat!
Love Kylie and Anna x
Although have had quite a quiet week, it also turns out we all have a 4 day weekend here! Easter is time to massive celebrations, and we are not missing out.
So far this week, me and Anna have spent our first night in Kiwi House. This is a little shack known as the hospital accommodation. It is for 8 of us, but only has one shower, one toilet and the sink is actually the kitchen sink. Still it has its charms and has been home to so many medical students over the years from all over the UK and Australia. We had our first night together in the house last night, celebrated with gin and tonics and lime vodka and lemonade. We also played card games and got really rather noisy! Was nice and a good way to settle in.
We are surrounded b y local people, who were partying until the early hours last night. One of the families also owns a cockerel, who delighted us by announcing the break of day for 3 long hours.......and with the noisy birds and proximity of the main road out of town we were guaranteed an early morning!!!
Still it's nice to be closer to the hospital and to the local hotel with pool.
The others have been training hard this week in preparation for their first open water dives. I will be taking lots of photos from the surface and snorkelling above them. Turns out their are loads of ship wrecks off the coast of Guadalcanal so we're going to be swimming among a few of those!
So that is how we are spending our Easter weekend, not bad, eh?!
I would also just luike to mention that Steve is now officially 2Lt Knight once again, as of 45 mins ago (aka midnight Thursday) and I am very happy that he manages to escape Sandhurst and can have a little bit of freedom once again. Congratualtions boyo!
Hope everyone is well. We are feeling much better now and are a little more acclimatised to the heat!
Love Kylie and Anna x
Tuesday, 7 April 2009
In the hospital
So it's been a quiet few days here. We have been attending ward rounds in the morning. I didn't realise part of the blog was missing so will update you on that.
We have 2 cuban doctors on our ward round. They don't speak very much English so Anna and I are using our limited Spanish to translate from Spanish to English to Pidgin and all back again! They are very intelligent but find it hard to communicate. I also think they are finding the lack of resources here frustrating.
Still have been able to see loads ore interesting things - yesterday I watched a test to remove bone marrow from a child, then a lumbar puncture, then took blood from a little baby. I also attempted to take blood from a child today but failed, the veins are so small!
Yesterday Anna wasn't well so I took her home before spending the rest of the morning in the hospital. Went back after lunch and spent the afternoon sleeping and reading. A big storm took over Honiara last night, the thunder was so loud we could feel ith through the floor of our balcony. So today has been cooler but it is still so humid. Finding it quite hard to cope in the heat. The other 2 girls moved out of the guest house today and into Kiwi House, the accommodation at the hospital. So it is just Anna and I, though only until Thursday when we will join the other 6. There are currently 2 medical students from Warwick in the room we want!
This afternoon all the other medical arew doing the theory for learning to dive. Seeing as I am not allowed to dive, I am going to snorkel instead. Currently we cant go over to Maraveggi island resort to dive as it is fully booked so they will be diving the wrecks off Guadalcanal, this island. So I am going to spend my afternoon by the pool reading my book and sunbathing if the clouds decide to go away.
Ok that is all my news from the last few days. We onyl have a 4 day week as we have Friday and next Monday off for Easter! yey!
Hope everyone is well
Kylie xx
We have 2 cuban doctors on our ward round. They don't speak very much English so Anna and I are using our limited Spanish to translate from Spanish to English to Pidgin and all back again! They are very intelligent but find it hard to communicate. I also think they are finding the lack of resources here frustrating.
Still have been able to see loads ore interesting things - yesterday I watched a test to remove bone marrow from a child, then a lumbar puncture, then took blood from a little baby. I also attempted to take blood from a child today but failed, the veins are so small!
Yesterday Anna wasn't well so I took her home before spending the rest of the morning in the hospital. Went back after lunch and spent the afternoon sleeping and reading. A big storm took over Honiara last night, the thunder was so loud we could feel ith through the floor of our balcony. So today has been cooler but it is still so humid. Finding it quite hard to cope in the heat. The other 2 girls moved out of the guest house today and into Kiwi House, the accommodation at the hospital. So it is just Anna and I, though only until Thursday when we will join the other 6. There are currently 2 medical students from Warwick in the room we want!
This afternoon all the other medical arew doing the theory for learning to dive. Seeing as I am not allowed to dive, I am going to snorkel instead. Currently we cant go over to Maraveggi island resort to dive as it is fully booked so they will be diving the wrecks off Guadalcanal, this island. So I am going to spend my afternoon by the pool reading my book and sunbathing if the clouds decide to go away.
Ok that is all my news from the last few days. We onyl have a 4 day week as we have Friday and next Monday off for Easter! yey!
Hope everyone is well
Kylie xx
Sunday, 5 April 2009
First weekend here - Savo
Hi again, well we certainly have been busy since arriving here. Friday afternoon was spent at one of the hotle pools, just chilling out.
Then we went to Savo for the weekend, one of the local islands. The trep there was by boat, and was pretty much like a wooden bpat, which could just fit all 8 of us on. The beginning was fine but we were all pretty much soaked by the e end of it as the sea got rougher and rougher! It was amazing, so idyllic and peaceful. We were greeted by women handed us coconuts to drink out of, then shown to our rooms. They were basic but it didn't matter. Then we headed out round to another part of the island (again by boat) and went to climb a volcano! It was amazing, we were just wondering through the jungle following the path of a river. The river was about 40 degrees though!! Then as we got higher and higher the climb got harder and at times we were just perched on the edge of rocks with water below us. By this point though, the water, whose source is at the top of the volcano, was absolutely boiling, and felt like getting splashed from a kettle! Sow e did our best to avoid falling in as much as possible! Then when we got to the top, it was just so hot. Steam was just pouring out of little vents in the ground, and any water coming through was just bubbling. It absolutely stank of sulphur and the rocks were all coloured yellow from it. The volcano is dormant but it was bloody hot at the top!!
So that was an adventure. We stayed on the island over night, had some good food and then on Sunday we went to see the Megapodes, which are birds a bit smaller than chickens which lay their eggs in holes in the ground. Except we went in wet season, when they dont do it, so we felt a bit ripped off by that. But on the boat back from that village we saw a school of about 40 dolphins who entertained us spectacularly!!! Was amazing, have got some good photos/videos.
Then we cam home on the boat, and ALL of us were drenched by the time we made it back. We then got a truck back to Honiara, but were hit by a massive rain storm, so all of us who were in the back of the truck got absolutely pelted by rain drops! Good fun though.
Back in the hospital today. Just seems to be getting hotter and hotter though. Hospital
Anyway, think we are all off to the yacht club tonight for drinks to prepare us for the week ahead. We are off diving to Maraveggi this weekend, which sounds and looks stunning so am very excited about that!
Hope you are all well, and thank you for the comments left. I t was re4ally nice to hear from you all.
Love Kylie (and Anna!) x x x
Thursday, 2 April 2009
Honiara - Solomon Islands
Wow, we are finally here!! It is so so so hot at about 31 degrees and am melting more as the day goes by.
We arrived here yesterday afternoon after travelling for about 36 hours, stopping at Hong Kong and Auckland airports and had a night stop over in Brisbane before arriving in the Solomons.
We were picked up at the airport by Yvone who has organised all this for us, and then driven to our accommodation, the United Chirch rest house. We were meant to be staying in Kiwi house at the hospital which is free, but it is currently full with some Warwick medical students and the other Nottingham students. Hopefully we will move in there on Thursday next week.
We are at the rest house with two of the other Nottingham girls. It has basic facilities but it is clean, there is electricity and we have a fan in our room, a kitchen to use, and there is running water. I had my first ever cold shower this morning, and I loved it!!
We have been for a wander around Honiara It is an industrious city, and the main port for the solomon Islands. There is a lot of hustle and bustle, and men standing around everywhere, and I think we definitely stand out in the crowd as the only white people around! Still have managed to obtain some food and cook for ourselves - but it is so expensive here as everything is imported, and we obviously pay for it!
Still, first dinner of noodles was good and then managed to sleep for the rest of the evening under my mosquito net.
This is truly something I have never experienced before but I a loving it already.
We went into the hospital this morning andf met the medical and nurse superintendants. Medcine is already full with medical students, so Anna and I will be starting on Paediactrics (children) for a week or so and move on to medicine when the others go off to the other hospitals. Everyone is really friendly and says hello. Have seen about 6 cases we would never expect to see in the UK, including 2 cases of meningitis and 2 cases ascending paralysis I think the kids here have to be ultra-resilient as the facilities are basic. There are 2 wards with about 10 children in each of the wards on basic beds, with their family with them, and about 3 side rooms for the severly ill kids. Still I'm sure we will learn alot, epsecially as I haven'ty done any of this for at leadt 15 months!
We met up with the other Nottingham students hewre. There are about 8 of us in total, and we are all going to Savu this weekend, one of the neighbouring islands Then next weekend we are off on a diving trip. Hopefully tonight will be spent in the pool at the Honira hotel.
Anyway, must go and will update soon,
Kylie xx
We arrived here yesterday afternoon after travelling for about 36 hours, stopping at Hong Kong and Auckland airports and had a night stop over in Brisbane before arriving in the Solomons.
We were picked up at the airport by Yvone who has organised all this for us, and then driven to our accommodation, the United Chirch rest house. We were meant to be staying in Kiwi house at the hospital which is free, but it is currently full with some Warwick medical students and the other Nottingham students. Hopefully we will move in there on Thursday next week.
We are at the rest house with two of the other Nottingham girls. It has basic facilities but it is clean, there is electricity and we have a fan in our room, a kitchen to use, and there is running water. I had my first ever cold shower this morning, and I loved it!!
We have been for a wander around Honiara It is an industrious city, and the main port for the solomon Islands. There is a lot of hustle and bustle, and men standing around everywhere, and I think we definitely stand out in the crowd as the only white people around! Still have managed to obtain some food and cook for ourselves - but it is so expensive here as everything is imported, and we obviously pay for it!
Still, first dinner of noodles was good and then managed to sleep for the rest of the evening under my mosquito net.
This is truly something I have never experienced before but I a loving it already.
We went into the hospital this morning andf met the medical and nurse superintendants. Medcine is already full with medical students, so Anna and I will be starting on Paediactrics (children) for a week or so and move on to medicine when the others go off to the other hospitals. Everyone is really friendly and says hello. Have seen about 6 cases we would never expect to see in the UK, including 2 cases of meningitis and 2 cases ascending paralysis I think the kids here have to be ultra-resilient as the facilities are basic. There are 2 wards with about 10 children in each of the wards on basic beds, with their family with them, and about 3 side rooms for the severly ill kids. Still I'm sure we will learn alot, epsecially as I haven'ty done any of this for at leadt 15 months!
We met up with the other Nottingham students hewre. There are about 8 of us in total, and we are all going to Savu this weekend, one of the neighbouring islands Then next weekend we are off on a diving trip. Hopefully tonight will be spent in the pool at the Honira hotel.
Anyway, must go and will update soon,
Kylie xx
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