Ourselves & s/v Emelia made it to Mono Sterling yesterday morning after a four day passage. Today I’m celebrating my birthday in tropical paradise. We are surrounded by tiny islands covered in palm trees, clear blue waters & the blackest locals I have ever seen. I awoke to fruit juice in bed, freshly made pancakes & a fantastic brownie birthday cake made by Bobby’s fair hands. We snorkelled some amazing reefs & then spent the afternoon scurffing (standing on a surf board being towed by a dinghy). The locals were fascinated by it & many of them came in their dugout canoes to watch.
Sundowners & more birthday cake, courtesy of Emelia (a fantastic recipe for cruisers that requires no butter or eggs – you have to taste it to believe it!). Followed by an evening meal of fresh lobster. An amazing birthday in paradise. It’s hard not to enjoy this life on days like this!
Mono Sterling is a great place. Yet again loads of war history, The pikinis love jumping into the water from huge tripods made from tree trunks especially if we are watching. They paddle out to us in huge dugouts with no adult in sight. They befriended Bobby who proceeded to have a huge water fight with them. The only downside to this place is when we are surrounded by locals in their canoes. They mean no harm & I’m sure are just curious plus they want to practise their English but having no privacy sure gets you down after a while. On the plus side they aren’t stealing from us & with my new burglar detection mats down we sleep well at night. I worked out where burglars are likely to climb onto the boat, pushed drawing pins/thumb tacks through a rubber mat & then lay it down on the deck at night now we lie there hoping someone will try to come onboard – evil I know! The people here are some of the blackest people I have seen. Word has it that people from Bougainville are the blackest in the world & these people aren’t too far from there.
I nearly forgot to mention my personal serenade back in Honiara before we left. Unwell with a cold I had spent the day in bed sleeping. I woke to sounds of “wake up little Suzi”. Stepping into the cockpit I saw all our friends in their dinghies around the boat. Gene was playing guitar (he’s a country song writer & most famous for his song 16 wheels & a dozen roses) & everyone else was singing. They then sang Happy Birthday & produced a cookie with a candle on it. An early birthday celebration from the friends we would be leaving the following day. Memories from this trip are precious.
Photo: a young child from the village who screwed up his face & burst into tears upon seeing us. It was pretty typical of all the small children who were so very scared of the weird looking white people. The grandmother explained to us the child had never seen white people before.
2 comments:
Well its good to see people enjoying our islands.....there's just a slightest correction I'd like to make....
The blackest people you would find on earth come from Africa and not Bougainville.......perhaps you should sail that way and see what I mean....even in Australia you will see some very very black Aboriginese....the same in other pacific islands.....but the majority you will find are in Africa my dear...
Enjoy your trip!!!
Island Girl - No offence was meant by my comment & apologise if any was made. I have visited parts of Australia & Africa, & you are correct with your statement.
I mentioned in my report, these people were the blackest I had personally seen. The people of the Pacific Islands vary as much as people in Europe. Even within the Solomons own islands there significant visual difference between the people. They are very proud, as they should be, of their heritage. The people in Mono Sterling & Bougenville will openly tell you they are the blackest in the world.
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