Tenaru Falls

I woke up rather alittle earlier than i exepected on saturday since Max, my little 3 weeks old puppy was tugging on my shirt, telling me that he was very hungry.So i than woke up and got out the electric kettle and made him a hot bottle of milk and got him settled on the rug in the room and took a hot morning shower.
Dr Carol and Vini soon arrived at the gaeby wing residence and we made ourselves ready to leave the house. Nora, Chris, Dr Patrick and the other two taiwanese medical students were already waiting in the car park.

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We took Dr Ventis too the domestic airport where she boarded the islander to fly to Gizo islands where she will be posted for 2 months as a relief doctor.The sun was already high in the sky by the time we left the airport, and head back into town to get some grub before we headed into the bush.

It was a long ride which took us further into the bush. At first, well....seemingly everyone was excited over the trip, no one in the group knew had had taken a wrong turn in the first place and was heading somewhere else time we found ourselves by
the muddy river. Dr Patrick than realised that we took the wrong road and so we turned around and headed back the way we came.


We than took the other road and started driving in when Dr Patrick saw a young kid on the bike and asked him where the water fall was. It was than again that the young boy told us we had taken a wrong route and was further up from the right road which led to the water falls.

Finally he led us to the base camp where the village tour operator told us that it would cost us $60 SBD per head to go visit the waterfall. After some serious negotiations between Dr Patrick and the villager he finally agreed to mark the price down to $40 SBD.



We than paid the man and than drove up to the last village and parked the car there.
Getting our gear together, we than started walking. The guide told us that the hike to the falls would take 2 hours and that at the rate we were going, we were going to take 3 hours to get to the falls...





Nora was the first one to fall. sliding under the watery and slipper mud she fell smack on her back. We had to cross the same river 11 times abd each time someone slipped on the slippery rocks. Luckily, no serious damage was done.



We arrived at the bottom of the Tenaru waterfall around 12:25 and boy could you feel the wind caused by the power and strength of the water as it fell and hit the rocks below. Since no one was keen enough to head into the falls, i went in to check if it was safe.

I slipped on the log and fell partly resting on the log. Ouch ....that was painful. We had an awsome time climbing up the rough water fall walls and standing on the log having the water sprays rinsing the dirt of our body.



Dr Patrick disapeared from us for a minute and than appeared on the ledge slightly above everyone else. That made us all want to go up as well. Since we didnt hear any rocks falling. One by one we all started climbing up the rocky walls to the ledge.



The sight was just breathe taking. I could have stayed up there and let the water fall on me the whole day, but apparently i was in the water all day since we started walking therefore the cold had already started to settle in.

I left every one and headed back to the safety of the tree line further away from the falls. There i welcomed the taste of a Alpine cigarette which gave me the slightest warmth against the strong winds. Within a hour, every one was already cold and just about ready to head home.



The walk back was easier for us now, since we recognised the surrounding and the driving force of a hot shower at home summed it all up for us. Again we crossed the same river 11 times and before we knew it, We had already arrived by at the village where we parked the car.

The ride home was quite. I think my cabin passengers fell asleep. Everyone was tired but refreshed over the sensational feeling we got from the water falls.



I am getting tired here too.....I think i had better stop here for now. I dont know what we will be doing next saturday but i am sure it is going to be exciting.

wait and see.......

Mataniko Falls

I have been in the Solomon Islands for about 7 months now and havent been around to really see the pure beauty of the islands and the people here. Linda Christen, a surgical nurse friend of mine who just arrived in the country has probably seen most the places here than myself. Anyway, I had a great weekend a week ago, when Linda and I took a long hike up to the Mataniko Falls. Apart from my leg killing me with what seemingly felt like two slabs of concrete on both legs, we got to see the inner beauty of Honiara.

The walk to the water fall isnt as long for people who are fit. For some of us who spend most of our time in meetings, infront of the computer was murder. I had to rest every 50 steps going up hill......Than the sun started beating down on our backs.....I mean i love the sun.....its just that i didnt bring enough water to soak my shirt up and wrap it around my head.

we stopped to rest 3 time becos i couldnt keep up with Linda and our tour guide who also charged us $50 SBD. Nothing felt better than going down hill after all that climbing. As we neared the Mataniko Falls we could hear the water pounding on the rocks below.

I had this picture in my head of a single water fall cascading down the rocks. To my amazment as we neared the falls, i looked up to see the entire area with large falls and little rock pools which filled up to thier brims and than formed little falls as the water found its way along with gravity.

I could only spend no more than 30 minutes walking around in the water fall before the cold started to settle in. Had we brought some lunch along we could have stayed alittle longer and enjoyed the rest of the afternoon lazzin out in the rock pools. Apparently that didnt happen.

Before long Linda and I than started our way back home. Oh and the walk back.........If i had a cell phone with me.....i'd have already called for a chopper to come and pick us......I need to get out more often and do this kinds of walks.....

Honiara, a dirty little town filled with good people has come a long way. It is sad to see them abandon their culture and take to the streets the ugly side of a developing country. I have another whole year to fully see the rest of the hidden paradise of the Solomon Islands...

Just you wait and see....i'll show you things....places.....animals.....You can really appreciate...