Tuesday, 14th October.
Unloading some goods.
Then at 10.30am we sail.
At 11.13am we unload a complete house in the form of planks.
I get off the boat here. The track for Vivigani is some kilometers further on, but the dinghy which unloads the house will put me down there.
I say farewell to the Goodenough II.
Unloading on the beach with Fergusson island as background.
And we leave again for a few more kilometers.
View of the mountains.
We see a dugong. No time to get out the camera. As big as a cow, reddish brown with a dolphin-like tail. Since leaving Alotau I have seen several flights of flying fish, dolphins and now a dugong!
They put me down at the start of the track to Vivigani airfield.
It is 1pm. Three days and three nights on the boat for a trip that was supposed to last 12 hours !!!
I'm finally on this island that has to be the highlight of the trip.
In fact, the forest only lasts for 150 metres. Then I cross a wide plain of grassy savanna.
And arrive at mixed forest and savanna.
I pass the first-aid post and reach Vivigani airfield.
At the end of the runway is a little wood of mango trees where they hold the weekly market.
Further on, after the fork to Bolbolu, there is a horseshoe-shaped mound that must date from WWII.
The 360 panorama is taken from this mound.
I arrive at the first house of Wakonai. I ask a woman for some water, then I go to get washed by the river.
There, I meet a man and some children whom I chat to. He invites me to come to his house.
It is the house where I had stopped before. and his wife that I had asked for water.
It is the house I'm going to live in during my stay in Wakonai.
The family of my hosts, Chris and Mispa, who are standing in the background. Lovely people.
I am finally in Wakonai!
First surprise, the village is not flat. This is in fact the start of the mountains. The home of Chris and Mispa is exactly on the border between the totally flat grass savanna (with kangaroos) and the beginning of the mountains. Second surprise, the village extends over a kilometer. That was not visible on the satellite maps.
Tomorrow, a meeting with the village chief.
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