Wheels in motion

It’s been a hive of activity at the office last week. I had a feeling that soon after coming back from Honiara we would be getting very busy with projects and people coming from all over the place (ok, if you call New Zealand, Australia and Honiara all over the place) there are a number of great things about this activity. Not least that it pulls people together and creates community spirit. The setting up of the VSAT has been a great example of people pulling together and during the week everyone came together. I think everyone knew that getting this thing built meant we would be out there in the wider world; ok, we always were with dial up but this new system will make communication with the outside world a lot easier.

Two of the boys were mixing cement, J was in the ceiling cavity, an older builder guy was on the very high roof in scorching temperatures installing the solar panels to the roof, David was taking care of the electronics and one of the kids was up and down Coconut Palms retrieving drinking Coconuts for us and there I was trying my best to match it with the young Solomon Island guys and give the impression that I do hard out physical work every day of the week.  For some reason whenever I go to do anything physical the guys say, “No Scott I will do that”. I’m left thinking, wow, I really must look that soft.

At the end of last Monday alone we had achieved a hell of a lot. There were solar panels on the roof, a nice metal pole concreted into the ground and the whole systems wired up. At the end of this very hot day it was all into the sea for a swim.

There was another pleasant surprise for the week with the arrival of an older kiwi couple in the bay. They were from Whangamata and were ex dairy farmers originally with a farm on the Hauraki plains. It was nice to see some kiwis and that familiar welcoming kiwi attitude and an openness that I always associate with kiwis. Their catamaran had everyone here really impressed as it was at probably nearer the larger (and more costly) end of the spectrum of recreational yachts. I honestly can’t remember the last tourists here and I am not sure really if the 3-4 whitefellas I have seen about town in the past 3-4 months have been tourists, with NGO programmes or RAMSI. It’s more likely they weren’t tourists.                       

Ngaire and Lloyd invited me onto their yacht for dinner and with kiwis, no matter what generation, there is always some degree of common ground. I thought to myself that these guys are definitely true blue kiwis when they started pulling out the family photos for me too look at. It was a very kiwi touch to a great evening.

According to the other kiwi volunteer who is here, there is meant to be another kiwi on their way out to work in a police mentoring role. So that will mean the kiwis will be the largest ex-pat group, actually I think we are the only ex-pat group here now. If only we just had another eight we could field a soccer team to challenge Sipuzae FC.

Being out here with minimal distraction and urban stress allows a fair bit of time for the mind to just wander and the outcome of this so far being 1) A resolution to investigate doing a masters with a focus on some aspect of ecology/sustainability in the Solomon Islands 2) Investigating writing a book about the relationship between New Zealand and the Solomon Islands (WW2, missionaries, volunteers etc). There are at least two stories in Choiseul alone where kiwis have made their presence felt. There was formally a missionary  by the name of Lucy Money (sp), who was based in Sasamunga and translated the bible to Babatana, the local language of the area and probably the most commonly spoken local language. There is another story of a kiwi guy with a wartime connection to the Island and as a result left this organisation a reasonable amount of money when he passed away. It would be awesome to find out who this guy was and what he was doing on Choiseul.                  

As I have the time and space while here it would be silly not to try and be as productive as possible. Ideas just seem to come at me out from out of the blue here and usually in the mornings, only to be quickly forgotten during the heat of the day if I don’t actively write them down.

Now that it’s early Feb I am more than a little aware that I am closing in on another birthday and this one’s a biggy as it feels like I am closing in far too quickly on my mid 30’s. It’s a scary thing when I stop and think just how incredibly fast the last few years have gone.

           

This one’s for the Birders - Part 1 - Garden Birds

        

One of the great things about living on Sipuzae Island is that it has pretty good bird diversity even in the garden around my house (yes this one really is for the bird nerds). The part of Sipuzae Island I live has seen a fair bit of recent subdivision so much of the taller forest has been removed and the vegetation remaining is continually getting a hard time from guys with chainsaws who are creating more garden space or turning the last few large trees into firewood or building timber. The gardens themselves still contain a lot of vegetation, it just now happens to be dominated by food plants and not rainforest trees. Irrespective of all this there still seems to be a good array of birds kicking around.

In the last few months I have seen some pretty good birds and prior to Christmas the diversity was even better than it appears to be now. If you were to compare the birds I have around me here to what you find in a suburban backyard in either Australia or New Zealand the diversity here far surpasses what you would find in suburban backyards in either country. Prior to Christmas there were regular sightings of a Pacific Baza (to any non-birders still reading this it’s a small hawk) flying over the garden early most mornings and because its occurrence was so consistent I suspect that it may have been nesting close by before Christmas. Osprey is also pretty regular overhead and I also suspect they are resident on the Island. The most uncommon of all though is the Brahminy kite and I have probably seen these on no more than about half a dozen occasions, although I did disturb one in mid story in a coconut plantation in December which is certainly the closest I have approached these birds while here. I have very fond memories of seeing these birds for the first time when I travelled to Malaysia; to watch one of these birds casually drop down into the river and pluck a fish straight out of the water was an impressive sight for someone coming from a country with only one common bird of prey which generally only feeds off easily scavenged carrion.              

There are three species of parrot that are reasonably common in my garden. These are Du Corps Cockatoo, Eclectus Parrot and Cardinal Lory. The Lories are by far the most common of all the parrots, but usually spend most of their time high in the surrounding Coconut Palms. Du Corps Cockatoo will often feed on Paw Paw and when there is not much activity in the garden I have often watched them come down and feed quite close to my house. The Eclectus parrots on the other hand very rarely venture into the garden and are more wary than the Cockatoos and if they are feeding on Paw Paw, even the slightest disturbance will see them take flight. One thing I will miss about this place when I do move into the new house, will be the flocks of Eclectus Parrots heading to their evening roost. Often there will be more than 100 of these beautiful parrots fly over in an evening. When I lived in Australia it was always a bit of a goal to head to Cape York to see these birds, so I feel pretty chuffed that what was such a localised bird in Australia is such a common feature of Island life.

Of the smaller birds in the garden there is reasonable diversity, but really the small birds have been a bit disappointing. There are the usual Yellow-bellied Sunbirds which are common but certainly not as abundant as I have seen them in other places in the Solomon’s.

When present, Singing Starlings are often in good flocks of 10 or more birds but at other times not even single will be present. There were quite a few juveniles present in the flocks visiting the garden prior to Christmas and this makes me think the period from when I arrived in early October to late December was when the bulk of the breeding occurred.

White-bellied Cuckoo Shrike are present but generally only as individuals or pairs and they are often usually higher in the canopy of the taller trees on the boundary of the garden. It’s quite normal to only see these birds one every 1 or 2 weeks in the garden.

Willie Wagtail are present only as individuals and sometimes are not present for a number of days on end.  Possibly as a result of the recent rains the birds I have seen have been in full song. So it’s likely the rain may have triggered some breeding activity.  

Yellow-faced Myna where present before Christmas and usually a single bird would appear at least a couple of times a week.

Uniform Swiftlet when present are usually in small groups of 2-4 birds and will spend a short time hawking around house then leave, not to be seen for a few days on end. Due to their mobility they are tricky to watch with Binoculars and I can’t think of a time since being here that I have had good view of these birds.

The Claret-breasted Fruit Dove is the only pigeon or dove that I have seen with any consistency and occasionally they will visit a fruiting tree close to the house. When they land in the tree they are pretty difficult to locate due to their green colouration and small size.    

I guess the small rainforest birds are always going to find cultivated areas with little familiar habitat, high numbers of predators and quite a bit of disturbance difficult to adapt too. Sadly there are no Yellow-legged Pigeon or Black-Faced Pitta (both super rare forest birds) running around my garden, but I hope to see these birds or other uncommon forest birds when I get to spend more time on the main island in some of the better unlogged primary forest.   

The one bird that is always great to see in my garden is the Melanesian scrub fowl. The eggs of scrub fowl are an important food source in the Solomon Islands, but here on Sipuzae I think their days could be numbered due to the number of very feral and hungry looking cats cruising around and I suspect breeding success is pretty low with these cats taking out many chicks. Basically it looks kind of like a chicken with an unusual body shape that looks like it tapers towards a small head and quite dull dark brown plumage over most of its body. They are very timid and when I do come across them they disappear into the closest undergrowth as quickly as they can.    

There have been a few things that have made an appearance but only fleetingly in the garden or flying over. 

One such bird is what I am 90% certain was a Nicobar Pigeon and the very brief view that I had of the bird was of one flying quickly and quite low level through the garden beside the house. It was enough of a glimpse to be pretty certain it was in fact this bird as it was big, blue and pigeony.

Only on three or four occasions have I seen Blyth’s hornbill on the Sipuzae Island and these birds are amazing. The first time I saw this bird was while lying in bed and hearing the distinctive whoosh, whoosh, whoosh of its wing beat before I looked out the window to see this quite large bird fly over.  Any day that starts with getting a new ‘tick’ from your bed is a good day. 

           

Let it rain

It’s strange that even thinking about water starts to make you thirsty. It was 4.30am and I was parched.

In the last few days I have come to realise how severe the water restrictions are on both Taro and Sipuzae Islands. Most household rainwater tanks are close to being empty and how much water is in your rainwater tank is the prominent topic of discussion whenever I walk about.

It’s got to the point where the provincial government and hospital now shut at midday so that staff can go across to the main island and get water from the river.  I think I am ok for the present time, but if it doesn’t rain within a week I think even I will be in a bit of trouble (hopefully not to the extent that I have to drink my own urine). There have even been reports of water ‘theft’ from some rainwater tanks, although I suspect that in Melanesian society resources are viewed as largely communal and those with resources share with those that have a little bit less.

Waking up this morning I was thinking how do I ensure that the one tank that I have lasts until it rains, I could possibly put a lock on the tap from the tank that is easily accessible to all, but then do I just become the tight arse whose not willing to share resources with the community.

From what I have been told the constant winds that we currently have are contributing to no rain falling on either Island and although I appreciate being nice and cool due to the constant breeze (this house has a tendency to get very warm due to not having power for fans or air-conditioning and also being set back a little from the coast), its quickly getting to the point where stress in the community from not having access to adequate drinking water is going to increase substantially.    

              

All good things must end

It’s with a fair degree of mixed emotions that I arrived at Honiara domestic airport an hour before the flight was meant to leave. There was no one about and thankfully the taxi driver stayed around until some other people turned up. Waiting around in the dark gave me time to contemplate my last three weeks in Honiara. It had been such a busy time and a time in which many so many different experiences occurred.  A friendship was established with another volunteer that was the foundation for my stay in Honiara and it was largely due to their goodwill that I had a place (or places) to call home for this period as well as someone to discuss and compare our respective volunteer assignments.    

Another thought was at the forefront of my mind while standing in the dark listening to my Ipod (Talk Tonight by Oasis being the song of the moment). Near the end of my stay I met a very unique person. Now on my assignment there have been many interesting and unique people who have already passed my way in the few short months I have been here. Some you form strong connections with and others who you simply don’t connect with on any level whatsoever. But this individual rattled me a little, I wasn’t expecting to come to Honiara and leave feeling this way and to be honest the way I felt brought home (again) how far I was from other people who I most easily can connect with and who share similar cultural backgrounds. It  reminded me (as if I really needed it) that a 2 year assignment in a remote location essentially means you are forced to resign yourself to the fact that even if you had the opportunity, it would be difficult (bordering on impossible) to sustain a relationship.      

I also started to contemplate time, how much of your life will just pass you happily by and then you come to small specks in time that you wish you could slow down and make last longer.  Before you know it those special moments pass you by and quickly become history. There were a number of times while in Honiara that I wished I could slow down, just so I could appreciate the moment more. Strangely enough I was aware at the very time these events were occurring that these experiences were unique to this time and place and may never come around again. 

Flying back over Choiseul it was a sense calm that started to come over me knowing I was once again back in my beautiful and picturesque province. The thoughts and feelings provoked in Honiara will in time be resolved and I felt reassured by this.  Flying from south to the north, right up the centre of the Island (not the usual route of planes flying in from Honiara) I was overwhelmed by the beauty of the virtually continuous rainforest covering the Island. We were flying low and you could almost see the (presumed extinct) Choiseul Crested Pigeon standing in the canopy of a rainforest tree as we flew over.  I leaned over to the other ex-pat volunteer on the plane and said “Mate, the Choiseul Crested Pigeon it still exists, I’m sure of it”.  My New Year’s prediction is the rediscovery of the Choiseul Crested Pigeon.  It was good to be back in paradise.       

Roll on 2011

Well the last week or two have been absolute social whirlwind. Who would have picked that the social scene in Honiara would be far more busy than anything that I have experienced in a long time. Christmas was awesome, a real kiwi Christmas (even though there were only 4 kiwis present the rest of the group being from Austria, Taiwan, Wales, Spain, Australia and India). My experience was only marred slightly by the fact that I had a a ripper of a flu and this took the edge of my ability to communicate. Since Christmas day there has been poker games, dinner parties, movie nights and a few days spent at Savo Island for New Years period.

On Savo Island it was me and five women. Now spending New Years with this many women may sound daunting to most guys, but it was actually a surprisingly good time and we shared a few good yarns and one very informative game of spoons (truth or dare). For me the highlight of the trip was the walk to the top of this volcanically active Island. It was approximately a four hour round trip and at the summit it became clear that Savo Island is still a very active volcanic area. It served as a brilliant reminder that the Solomon Islands are a geologically dynamic Island group and this is one reason why they are biologically so diverse.

The time on Savo has had me thinking more about my assignment in the year 2011. Many people are surprised when I tell them the duration of my assignment. But for me, less than the two years I have been assigned would not allow me to build the connections and relationships that I really need to be successful and longer than two years would be quite a long haul indeed and may have social and career implications. Not having the access to such a social network in my assignment location as ex-pats have in Honiara is also something else that had me wondering if I would have been better to accept an assignment based in Honiara. But I keep coming back with the same answer and that is that I have a very unique assignment in a very unique location and I love the fact that this will be my life for the next two years. I also think that this assignment will define me and lead to more personal development than another assignment would in a location where I could unintentionally surround myself with ex-pats rather than local people. I also think about those great people out in Choiseul and specifically my Island where I live, they are my community and I am going to fight tooth and nail to help them in whatever way I can.     

So roll on 2011, no doubt there are going to be more challenges than I can possibly anticipate. But one things for certain, 2011 ain't going to be a repeat of 2010 and for that I will be grateful.