Tulagi and Gela

Tulagi is the town that is on the island of Gela. Gela is a small island and it was easily toured by foot in about 3 hours. When I got up Margaret, Lonsdale's wife had breakfast ready for me. It was scones and spam. For a place that wasn't supposed to cater, they were doing a lot of catering for the guest.

After I had breakfast, Lonsdale called on a neighbour to come and accompany me on my trip around the island. I told him it wasn't necessary, but Lonsdale more or less insisted, saying that there were undesirable elements on the island who would try to mug visitors. I am still not sure that's really the case, given what I have experienced of the Solomon Islands, but he knows better than I. So I accepted the company (hoping it wasn't going to cost too much) and off we went. My guide/knight's name was Wilfred. He's the son of a preacher who is on the island, but he what he calls a “backslider.” Somewhat proudly, I might add. He's the guy who comes in to service late (if at all, and he grinned as he said it), sits in the back, doesn't know the hymns, maybe yawns a bit during the sermon, and slinks off early after services to meet friends. He smokes, drinks, and parties with his friends. But he is definitely good people. I liked Wilfred a lot. And even though he kind of struck a serious-ish pose here, that's not really him. He pretty much had a smile on his face the whole way. He pointed out lots of interesting things about the island, from the old cannery that had been abandoned by the company that ran it (they moved elsewhere for greener pastures), to the various transports and such that were remnants of the war and the battle at Tulagi in particular.

We started at the town area and headed around to the wharf. First we went through the gap that had been carved out by prisoners at the prison there. The day before, when I arrived and Lonsdale was bringing me to his guesthouse, Lonsdale told me that there had been one prisoner who had been working on digging the gap. A lady, who might have been married to the local magistrate, was crossing above, but she slipped and fell. The prisoner leaped up and caught her, saving her life. For his trouble, he was deemed to have served his time and he was set free.

As we headed towards the wharf, we passed the police station. It seemed to be a bit of overkill given that there are only about 400 people on the island. But then Wilfred explained that this was the main police station for all of Central Province. Even though it was a really small island, because it had been the seat of the government for all of the Solomon Islands for a while in the 1930's and 40's, it remained the seat of government for Central Province, and thus has a large police station. That is empty.

We headed past a number of guest houses and homes near the wharf and then moved on into the almost unpopulated part of the island. This is where the history was located. There were troop transports that had been sunk or abandoned. There was an iron “cave” for hiding and supplies that the US put in place. There were many remnants of the Tulagi battle, just sitting here and there around the back part of the island. It was really interesting. And it is all just more or less sitting there, uncared for, and it seems to be relatively unknown. It would probably make for a great tourism point to start promoting the island as a historical destination. That might wreck the ambience of the island, but it would start to build revenue for the Solomon Islands.

We passed an old factory of some sort. Now, there is a guy who goes out and finds old ships. He tows them in, fixes them up, and then sells them off again.

There is a little swamp where crocodiles come in. (But I'm not sure if that is real or not, because Wilfred was awfully nonchalant about walking past. I would be completely on guard, well, I was actually, if I knew crocodiles could be in there, particularly with the size of the ones I saw in Australia.)

As we came back into town, there was an elementary school. And the classrooms seemed to be the typical sort of elementary classrooms you would find anywhere.

Except for the open doors on a Sunday, allowing any curious fool with a camera to come poking his nose in to take a few photos, that is.

Back at the guesthouse, Lonsdale and his family had gone to church. For his company and information, I felt I needed to give Wilfred something. But Wilfred hadn't mentioned the matter at all. I eventually broached the subject by saying that I couldn't offer him much, but... He waved that off and said it had been his pleasure and they just wanted visitors to remember a good time on the island and not to have had any kind of trouble. He said that if I gave him anything, he would appreciate it and consider it a treasured gift. And, true to his word, he was very happy to accept the 50 Solomon dollars that I gave him.

Later, Lonsdale's wife had lunch ready and I ate some really good fish. And when I broached the subject of paying for meals with Lonsdale, he too said that it wasn't necessary, that they considered it treating a guest well. I pressed it a bit and he said that I could give him whatever I felt was proper, but I ought to give it to the cook, his wife. In the end, I didn't get to do that because while I had a short nap, Margaret had gone off to her church's women's meeting. Lonsdale accepted the money good-naturedly on her behalf.

Finally it was off to meet the ferry back to Honiara and then to catch my flight to Kiribati. But I must say, that that day I spent in Tulagi was the highlight of many wonderful experiences I had in the Solomon Islands. Anyone going to the country should definitely check out the Florida Palm Lodge in Tulagi.