Bikes, Buses, Boats, Beaches and Beer, on a Budget - Noddy's (mis)Adventures in Asia

RAMATA ISLAND AND MAVO LODGE CONTINUED...

Just the walk from the 'airfield' down to camp is spectacular and I already know I have chosen well with this place. Aside from the natural jungle, they have beautifully manicured, landscaped gardens that blend with environment and white sandy paths leading throughout, with shell lined edges. Some of which are the biggest oyster shells I have ever seen, this looks promising!

The gear gets dropped in a couple of rooms in the main hut, right near the kitchen. 2 of us will have to share a room, I quickly decide I’m not sharing with Lucas as he snores like a bloody bulldozer. When the boys arrive later, Stenty reaches the same conclusion and Lucas gets a room to himself. It turns out to matter little as we can still hear him snoring through the thin walls!

After a quick, almost awkward as they are so shy, introduction, I have the day to myself and am pretty much left alone. I waste no time in grabbing a rod and go exploring. I get a feel for the camp and surrounding beaches and jungle and I’m already falling in love with the peacefulness and natural beauty of the place.

The Solomon Islands really are a spectacular part of the world and a place I can see myself going back to. We are in the western province and it’s iconic drawcard, the visually and sensory stunning, Marovo Lagoon, the largest saltwater lagoon in the world.

Lucas and Stenty arrive later that day and we all go up to greet them at the airfield, the ‘terminal’ has to be seen to be believed! It’s basically a rundown little hut no bigger than a western bathroom and looks as if it is no longer used, but really, who needs a terminal when you’ve just landed in paradise?

The plane is late (no surprise), I find out later that they detoured to another island before arriving here, thus enjoying two hair raising island take offs and landings! I feel local already and after a meet and greet with the camp and villagers, I proceed to show them around ‘our island’.

We only have a couple of hours before it is time for dinner, being a quite fussy eater back in those days (last year!) it has been my only concern about the trip, what sort of food we would get. Well, I have no idea what I was worried about, we are served an array of the most delicious, healthy, huge, naturally sourced and grown meals of my life. There are usually at least 6- 10 dishes on the table at each sitting to hook into.

We all joked about going back to the Solomon’s just for the food! Over the next 10 days at Mavo Lodge we are fed fish, lobster, massive oysters, fresh fruit and veges, rice, pasta, cakes, scones, a few local delicacies and the biggest mudcrabs we have ever seen, and we are no strangers to muddies, as we catch them in our home town. They even had vegemite to go on our fresh baked bread! That is just a small taste of how great the food was, not to mention how huge the spreads were. I would go back for the oyster and lobster soup alone!

A typical feast!