January 16, 2026 Honiara, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands

Today was a rainy day, the rain didn’t stop until after 2 p.m. All aboard time was 4:30 p.m. Temperature at 7 a.m. was 26°C, wind WSW 10 kph and humidity 88%.

NEWS: United States is pausing immigrant visa processing for

the nationals of 75 countries including nine Caribbean countries,

Cuba, four South American countries not including Venezuela, three Central American countries and Fiji.

María Corina Machado, Venezuela’s opposition leader, winner of the Noble Peace Prize, presented it to President Trump. Fox News reported that he accepted it.

Australia’s Victoria state just a week ago was fighting over 40

wild fires. Yesterday just around noon, 186 centimetres of rain fell in less than six hours, causing flash flooding and floating away vehicles, holiday trailers and tents. Along the Great Ocean Road holiday-makers at caravan parks had to rush to higher ground with little warning and watch their tents float away. Water quickly rose within 40 minutes of issuing the first flash flood warning. The thunderstorm of the north and east of the state were by-products of ex-Cyclone Koji, which caused flooding in some parts of outback Queensland last week.

Breakfast was in the Lido Market on Deck 9, then we went to the World Stage for our tour stickers. The ship was not cleared by Customs and Immigration until close to 8:30 a.m. There were over 150 people on the morning Honiara Highlights tour, which had 18 passenger minibuses chauffeuring people with a guide.

Honiara has a population of around 100,000 and is the capital of province of Guadalcanal and the nation. The Solomon Islands dollar is the currency of Solomon Islands since its 1978 independence. One Canadian dollar gets 5.8 Solomon Islands Dollars.

Spanish explorer Álvaro de Mendaña named Guadalcanal in 1568, but the Solomon Islands were pretty much ignored. For thousands of years, the Melanesian clan-based society lived here with rich oral traditions. They

practiced fishing, horticulture, and ancestor worship, until the arrival of missionaries and traders in 1893 when Great Britain declared Solomon Islands a protectorate.

The area in and around Honiara was a major World War II battleground between Allied (Australian, American and British) and Japanese forces. Between August 1942 and February 1943 battles raged. Finally a turning point occurred at the Battle of Guadalcanal with intense fighting occurring on land, at sea and in the air. The nearby bay is littered with over 200 wrecks of planes and warships and today is called “Ironbottom Sound”. The sound is 600 meters deep.

After the war, the British moved the capital from Tulagi (a small island north of Guadalcanal) to Honiara in 1952, using the American-built airstrip and wartime infrastructure. The Solomon Islands gained independence from Britain in 1978, with Honiara as its capital.

Honiara has experienced periods of unrest, including the “Tensions” (1998–2003) between ethnic groups from Guadalcanal Province and nearby islands (settlers from the most populous island of Malaita Province), prompting an international peacekeeping mission (RAMSI - Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands). Mainly peacekeepers arrived from Australia to assist in economic development and policing.

As we were hurried to the waiting minibuses to begin our tour, a group of cultural dancers were singing and dancing in the rain. The port is mainly a working cargo port, but passengers could walk through the port about 600 meters to get to the main road and walk another 600 or 700 meters to a local market. Talking to Sandy and Sue later they said they were on high alert walking within the cargo port as there was no well marked path to follow.

We passed Unity Square and its gigantic Solomon Islands flag surrounded by the flags of the nine provinces. Across the street was a statue to the Coastwatchers. Coastwatchers, with assistance from the local people, aided the Allied cause on many islands. They secretly radioed Japanese activities or landings on the islands while they themselves were in hiding. The vehicles on the streets practice pothole avoidance which caused traffic jams as vehicles swerve around oncoming traffic. The potholes range greatly in depth and width. People just live with them. The wet season does not help the situation. Our bus dodged many potholes as we toured around. There are traffic circles (or oblongs) and very few stop signs - we saw one. In areas without a minibus network, people often travel in open-backed trucks. We saw many today with some riders in the truck bed huddling under a tarp to keep dry.

The first 30 minutes, we visited the Solomon Islands National Museum which gave us a perspective of the history and archeology of the islands. The building was based on the Kastom Canoe House design. Kastom Canoe House are shrines to the ancestors. There was mention of the contribution of the Coastwatchers and the battles during World War II. Next door was the RAMSI Gallery with art and wood carvings all for sale. There were lovely pieces of inlaid white shells on wooden bowls and platters.

A quick dash through the rain and puddles to the minibus and the next stop was Palm Sugar Mall and its National Art Gallery. It was a parking lot partly surrounded by buildings housing small shops enclosed by fencing and a gate. It was hard to navigate the path due to all of the puddles. People were selling clothes, jewelry, crafts, carvings from the tiny 200 square foot shops.

The next market was also fenced, but much larger with disorganized parking that people figured out. This was the local produce market with the vegetables and fruit laid out on the ground and on tables. Mixed in were kiosks of crafts and second hand clothing. There were samples of fresh produce, local goods and crafts from betel nuts to woven baskets. Large umbrellas and tarps helped a bit to keep the rain from the merchandise.

A tour of Parliament House was next. It was located part way up a hill that overlooked the bay. It is a circular building with an administrative building on each side. One is the national library. Parliament House was completed in 1993. The two story 22,000 square foot building construction was financed by the Americans. The beautifully carved main door has handles representing the Frigatebird’s wings and its design is repeated on doors to important rooms in the building. The main chamber is a unicameral shape with a 600 seat public gallery, from which we viewed the assembly area. The conical ceiling is an abstract creation of the local styles of Temotu and Guadalcanal provinces. The Solomon Islands flag design was won by a New Zealander. The five stars represent the five main islands, the green triangle is land, the blue triangle is for sea and sky and the yellow stripe is for the sun.

The British divided the islands into four districts in 1893, but at the time of independence there were seven province and currently there are nine provinces.

Elections are “first past the post” as in Australia.

The final stop was the Guadalcanal American Memorial on Skyline Drive also known as the Skyline Memorial. There was just a very light rain, however, umbrellas were still necessary. The memorial’s centrepiece is a four foot square 24 foot high pylon on which is inscribed:

This memorial has been erected by the United States of America in humble tribute to its sons and its allies who paid the ultimate sacrifice for the liberation of the Solomon Islands 1942-1943.

The four partial walls point to the four major battle areas and include descriptions of the battles and lists of the American, Australian, British and New Zealand ships that were lost. More than 7,000 servicemen lost their lives.

The Battle of Guadalcanal, codenamed Operation Watchtower, started on August 7, 1942 and ended February 9, 1943. It was the first major Allied offensive in the region and was a turning point in the Pacific theatre.

We returned to the ship before noon and the rain had intensified. The singers and dancers had disappeared from the wharf. We went to Lido Market for salads, then sat down for the 1 p.m. trivia topic Technology and Innovation. We only got 10 of the 15 questions correct. The rest of the afternoon we spent in the Library Café reading and drinking coffee. We caught up with Sandy and Sue when they stopped to get tea before their 4 p.m. Trivia game. They received their Mariner Lunch invitation for tomorrow.

The captain’s report was everyone was on board on schedule. Soon the ship would be cruising through Ironbottom Sound then into Indefensible Strait to arrive in the Coral Sea to continue 603 nautical miles to Luganville, Vanuatu. Tomorrow will be cloudy and possible some rain with three meter waves possible from the Northwest 30 knot (56 km/h) winds.

We had a delicious Italian dinner in Canaletto restaurant tonight compliments of Captain Bant to all the occupants of the roiling tender boats near Kiriwina Island two days ago. We began with a glass of wine. Then Larry ordered grilled tiger shrimp and chose Mussel, Scallop and Calamari Trenette as his entrée. I ordered salad then Chianti-Braised Boneless Beef Short Ribs as my entrée. We completed the meal with Tiramisu and cappuccinos for dessert finishing in time for the 7:30 p.m. show.

Tonight’s entertainer was virtuoso fiddle player, Juliette Primrose. She gave a high-energy performance accompanied, by the sometimes too loud, Dam Band.

In the Rolling Stone Lounge this evening Robbie, the cruise director, was creating a playlist of dance tunes. Unfortunately people gathered in a circle leaving no room for couple dancing so we departed.

Steps 7,046