I boarded the boat, the Spirit of Solomons in the afternoon...I met my fellow travelers and it was only 6 of us...very assorted...father and son from San Diego, a single non diver traveler from Queensland, an Italian (much to our surprise) couple from Milan who lives in Auckland, NZ, and me...

We witnessed the best sunset ever, had nibbles, made friends, and set sails (so to speak) towards the outer islands...

And so it began, my dreamed holiday in the Solomons...it begun perfectly, perfect weather, perfect company, nice food, beautiful surroundings, and so on...

But bad luck stroke on the third day, when, while diving in the Russels, I had increasing problems with my left ear and then had to stop diving...much to my upsetting...barotrauma, that is what it was, but at the moment, we did not know...The weather was constantly rainy and wet, and very hot...but I did not get much of a tan either...

And then in the end. We disembarked on the 10th of June, at the Kitano Mendana hotel, and found the island in turmoil, as there had been a military coup while my ear had had its own coup...we got evacuated the following day on a military plane with the nice and friendly and gorgeous NZ Minister, Philip Goff...we ended up in Auckland, while our ozzie friend, Ron, had been himself evacuated to Townsville with the other Australians on the island...

It was an adventure..many odds, ok, but I still think it has been a great chance for me to meet great people, see some amazing places, and cultures, and ultimately, end on worldwide news!

Thanks!