Marova Lagoon
We stopped on the way to Marova on the North side of New Georgia Island in Lever Harbor. Its a very large harbor and we had to go in quite a ways to find a place that was shallow enough to set our hook. Almost immediately we were "canoed" by a group of young boys and a couple of men, led by Presley. We felt a little uneasy with these guys as they were quite rude, demanding and I felt we were being made fun of by them. They did, however, bring us a lot, and I mean a lot, of fruits and veggies for trade.
Presley did offer to lead us up to a nearby waterfall where we could get fresh water if we wanted to. I asked if it was ok to swim. Did we have to watch out for crocodiles. He said "no, no crocodiles," then, "well, sometimes." I took a chance and went in for a quick dip.
Later we invited Presley aboard for a chat in our cockpit. After he left the younger boys came back out to the boat and were pretty demanding for gifts. One insisted we give him sunglasses and I told him we don't have any. He said, "You gave Presley some sunglasses" and that's when I realized Presley had stolen a pair from the cockpit. Fortunately they were a cheap and fairly worthless pair (which makes a point for having "decoy" items around). That night while I was asleep in the cockpit I was awakened by a loud clatter. Near the boat was a canoe, its occupant had just tried to steal a towel off the cushion but made too much noise.
We entered Marova Lagoon by Uepi Resort. The resort owner, Graeme, an Australian, has a reputation for not being too friendly to yachts and that proved to be the case for us, however, his guests were very friendly so we had a nice visit with a few of them.
James Michiner visited this lagoon and modeled some of the Tales of the South Pacific after his time there. We stopped at Telina, known for its wood carvers. The quality of the carvings was first rate, however, so were the prices. $100 US for a small box with inlay was a bit too much for us, but we did find a couple of things. Jim bought a canoe paddle which came in handy later on and I bought a beautifully carved walking stick. All the villagers were involved in some sort of craftsmanship.
Joseph shows us a paper weight. The women make purses from plant materials. Below that Gary had some beautiful items but very expensive. Rocky competes hard for the business. He's a great carver and also sells some of these interesting WWII pieces and shell and bone jewelery.
The ground around Rocky's house was magenta with flower blossoms.
Kids, I love them.
John Wayne is a famous carver who lives just behind Telina on the larger island with his family. He and his wife visited with us and swapped WWII stories for Jim's stories of Vietnam. His wife makes flags with embroidered pictures so I offered to give her some of my yarns and embroidery floss and she swapped me some saga palm carvings and a purse.
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