Melanesian Marvels on the Oceania Riviera
2/16/2026 to 3/18/2026

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Page 1 – Bali Pre-Trip - Days 1-3
Page 2 – Bali Pre-Trip - Days 4-5; Embarkation, Ship; Ports of Call: Komodo, Indonesia
Page 3 – Ports of Call: Kupang, West Timor Indonesia; Darwin, Australia; Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea; Alotau, Papua New Guinea
Page 4 – Ports of Call: Honiara, Solomon Islands; Luganville, Vanuatu; Port Vila, Vanuatu; Lautoka, Fiji; Suva, Fiji
Page 5 – Ports of Call: Noumea, New Caledonia; Sydney Post-Trip - Day 1
Page 6 – Sydney Post-Trip - Day 2-4

Ports of Call (Continued)

Honiara, Solomon Islands

We docked on Guadalcanal Island in the Solomon Islands this morning, another mountainous island. It is a commercial port.

The round building in the background is the National Parliament of the Solomon Islands. Quite different from the large one in Port Moresby.

The tour for the day was the Eastern Battlefield with our guide Churchill. He was a heck of a nice guy who made the tour more enjoyable.

Our van looked better from the outside than the inside, but at least the AC did work.

On the way to our first stop, we passed by a statue called the Pride of Our Nation. It recognizes the crucial role played by the people of the Solomon Islands during the most fateful days of WWII. The white European coast watcher stands upright, binoculars raised, scanning the horizon. Three local scouts in loincloths surround him to assist.

Guadalcanal was the site of severe fighting between the Japanese and Allied forces. Our tour took us to several battle and memorial sites. The first stop was Red Beach, where the Marines landed unopposed to start the first major Allied offensive in the Pacific. The goal was to capture the Japanese airfield. The name was changed to Henderson Field after they defeated the Japanese there. Many battles happened after to reclaim the airfield.

The stretch of water we were looking at between the beach and Savo Island is referred to as Iron Bottom Sound. It is called this due to the over 50 ships and many airplanes that ended up sinking in the water there.

This cannon was badly rusted. It looked like a tree trunk.

As in Kupong, we had a police escort accompanying us. But this time in an SUV. We next went to Henderson Field, which is now their airport. On the grounds is the Solomon Islands Memorial Garden. It has 500 Carilla trees dedicated to those that fought in the battles.

There was a nice monument to the men of the 1st marine division that lost their lives on Guadalcanal.

I was surprised to find one from Natchez, MS, where my late wife, Carol was from. The garden is very nice and a sobering experience.

We walked over to see the inside of the airport while waiting to rejoin the van. It was a small airport, as expected.

There was a nice plaque on a concrete pedestal in front of the airport that told about Henderson Field.

The wording on the plaque says:

“This is one of the most famous airfields of World War II. The Japanese began building it in early summer 1942, knowing that from it they could dominate combat operations in the South Pacific. To secure this strategic airfield, American commanders selected Guadalcanal as their first target in the Pacific Campaign. American and Japanese land, sea and air forces battled desperately for control of the field for six months after U.S. Marines landed here on August 7, 1942.

Within a week, Marines , completed building the airfield. On August 20 the first two Marine fighter squadrons landed. The airfield was named in honor of Major Lofton R. Henderson, USMC, a dive bomber squadron commander (VMSB 241) shot down June 4, 1942 while leading the attack on Japanese aircraft carriers at the Battle of Midway.

Henderson Field was formally designated a Marine Corps airbase on November 5, 1942. United States Marine, Navy, Army Air Corps and New Zealand aviation units used it until the end of the South Pacific campaign. Organized resistance on Guadalcanal ended February 9, 1943. “

Once again, we had very bad dirt roads to drive on.

We headed to Bloody Ridge national historical park. It is the site of the major battle of Edson’s Ridge. The park stands for a testament to peace and a place for remembrance. We first went to hill 1. Where we we could look down the ridge and the surrounding area.

There was a monument to those that died in the war.

We then drove to hill 2, where we could look back to where we had just been on hill 1.

There was another monument there, this one dedicated to the US Marines who fought on the Solomon Islands.

I liked the slogan on the bottom of the Solomon Islands license plates.

Our last stop was to Mt. Austin at the Solomon Islands Peace Memorial Park. It is a memorial to the Japanese lives lost at Guadalcanal.

We could look out and see Savo Island near where the major naval battle took place. It is considered to be one of the worst defeats in US naval history. We took a selfie with the island in the background. Ultimately Guadalcanal turned out to be major victory and turning point in the war.

We could also see Henderson Field airport in the distance.

On the way back to the ship, we appreciated the police escort. It allowed the vans to get through the very heavy traffic. Churchill told us that without the escort it could have taken us a couple hours or more to get back to the ship. The tour ended around 1:00 PM. Once again, around 3:30 PM, there was a rain shower. We were lucky again missing the rain while on a tour. After the rain stopped, we had dancers on the pier before we left port.

Tomorrow will be the fifth sea day of the nine on this 21-day cruise.

Luganville (Espiritu Santo), Vanuatu

This morning we docked at our first port in Vanuatu, the town of Luganville on the island of Espíritu Santo. The islands were formerly named the New Hebrides until its independence in 1980. Luganville is a very small town. The haze in front of the hills was smoke from a nearby volcano. Vanuatu has several active ones.

I only knew of Vanuatu from its being one of the first filming locations for the TV show Survivor. We hoped our excursion would be nothing like the show. We had a water-based tour called Northern Seaside and the Blue Lagoon. We put on our swimsuits for the tour and were looking forward to swimming. Our guide was Maxime. He was another very nice guide that provided us with lots of info.

Once again, we had a van that didn’t have air conditioning. In addition, the roads we travelled on were terrible with so many potholes. The ride was made even worse due to the van’s shock absorbers not appearing to work. Fortunately, there were some distractions to keep us from focusing on the uncomfortable ride, like the gorgeous streams we passed over. We also enjoyed seeing the fields of very tall palm trees along the way. This type of palm used to be in Florida but was wiped out by a disease.

Our first stop was to a private beach. The guide told us that we must have reef shoes to go in the water. I wish the tour description had mentioned that, so we could have brought ours. I tried going in the water with my sandals, but they were too slippery, plus the rocks were sharp and difficult to walk on. We still thoroughly enjoyed the pretty beach with very clear water.

Our next stop was to the Matevulu Blue Hole. There are several blue holes on the island. This was a gorgeous place.

The spring fed pool was so clear and a beautiful blue.

Once again, we were warned not to get in without reef shoes. Most people did get in without any shoes. I sure wanted to jump in, but I always worry about hurting myself and not being able to complete a vacation. I’ve heard too many horror stories. But we enjoyed just being able to see the blue hole.

Some people enjoyed going down the long slide into the lagoon. Others were climbing up the ladder on a large banyan tree across the lagoon and swinging out on a rope to drop into the lagoon. We sure wanted to get into the beautiful water.

One attraction we would have liked to see, but would require us to dive, was Million Dollar Point. Between 1945 and 1947, thousands of tons of vehicles, bulldozers, cranes, and supplies were driven or pushed into the ocean. The US government attempted to sell the equipment to local British and French authorities, who offered an extremely low price. The US refused, and as a final gesture, pushed the equipment into the water instead. It is now a very popular dive site.

Like on many of the islands we visited, when we returned to the ship, there wasn’t much of a reason to explore the area around it. The small towns didn’t have anything that appealing to check out.

Tomorrow, we go to a different Vanuatu island.

Port Vila, Vanuatu

Today we were at Port Vila on Efate island in Vanuatu. It was a prettier island than the previous day. It was also our last of three tender ports.

Our tour for the day was the Cultural Village & Blue Lagoon. Our guide was Isabel. She was helpful but didn’t talk too much unless we asked her a question.

We were very pleased that the roads were much better on this island and there was repair work in progress on many of the roads. The first stop on the tour was to another blue hole close to our next stop. This time the tour description said we needed reef shoes, so we didn’t wear swimsuits or bring towels. This guide never mentioned needing reef shoes. When we arrived at the beautiful pool, we understood why. They weren’t needed, since there was a ladder on a large dock and rocks were not an issue. I was very disappointed again, but we still enjoyed just being there.

Our next destination was to the Pepeyo Cultural Village (https://pepeyotour.com) in a thick jungle. It was designed to show us the ways of life of the indigenous people.

They showed us how they made traps to catch chickens and wildlife, as well as ways they preserved foods.

They walked through hot coals, did a dance and played some very entertaining music on some native instruments.

The music was really good. Cathy had to have her photo with the group.

Our last stop was to the Aelan chocolate factory. We heard how they made it and sampled too many varieties.

I liked the chocolate-colored antique pickup truck.

After the tour, we went back to the ship for lunch. Once again, it was 2:00 PM, and we were very hungry. The cruise away from Port Vila was gorgeous.

We had an enjoyable sea day the next day before we visited two ports in Fiji. As on the previous sea days, we lounged on our balcony. The water was very smooth and pretty.

That evening, one of the lecturers had a sky viewing for anyone who was interested. It was done at 10:00 PM. With the southern sky being so much different than what we are used to, it was interesting. We had a very full moon that made the sky look gorgeous.

Lautoka, Fiji

We were excited about visiting Fiji. It is one of those tropical places we have heard about all our lives but never thought we would visit. As we approached, it looked like another beautiful island.

I booked a private tour with Prince Tours (https://www.princetoursfiji.com). I knew that Fiji is much more developed, tourist focused and a safer place to visit. The ship tours didn’t go to many places, and I wanted to see more of the island, since I assume this is our one and only time to visit. When I booked, I thought it would be a small group tour based on the price. As we left the ship, I couldn’t believe how many taxi/tour guides that were holding up signs trying to attract customers. Our guide, Singh, had been communicating with me through WhatsApp, so we were able to find him easily.

I was surprised and very pleased that the tour was just for the two of us. Singh was a very nice fellow that was so anxious to show us as much as possible on his island. We first stopped along the lovely promenade before we got out of town.

We were impressed with the large trees along the road and throughout the island.

Singh took us first to a very nice marina close by our next destination. We liked the view of the mountains in the distance and the old outrigger with the small building on it. The clear water was nice too.

We then drove a few minutes close by to see the landing spot beach of the first inhabitants in Fiji in 1500 BCE. There is a very nice resort there now also. An armed guard was protecting the place. We walked through the grounds to get to the beach.

They have created an island in the shape of a foot with toes. It is a very popular place for weddings and events.

It is also the best place to see the first landing site beach.

As we left the resort, Cathy wanted a photo with the guard. Many people took that photo op.

The roads in Fiji were much better than we previously experience on other islands. We headed to the Garden of the Sleeping Giant (https://gosg.com.fj). It is named that for the mountain close by that we couldn’t see. I have included a photo I found online of what the Sleeping Giant looks like.

This lush gorgeous botanical garden is a popular tourist attraction, with the ship tours also going there.

A very popular expression in Fiji is bula, pronounced boo-lah. It is an all-purpose greeting meaning hello, welcome or good health. I thought it was clever to have some ground cover planted that spelled out the word.

I was hoping to go to the lookout where we could get a nice view of the area. The garden itself is mostly flat, but to get to the lookout there were a lot of inclines and steps. When I saw the path to the lookout, it looked like it could be challenging. That was confirmed when one of the staff told me that it was a good climb to the top. That sealed it, I could live without the view.

I headed back to meet Cathy who knew better than to even consider going to the lookout. We headed back to the entrance to meet Singh. The facility gives everyone that purchases a ticket a delicious tropical fruit drink. It gave us time to sit down and get refreshed.

Our next stop was to the Sabeto Mud Spring and Hot Pool (LINK). We drove down a dirt road to get there. It is a large facility with many pools for various stages of the process. We were told that the one pool that looked like a regular swimming pool was extremely hot and to be very careful with it.

We came to the main hot water source that is used for all the pools. It was very clear water.

There was a large, gnarled tree that caught my eye. It made for a nice photo.

We had no desire to experience it or any of the pools but enjoyed watching people smear mud all over their bodies and then get into the cleaning pools.

Our last stop was to the Sri Siva Subramaniya Swami Temple, the largest Hindu temple in the southern hemisphere. The terrain was more mountainous in this area.

We were impressed with the brightly colored building temple.

The building on the side was quite pretty too. We didn’t have time to go inside. This was OK, since photos weren’t allowed anyway.

We had a great tour with Singh. We saw so much more than we would have seen with a ship tour. He was so accommodating and helpful to show us as much as we could see. He would drop us off as close as possible to the places we were going to make it easier for us. He would have spent much more time than we were supposed to have to show us more of the beautiful island, but we had to get back to the ship. Singh did a great job for us.

When back on the ship, I was able to take some photos of the port area. Singh told us that the large pile that looked like sand was woodchips, one of Fiji's major exports. Fiji's water and raw sugar are also major exports.

Suva, Fiji

We docked at beautiful Suva, Fiji today. We loved the beautiful mountains and water.

We booked the Best of Suva tour to a beach. We had another good guide, Able.

What most impressed us was the amazing bus we were using. I have never been in a more luxurious, roomy and comfortable bus. It was only 3 seats across with so much legroom. The seats laid down quite far, although we didn’t need that for this tour. This bus would be outstanding for a long bus ride. It was amazing for the short tour we were taking.