2 July 1974

Viru Harbour

New Geogia

B.S.I.P.

2 July 1974

Dear Mum & Dad,

As you can see from the address, I finally made it to Viru Harbour. The harbour itself is beautiful, set in completely virgin jungle with mountains all around. It is really the estuary of two rivers & is well inland from the open sea. As I have mentioned, to get here requires an 1 ½ hours flight in a Solair Britten Norman Islander (twin engine passenger plane for about 10) to a bush strip which is literally carved out of the jungle, the runway is grass, no buildings except a small village, called Sege. It was originally built by the Americans during the war as their first foothold on New Georgia that was in Japanese hands.

At Sege I was met by a Solomon Islander who carried my bag to a very long dugout canoe with an outboard motor & off we went on a 2 hour trip to Viru. We travelled for some time through the lagoon full of small heavily vegetated islands. It was a calm, sunny day & the water was like glass. The canoes are designed like an arrow & cut through the water with little effort. When we came out of the lagoon we were in the open sea & thank goodness the sea was reasonably calm. It seemed like a very long trip in the canoe & on the way the driver dragged a line through a school of fish but didn't catch anything. I saw quite a few flying fish, they are really something to see. They look like a bird & fly over the water at about a foot above the surface for probably a chain or so & then dive into the water. There was absolutely no sign of human life for the entire 2 hour trip & the coastline was shear coral cliffs covered in rain forest most of the way, quite inhospitable.

There is not a lot here apart from the logging operation, only 2 villages which hang on the hills & down to the water with some houses on piles in the water. 

                                                    Tetemara Village New Georgia Island

                                                                   Kalena Timber

                                        Workers' Quarters Kalena Timber

The house I am in is on a hill overlooking the company buildings & the harbour, out the back door is rain forest & it hums with noise. The house is a Japanese prefab & infested with rats. The ceiling is not sealed as there are large gaps between the walls & the ceiling. The rats run across the ceiling & occasionally have a fight. When I got home last night I saw an enormous rat run down the wall & hid behind a chest of drawers. 

                                             Guest House Viru Harbour

The mud is another thing very prevalent here. I was out to tea last night at the Administration Manager’s house. 

                           Administration Manager's House Viru Harbour

It then started to rain heavily & kept up all night. I borrowed an umbrella & torch to come home & plodding through a cabbage patch full of frogs & mud & the rain to the house. I was really bushed & went straight to sleep & survived the night OK, including the rats & today the weather was beautiful.

It is just getting dark & there is a group down in the village singing. Tomorrow is picture night & Thursday I am going home.

17 July 1974

I have been back from Viru for about a fortnight now & still haven’t written so here goes. First of all, I'm sorry I missed your birthday Dad, also Bruce’s. I tried to ring on the 17^th but left my run a bit late. A very late Happy Birthday anyway. We received the gift for Darren & he was really thrilled with it. Andy has written I think.

A few other things happened on my trip to Viru after I wrote the letter up there. On the Wednesday I went across to a Tetemara village to buy a carving & caused quite a stir walking through the village. 

                                                   Trip To Tetemara Village

                                                                 Tetemara Village

                                                      Carver polishing carving in water

All the kids came out & followed along behind me. The canoe driver was to come back in ½ hour to pick me up but didn't turn up. In the end I got some kids to paddle me across to the company landing in a little canoe that threatened to tip over all the way there, me, camera & newly acquired carving. The carving I bought is a beautiful piece, a sea horse carved from black ebony wood & quite heavy. It has inlaid shell eyes.

               Local children holding my carved sea horse in Tetemara Village

The trip back to Sge airfield was pretty hairy. Being out in a heavy sea in a canoe is not the safest way to travel. In addition, it was not a scheduled stop at Sege for Solair on Thursday, but a special request & when the plane was late I was sure something has been messed up. I checked my ticket & although it said Thursday, they had made an error with the date. Anyway, it eventually arrived. I certainly wasn’t looking forward to facing the sea in the canoe for another 2 hours back to Viru & have another go the following day. There is nothing at Sge except a village, no radio or airport buildings, just grass. When we were taking off, the pilot had to stop, get out & tell some of the local kids to let go of the tailplane.

We had the Mears around for an evening before I went to Viru. Bill is the Managing Director of Kalena Timber although he has very little say in the running of the company. He has a 25% shareholding, with Ataka holding the other 75%. Ataka regard him as a nuisance. Bill & his wife Robbie are very nice people. He is English but speaks with an American accent & Robbie is from Florida. They are very interesting to talk to. Up until last year they owned a lumber company in the Southern Philippines (Nasipit Lumber Co.) & have interests in another company in Borneo. They have a permanent apartment in Manila & spread their time between Manila, Honiara & Viru Harbour. They have since gone back to Manila & will be back before Christmas. They offered to take Andy’s Seiko watch to have it repaired & will send it back with one of the Filipino employees who are presently there on leave.

Kalena is quite financial at the moment. We are getting approximately $120,000 a month from log shipments & although the costs are high & a lot of capital items are being purchased, the company has maintained about $200,000 in the bank together with a few fixed deposits. I am a very respected visitor to the ANZ bank these days. Solomon Motors is also doing very well & in particular the Mazda sales are booming.

Our weather is pretty stable at the moment. It is officially the dry season & we are constantly surrounded by grass fires up & down the ridges. We had one within 20 feet of the house a while ago. They appear to be harmless enough though as there are no fences to burn & our block is clear with nothing to burn.

                             Grass fire next to our house on Kolo Ridge

The family is well with the exception of a few infected sores that take ages to heal & lots of attention. Shane continues to get bigger & into more mischief. I’ll include some recent pictures with the letter.

That’s about it for now. Lots of love from all of us here.

Greg