South Pacific 2015 front

This time I'm archiving the photos on Flickr, though it is currently blocked in China.

Golden sunrise, near Fiji.

Henderson Field, Honiara. My first stop was landing in the actual airfield that the U.S. and Japanese fought over in the Battle of Guadalcanal.

U.S. memorial to the Army, Navy, Marines and Allied forces in the Battle of Guadalcanal.

Japanese memorial to the Battle of Guadalcanal, with the island of Savo in the hazy distance.

Looking down from the former Japanese positions in the foothills of Mt Austen towards Henderson Field and the beaches of Guadalcanal.

One of the rivers flowing into Ironbottom Sound near Henderson Field. This may be the Tenaru where Ichiku's Party was defeated by U.S. Marines. (My guide was not exactly clear on this.)

Japanese memorial to the Ichiku party that landed on Guadalcanal in a futile effort to attack Henderson Field from the rear. The Ichiku party's futile frontal assaults across exposed positions (in what came to be known as the Battle of the Tenaru--see en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Tenaru) made a deep impression on the Marine forces guarding Henderson.

At first, I thought the tanks and amtraks were merely parked in a grove of trees, then I realized the trees had all grown since the war.

Kids playing on a group of Amtraks that seem to have parked where they landed on the beach at Guadalcanal.

One of the trip's most memorable events for me was the brief visit to Gizo, where I was stranded for several days waiting for a Tropical Storm Rachel to pass. Because of bad weather I was delayed for a whole afternoon on the small airstrip at Munda, near Gizo, which itself was a small battle of the Solomon Islands campaign in WW2.

Munda International Airport may be the smallest airport I've ever had to spend an entire day at.

The flight to Gizo was rough and we stayed at this altitude during the entire 30 minute flight from Munda. A stormy tropical wonderland.

Gizo's tiny Nusatupe airfield is a runway-shaped island off the coast of the larger island of Gizo.

For 4 days on Gizo I did little aside from checking weather forecasts of Tropical Storm Rachel's track. Every day the track would change, often for the worse, but the storm ended by breaking up off the coast without ever making landfall.

During my stay in Gizo I often wondered if it might be easier to get out by boat than by plane. Solomon Airlines even had this boat parked by their ramshackle offices in town. Not very seaworthy.

Gizo's small fleet of fishing and tourist boats mostly stayed in harbor during my stormy half-week stranded on the island.

The tiny town of Gizo's cinema looked like it had seen better days, some might argue.

One day when I was trapped on Gizo by Tropical Storm Rachel I visited the commercial street of the tiny village of Gizo, including the Okay Store.

At last, after 4 days stranded on Gizo without seeing anything of significance, my long-delayed flight was rumored to be inbound for Nusatupe airfield. The ride in the launch out to Nusatupe island was a rough one in light blowing drizzle and choppy waves. But the mood was high!

All smiles aboard the launch heading for Nusatupe airfield and my long-delayed flight to Honiara from Gizo.

Landing on the beach at Nusatupe island, home to Nusatupe airfield and what I dearly hoped would be my long-delayed flight to Honiara.

The airport terminal of Nusatupe airfield. It was a small but chaotic group of tourists and locals, all eagerly hoping and praying for a view of the small turbo-prop plane that might, or might not, be able to carry us off the tiny island and back to Honiara.

There was a note of jubilation a the small turbo-prop plane somehow dropped out of the low clouds and circled for a landing at Nusatupe airfield.

There was a note of jubilation a the small turbo-prop plane somehow dropped out of the low clouds and circled for a landing at Nusatupe airfield. Truly a moment of happiness for me, even though my visit to Gizo had been almost entirely wasted, stranded in the rat-infested hotel for over 4 days.

Japanese artillery in the war relics museum of Guadalcanal.

U.S.A.A.F. Lightning aircraft in the Guadalcanal war relics museum, ostensibly among the group of 16 aircraft that shot down Yamamoto over Bougainville in 1943. The relic is rusting to pieces in the open air of the jungle.

Demonstrating that the wing still folds up on this U.S. naval aircraft in the Guadalcanal open-air war relics museum.

Local curator of a Guadalcanal war relics museum points to U.S. insignia on an aircraft. His father hauled all the aircraft here from Henderson Field to start this museum.

Panorama of the U.S. memorial to the soldiers who died in the Battle of Bloody Ridge on Guadalcanal. This part of Bloody Ridge, also called Edson's Ridge, overlooks the winding course of the Lunga River. The Japanese tried unsuccessfully to infiltrate along the river bottom in their effort to take the ridge and threaten Henderson Field from its commanding heights.

Memorial to the Japanese soldiers who died in the assault on Bloody Ridge.

Memorial to Japanese soldiers who died in the assault on Bloody Ridge, one of the most intense battles of the long Guadalcanal campaign.

Since Tropical Storm Rachel had blocked all flights in and out of the Solomons, I actually didn't miss my onward flight to Fiji/Auckland, but did arrive in Auckland a day late.