By Emma Quayle
Water world ... a beach bungalow at Sanbis resort on Gizo Island.Credit: Jessica Hromas
My first thought is a question. "What, here?" I'm peering over the side of the speedboat as it shudders to a sudden stop. Before we left the island of Gizo this morning to spend an afternoon zipping around the outer islands of the Solomons, our guide, Danny, had told us about the American fighter plane "Betsy" that rested just 10 metres beneath the surface.
When the Solomon Islands were a regular meeting place of US and Japanese forces during World War II, Betsy had been shot down by friendly fire; her pilot, Richard Moore, had clambered to safety and Danny had found the wreck 43 years later.
But right here? I look around; there is one island to our right, a long way off, another even further ahead and a whole heap of water in between. This really is the middle of nowhere.
We strip to our bathers, wriggle into snorkels and goggles and dive to see Betsy, a US Navy Grumman Hellcat, intact more than 50 years after she fell from the sky. It is as if time has stood still down here.
It is, however, a common theme: the best things in the Solomon Islands are often stumbled upon. Since the country became better known for its political conflict and internal unrest than its aqua blue water, tourist numbers have dropped sharply, dipping below 2000 in the last few months of 2007.
The current government is so determined to shake those negative perceptions that, on the night we fly into Honiara from Brisbane on Pacific Blue's first direct flight, the Prime Minister, Derek Sikua, shuts down parliament early and comes to our hotel for a cocktail party. The next day, the flight is front-page news in the Solomon Star.
The tourism industry is developing but does not yet have the infrastructure to support huge numbers. Make your plans but be prepared to change them seven times over. It is best to relax and go with the flow.
There are 992 islands in the Solomon Islands chain, with 347 inhabited. We spend a night on the small island of Savo following a 40-minute boat ride from Guadalcanal. Savo is home to two active volcanoes, as well as a small, stocky black bird called the megapode, which looks a little like a chook and incubates its eggs by digging holes deep in the dirt, dropping the eggs inside and covering them up. Villagers collect the eggs, which are worth $1 each at the Honiara markets.
Our trip to see the birds doesn't go to plan. Arriving at 7am, we find someone or something has disturbed the field, scaring them away. Soon, we're back on a boat going to breakfast to taste the eggs when we come across a pod of dolphins, again seemingly from nowhere.
There are at least 100 of them and they jump up and around the boat. I have 86 photos, either blurry or taken a split-second too late, to remind me of the encounter.
Our journey from Honiara to Gizo is a long one. We are supposed to catch a small plane to this popular spot in the Solomons and we're itching to get there. We've heard stories about the snorkelling and diving and that two of the resorts - the secluded Sanbis and Fatboys, with a restaurant that hangs over the water - are excellent places to while away a few hours.
But there isn't enough room for us on the flight to Gizo - remember what I said about not committing to too many plans? Instead, we catch a ferry. At 14 hours it is a reasonably tortuous trip. There isn't much to see in the first five hours and it's cramped inside. But in the second half of the trip, the ferry winds through the beautiful Marovo Lagoon, stopping along the way to drop people home. At each village, locals come down to help unload their bags and boxes. If we had flown over those islands, I would never have imagined there were people living on them.
When you tell people you're visiting the Solomon Islands - by choice - some will look at you a little oddly. "Don't get shot" is a popular hint. There have been Australian soldiers in the Solomons for the past six years but we spot only a few during our few days in Honiara. We bump into two soldiers taking photos of each other at a US war memorial.
And once it's discovered that you are on the lookout for souvenirs in Gizo, watch out: everyone will know your name by lunchtime and you'll be followed around town by men with bags full of carved stone statues. It is the only time I am treated like a tourist.
If you don't mind roughing it and can cope without comprehensive plans, get to the Solomons soon, while they remain unpredictable and largely untouched - good things seem to just happen.
Emma Quayle travelled courtesy of Pacific Blue and the Solomon Islands Visitors Bureau.
TRIP NOTES
Pacific Blue to Honiara flies from Brisbane; passengers from Melbourne and Sydney fly Virgin Blue to connect. Fares from $388 (one way excluding tax). Australians obtain a visitor's permit on arrival for a stay of up to 90 days.
Most accommodation in Honiara is about three stars, although a four-star hotel, the Heritage Park Hotel, will open soon.
* The Honiara Hotel has a pool, restaurant areas and bay views from some rooms. Rooms from $76 to $168 for a deluxe suite, see www.honiarahotel.com.sb.
* The King Solomon is a little more comfortable, with rooms from $147 to $190, see kingsolomonhotel.info.
* The only place to stay on Savo is the Sunset Lodge, phone +677 22517 for rates.
* The Gizo Hotel on the waterfront has rooms from $150, see gizohotel.com. Use it as a jumping-off point to visit Sanbis Resort (solomonwatersport.com/sanbis.htm) and Fatboys (fatboysgizo.com).
Sightseeing there
At Bonegi Beach in Honiara you can snorkel around a Japanese shipwreck a few metres from shore. The area between Guadalcanal and Savo is known as Ironbottom Sound and has 48 ships and aircraft sunk in its waters. Vilu's outdoor war museum, just outside Honiara, is filled with relics such as planes and guns. See visitsolomons.com.sb.
Sign up for the Traveller Deals newsletter
Get exclusive travel deals delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up now.