Answers to the questions...

From e-mail:

*How far are the Russell Islands ( mile wise ) from where you are now?


I have no idea how far away in miles the Russell Islands are! (You can look it up on Google Earth.) I just know it takes us about six hours on the Bikoi.


*Does the boat just run once a week to your village?

The Bikoi leaves from Honiara on Sunday morning and goes all the way out West. We are the first stop on its trip. When it returns on Tuesday, Marulaon is the last stop before Honiara. When we get on the ship, we just look for somewhere to park all of our bags, and then we sit on the bags or stand up. We always take an ice chest and a big bag with life jackets, so those provide a nice place to sit. We're so thankful that the ship returns during the day now. The night trips were a little tricky!

*Other than a market are there any stores to buy supplies that you might need? I know that you take a lot of items with you when you go.

Our neighbors hold a small market for us twice a week so we can buy fresh produce. Sometimes there is food, sometimes there isn't! There is also a small trade store with things like canned tuna and oil and flour and rice, sometimes. The store isn't dependable either. In fact, people come to us if the store runs out of something. So, we plan to take enough food for our family, plus some to share. We take canned pumpkin and carrots, TVP (texturized vegetable protein), some dehydrated green beans, lots of rice, flour, oats, & pasta, cheese, jars of tomato paste, beans, cleaning supplies, lots of stuff. We also have a small garden, but we don't depend on it either. I planted cassava, sweet potato (totally different from the orange sweet potato in the States), green beans, tomato, chinese cabbage, watermelon, cucumber, & pumpkin. I tried planting cantaloupe (rock melon), but the bugs loved it and devoured it as soon as it came up. When we visited with Chief Leonard last week, he said that everything in the garden is doing well, so we hope to find lots of ready-to-eat produce when we return.

*Are there different villages in the Russell Islands?

There are other villages in the Russells, but I'm not sure how many. Maybe 10? One of Aaron's projects this time is to go visit each village. He and Benjamin have visited one village in the East. I've been to one to visit a market, and the whole family has walked to another. We might even put together a calendar for next year in Lavukaleve with pictures from each village.

*Are there still World War II relics around?

Yes! For example, when you visit Honiara, you can take a tour to explore Japanese bunkers, under-water wreckage, etc. One of the families that live nearby in Marulaon proudly showed us a pan from the war that says "Made in the USA". They use it to cook lelenga. Many cartridges with shells inside still wash up close to shore. A few people take the gunpowder and use it to stun fish. It's very dangerous, and everyone I've talked to disapproves. Several men and boys were killed in the Russell Islands around Christmas time when one of the shells exploded as they were extracting gunpowder.


*I would like to know about how many people are in your village.

About 300

From the comments:

*I just love hearing everything about your daily life there. I am constantly amazed at your ability to adapt to the cooking, living without a/c, new foods etc. Will you be able to get a package after March 6 and what else could I put in it besides pecans and baking chips? Have a great day!

SITAG can send packages to us on the Bikoi after March 6. Look on Facebook for the rest of your answer :-)

*I was talking to a friend about your lack of flour on the island, and she asked if you had access to other flours, like rice flour.

We don't have access to any other kind of flour, but we have put oats in the blender to make oat flour. It stretches the wheat flour pretty well.