November 16, 2025

Another great day exploring the South Pacific! Today as soon as our ship docked in Honiara, and we were cleared by customs, I was off with 9 other residents, to get in 2 small speed boats and head out to Simon's Nature Reserve in the Solomon Islands. It was about an hour long ride across the Iron Bottom Sound but so worth it to experience this special place!

Lyn, Alex & Chaz, Lori & I were in one boat and Phil & Kim, Sue & Ed and Ben were in the other.Simon's village and reserve was great. They greeted us with hand made super fragrant lei's and provided a huge "snack" tray to each of us ( was bigger than most lunches)  and had all their local favorites! My lei was honey suckle, a personal favorite, lovely!! The kids were so friendly and sweet and the snorkeling here was stunning! Video doesn't do it justice! This is not a typical tourist spot and Simon's preservation work for the last 20+ years really shows. Google Simon's Nature Reserve Baroni, Solomon Islands.

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After spending the morning at Simon's we headed to Roderick's Bay which we thought was just another snorkel spot and were delighted to find out there was a German expedition cruise ship the MS WORLD DISCOVERER wrecked there since April 30, 2000. They struck an uncharted reef and the captain was able ground the ship to prevent it from sinking on  the edge of this small village and get all 79 passengers and crew off safely. It was declared a total loss and abandoned in Roderick Bay. Soooo Cool !! We had a great afternoon snorkeling here and they had another lunch feast waiting for us when we arrived!

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MAGNETIC ISLAND - KOALA'S

By Patricia Patrick • February 15, 2026
We got up at 6:45am to get to National Park Forts Walk trail in the hope of seeing koalas . Prior walkers mark trails with tree branches pointing in the direction of their sighting and we were luck enough to see 3 markers in our first hour of hiking. It is so stinking hot and humid the success we had made it bearable. The koala population on the island started with 20 brought over in 1930, to escape fur hunters. Today, the island boast 800 to 1000, and they are so cute and drowsy. They need 20 hours of sleep a day! The early morning is when they are the most active.

MAGNETIC ISLAND, AUSTRALIA

By Patricia Patrick • February 14, 2026
Just off the coast of Townsville, Australia is a special little island (that used to be part of mainland, hundreds of thousands years ago). The island was formed by molten granite that was pushed to the earth's surface with volcanic force.Over time the volcanic overlay weathered away leaving an extraordinary landscape of rounded domes and boulders, many as big as a house and spectcularly perched. Over Seventy Percent of the center of the Island is a National Park. There is lots of wildlife here too - koalas, rock wallabies, snakes & birds.

CAIRNS, AUSTRALIA

By Patricia Patrick • February 14, 2026
This is my third time in CAIRNS, AUSTRALIA and I really enjoy how walkable, clean and charming it is. The waterfront esplanade and lagoon area is a nice walk day or night. We had 2 nights here in the waterfront Shangri La Marina Hotel while waiting for the Ship to arrive and then 2 additional days in Port.