March 2, 2026
Got to have a full circle moment tonight! When we went to Upie Resort in Solomon Islands we met Mollie Smith, the school teacher there on the island for the owner's children. We loved chatting with her at dinners and when we ran into her on the island. We got to dive with Mollie on our last scuba outing. She has since completed her 2 year stint at Upie and now is back teaching in Tauranga, NZ. Mollie is British, but has lived in NZ, with her family about 11 years. It was great to catch up - we all loved Upie soo much! I invited Mollie to join us to see the glow worms, something she had never done and we had such a nice night! She picked us up at the Port and we had a yummy Italian dinner first at Alpino Mount Mauganui and then lots of laughs kayaking the Wairoa River at Waimarino Adventure Park.
Above and a couple of the better photos below from operators website and fellow residents who joined us. It was so dark none of mine are that good. I did capture Bosco, Mollie, Kimberly & myself in our goofy gear. Turns out glow worms are actually a fungus gnat larva used to catch prey into sticky silk threads in caves ans damp environments. Which is what I got brushing against my face when were entered the grove area to float and observe the big display of glow worms! Yuke! But kinda cool too!
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Next stop on the VIETNAM FUN TOUR is HOI'AN - The City of Laterns! I had arranged a private car to take us between all the major locations and towns for the 5 days we were touring the interior. He delivered us to Hoi'An in just about an hour from Ba Na Hills . Here we stayed 2 nights and had lots of relaxing time built in. Again the heat was oppressive! The driver recommended below tailor to me as I mentioned I might want to have a dress custom made as that is another thing the town is known for with 24 hour turn around.
Coconut Boat Tour sounds perfect to keep the Fun rolling! The hotel offered a tour, with pick up and return, so easy peasy!
I had dubbed this the Fun Tour of Vietnam! We could have gone to all the historic war memorials and museums, and I totally respect and am grateful to All those who gave so much. I just didn't want that, to be my only insight into Vietnam and it's lovely people. In the morning, we again explored more of the village and our room stay included a huge buffet breakfast. We checked out by 10:30 am and took the cable car back down by 11 am to meet our driver and head to our next stop.