TOANA TABLES-HONIARA-GUADALCANAL DAY-PUPS ANNUAL-KICHA AND DOLPHINS-FISH FROLIC-LADIES EXAM-HEAD START- CHICKENS AND EGGS-AIR FREIGHT ARRIVAL-HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!-DLC

Hello, Everyone, I have been here for ONE WHOLE YEAR!!! Absolutely amazing- I think I need to do a special letter on "Reflections"! I have learned and experienced so much in a year. But back to August nius- another month flown by, with the addition of 3 more new dive sites. We are truly torn between diving our "old" sites and getting to know them really well, and our mission to ever explore new sites. Life is just full of tough decisions.

Toana Tables joins Toana and Toana Too on our list of favorites- a tiny bay, it shelters far and away the most spectacular array of table corals we've seen anywhere. It doubles as a rare fish mecca- we've added at least 8 new species to our list, including a black long nose butterfly- the only other black I've seen here in 17 years of diving Solomons was at Mari Island. Nate & I were on the drop off- he had shown me a tiny anemone with dancing purple shrimp. With camera set on macro, I was trying to capture these delightful creatures, when I heard Nate yell. There followed the most intense silvertip shark experience yet. Banging on my light enticed her in close several times- her tail and several fins were completely outlined in white.

With our hearts beating and our computers complaining, we ascended into the bay to explore the corals and their residents.

August 5 saw Reliance, Evah, Midget, MacTavish ( reluctantly shoved into their kennels) and me boarding Solomon Express for the 5 1/2 hour trip to Honiara for a week of shopping, playing and the pups annual vet exam. With the Chester House full, and none of the hotels interested in the pups, E mail acquaintances Shirley and Ken Taylor generously offered to share their lovely home perched above Chinatown with a beautiful view of the bay. A fenced yard, gated deck and their dog, Honey, made a perfectly entertaining spot for the pups. I was able to leave them and go about our errands.

Tuesday was the 65th anniversary of the landing of the US marines at Guadalcanal, and we were all invited to the festivities. Our US consular officer, Keithie Saunders, and her tireless assistant, Anne Raenitaro, did a superb job of planning festivities, beginning with a sunrise memorial service at the US Memorial on Skyline Drive, progressing to breakfast and dedication of a memorial to a Coast Guardsman, to a USCG hosted lunch and tour of the buoy tender, USS Walnut, given by an enthusiastic crew. The "Clash of the Bands" between SI Royal Police Band and US Marine band set the sun on the day in a very festive note. Yours truly tapped USMC Brig.

Gen. John Toolan on the shoulder for a quick dance to an old rock tune, to the delight of the crowd. It was a wonderful day- and a tired but elated group headed for home, Evah and Reliance armed with enough stories for months.

The next morning saw me walking the pups in and out of shops in Chinatown, at first to the consternation of other shoppers, then to their delight after being reassured "him no bite", as we were early for our Vet appointment.

Dr. Baddley Anita is the only vet in the entire country, and an extremely knowledgeable and entertaining individual. It was good to see him and his wife, Elizabeth, who were both so helpful in getting the pups into the country, again. A lunch reunion with Val Stanley and Mia Ramon was a delightful hour that passed way to quickly as we tried to catch up with all our news.

After a great deal of winter wind and rainy weather that has kept us diving our sheltered spots, the water has gone FLAT. Last Sunday we loaded the boat with gear, food and pups and headed for Kicha for a 2 tank picnic day.

Our first dive was old favorite Kavachi Korner- an endless drop off, "peopled" by schools of cudas, rainbow runners, surgeons, jacks and the ever present grays. Most unusual was ahuge male green turtle with a giant, cream colored remora hitching a ride. We end that dive in glittering shallow hard coral gardens. After lunch, & naps on the beach, we decided to do#2 differently and dive right from the beach, and do the sheltered drop and end up where we usually do, but coming from the other end of the island. So glad we did. We spotted a school of barracuda off shore and headed out. Only Viso and I stayed, and the school got bigger-and bigger- and bigger and then did the whirling, circular dance that we have seen before only at Mari Island. In one photo, one can barely see water for the density of the cudas.

Of course, we were paying NO attention to where we were, and it took what little compass knowledge I had to get us back to the island. On the way home, we encountered our resident school of spinners- who were leaping and playing alongside; I was riding the bow holding on to 2 frantic pups who desperately wanted to jump in.

Our find this week was Fish frolic off Minjanga. It didn't look like much until we hit 60 feet and a jutting ridge and were immersed in swirling schools of the usual big fish- adding tuna and mackerel to the list. We stayed as long as we could, & finished our dive enjoyingthe myriad anemones and their varying residents that call that corner of Minjanga home.

Sunday saw us at Golden Dawn for the first time in months. This time we dropped in all the way out at the point- right into a small pack of feisty grays, along with the other pelagic characters that frequent the drops.

That is still the most colorful dive I think we have found to date.

Odds and ends- my ladies class all PASSED THEIR FINAL EXAMS!!! Finally.

This has to be the longest running SCUBA class in history. 2 dives to go and they are finished! Hurray! ----We now have eggs aplenty and there is absolutely fresh, organic chicken meat in the freezer. That makes me a VERY happy camper. BTW, Corey reminded me of a secret for cooking older, tougher chickens- throw a few pieces of green papaya in and they come out as tender as you could wish. Our 4 setters have hatched the first chick- Reliance's chicken business is up and running!

Our Head Start program is just priceless. I drop in several times a week- yesterday 1 group was working hard on activities with the number 7; another group was out on a science walk learning about shells, etc. Our enrollment is up to 22 kids- our 4 teachers are just doing such an excellent job!

Thank you, thank you, those who have supported this project- this one is funded now entirely by donations.

 ------- And my air freight from Hawaii FINALLY arrived- minus 1 big box we are trying to locate- and it is Christmas at Vuana in August! Evah & I have had a great time unpacking and sorting. ------And our Distant Learning Center is expanding and we are working on getting internet signal over here.

That would be truly amazing.

As I begin my second year here, I so look forward to really running charters again- we begin very soon- and every dive with my Rescue Class is also training for divemaster. Our mission- to explore new sites as much as we can, and learn to dive older ones to get the absolute most from them for our divers. I am amazed at what we have accomplished in such a short time-construction is truly winding down- our dive shopis ready to stock- and we are so looking forward to sharing our adventures with you.

Take care, be well, Love and hugs to all, Leana via, Lisa