We came to Viro Harbor because it looked easy to get to  - and it was! We also thought if we anchored way across the harbor from the village we would avoid as many visitors. This was not to be!

I have to say, we didn't have as many visitors, but we still had MANY carvers that wanted to sell their wares.

We became friendly with this man and he brought us to his home and introduced us to his brother and daughters.

On the left is a shot of his daughter and son. We joined these folks for church on Sunday and you can see that they have an outreach in South America. In other words, they see themselves well enough off to give to others around the globe that may be in greater need.

Our friend took us on a tour of his village. We were pretty impressed with the order and beauty of the area.

He showed us some of the WWII relics. Members of his village had led the US troops through the jungle behind in order to (literally) push the Japanese off the cliff where they manned a gun that controlled the harbor entrance. A couple of those WWII veterans from his village were still alive. The people of the Solomon Islands are still grateful to the US for liberating them from the Japanese oppression.

This photo shows the entrance to Viro Harbor and also the houses up on the hill. These houses would be safe from a tsunami.

We also became friendly with this man and he told us he was a convicted murderer. He's been released from jail and has turned his life around and now enjoys spending time with his daughters. He comes from Malaita Island and the people there like to drink and fight. So that's what he did. He said that he's killed several men! Now he's met the Lord and has turned his life around.

The area around Guadalcanal Island and Malaita Island is still not terribly safe and we decided to limit our travels to the western region of the Solomon Islands because of that. We really didn't have a great deal of time, so it made more sense for us to get up to Gizo and travel in that area. Many locals told us that it's the people from Malaita Island that have caused all the problems and from what this gentleman said, I think that's accurate.

All the kids were on the dock to see us off!