Langa Langa Lagoon, Malaita.

There were so many things I saw in the province of Malaita in the Solomon Islands that I don’t think I’ll ever forget. A grass-runwayed airport with jungle either side and the sea at both ends for starters. But the sight of naturally blonde-haired locals playing bamboo panpipes with old flip-flops/thongs/jandals was pretty remarkable too. Then there’s the sincerity of the village welcomes we had, from elders on a boat who sang as they paddled to greet us, to young musicians singing Waltzing Matilda in a village with no power or running water.

Malaita also imprinted on me the beauty of the jungle, the clarity of the water and at the other end of the scale, the bleak reality of the town of Auki with its boarded-up windows and barbed wire.

All of this is explained in an upcoming article in NZ’s number one travel mag, Let’s Travel. In the meantime, here are my top 60 Malaita Photos. These images include the airport outside of Auki (the largest town in Malaita), Auki itself, the artificial islands of Langa Langa Lagoon (including Busu where we attended the Shell Money Festival) and Bio village on the mainland of Malaita where we met a missionary couple and their five (yes, five!) children.


Click here to link to the Let’s Travel website and to find out about print and digital subscription details.


Click here to link to the Solomon Islands Visitors Bureau Website.

Click here to see my previous Solomon Islands photo essay, this on my top 50 Guadalcanal photos.

Enjoy the photos.