*DXPEDITION REPORT* 135DA/0, Solomon Islands

– April 27, 2025Posted in: DXpedition Reports

The Solomon Islands is a necklace of 992 paradisical island pearls, strung across an intoxicating 3000 km of Pacifica blue.

Deceptively known as the “Happy Isles”, it’s a fusion of cultures (Mele, Poly, Micro, Asian and Euro), not always harmonious, where individuals honour traditional lifestyles around farming, fishing and family on outer isles, while those around the capital, Honiara, are torn between centuries’ year-old beliefs, now permeated by toxic western values and influences.

Beneath the divisiveness of warring political parties, sporadic street rioting, and torching of buildings in China town, is an almighty beauty, if not, at times, a dark wan.

Mesmerizing beaches, mountainous rainforest, and enchanting wildlife, intermingle with ancient cannibalistic customs, still rumored to be practiced in some remote villages. From the bloodiest and fiercest of WWII battles, rusting relics—tanks, aircraft and sunken ships—dot the land and sea bed of Guadalcanal, also.

As a DXCC entity, the Solomons is seldom clusterised on ham bands. Even less so on eleven meters. In fact, only 3 legit dxpedition style activities are credited on Freeband QRGs in the past 4 decades!

In the mid 1990’s, a CB radio school to inspire niu hams, born in Honiara, failed to take hold and resident ops who sporadically took to the airways of 27 MHz, either went SK, or were displaced from the hobby when their radio died and/or the internet and mobile phones pilfered their interest.

For this, his 12th DA/0 activity, 43DA001 Darren’s venture to the Solomons—2000 km to the northeast of his home in QLD—follows poor results in 2017, when, at the bottom of the previous cycle, he was active for OC-047, netting just 19 contacts in 7 days.

Before that, it was 2011 with wontok 43DX234 Tom, again in challenging circumstances, where only 200 stations were logged in 12 days from a church hostel on a ridge overlooking the capital.

For this chapter, however, prop forecasts were much more appealing; and this was the catalyst for a return trip to Division 135 for Take-3 of Solomon Islands dx adventure and the chance to provide a “Niu DXCC” or, at the very least a “Niu Island”, for DX Hunters in the 11m Community.

After a 2 night stay in Honiara, “Mr Pacific” begins his account with the boarding of the Pelican Express, enroute to Malaita Province in the OC-047 IOTA Group.

DAY 1: Sunday, April 6

In the Solomons, head hunters collect trophy skulls. I’m collecting contacts with major DX markets and the feeling is, no doubt, just as exhilarating as I board the Express Pelican II bound for Malaita. Dugout canoes still serve as the main mode of transport here and they’re as elegant as skeeters as they glide across the solwata, but the 45m long passenger ship by Roble Shipping fits the purpose on this instance for myself and the hundreds of other locals who’ve crammed on board.

In just under 3 hours, we’re nearing the shores of Malaita, known lovingly by the locals as “Mala”, “Mara” or “Mwala”. Here, a panorama of lagoon vistas blurs into impenetrable shades of green where rainforest sekhan with sand, and sand sekhan with water. I spy, also, a small waterway which snakes between mountains towards the ocean and wedge-tailed shearwaters chasing schools of tuna that herd baitfish into dense balls. The lagoon itself is trimmed with magnificent kastom homes on stilts above the sea, with bamboo used for walls, split palm leaves for flooring and sago palm leaves for thatch rooves.

In no time we’ve disembarked from the vessel onto Auki wharf and I’m in a car with an aelan man reconnoitering for ham friendly accommodation in and around wan of the Solomon’s largest provincial towns.

Undoubtedly, the ultimate QTH as far as DX warfare goes is upon the hill, overlooking the sprawling town below. It’s a spacious but derelict hotel, empty of guests, somewhat empty of character and soul; except for the lovely YL managing the place who does her best to convince mifela to stay.

But the thought of being so far detached from amenities means I politely decline and settle, instead, on a site closer to the village center; wan endorsed by resident ham, H44DA Shane, who shares his time between the western side of Malaita and VK’s east coast.

Auki Motel is a neat and tidy 16 room establishment, complete with a common room, lounge, upstairs kitchen, dining area and balcony which overlooks surrounding streets, including a police compound opposite. Most importantly, though, there’s space at the rear of the complex where incomplete construction has left structures for the securement of an antenna!

With the help of 2 maintenance workers, Lex and Colin, I craft together the fiberglass spreaders and wire of the Skypper (by 1AT90 Ivan) and manipulate the cable into a 6-turn choke to guard against RF, held tight with plastic zip-ties. I then fasten the NBS telescopic mast to a pillar of reo rods and, in just under 60 min, have the antenna braced some 12m above the ground, guyed at 4 points, and aimed at Europe (EU) via the short path (SP).

Turning my attention to the room now and a 25 m length of Messi & Paoloni cable, clipped with ferrite clamps to enhance noise filtering, is fed from Aunty Anna, down the mast, and through the open door of Room 16.

A Messi & Paoloni PL259 plug is then screwed into port 1 of a Yaesu FT-950 transceiver which waits on a wooden table alongside a SILVA compass, HP Laptop and other gizmos, for its call of duty. Incidentally, the double seal of this type of plug is said to ensure better protection against the infiltration of water, humidity and condensation which is more probable in tropical WX environments laek this one.

These jockey for space with a single bed, lounge chair and small beer fridge, tucked into a living quarter with an adjoining bathroom which consists of a loo, shower, wash basin and mirror.

Imaginably, I’m practically vibrating with anticipation as the first call of 135DA/0 is made at 07:30 UTC, instantly snagging big fish in the oversized Oceania (OC) lagoon on the designated QSY frequency.

“Halo DX!”

Landed are krangge hunters 43DX234 Tom on Australia’s East Coast, 43UNITED45 Grant on its distant West Coast and 153AT777 Jan in Thailand’s Buengkan province. A few choice spots on 11DX Cluster, thereafter, triggers an attack of other Asia-Pac ops from Japan (25), Korea (100), Hong Kong (60) and more.

In the final days of their exciting tour of French Polynesia, I’m ecstatic to work the 201DA/FO-008 dxpedition team—Fred, Nick, Chris and the Girls—on Petai Island and super appreciative for the “Niu Wan”.

With no kaikai in the guts since departure from Honiara, and no internet or phone connectivity for DX side-time, I’m comforted by a whisky glass and 750 ml bottle of Jim Beam purchased from Duty Free at Henderson Field airport.

Tonight, the first EU station logged is 18VOG001 Jim from the southern tip of the Balkans and this sparks a stakka hours of rambunctious Europa DX, with a few other salt & pepper regions sprinkled in.

After quintessential Big Gun 35AT160 Peter calls in, DA comrades 1DA086 Carmelo, 30DA010 Sergio and 45DA010 Dejan in Serbia are prominent inclusions, but it’s the arrival of 168EK010 in Mauritius, about 2000 km off the south-eastern coast of East Africa, which has my head spinning laek an external VFO.

In the end, day 1 is sealed with 349 stations in the log and 135DA/0 is off to a brilliant start!

DAY 2: Monday, April 7

Monday announces its arrival with radiant sunlight and a fantacular opening with the Americas. Calls from parochial SSB stations in Estados Unidos Mexicanos are a feature with 10RM555 Edgar, 10AT258 Hugo and 10W01 Alejo joining the early morning fiesta with staggering signals.

Following a fistful of contacts around breaky time, I’m out on foot gathering essentials for the shack, including a Solomons sim and data plan to access the net. The Telekom building is a 5 min walk from the lodging and the process is easy enough; $20 Sol ($4 AUD) for 2 weeks of data is awfully cheap.

In search of postcards for sponsor-wontok, I luck into a post office where I befriend 2 effervescent local YL—Eldo and Grace (Pictured above) —who work the desk. Their excellent grasp of English and wicked sense of humor is refreshing, on an island where very few speak the tongue.

Here, I purchase 130 postcards with international postage stamps at $16.00 SOL each (approx. $3.20 AUD per card). The cards are timeworn and plain, yet this only adds to their character as a spesol memento, direct from the island to supporters scattered across the globe.

My fave Pacifica shack snacks are ngali nuts, popcorn and bananas and these are in abundance at the markets this morning, a further 5 min walk up the road. Warm toothy grins and sparkling eyes under browny-blonde mops of hair, acknowledge me as I meander up and down aisles of fresh produce, trucked in to the capital from rainforest gardens and distant fishing villages such as Suava Bay, Onepusu, and Mandalua.

Laid out on tables beneath a concrete shelter funded by Japanese Aid, a stone’s throw from the sea and the shores of Little Malaita island in the distance, are rif puka, near-shore pelagics such as bluefin tuna and bonito, fruit & veg such as pineapples, sweet potato and coconut, handicrafts such as shell jewellery and woven baskets, and home-baked treats such sweet buns and doughnuts which fill table, after table, across an area of some 50m2.

And of course, there’s stalls of betel nut — the local drug of choice!

In no time, my backpack is a medley of Pacifica delights mixed with conventional white man snacks, including 3 in 1 Super kafe sachets, FMF breakfast crackers and Cheese Twisties, and I’m sauntering up the hill towards my sleepy DX retreat.

Drowning in perspiration from the thick humidity, I collapse into the chair, and with the ceiling fan on helicopter speed, the 40 amp PowerTech supply is flicked on and 135DA/0 is back firing on 27.615 MHz USB. Sacrificing sleep for signals via the short path, NA, SA and OC flags are on the plate mid-morning with bountiful helpings of Brazil, USA and Australia (out the back door).

In our amazing community, the appetite for rare DX is palpable as the jungle’s most notorious Freeband predators swing into action, seizing a niu OC-047 island or Division for their DX kill sheet.

I copy thunderous 5/9+ signals from old-hand DX-Man 43DA050 Geoff on Australia’s east coast, DA-RC stalwart 2DA120 Tom in Texas and, in the Gilbert Isles, 224AT104 Ienimoa on Buariki Islet, site of the ferocious WWII Battle of Buariki.


Dinner this evening is crispy fish with mini-capsicums, tomatoes, onion and rice, wasim down with a couple of 4% Canoe Lagers. Counting the beers, tonight’s meal consists solely of locally caught or grown produce which only adds to the experience.

It’s now I meet Martin, an elderly gent of pommy descent, who works for the US Agency for International Development (USAID). That is until Trumpy knocked funding on the head to leave this gudfela stranded in the Solomons. His daughter Caroline and hubby Paul have travelled to Malaita to spend time with her dad; and they join mifela for a scrumptious feed at the Motel.

Later, my belly a stuffed pepper, the evening’s first EU station—93AT011 Norb from the island of Malta between Sicily and the North AF coast—is harvested at 09:33 UTC and this spurs an opening with other southern EU stations, plus an amazing LP moment with SA. Brazilian big-boppers 3SD170 Thiago, 3AT204 Tim and 3DX013 Bruno, combine with others such as 4AT189 in the Argentine Republic, to flood the freq; but at 2am SBT time, sapped of energy, I close down the station to get some shut-eye before the daybreak DX rolls in.

DAY 3: Tuesday, April 8

A marble bag of Asian and Pacific ops feature in the log this morning, as rain belts down from clouds as black as bruises in the Solomon sky.

From NZ’s North Island (OC-036), DXpedition maestro 41DA981 Giovanni is in the box at 02:11 UTC, no doubt still high on kava from his incredible 249 endeavors on Tauhunu Islet (OC-014) in Jan.

On the podium also, are 302SD200 Slava on Sakhalin Island (AS-020) at the far eastern end of Russia, 91EK104 Ayah on the Indonesian island of Java (OC-021) and 17SD001 Jim on Hawaii’s Big Island (OC-019).

The capital of Malaita Province, Auki is built on the northern end of Langa Langa Lagoon and it’s here where my ham friendly housing lies. Yagi take-offs from a ridge behind the Auki Motel—for AS, EU and western OC in particular—are excellent so it’s not surprising that ops in these zones dominate the log.

Around lunch, I’m out and about once more, exploring backstreets, as wontok go about their everyday dealings.

Malaitan families, I’m told, rely on sea sustenance, artisan and/or agri lifestyles, while post-school-age teens supplement house-hold income with casual work in either Chinese owned stores or roadside cigarette/betel nut stalls and this is all on-show during my fleeting stint away from the rig.

Once more, I find myself mingling with vendors at a market, smaller than the seaside wan and centered more on locally grown crops such as cassava, pineapple, pumpkin and more, all laid out on ground mats for potential customers.

In this instant, I say halo to hubby and wife missionaries from the US, Coulton and Melody, and their 4-year-old son, who are buying food items for their church kitchen. Melody doubles as a nurse while Coulton is a Presbyterian Pastor and part-time tinkerer of all things mechanical. Their crusade is to spread the word of God on the island and put in place systems so that Solomon aelan men and YL might continue their legacy into the future.

They’re 2 extraordinarily kind and self-less people!

A painted sunset in the rear-vision mirror, I trek towards the accommodation, my guts swishing with a delicious Ulu, coco-milk and melon slurry after an arvo of chillaxation and indulgence at the seaside fair.

Tonight, the torte-laek layers of modulation, as the band opens unexpectedly, are indecipherable. That is until I jettison into split freak mode and am hand-spearing contacts like fish at a QSO rate of up to 5 per minute.

Outfitted with super stations, yet devoid of DX decorum, pile-up saboteurs in southern EU are infrequent speed bumps for seamless logging but it’s the self-interest of wan OM in particular which has mifela tossing the Sennheiser HD400s on the table in disgust.

Filched of patience, I rip another cold SolBrew from the fridge and finally settle back into the chair for more callsign decrypting, hoping the blind caller has moved on, along with his seeing eye-dog.

Despite the odd disruption to kwiktaem logging praxis, I’m overjoyed that tonight’s brouhaha nets a staggering 250 stations and 776 in total by the close of play!

DAY 4: Wednesday, April 9

With the log looking fuller than a fat girl’s sock, I organise a boat ride to Langa Langa and a date with the mysterious Solwata People.

Known locally as “Akwalaafu”, this is a spectacular natural pond, some 21 km in length and just under 1 km wide, on the island’s west coast. Here, residents are famous for their shark worship beliefs, shipbuilding skills and shell money making and I’m fascinated to learn more about their incredible culture. To protect themselves against attack from inland tribes, I’m told the Solwata People built around 60 artificial islands within the lagoon. The main wan here include Funaafou, Foueda, Sulufou, Saua, Ferasubua and Adagege.

Legend has it that families would take their canoe out to the rif to dive for rocks, then return to a selected site to drop them into the drink. Eventually, an island was born, 1 rock at a time!

Here, I enjoy snorkeling alongside gigantic puka such as trevally, coral trout and Maori wrasse, and am later captivated by shell-money making demos, skills which are inherited, I’m told, from father to son. Consisting of small polished shell disks which are drilled and inserted onto strings up to 1.5m length, this money, I learn, is the customary currency used all throughout Div 135 for certain things. A status symbol when worn as an adornment, it’s also the preferred payment for bride price, funeral feasts and compensating others for wrongdoings.

Home by 4pm SBT time, I fuel up on Tuna steak, veges and Poi—a savory side dish brewed from rinsed taro roots and ground into paste—and scan the band for greyline DX which kicks off at around 6:00 UTC.

To the south, 268AT101 Doug on Lord Howe Island (OC-004) has the pulse racing when he calls in to the QRG.

A few hours later, intensifying signals from EU agitate for a shift to split mode and I’m soon listening up 10 as ops swarm the freq. Here, the pileup’s heartbeat is the hum of a thousand outboard motors and I’m treated to a banquette of nations in the northern hemisphere.

Potential casualties of booming audio and intermittent over-zealous calling, though, are the small pistols who must dip into their tactical arsenal to get the job done.

For others, the task is so much easier and planets align more often for these OM when it comes to working rare ones! Big antenna, big power, big skills, no worries! Provided of course that they can actually hear the DX station and aren’t having pretend QSOs with themselves or cheating on the Kiwi SDR hihi!

Contacts with guys on wire dipoles, base verticals or mobile whips on cars, trucks, even caravans, become more prevalent, though, with most of the continent’s big wigs already logged. Wan can only imagine the elation of working a most wandem Pacific DXCC with a modest station. For these guys, it’s a matter of listening and calling on the right day, at the right second, and on the right QRG, but they prove it’s not impossible.

The 24 hour shift ends with 600 in the log and a whole heap of gratitude from mifela for the manner in which the pile-up has ‘behaved’ over the last 62 hours.

DAY 5: Thursday, April 10

Breaky today is a platter of fresh fruits—of baby melons, Ripley Queen pineapple, banana and papaya—plus 2 cups of hot Arabica bean kafe from the steeped highlands of Guadalcanal.

In the midst of a stakka contacts with mainland Aussie sidewinders on 27.365 MHz LSB, I’m on a collision course with island DXers such as 172DX101 Kevin on Grande Terre (OC-032) , 196SD001 Marvyn on Guadeloupe (NA-102) and 43WR18 Jamie on Tasmania (OC-006).

From 4-7 UTC, the band is a ghost town, so, with the Yaesu purring away in the background, I take a moment to write postcards, at the table outside my room, for the significant number of sponsors who’ve contributed towards costs of this venture. First sighted by Spanish explorer Alvaro de Mendaña in 1568, Malaita Province is the most populous and largest of the Solomons. But it’s Sunday—worship day—and Auki streets, as well as the Motel, are deserted. 

Adventuring from the shack, I stumble across a brackish lagoon where small puka dart, Dwarf Kingfishers flit across the surface and dugout canoes tied to trees, rest in the shallows. In the shade of a coconut palm, I lounge by the carcass of a fallen tree, and continue working on the postcards — just 80 to go hihi!

On return, I duck into copious stores, owned and managed by Chinese capitalists who sit atop high chairs overlooking the floor, with locals manning counters and performing all interactions with customers. Shelf items are an eclectic montage of food (e.g. cans of SolTuna, Mamee noodles, tea & kafe), sanitary items (shavers, soap, toothpaste), bric-a-brac and more.

Soon after, blinkered by pelting rain, I’m dodging craters, cars and canines on the way back to the shack where I slide into a hot shower to wasim away mud and stink from my body.

After a yummy Green PawPaw Curry with rice for dinner, I’m back in the chair chasing DX with the Skypper’s 12.1 dBi gain at 340 degrees, hitting clandestine skeds on 10 & 11m for radio wontok.

The whistle, spit and sizzle of an open band is laek a mating call for any spirited DX guy and suddenly I’m scribing log entries from multiple DXCC across Europe in euphoric conditions.

Unfortunately, how to crack a pileup remains the equivalent of learning Egyptian hieroglyphics for some guys who cave under the pressure of working a most wandem station. Common sense, decency and courtesy go out the window and a lunatic ‘LID’ appears in its place!

On a brighter note, 26 Division ops are stars of the show with 26MP1305 Mark, 26DA010 Scott and 26DA283 Jason front-and-centre of picket fence prop which winds up in the wee hours.

1095 stations are ITL!

DAY 6: Friday, April 11

This morning, modulation meanders about the band from SA and OC stations and a stakka niu DXCC are added to the log.

With the Skypper at 40 degrees, I read 132UNIT010 Langrus on Kwajalein Atoll (OC-086), 72EK101 Brent in Guatemala and 224SD101 Ruaia on Betio Islet (OC-017) and others.

Into the markets after lunch, past tables where ladies fan puka to keep them cool, to the edge of the bay is the Jopanara Kaibar Café, an integral part of the market micro-economy. Unassuming laek most of Auki, this café prepares and sells organic produce, purchased from the surrounding stalls, manipulating it with exotic flavours such as chili oil, turmeric and ginger.

It’s my fave place in town and I savor a wholesome lunch of rif puka and crunchy taro chips, while chin-wagging with the owner, Mary, overlooking the bay. I’m hanging off every word as she details her life as a 60 yr old widow, raising a young son who balances school with helping his mum in the café, her unwavering faith in God, and a passion for cooking. Her tales of love, loss and adventure as a 3-part Malaita / 1-part Chinese woman are intriguing and we develop a spesol friendship over the course of my stay.

Buoyed by adrenalin and the allure of forthcoming dx, I arrive back at the shack mid-arvo, and turn the Skypper from SP Central America to SP EU, crossing of course AS and Middle Eastern nations enroute.

At 8:00 UTC, the radio spectrum is pregnant with DX, necessitating a move away from simplex ops on the advice of Band Police. As if anticipating the change, some listeners are sharp on the uptake of a split freq announcement and swoop on an opportunity to be heard on the niu RX coordinates.

Still, the pile-up is a jabberwocky of romeos, alfas, deltas, tangos, charlies and more, with each series of digits pointing to another face, another station, another DXCC; although much easier to manage in split mode.

Above the buzz of mini-tyrants with an insatiable appetite for blood, roaring signals are noted from 109SR101 Simon in Hungary, 330AT112 Tom in the landlocked Slovak Republic and 329CZ010 Venda in the Czech Republic.

Fatigued yet fulfilled, day 6 concludes with 1393 stations ITL and I’m comatose as soon as my head hits the pillow.

DAY 7: Saturday, April 12

Aussie stations are Sea Turtle eggs around the lower portion of 11m, as OC DX dominates the morning. Prominent are Kangaroo & Kiwi (KK) club members and others from each of the DXCC’s 7 states and territories.

An hour east of Auki by foot, plus 1 small kastom fee admission price, is Riba Cave and, today, it’s on the agenda when band conditions are in cardiac arrest. With stalagmites, several large chambers and an underground river flowing through it, this spesol place is gives a somewhat haunting feel but it’s nice to recharge the batteries there for an hour or 2 after a pretty grueling trek through the forest.

Back at the Motel mid-arvo after some epic dxpedition downtime, the wind makes itself known through invisible MMA wrestling moves on the poor Skypper as I attempt a change of beam heading. Wan minute, it’s twisting the antenna into a triangle choke hold; the next, it’s threatening an aggressive full take-down. The fiberglass spreaders, however, hold firm!

At 07:55 UTC, I’m relishing life when 132DA012 Tom from Majuro Atoll calls in. This brilliant contact follows a run of OC based ops, headlined by 43AT099 Shane, 43KK180 Brendan and 43SR003 Herdy from West Oz, plus a procession of ops in New Caledonia via backscatter.

It’s dusk on a Friday and there’s a live panpipe band in the distance that will, when the sky becomes a fiery orange, no doubt segue into a dance party. Tonight, however, I’m impeccably equipped for a DX marathon; SolBrew, shack snacks such as Ngali Nuts, Nambo and spicy Kokoroko wings, and well-rested also thanks to a coupla hours’ kip in the arvo. It’s fortunate too, as incoming signals are a labyrinthine of eels—twisting, twirling and turning—but uncoiled into log entries via the earcups of HD-400s headphones as the clock ticks towards midnight.

Best and worst practice is on show tonight which makes for entertaining listening. Shrewd operators listen intently. They study the pile-up’s pulse, the habits of the DXpeditioner who handles it; patterns, nuances and trends. When the signal meter dictates it, and an opportunity presents, their strike is decisive. Laek a hunter, 1 clean shot for a kill is their objective. Meanwhile others spray QRZ bullets from Browning M1917 machine guns in the hope wan will hit the mark. It’s 2 x completely different modulus operandi but their potential impact on a pile-up dynamic is substantial.

Amidst signs of arctic flutter, Frenchmen deliver another stellar performance with 14A33 Eric, 14AT203 Xavier and 14SD205 Dom receiving top billing. With them are a galleon of Spaniards, comprising 30IR134 Luis, 30DA202 Javier and 30RC555 Antonio, flanked by ops from the Mediterranean archipelago of the Balearics, counting 49AT243 Tom and 49LR010 Jose, who raise the total to 1491 ITL by 12:55 UTC.

My wakeup call, a cruel 4 hours later, is handiwork being done in an upstairs room and it’s laek acupuncture to the eyeballs. Time for kafe and an infusion of caffeine joie de vivre!

DAY 8: Sunday, April 13

My thirst for pre-dawn DX quenched thanks to a 30-contact hike into Canada (9), Alaska (33) and the US (2), I switch off the rig and leave the lodge for errands.

By the solwata at sunrise hunting kokoroko eggs and other nibblies from Auki Market, I see low-slung mist which cloaks nearby islands and feel the day’s first drops of precipitation upon my cap. Time to seek refuge inside the Jopanara Kaibar Café! Settled by a window, I see rain clouds fuse with the sea, and grey hues shroud dugout canoes moored along the oceanfront. A tasty feed of ball rice, taro chips and Chinese Ace cola eliminates a hangry morning, with the DX Gods again failing to deliver on promised LP prop forecasts.

Soon after, a 30-min line-up at the town’s only bank ATM (by BSP) to withdraw Sol Dollars is a top opportunity to mingle with the villagers, regardless of dreary WX.

In the Solomons, violating social taboos or causing offence to others is considered a cultural insult and I’m privy to bits and pieces of a ragchew between aelan men in the queue about ‘compensation’. My limited grasp of Pijin English suggests the men are discussing construction work which commenced on privately owned land, without the necessary permits, but their passion is clear. I’ve read that tradition calls for the donation of valuables from guilty parties to ease and resolve conflict.

This exchange is known as “fa abua” or “fa okae” and from what I can gather, the parties who commenced the building work will need to dip into their pockets.

At 10pm SBT time, the band abruptly opens and Polish stations are laek schools of sardines in a Malaitan fishing net with a bycatch of other OMs from Central EU. Tonight, moments of RF, however, sabotages acoustics so adjustments are made to TX settings via the internal menu of the FT-950.

Despite adjacent-channel interference, and incessant earwigging from Italian ragamuffins, pro-DX pikpik 161SD002 Tom, 161RC128 Kuba and 161DX018 Slawek are ushered into the log, while meetings with 178AT111 Andy in the Balkans, 233EK166 Marian in Romania and 330AT200 Matej in the Slovakia, have a kava laek effect on the shack!

Satisfied, DX on day 8 is terminated on the stroke of midnight with 1663 stations in the log!

DAY 9: Monday, April 14

27 MHz cons today are a tribal war club to the head and reports from Heliophysicians of solar flares only adds to the misery.

Skipping breaky, I use the occasion instead to further align the body clock to EU operating windows and pinch a few more hours sleep.

A lofty ridge to the south of the Motel appears to have had a detrimental impact on log entries from the Americas with barely a station recorded from the Caribbean and Central American regions in particular. The transciever, however, remains on and I’m awaken in the early arvo by audio from Venezuelan ops 5SD145 and 5SD172 who are buzzing about laek blowflies in a beer bottle.

Outside, rain blankets the town and the Motel’s tin roof is battered, busted and bruised by drops as big as coconuts. Admin tasks (such as online log updates, sponsor and DXpedition Pilot updates, email replies, etc.) consume most of the day, interrupted only to ‘Search & Pounce’ a few rare ones, and sneak in a slap-up feed of crackers topped with mashed banana to fill the appe-tank.

Utilizing 10m beacons and leveraging Grey Line phenomenon, I’m delighted to work 76VD013 Michel in Morocco, 100KPI001 Han in South Korea and 106SD101 Santi in Melilla, against the backdrop of a spectacular betel nut red sunset.

QRV for the EU DX window, the Skypper’s director is at 340 degrees with a clear runway across the Solomon Sea towards the world’s biggest DX market and 100 watts is cast into the atmosphere. Asian fishing boats on FM, however, are a throw rug of QRM which suffocates the QRG, still I continue to call “CQ DX”, hoping my TX is causing the same disruption to their marine babble.

With the scent of salt and seaweed filling the air, and frequency fisticuffs played out, 13DA012 Joe, 56SD106 Ville and 302KCB968 Dimitris in Northern Asia are among the fellows recorded tonight and the log rests on the cusp of the magical 1800 mark!

DAY 10: Tuesday, April 15

As the sun rises above Little Malaita, wan of 209 enchanting isles in the OC-047 group, I’m worn and wearied until a hit of caffeine has mifela amped up and tracking dx in the southern parts of the Americas. 3SKD001, 3DA007 Ali and 3AT101 call in to say “halo”, while on the back of the wire, 133EK112 Mr Lito on Saipan Island (OC-086) in the far-flung Northern Marianas IOTA group is a prized scalp.

Lunchtime, I’m gate crashing the jollity of pikaninnis at the wharf, and jumping from concrete pillars between ships such as the Ocean Joy and Ocean Mary (Pictured above and below). Apart from being awesome fun—launching bellyflops, cannon balls and can openers from at least a wavelength above the surface—the solwata soothes bites of vampiristic insects who invaded the shack last night.

Not far from the wharf, the aroma of local delicacies is foreplay for the taste buds, as I traipse past smiling faces in rubber thongs. Tended by aelan YL in frangipani dress, puka and karapa sizzle on BBQs here only metres from the sea, where wontok gather for picnics and games of volleyball.


From 7:00 UTC, a mini-porthole opens with AS & EU and small pistols in sudden bursts on the QRG over the next 6 hours ensures I’m busier than a wan legged man at an arse kicking contest. On Luzon Island (OC-042), 79AT123 Nilo is logged and I’m inebriated with joy when 62WR021 emerges from the Micronesian island of Guam (OC-026).

At 3:00 am SBT, my fatigue is a thin bedspread tattered with M1903 Springfield Rifle bullet holes as the DX refuses to subside. It’s difficult to articulate DX phraseology in a zombified state due to lack of sleep, but sooner or later I nod off and wake-up some 4 hours on, with the rig still running and HD-400s laek a noose around my neck.

DAY 11: Wednesday, April 16

Sun-up, the band is alive with South Americans, all of whom are already logged, yet nothing via the LP with EU.

A mouthwatering prawn omelet is on the menu for brunch, wasim down throat with chilled coconut milk, straight from the shell, and this is savored on the upstairs veranda of the Motel while I check in with the XYL and pikaninnis back home. The sky is brooding and unpredictable here—blue sky wan minute, wind and rain the next—just like the day-time DX which has effectively dried-up the past 48 hours!

Dwarfed by the hills and equally vast sky, I bump along the road towards the Kwaibala Waterfall, allegedly 3km away but more laek 10.

Skirting the Kwaibala River, I pass through stakka townships, pay stakka to stakka landowners, and arrive roughly 90 min later to find a magnificent waterfall, reaching from thick forest. At the base are a series of idyllic rock pools where pikaninnis cascade from slippery slopes above. Shattered, I peel away sweat sopping clothes and clamber into the clear water, soothing bug bites and a nasty case of jock rash that has mifela walking laek a Melbourne Cup jockey.

Soon, I’m leaping from the top and plunging into depths below!

During my return to the shack, I enjoy a whistle-stop stay at the Lilisiana Fishing Village, eyeballing locals and admiring time-honored houses raised on stilts over the shore.

I also take a walk along Lilisiana beach—a narrow, long, golden sand spit which dips into coral shallows—collecting shells.

Back at the shack, sea scatter signals tonight via the SP are barely a whisper, as I kick back with a bowel of Koa, monitoring the band. This is simply a mangrove fruit, known for its unique flavors and cultural significance, which is prepared by women of Langalanga with a combination of other fresh and quality ingredients.

On 27.610 MHz USB, the back and forths tonight are tortuous, the circuitous exchanges soul-sucking. But 1 by 1 the log grows towards the 1800 mark…

Then finally, we’re there!

Wontok 43DA304 Steve in Sydney and 43DA161 Jay in the Sunshine State supply spanking signals from Oz. Later, 116AT102 Mr Hall on the shores of the Black Sea wraps up proceedings for 135DA/0 and it’s time to kill the coax……and go QRT for good!

It’s past midnight SBT and I must be up in 5 hours to pack everything up!

DAY 12: Thursday, April 17

Wiping sleep from my eyes, I bounce out of bed at 7am SBT to dismantle the station, inhaling air thick with the fragrance of tropical fruits from nearby papaya and pineapple trees. The Motel chef, John and his daughter Ivory, have volunteered to assist which makes the job so much easier, in already sweltering temps.

Later, after a kwiktaem bite to eat, I’m in a ute driven by Martin destined for the Port and a return voyage to Guadalcanal. Although Gwaunaru’u Airfield is just a dozen clicks to the north and would get mifela back to Honiara in under a quarter of the time, a ride across the sea in a passenger ship offers a much more spiritual experience.

This occasion it’s on board the MV Auki Express and I’m wan of hundreds who gather, shoulder to shoulder, QRX for permission to board.

Here, the wharf is a kaleidoscope of colours and sounds, comprising hand-me-down tees, shorts and caps, local chitter-chatter and random loud-speaker hype from Franjti Shipping dockers.

Bigger, faster, fancier than the Pelican I arrived on, this wan is a striking high-speed catamaran—built in 2002—and for an extra $50 AUD, I ride in the VIP lounge in air-con comfort, with complimentary carrot cake, tea, kafe and wifi, ’til we reach the wreck-strewn depths of Iron Bottom Sound.

The period onboard has mifela reflecting on a dx adventure that’s far exceeded log projections, both in stations and DXCC worked based on VOACAP 11, Space WX Prediction Center and Proppy HF predictions at this juncture of cycle 25.

It’s a satisfying feeling indeed, but also a relieving wan given the below par results of my 2 previous trips to Division 135 which netted just 200 contacts in 3 weeks.

To ensure the success of this project, ball-breaking recon had been conducted through comms with government officials, accommodation providers and reps from previous ham teams, as well as extensive online research. Data was gathered from Islands Base Online (IBO) and World IOTA Program websites, prop forecast software was consulted, and images of surrounds were sourced from Google Earth, Map Carta, and other reference sites to ensure no stone was left unturned.

The results were worth every effort!

Congrats to every wan who made the log for 135DA/0! Diminished conditions were challenging on some fronts, I know, but the sublime efforts of a stakka OMs to at least put themselves in the frame to make a contact with mifela, is incredibly humanizing.

Taggio tumas also to the guys who supported this dxpedition by way of sponsorship to help reduce costs. Your generous commitment continues to inspire me towards future projects for the 11m DX Community, knowing my efforts and those of the DA-RC are appreciated.

Until the next wan, keep safe and Lukim iu!

73 de Darren, 43DA001

LOG DATA

* NUMBER OF STATIONS WORKED: 1805

* DXCC WORKED:  89 [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 23, 24, 25, 26, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 41, 43, 44, 45, 47, 49, 50, 56, 60, 61, 62, 67, 68, 72, 76, 79, 90, 91, 93, 100, 102, 104, 106, 108, 109, 112, 116, 132, 133, 136, 153, 155, 158, 161, 163, 165, 168, 172, 173, 178, 194, 196, 201, 218, 224, 233, 268, 274, 302, 312, 315, 317, 327, 328, 329, 330, 338, 347, 350]

GLOSSARY :

  • Halo = Hello
  • Areca palm
  • Gudfela = Good fellow
  • Happy Isles = Solomon Islands
  • Hemi = Him
  • Iufela = you
  • Krangge = Crazy
  • Kwiktaem = Quickly
  • Laek = Like
  • Lukim iu – Goodbye
  • Mifela = Me
  • Niu = New
  • Pikaninnis = Children
  • Rif = Reef
  • Sekhan = Shake hands
  • Solwata
  • Spesol = Special
  • Stakka  = Many
  • Taggio tumas = Thank you
  • Wan = Wan
  • Wandem = Wanted
  • Wasim = Washed
  • Wontok = Friend/s
  • Aelan = Island
  • Dwarf Kingfishers = Bird native to Malaita 

Food

  • Kaikai = Food
  • Kokoroko = Chicken
  • Nambo = Roasted breadfruit
  • Ngali = A type of nut
  • Pikpik = Pig/s
  • Puka = Fish
  • Karapa = Crab
  • Kafe = Coffee
  • Ulu = breadfruit
  • SolBrew / Canoe Lager = Local beers
  • M1903 Springfield rifle = A weapon used by US forces during the Battle of Guadalcanal
  • Browning M1917 = Especially effective against Japanese banzai charges due to its continuous firing capability, the Browning M1917 heavy machine gun was a key weapon used by US Marines during the Battle of Guadalcanal.