I managed to wrangle a good chunk of time on a Sunday free - and after some asking around and searching the net, I found Ripples Fishing Charter. 

I rang the owner Henk (an ex Aussie Defence Force Chopper pilot) and we quickly hatched a bit of a plan. Staying at the Mendana Hotel right next door to the yacht club I quickly figured out that the flash looking 7m Aluminum Cat with brand spanking twin 250hp Opti's on the back was going to be our fishing platform. There's nothing like seeing a well maintained boat to inspire confidence that we were going to doing things properly. 

Sunday came and I met Henk down at the Yachtie and he rowed me out to the boat, we set up and away we went. Because I'd left it so late to arrange it his normal deckie wasnt available for the trip, but given I prefer to be working at sea - this was no problem, and gave me an opportunity to talk to Henk while we set the gear (he supplies all the gear - all shimano reels and rods) up and threw some lures out. It was good to see all of the safety gear on the boat too - very modern electronics standard on most NZ charter boats, and a mountain of bottled water. 

We found a workup pretty quickly but despite our best efforts towing mainly bibbed hard body lures around the school there were no hits. Henk then suggested we motor down back past the club toward a wreck that he knew would hold fish. 

Well that proved to be a great idea! It didnt take too long before two of the rods were bent, the reels screaming and I was on. I managed to drop the first fish (a reasonable wahoo) as lines crossed but was soon holding the second rod and enjoying playing and landing my first solomons wahoo. 

What speed machines they are! That pretty much was it for us for the fishing that day with the bite turning off so we ended up crusing home close in, passing dug out canoes with outriggers with single fishermen handline jigging for bottom fish. Henk was great company and ensured I was well supplied with bottles of water etc whilst he told me about living in Honiara and of course the fishing! 

Whilst we didnt load up on heaps of fish, it was awesome to get a break from work, get on the water on a safe platform, and gave me some ideas about bringing mechanical jig and popping gear back for next time. 

If you're in Honiara and itching for a fish - get in touch with Henk. He's a good bloke and is really into trying to put together trips for people to match their requirements - and has access to some great looking fishing places on some of the islands further offshore. If I had more time, that's where I'd be getting him to take me! Roll on next time. 

Cheers Henk! 

Dave

My name is Raja Ganeshan - owner of Shuttle Bus - a door to door Shuttle company in Auckland - www.shuttlebus.co.nz. 

I was on  a holiday to my country; and am back only on the 5th Sept; hence regret for the delay in investigating this complaint thoroughly and replying the same.

We take all complaints against our company seriously; and hence this reply to this forum post.  

This is our version of what happened with regards to the complaint about our service for the benefit of your website readership:

a. The booking was made for an arrival transfer.  Our driver was there on time; as we have checked the "swipe card" records of the concerned driver and his entry was at 2310 hrs on the 23rd August 2012.

b. We usually hold a name sign for the passenger to be picked up by us.  The pre-designated spot is clearly told to the passengers while they make their booking.  And also we instruct them to "make a phone call" to us in case they are unable to identify their driver; so we can get in touch with our driver and see that the passenger and the driver are linked at the Auckland airport.

c. With regarding to calling us from the airport; you do not need money; or mobile phone; if you just go to the ISITE centre at the airport; and tell them the phone number; they would be more than pleased to give us a call; on behalf of the passenger; which would enable us to link up the passenger with our waiting driver.

d. The main point to be noted here is that the ONLY way for the driver holding the sign at the airport is for the client to come to him or the client giving us a phone call to link them up with our driver; in case they could not for some reason see him.  In this case neither of these actions were taken by the complaining client.

e. With our driver being at the airport; which has been verified by myself; we feel we have fulfilled our part of the contract; and the client who did not feel the need to carry our phone number; or who presumed the driver will be identifying him or did not call us from the airport; so we were enabled to link him up with our waiting driver; has clearly failed to fulfill his obligations.

d. Despite this fact; still to be courteous to him; we offered him a 100% free ride; the next time he used our services; but he wants to en cash this offer as cash; which is not possible; as we have put in our time and efforts to go out to our airport; involving; vehicle running; swipe card charges; payment to driver for his effort etc.

e. As regards to the difference in fares that the client is quoting; ours is a "one on one" transfer and the service that they used will be a "shared ride" transfer where the company carries a few other passengers to make up their money!

f. Now that the complainant has decided to "slander" our name in public; we would also like to stand by our version of the events that unfolded; and would like to fight it out legally; as a matter of principle.  We have the proof of the swipe card at the given time and date to prove that our driver was in fact at the airport on the said date/time.

We leave it to the intelligence of people reading this forum to decide who is in the wrong or who is in the right!

 

Trip one bottom fishing 4hrs @ $Sol320            = 1280

Fuel 22 ltrs                                                     =   374

Total                                                              =  1654  = $NZ335 approx

 

Trip two trolling 4hrs                                       =  1280

Fuel 3                                                            =    646

Total                                                              =  1926   = $NZ390 approx

 

Trip three casting / trolling  5 1/2 hrs                =  1760

Fuel 67 litrs                                                     =  1139

Total                                                               =  2899   = $NZ585 approx

 

Trip four trolling/casting/ bottom fish 7 hrs.        =  2240

Fuel 68 litrs                                                      =  1156

Total                                                                =  3396   = $NZ685 approx 

 

This is an open bare boat with twin 40 hp o/bs & supply own gear (rods reels lines lures )

lunch, water.

 

Frozen bait was supplied & terminal sinker/ trace/hooks loaned for bottom fishing with

ice for fish bin supplied on 1 day only.  

 

Compared to a recent charter in RARO @ $NZ120 pp X 6 on board for 5hrs. all gear

supplied along with lunch/water on a 40" surveyed boat with toilet etc, skipper & deckie

on board.

 

Will be interesting to see what the charge is for a trip ot at Norfolk Is in 10 days time

with similar price of fuel.

 

One trap is that on the interational flight to Honiara we were allowed 23 kgs of luggage

plus another 23kgs shared between us having paid for an extra bag = approx 35 ea.

However when transferring to the domestic flight to Munda only allowed 16 kgs ea. so

are most likely going to be stung for excess.

 

Am out fishing in the gulf tomorrow with a forum member but doubt I will be grizzling

about the cost even if unlikely to catch the variety of colourful fish found in the Solomons.                             

 

We appeared to be one of the few there that opted to mainly self cater but

that meant largely cooking what you could catch along with say rice or pasta

& maybe dried vegs (which were surprisingly good) or greens from the market

nevertheless we ate well on the likes of fresh fish, sashimi, mantis shrimps, cray,

coconut crab etc. with meat unless canned as good as unavailable.

 

A small range of goods were available from a tiny store where staff could buy basics

like canned meat/tuna etc but basically it was a case of making do with what you

could gather together. Brought a bottle of wine early on from the restuarant but after

paying about $NZ48 for a bottom of the range aussie white that had been kept upright

in warm conditions for who knows how long decided would go without from thereon &

stick to beer @ $NZ5 for a small can. We kept an ongoing supply of husked drinking

coconuts in the fridge that were always ultra refreshing & enjoyable as a pre dinner

tipple topped up with rum or vodka. Most guests however seemed to opt to eat in the

bar come restuarant where starters were about 4NZ$18 & mains $30 to $40 but imo 

with much of a sameness to the meals ie main ingredient plus rice or pasta & bit of

salad would become a bit tiresome. As we were told would happen the heat made our

otherwise "healthy" appetites diminish considerably & were often content with just one

meal a day with corresponding benefit to our waistlines.

 

Now for the important bit ... namely the fishing. Fishing could be had off the jetty or

on the lagoon flats but would be mostly, long toms or small trevally if anything however

Basically to have a better chance of somethin decent meant hiring one of the three boats

along with a driver & travelling a considerable distance. The methods could be broken

down into about four types namely :- bottom bait fishing in maybe 200 to close to 300 mtrs

deep which required quite an effort to even wind up the 6 oz sinker let alone a sizeable fish.

Then there was  conventonal trolling which seemed to produce mid sized fish unless making

the 20 mile return trip out to the fad (weather permitting) where there was a good chance

of skippies, yellow fin, wahoo, mahimahi or a sailfish but altho might be wrong am inclined

to think on average were smaller size than might be expected elsewhere. We did not go out

to the FADS but Stu & Cliffe did neither did we try the estuarine river fishing for the likes of

mangrove jacks etc. that would have suited sw fly but had to be mindful of our budget as

hiring the boats was certainly not cheap. The final method was casting poppers oto the edge

of a reef then wind in furiously in the hope of a strike. I was particularly looking forward to

getting a hookup by this method altho it was not to be, even tho the driver said I had a GT

following on one occassion. Being newbies we were somewhat limited by the distance we

could cast however Paul the driver took over Adrians' rod when he tired of casting was

lobbing it almost to the horizon nevertheless likewise never managed to hookup. My casting

improved somewhat & was landing it amongst schools of fish that would cause an erruption

of activity but they obviously were not in the mood to strike.

 

OK now to the cost of hiring a boat etc. which as mentoned was far from cheap largely due to

petrol being about $3 50 ltr & has to be brought in from Brisbane so if trolling or travelling a

distance the cost escalates. here is a breakdown of our four trips.

to be cont.

 

might be interested.

Firstly we both really enjoyed the experience & was something a bit out

of the norm made easier by the sage advice & knowledge from the good

Capt. on what to expect, customs & general knowledge of the area.

There are still aspects that puzzle me but that is partly the charm of the place

& to give some examples :-

 

Why when the average wage for any nationals that have a job is about $NZ1 hr.

that accomodation is relativeley expensive something like $A250 to $300 pn +

10% gst. Also given their earnings how almost everyone has a cell phone & seem

to be constantly talking to someone or other.

 

Why there is so much beauracy ... probably to provide jobs but their are ministries

of this, ministries of that & ministries of something else .... would not be at all

surprised if there is a ministry of ministries to keep tabs on them all. Whilst obtaining

a poster of fish species from the ministry of fisheries made the mistake of telling the

two young girls at the counter who were being most helpful that I was taking some

frozen fish fillets back to NZ where upon they were adamant I would have to apply

for an export licence. Managed to convince them that as there were only 3 packets

we could all keep quiet about it. Also if changing money at a bank they demand some

form of ID & was a problem in Gizo when trying to change a $NZ50 note at the ANZ 

to buy stuff from the market but had no ID. Tried to reason with them that no where

else in the world do they require ID to change small amounts of money & $NZ 50

could hardly be considered big time money laundering particularly as no one wants

Sol dollars outside of the Solomons so they should be grateful for any foreign currency.

All thist fell on deaf ears until I demanded to see the manager who approved the

transaction but saying it would be a oncer & next time ID would be required ... little

wonder the queues in they banks are invariably each 10 to 12 long.

 

Accomodation on the Island is affordable at about $A140 pn for the traditional bungalow

that Adrian & myself shared but with twin rooms each with a double bed would accomodate

two couples at a pinch. However this was the basic acc. = no running water with showers/

toilets nearby & a container of drinking water in house. There was a two burner cooker &

a small two burner cooker with a small fridge with a freezer compartment also a fan but

electric power in the basic units only from 11 am to 11 pm. It had no glass windows or

doors of any type as was of traditional construction ie poles, sago palm walls/roof, hinged

window panels, fabric screens but by & large quite comfortable also wind/rain resistant but

guess after several thousands of years they have worked out the most suitable constuction.

 

 

To be cont.

 

Stu often refers to the fact that as nice as they are in many respects,

maintainence for whatever reason seems to be an alien concept to most

of the Solomon Islanders & the following is fairly typical.

 

The rooms at the King Solomon Hotel are built up the side of a steep hill

for about 5 levels built like stairs so as each level of rooms are effectively

single level ... if that makes sense.

 

Access to various levels is or rather should be a mini cable car arrangement

that runs up the centre of the complex.

 

 

The cable car can be seen 1/2 down & it as far again if not more to the bottom.

A sign at the bottom advises an electrical fault is preventing it from working so

a long clamber up wooden stairs is required to reach your room ... mine was on

the first level nevertheless was reasonably strenuous clambering back & forth

in the heat so can but imagine what it must have been like for those in the top

level units.

 

 

The sign at the top is a bit more encouraging for those that have made the

trek inasmuch as it states it is hoped to have working tomorrow ..... but .....

was told the signs have been there for over a month & would imagine they

will be for some time yet ..... are well it is after all the Solomons.

 

A loca I metl had been very helpful in having my new proposed flight itinerary

printed out which was required to have the passport waiver documents issued

so suggested he bring his family for a swim in the pool & maybe a barbie.

 

 

I managed to find a store called Ausmart that stocked various food items from

Aus & NZ where I managed to buy lamb sausages of sorts, watties tomato sauce,

bread also potato crisps etc. OK that may not sound such a big deal but in a

place where meat unless canned is hard to find let alone sauce & crisps then

yes it is. It would seem that largely only one brand of beer is available in the

Solomons ie a very aptly named Sol Brew & then only two types ie low alc or

normal 5% alc. The 5% was not bad but becomes rather tiresome when it is the

only option so was delighted to find by chance a store selling imported brands

albeit at a premium so eagerly grabbed a selection.

 

It transpired my new found friend was a superintendent of police & was good to

see his two delightful young daughters ( 3 & 7 ) enjoying themselves in the pool

& cooking on the barbie .... had a lot of fun in the poolside gym as well.

 

  

 

Have had the pic above made into an A4 jigsaw with their names overprinted

which I hope the girls will enjoy but having bit of a problem finding an address

to post it to.

 

that licences the Shuttle services & monitors their activities.

 

Then will follow up likewise with any other appropriate authorities

also maybe a copy of events sent to as many travel agents etc. plus

word of mouth whenever/where ever.

 

I reckon the hard nosed attitude being adopted by this company will

cost them dearly in the long run.

 

There is more that I could say on the subject about experiences

others have had with this company as well as comment that might

be construed as racist so best left unsaid.