Morovo is one of the four lagoons which surround the New Georgia group (made of of the main island of New Georgia, Vangunu and Ngatokae). It is unique in that it is surrounded by a double barrier reef. More than reefs, there is actually a double layer of outer islands, which arose from a complex geological history of successives uplifts and tilts around the volcanic island of Vangunu.
Really the canoe reccie done previously didn’t show anything terribly exciting inside Morovo lagoon, nearby the island of Vangunu. Of course if you are interested in carvings, that’s a different story, go to populated areas, villages like Telina, etc. The township of Batuna (on the Eastern side of Vangunu) also has a good market. The best things about it is that it starts late: 10am, and the official rule is that everyone waits for all to turn up in their canoes from far away places to start selling!
Batuna from the shore line. The town host a TAFE type of trade school and also has an internet connection
The well supplied store of Batuna
The outskirts of Morovo are easy to navigate as all reefs are steep-to. Most of the inner lagoon is unsurveyed. Yet it could be travelled with care on clear days as most depths are over 5 m. The local Solomon Island survey chart SI07 provides more detailed information on some parts of the lagoon and Dirk Sieling Solomon Islands cruising guide (out of print, contact the author!) details all the local village anchorages though the information contained in the guide is outdated in terms of snorkelling and water quality (sadly so).
A typical Morovo nnchorage (flat still waters, here on a grey day!)
Squid check the anchor chain
The reef is definitely at the foot of the rainforest!
On the wild side, the outer islands are gorged with birdlife and the south of Porepore offers beautiful anchorage in emerald green waters 6-10 m, sand. There are many passages to access the lagoon and its best to not tuck in too much behind the tree to get some breeze!
Dark squall coming from the SE onto Peava
Build up after a hot day: summer is coming...
The trade winds have now stopped for good. The ITCZ, the Intertropical Convergence Zone, is the boffin name for doldrums, ie the windless zone of equatorial low pressure inbetween Northern and Southern Hemisphere trade winds. It regularly shifts in latitude. In the last ten days, the ITCZ went south of the Solomon Western Islands, leaving in her path a trail of thick rain cloud and absolutely no wind for many days (good computer weather!). After two sunny days with light SE winds (10 knots or so), it went on its way back North, but this time with a bagful selection of winds from all directions. Sailing consists now of changing sail configuration every half an hour, or more!!
The slopes surrounding the crater of Vangunu, this island is about 1000m high but is being logged to 800m, 21% of it's lower primary forest clear felled. Doesn't that remind you of Tasmania ?! Except with even less control from an corrupted government.
Beyond this geological reef uniqueness, the lagoon used to yield amazingly clear waters and nearly acquired the status of world heritage area in the 90’s. Unfortunately, this status was not granted and 15 years of unregulated industrial exploitation such as logging, oil plantation, Beche de Mer harvesting have modified the ecosystem dramatically. A 3 years monitoring project led by the Uni of Queensland tested reef health and water quality, and the report did not bring such positive results on the health of the lagoon.
logging barge and tug frequently seen in the lagoon
Pikininis came to say good bye!
