20 Oct 2019

An Unforgettable Day on Nissan Island

It looked like all of Nissan Island had turned out to meet us this morning as we Zodiac cruised over the impossibly blue water of the Buka Channel towards the smiling and waving villagers.

The festivities began with welcome singsings, fresh coconut juice and several dances including crowd favourite the 'wild chicken'. Having a professional opera singer on board enabled us to return the favour with a haunting rendition of Maori lullaby Hine e Hine, much to the delight of our hosts from all three of the island's Balil villages.

Soon we were accompanied by our local guides and wandered the village, some of the female expeditioners hand-in-hand with the young children, with our new friends to explore this part of the Autonomous State of Bougainville. Sharing stories about life on the island and its rich WWII history, many were also concerned about the rising ocean level, climate change and the land they had already lost to erosion.

Some expeditioners returned to the Island in the afternoon looking for birds and enjoying cooking and basket weaving demonstrations, others stayed on board to watch Mr Pip in preparation for tomorrow's visit to Bougainville Island as the remainder headed out into the deep blue to snorkel another steep reef drop-off. Below the surface a diverse array of healthy stony corals, including some impressive plate variations, and schooling fish awaited exploration along the reef wall while out in the blue larger fish species patrolled.

Image (c) I.Wilson, Heritage Expeditions