Stella Chiu-Freund's latest posts

15 – 17 July 2010 S8 30.123 E158 00.957 – Chea Village, Marovo Island After strong winds and rain throughout our stay in Tetepare, we were dreading the island crossing from Tetepare to Marovo Lagoon, New Georgia. We were bracing ourselves for big waves and made sure all our belongings were packed water tight and […]

10 – 14 July 2010 S8 43.279 E157 26.611 – Tetepare Island The Tetepare Descendants’ Association take their conservation work very seriously. They protect and manage the entire island most especially their 13km-long Marine Protected Area. Since 2004, they have had a dedicated roster of rangers and different marine monitoring teams from scientists to volunteers doing […]

10 – 14 July 2010 S8 43.279 E157 26.611 – Tetepare Island Tetepare is the largest uninhabited island in the South Pacific where a tiny portion of its massive land is a dedicated research field station and a cooperative ecolodge run by the Tetepare Descendants’ Association or TDA.  Many stories circulate why Tetepare Island (Tetepare […]

7 – 9 July 2010 S8 01.965 E157 07.004 – Imbu Rano Lodge The only chance we had during this entire expedition to visit a forest was here in the Pacific. A forest, you might ask? What has that got to do with the Coral Triangle? With marine life?  Nature, from the highest forest to […]

6 – 7 July 2010 S8 05.899 E156 51.680 – WorldFish Center, Nusa Tupe & Gizo Airport S8 07.515 E157 06.123 – Onma Lodge, Kolombangara The April 2007 earthquake and tsunami wrecked havoc to the lives of many in the Western Province of the Solomon Islands. Foreign aid and rebuilding was slow and difficult, but […]

6 July 2010 S8 06.238 E156 50.637 – Gizo S8 01.776 E156 35.161 – Ranonga One morning in 2 April 2007, we woke up at home in Cairns. By force of habit, even before breakfast, I turned on the computer and checked BOM, the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, for the day’s weather. There was a […]

28 – 30 July 2010 S2 22.915 E146 49.513 – M’Buke Island Betel nut chewing is a custom or ritual that dates back thousands of years from Asia to the Pacific, a tradition very much a part of modern life in many parts of the Coral Triangle. This custom is very much alive that it is […]

28 – 30 July 2010 S2 22.915 E146 49.513 – M’Buke Island S2 18.697 E146 51.595 – Anun Island S2 20.051 E146 51.725 – Champoin Island Last year in February, when I was still researching WWF Coral Triangle projects to cover for our expedition, I had heard of the traditional community canoe making project of […]

28 – 30 June 2010 S2 22.915 E146 49.513 – M’Buke Island S2 18.697 E146 51.595 – Anun Island Pronounced Bu-ke with a silent M, M’Buke are several islands off the south end of mainland of Manus, Papua New Guinea. Manus Province is the smallest and the least populated of PNG’s twenty provinces. Known also as the Admiralty Islands, this group […]

5 – 24 June 2010 It is now 15 months that we have been non-stop on the road from Asia to the Pacific.  The diving has been spectacular but its the people we have met along the way that made our journey so much richer. The honest and open faces of people in the deep […]