Lonely Planet™ · Thorn Tree Forum · 2020 |

# Moving to Honiara Country forums / Pacific Islands & Papua New Guinea / Solomon Islands
brownsquirrels 07:20 UTC 24 Jan 2008 | I have been offered a job in Honiara and plan to accept it and move there in March. I will be taking my wife and 15 month old daughter. Can anybody give me any advice? What should we take? What is there in the way of social activities for mother and young daughter? Can you get toys and crayons etc. easily? Any advice/heads up, info etc.... would be greatly appreciated. |
ozziegiraffe 10:25 UTC 24 Jan 2008 | Probably the most important thing to consider is protecting your daughter from malaria. It is not as bad now as it was when I was living there in the early 90s, but still significant. There are a number of threads about this on this, the Living Overseas and the medical branches. The next consideration is your salary range - there are two groups of expats in Honiara: those who work for business and RAMSI, who get paid overseas salaries, and those who work as volunteers in some form or other, who get paid local salaries. The second group generally have much more interaction with the locals. If you let me know which group you belong to, I will be better able to advise on a number of issues. As for toys, crayons, etc, there are a number of stationery shops in Honiara, but sometimes they are not cheap. However, the available toys are very limited: Probably the best range is in Nicky's fast food bar, between the Honiara Hotel and Town Ground, or otherwise, in some of the newer Chinese shops opposite the main market. However, nearly all of them are cheap Chinese junk (the sort Australia wouldn't bother to import). DVDs are available in some of the Chinese shops, in cardboard sleeves, much cheaper than we pay, and are probably pirate copies, as SI doesn't have good copyright laws, much to the disappointment of local musicians, whose CDs are constantly being pirated. So, I would bring anything electrical you want, especially TV and DVD player, and computer equipment, as this is expensive, though you can get DVDs. And I would bring good toys and nappies from home (the only cloth nappies available are so thin they are useless (every time one of my local friends has a baby, I get an order for Australian cloth nappies). Disposables are limited too. Does your job come with accommodation? - it can be very hard to find. Houses generally have gas stoves, and electric fridges. Most expats have a daily "house-girl", as do many working locals (often a relative from the village who lives with them). As far as socialising for Mum and bub, I think the better-off expat wives have get-togethers. Friends who lived there with young children made friends through the International school, and church groups. If you want to meet local mums, it would be good to join a women's group such as Mothers Union (run by the Church of Melanesia). I can put you in touch with the leaders, or with local young mums, if you are interested. Many expats go to the Lime Lounge next to the ANZ bank at Point Cruz for coffee, and the best expat-food shops are the supermarket at Panatina Plaza and Sol-Lanka, behind Town Ground. I guess that is enough for a start, except to say that if you are living in Honiara, you need to get off the island of Guadalcanal to see the real Solomons. Please reply with further questions, or PM me. | 1
ozziegiraffe 14:43 UTC 25 Jan 2008 | Hi, again, Brownsquirrels, I didn't realise when I wrote the first answers that you are Kiwis. If so, go and visit the New Zealand High Commission in Honiara. They are generally much easier to access than the Aussie one. I had a fair bit to do with them because they were funding a project I was working with a couple of years ago, and even got to meet your Governor General. | 2