The Curious Case of the Solomon Islands Moon Rock

For those of you who don’t know me personally, let me explain something about myself. I’m a smart guy who is socially retarded. I can explain calculus to people who don’t know math. I own at trivia. I have a capacity to remember all sorts of stuff that most people, rightfully so, would never bother …

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First Impressions of Palau

This is probably one of the nicest places in the Pacific. Save for Guam, easily the most developed country in Micronesia. Night and day compared to Majuro. People here have houses, not shanties. There is furniture in the houses. I could tell because they had electricity, which also says something There are businesses and shops …

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Palau 96940

I’m typing this at the Palau version of the Peach Pit, across the street from Palau High (Go Palau Spiders!) For the third smallest country in the UN, Palau really has its act together. It is a smashingly beautiful place. It is clean. It is reasonably developed. They seem to realize where their bread is …

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Weekend Update

I’m back from spending the weekend on the isalnd of Savai’i. I have a large update I’ll be posting on Monday when I can access an internet cafe where I can use my USB drive. Lots and lots of photos I’ll try to upload too.

South Island

I did the ferry crossing to the South Island today. WOW I must have shot almost an entire memory card of photos just in the Queen Charolette Sound on the way in. It must be what an Alaskan cruise is like. Once again, I’m at a computer terminal at a campsite. I can’t get my …

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Mungo National Park

My trip to Mungo was something I almost didn’t do. To explain why I need to back up a bit… One of the fundamental decisions you have to make (over and over) when you are on a trip like mine is “what do you see?” Australia is a big country and there’s lots of things …

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Moon Rock Redux

If you have been following my site for a while, or have gone back to read my old posts, you will remember the discovery I made in the Solomon Islands. I found a moon rock from the Apollo missions in an open display cabinet at the national museum in Honiara. (I think that post has …

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New Zealand Help

It appears that I’ll be staying here till next Wednesday, then leaving for New Zealand for two weeks. While I planned on visiting New Zealand, I didn’t plan on visiting this soon. As it turns out, this will probably work out for the best as I won’t need to make a return trip to New …

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Ascending the Summit

I’m am writing this from base camp. Tomorrow I make the final push to the summit of Mount Kosciuszko, the highest peak on the Australian continent. Unlike Everest base camp, you don’t see as many tents and oxygen bottles here. Also, there are no sherpas. To climb Kosy, you have to carry your own gear. …

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