Further up the coast towards Cape Esperance. Open air display of relics. SBD, Wildcat, P400 remains, Corsair, P38, assorted wings, Japanese artillery and lots of smaller items. Only still exits because a villager started collecting it in the 1970s.

As you drive from Honiara towards Kukum Beach this is a shopping centre on your right just before Kukum. Clean shops and a good bunch of takeaway shops and supermarket. You will note the contrast with downtown Honiara! We had a lunch break here every day! Directly in front of here was where one of the main US "T" wharves was (destroyed by a storm in 1954).Local Canal historian John Innes has his computer company offices here (opposite the snack bars - TECHNYSIST P/L)

Japanese evacuation site in Feb 43. Tambea resort burnt in 2001. Some Japanese plane wreckage on site. Road between Vilu - Tambea disgusting, mud and potholes. Really a 4 wheel drive job. Miracle our taxi didn’t get bogged in 2006.

Keep driving east to get to Tetere. It used to be a 40 minute drive in 1999,but god knows how long now with the unkept roads.bumpity, bumpity, bumpity no doubt. At Tetere are about 30 abandoned Amtracs, possibly some of the original invasion ones later relegated to training and abandoned in 1945. Walk west along the beach and you come to the mouth of Gavaga Creek, scene of action in November 42 as the Army and Marines liquidated the Jap pocket here. Further east is TASIMBOKO, site of Edsons famous raid, but I have not been here.

Take the road behind Pt Cruz past the Parliament building. Hill 66 was the front in November-December 42. Remains of foxholes and ration tins…great views.

Former site of Fighter strip 2. The P38s that shot down Yamamoto took off from here. As you approach the course from Honiara there is a sports ground on your right - this was the scene of Colonel Oka’s attack in September 42.

Good for souvenir trinkets. Look out for the stall of Samuel Poa towards the end of the market. He sells WW2 dated Coca Cola and other bottles, plus assorted militaria. Opposite the Market is a good T shirt shop.

On a hill on the west bank of the Matanikau about mile inland. Built 1992 for the 50th anniversary. Great view of the Matanikau valley and bay. Directly opposite the memorial on the east bank of the Matanikau is the valley John Hershey refers to in his book INTO THE VALLEY. Jap mortars and MGs were firing down on the Marines from the memorial site...note the short range!

As you pass the golf course turn left and the road takes you to the beach. Main supply and reinforcement landing point. Looking from here towards Pt Cruz, Cape Esperance and Savo gives you another good perspective on the battle. It must have been fun wondering when the next shell from PISTOLE PETE would land.

The road at the western end of Henderson branches off towards Edsons. Beware of the barbed wire in the grass when looking around here. You can hike over the ridge and down to the lagoon area between the ridge and the lunga.There is a Japanese memorial at the southern end of the ridge and a US one at the northern end at the site of Edsons CP. At the southern end of the ridge a trail branches off to the east (past a 1944 nissen hut) towards the October 42 Puller battle area...Basilones position and coffin corner etc..........big water filled depressions are where the Jap mass graves were.

As you drive east past the airfield the road turns right at the end of the runway and goes towards the ilu bridge. At the turn pull off to the left and you will see a gate across a track. Step over the gate and walk down to the beach and the sandbar. Between the beach track and the river there are pits full of wartime stuff, but its also hot as hell in there and full of mosquitoes. Cross over the sandbar and walk east a bit along the beach and in a bit and there is a Japanese memorial pillar to the Ichiki unit.

As you drive east past the Henderson car park take the first road on your left and this will take you down to Lunga beach. Walk down to the beach and you will see the wood and metal wharf remains of the lunga naval base. To you left is lunga point and t your right the view towards Red Beach and Ilu river. Walk west along the beach and you will come to Lunga Lagoon. The main supply base was on the west bank. God knows whats in there under the growth. Worth exploring. Further up the beach you will see a rusting ship beached in 2001.try to think of it as a Japanese transport!

A five minute walks from the hotels. Lots of fighting here. Views to the east and west give you a good perspective of the terrain. In December 42 the US Army guns were lined up almost wheel to wheel shelling targets further west.

After driving across Poha bridge going west turn left down trail. This brings you to what used to be a pig farm last time I was there IN 1996. If you ask they will take you down to the river to see the remains of 6 Jap artillery towing tractors abandoned there in 1943.

Japanese Zero propeller on the wall in the lounge. Japanese 75mm AA gun outside the terminal. Plaque to Lofton Henderson. Memorial garden with various plaques etc and trees dedicate to various units and individuals. A few hundred yards west of the terminal is the 1943 control tower and a memorial to the Edsons Ridge battle.

Along the coast west of Kokumbona. Wreck of transport KINUGAWA MARU on the beach. S$20.00 entry fee. Across the road a trail goes towards an old US firing range that has the gull of Sherman Jezebel on it. Follow the track a few hundred yards past the tank and there is the 1943-45 US dump. Everything dumped down a hillside, jeep parts, jerricans, fuel drums, hundreds of empty whisky and coca cola bottles etc.Pretty hot in here.

A 1 km walk to the east. As you approach the bridge over the river note the 1944 US Nissen huts to the left. Also on the left is a sign for the SEA KING CHINESE RESTAURANT. Walk down here to the left and go through the gate and walk down to the beach. This is where the ill fated Goettge patrol came ashore on August 12th 1942. From here you can walk a few hundred yards east to the west bank of the sandbar. Watch your step, as there is sewerage everywhere (this is due to the lack of proper toilet facilities available for residents in that area). If its low enough tide you can see the tops of the turrets of two of the Japanese tanks from the October 22nd attack poking out of the sea.Dont even think of wading out to them. The villagers shit in the turrets. To get to the east bank of the sandbar you can a. cross the bridge and try and pick your way through the huts of the shanty town or b. walk across the bridge past the hospital and continue on till you find fishing village huts. You can cut through here down to the beach and then walk back towards the west to the sandbar east bank.

Cross the bridge over the Ilu and drive east. The road branches off towards Red Beach. I was last there in 1998, so can’t give precise directions. In 2004 the taxi driver assured us he knew the way to Red Beach, but drove right past it. I knew we had gone too far and then he finally admitted he had no idea how to get to it...they don’t teach them any of the history. Behind the beach these days is a housing estate.

East bank of the Matanikau. This area saw heavy fighting for months. Cross the Matanikau bridge and then turn right and follow the road along the east bank. Most of Chinatown business district was burned during riots in April 2006. Then you come to the 2nd bridge across the river (this was the original bridge site). Look upstream from the middle of this bridge and that’s where the US wooden footbridges were across the river during the November 42 fighting.

Cross the Matanikau and drive 2 miles south down the east bank. Here you can wade the river and hike up the valley towards TRL to see foxholes on Sims Ridge etc…Can be treacherous on the muddy coral ridges!

As you travel Honiara - Henderson take the road that goes right just before Lunga Bridge. This takes you to Betikama 7th Day Adventist school, which is on the west bank of the Lunga opposite Henderson. This was a US camp area during the battle and the 1st Marines were on the nearby hills. They have a relics display; P400, SBD,Bren carrier, US and Jap artillery. They sell good wood carvings and other souvenirs and there is a small circular building out back with photos and more relics, plus one of the airfield tractors.

It’s about a 30 minute drive up to the top of Mt Austen. As you go up stop at the Japanese memorial on Hill 35.great views. Further up the hill you come to the Hill 27/GIFU battle area. There is a US Army white metal star memorial and the road goes down a track to the right to the village. They have tables full of relics to try and rip you off on. From the village it’s a short walk up to Hill 27. Spectacular views to the west and across the Matanikau valley to the Hill34/35 SEAHORSE battlefield and the THIN RED LINE battlefield. Go back to Wright Road and drive further up to the top of Mt Austen. There is a pillar and plaque here hear the site of the Japanese OP. Note the great view across the whole Marine perimeter and Henderson/Kukum.

Go to the Mendana Hotel and walk past the pool to the seawall and look left to the coral area where the landing craft came in on September 27th 1942 to take off Pullers Battalion. Now look to the right towards Pt Cruz and see the range the Japanese MGs were firing.