Bellona Island in Renbel Province is a Polynesian outlier, as is its much larger but sparsely populated neighbour, Rennell Island. Both islands are decidedly wetter than Honiara, but are also a few degrees cooler. The only drawback to tiny Bellona is the rapacious mosquito population, which although not malaria carriers are constantly hungry and attack during the day. Surprisingly, they are not much of a bother at night and a mosquito net often isn't needed. These outlying islands suffer from a shortage of water despite the freshwater springs, and islanders rely on rainwater catchments for all their needs. Bellona is becoming somewhat overcrowded now, due to the return of those who had been living in Honiara. The last two hurricanes to rip through the Solomons earlier in 2003 did a fair amount of damage, yet again - not the first time the island has suffered from fractious Mother Nature.