Last days in New Caledonia

We are now into our last days in New Caledonia and will look at leaving for NZ early next week weather permitting. We have really enjoyed our time here; it was a good choice for a (and much needed) stop over to recharge our batteries before the trip south. The last few days we have been introducing our crew to the boat and doing some island hopping in the vicinity of Noumea. We have had some good sailing and managed initially without using the engine at all, including picking up a mooring (although it did take me 3 attempts). Unfortunately, a period of flat calm has put paid to that now. The calm is very welcome as most of the time we have been here has been quite windy. After the Ile des Pins we made use of a brief gap in the weather to sail to Baie de Prony where we sheltered from a good westerly blow (I think the top edge of the system that brought all the snow to NZ). We had heard of some thermal pools there that we were looking forward to soaking in during the bad weather. However, the pool we visited was only luke warm and we had more fun swimming in a nearby waterfall where the water was only slightly colder. We had a great time here, getting off the yacht; lots of walking and exploring remnants from the mining days. The hills are very scarred with a dark red, iron-rich soil which stains everything, including our feet. At night there was an intense orange loom from the huge nickel mine nearby. We dived on the Aigulle de Prony, an interesting geological formation consisting of a pinnacle rising from the sea floor formed (I think) from geothermal activity. The position is marked by an isolated danger beacon; in NZ the Harbourmaster would come and tell you off if you tied up to such a navigation marker but here there was a length of line provided to tie up with and a notice informing what boats and conditions etc were allowed- all very civilized! From Prony we went out to Amadee Island, famous for an imposing white lighthouse designed by Eiffel. Here, we were surprized to see some friends that we had last seen in Pohnpei, since we had been heading north to Guam and Alaska at the time, they were even more surprized to see us! Walking around the island we saw several sea snakes, including one Jim nearly trod on. The beach was covered with sinuous tracks made by the snakes coming ashore. We also dived in the nearby pass where Jim saw a formation of 10 eagle rays and I saw a very large manta ray. Just underneath the yacht we saw small rays, sharks, a sea snake and of course the ubiquitous remora. Jim is going to miss the remora that we have seen in most anchorages, swimming underneath the boat and coming up to eat our toast crumbs and vege scraps. I wonder if we will sit on the cockpit of the boat in Lyttleton of an evening, admiring the sunset and watching the turtles surface around us?!

Rain glorious rain!

We have spent a few days anchored at the north side if Ile de Pins. A lovely tranquil spot with coral islands surrounding a shallow anchorage. The diving in the outer Passe de Gie is supposed to be good so we headed out in the dinghy for a dive. A good swell and SE wind of 25 knots made for a bouncy trip and a very careful watch for breaking swells as each of us manned the dinghy while the other dived. Visibility on the dive was down to about 20 metres, which was still pretty good, and the coral had some reasonable swim throughs', caves, and bommies.

The sun failed to shine the next day so we skipped diving as we wanted some good light. A quick look at the forecast around mid day showed a nice front or convergence, not easy to see on a GRIB file, approaching. Whatever it was it appeared to have a fair bit of wind and rain that would make our anchorage unsafe, and with poor light , impossible to get out of past the coral. A quick discussion and we decided to head off straight away and seek better shelter. Retracing our steps through the coral to the north of the island was fun. We had taken a realy poor route on our way up here, and with the rain already upon us dodging the coral bombies on the return was not on our list of fun things to do. But! once anchored we were able to rig our decks for water collecting and fill our tanks. Boy does fresh rain water taste good compared to town water we got in Noumea (or anywhere really). You don't want want to thin of the all the feet , birds, mud from the anchor and other gunk that goes on the deck when you drink our water, maybe that enhances the taste.

Freshwater also meant that we could do so some laundry. We don't have to wear much in the way of clothing but after a few weeks it mounts up with the bedding. Our boat was suitably adorned with sheets, shorts, shirts and grubs as the rain continued to fall the next day. Well rinsed if nothing else.

This rain did of course mean clouds which meant no view of the eclipse or transit of Venus. We did get a good walk ashore watching the passengers of the cruise ship sit on the beach in the pouring rain, que to get back on the boats to the ship in the pouring rain (45 mins) and then at 15:30 they were all gone and peace reigned again.

Listening to the news it seems NZ is getting a bit of a hammering at present. Our new home of Lyttleton and Christchurch seem to be getting more than their fair share. I must service the cabin heater pretty smartish I feel! Here the temp dropped below 20 degrees to 19.4 one night. Coldest we have had for over 13 months. Oh are we going to suffer down south.

Our plan is to head north in a day or so to Baie de Prony. Here there are more ruins from the convict transportation period, waling tracks and hot pools. We will spend some time there then make our return to Noumea via Ile de Amadee (good diving) to pick up our crew who arrives from Oamaru. Then we will be heading south to Nelson at the beginning of July. A short stop to get some broken equipment fixed (boom, engine, minor stuff like that) and then head south to Lyttleton.

An interesting day ashore at the Ile de Pins took us on a walk to the old penal colonies prison and cemetery. A grim place all round. The buildings still stand from the 1800's prison. Brickwork is quite exquisite in places and shows the skill of the convict labour building there own cells. The general feel is of a very tough life in some large communal cells and a few small (probably still communal) cells. The doubled iron bars on the small high up windows, and the very thick stone walls show this was not a place I feel people escaped. The cemetery holds reminders of the convicts and the political crimes committed that saw them so badly treated.