New Caledonia was not part of the World ARC itinerary and remains the case; however, two events provided us with the opportunity to add it to our list of destinations. Firstly we learnt that New Caledonia is a French overseas territory and we love the French islands. Further investigations revealed that it consists of the main island, known as Grande Terre, the Loyalty Islands of Atoll d’Ouvea, Ile Lifou, Ile Maré and Ile Hunter to the east, Isle de Pins and Ile Ouen to the south and the Iles Belep to the north. It is the fourth largest island in the South Pacific, exceeded in size only by Papua New Guinea and the North and South islands of New Zealand. New Caledonia is located at the southerly portion of Melanesia and, although tropical, is neither too hot nor damp. Captain Cook was the first westerner to find the islands in 1774 and named it New Caledonia because, to him, the pine-clad ridges bore a resemblance to Scotland. It became a French colony in 1853 and was essentially used as their penal colony, in a similar way to how the British colonised New Zealand and Australia. It is also surrounded by coral reefs, bathed in the world's largest lagoon and has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2008. Together with the fact that, besides being the second largest reef in the world, it also includes a very rare "double barrier reef" and a great diversity of coral forms, extensive turtle nesting sites and breeding areas for emblematic and / or threatened species like the dugongs, humpback whales and a variety of marine birds, including the osprey.

 

Secondly, when we officially left the rally in Tahiti in order to have a slower pace through the South Pacific, there were three additional destinations that were added to our adventure for the 2016 sailing season; American Samoa and Somoa and then New Zealand for the 2016 / 2017 cyclone season. That meant we were able to return to Fiji during the 2017 / 2018 sailing season, but also add New Caledonia to the list of destinations before sailing onwards to Australia for the following cyclone season. What we weren’t expecting was to have the opportunity to return to New Caledonia during this past sailing season, given itinerary changes required again as a result of an unexpected medical issue uncovered soon after our arrival in Australia. New Caledonia is the only other island destination we returned to and we are glad we did.

 

During our first visit, given it was the last of the islands we visited prior to the start of the 2017 / 2018 cyclone season, our time was limited to a very short six weeks. As a result we had to select a subset of the areas we wanted to visit and be content with the sampling we received. These primarily included the south and south-western parts of Grande Terre Island and Ile des Pins, still on the top of our list of favourite islands in the South Pacific.

 

On the morning of Monday, 18^th September 2017, we were up at daybreak to weigh anchor and set sail for New Caledonia from Anatom Island, Vanuatu. With full sails up, under glorious sunny skies, dotted with fair weather cumulus, we enjoyed a fabulous sail all morning. By the afternoon, though, the winds had started to pick up, bringing with it very lumpy and confused seas. With that, it was time to reef. We'd no sooner put one reef in the main, when it was time for the double reef and a reefed headsail. By midnight we were double reefed on both sails and still making excellent timing, doing around 8 Kts. We knew this speed would mean an earlier arrival at Canal de la Havannah, our first hurdle, but we'd decided to hove-to, if need be. As things transpired, we arrived exactly at slack water on 19^th September 2017, but turned around after our first attempt at transiting the entrance, given the surprising and extremely strong outward flowing current. So, while bobbing around and the arrival of a second yacht, Cavelo, who also decided to bob around, we enjoyed lunch and waited for flood tide. Then we spotted a third yacht, Lucy, on the AIS (Automatic Identification System), but coming in the opposite direction and we couldn’t believe what happened next. Suddenly, Lucy appeared out of nowhere. It looked like she was launched from a rocket as she was spat out from the mouth of the channel towards us, going from 2 Kts to 7 Kts in as many seconds. After overhearing a brief chat on the VHF radio between the crew of Cavelo and Lucy to understand their experience and conditions better, we decided it was our turn and what an unusual experience we had. It was like trying to sail across the surface of a giant jacuzzi, with a 4 Kt current against us, even at flood tide. Parts of the surface were slick while other parts had breaking waves, but we made it through safely, with Cavelo close behind.

 

Our first night, we "yellow flagging it" while anchored in a lovely tranquil bay just off Canal Woodin. While enjoying the peace and quiet, after having the ocean roaring in our ears for 30 hours, we were struck by how desolate New Caledonia seemed and by the striking coppery colour of the landscape, which appeared to be the aftermath of surface mining. We later learnt that, while parts of the exposed landscape was a result of cobalt, chrome, nickel and iron ore mining, the vast majority was soil erosion. Regardless, while the sights and, particularly, the smells of Vanuatu made us feel like we could have been anywhere in Africa and, therefore, not really a new experience for us, we were definitely looking forward to a different experience in New Caledonia, especially the French culture we both love.

 

It was yet another early start as we weighed anchor at daybreak in order to make our way to Noumea, the capital of New Caledonia, for our clearance. Our first sighting of the New Caledonian capital revealed high rise apartment complexes as well as modern homes and arriving in the Port Moselle anchorage area reminded us of Le Marin in Martinique; yachts everywhere. The marina was a modern facility with very helpful staff who pointed us in the right direction to clear Immigration, Customs and Biosecurity.

 

After a lovely long walk along the waterfront to stretch our legs, we found the Immigration offices just before they closed for the day, which is around 1100. A brisk walk to Customs in the hope of catching them before their lunch break didn't payoff, however. Unfortunately we were a few minutes too late so, instead, we enjoyed a delicious lunch at Restaurant Captain Cook, where Elaine had a steak accompanied by a Roquefort cheese sauce and Roy had octopus in a creamy tomato based sauce. Unbeatable French cuisine and the perfect start to our stay! After completing Customs and en route back to the marina to meet the Biosecurity official, we couldn’t resist the temptation to stop in at Les Petits Choux patisserie to enjoy a “grande café au lait” (large coffee with milk) and some French pastries.

 

What never ceased to amaze us about any of the French islands we visited in the Caribbean is that there was never any fuss during the clearing in and out processes and the most it ever cost us was a small donation to cover the cost of the ink and paper for the printed clearance form or, in most instances, it cost us absolutely nothing. New Caledonia was no exception. It didn't cost us a single Franc, not even the cost to have our leftover organic produce incinerated by Biosecurity. That evening we bumped into Discover II (Gillian and Dirk), whom Elaine first met in Fiji and enjoyed a rather extended happy hour with them. We had definitely commenced our stay on the right foot!

 

With nowhere in particular to go the following morning and the fact that it was rather chilly, getting out of bed was definitely not a priority. When we eventually did surface we enjoyed a breakfast with the last of our bacon from New Zealand which hadn't been confiscated and the last of our eggs that had to be removed from their shells the day before so that the shells could accompany the rest of our organic waste for incineration by Biosecurity, after which we dinghied ashore and commenced our explorations in earnest.

 

First stop was the marina office at Marina de Port Moselle to inquire as to where we could get our usual list of amenities required; laundry, garbage disposal, groceries, propane, diesel, petrol and a data service plan. We also took the opportunity to get directions to other patisseries in town so, armed with a map and directions to all, we set off. Of course, the next stop was one of the other patisseries to enjoy another “grande café au lait” and some French pastries. From there we made some additional inquires at a local cell phone store on what data services were actually available, given that we had been told so many different stories, including one that indicated we would be unable to buy a service plan at all because we weren't residents or that any available plan involved a six month contract. That meant we'd be bound to using the extremely slow wifi facilities offered by various businesses in return for using their services, like purchasing a drink or ordering something to eat. Surprise, surprise, we discovered that we could, in fact, purchase a data plan that didn't involve any contract. All we had to do was find the right person with the right information and voila!

 

Once that little issue was resolved, we visited the local Casino Johnson supermarché (supermarket) and discovered a very well stocked store full of all our favourite French goodies. We were also very excited to learn that there was a Carrefour supermarché, having had the pleasure of one in Tahiti, an experience that still has fond memories for us, given that we have never been so excited to see a tomato or a piece of beef or a lamb chop after our Pacific Ocean crossing and time in the Marquesus Islands and the Tuamotos. Unfortunately, we were very disappointed to find the bulk of the products American rather than French, not to mention extremely expensive. On our second visit to New Caledonia, however, we decided to take another walk to Carrefour supermarché and on this occasion we were pleasantly surprised to find a vastly upgraded facility full of French products, although just as expensive, making Casino Johnson supermarché still the far better option for us. En route back to Paw Paw from Casino Johnson supermarché we discovered a number of waterfront restaurants and cafés which we were definitely looking forward to visiting at a later date. Last stop was the obligatory visitor's centre, which provided us with a host of tourist information on the area.

 

Satisfied with our morning explorations, we returned to Paw Paw to enjoy one of our favourite lunches, al fresco-style dining in the cockpit under glorious sunny skies, surrounded by turquoise waters; French brie, fois gras, a freshly baked baguette, a granny smith apple for Roy and a pear for Elaine, accompanied by a refreshing glass of Sauvignon Blanc. Our gastronomic delights carried over to our dinner onboard, following an afternoon nap, given that all our sailing of the past few weeks seemed to catch up with us all at once. While we watched the sunset and the locals out in their pirogues, something we haven't seen since leaving French Polynesia, we enjoyed our dinner of tuna sashimi for starters, then a delicious tuna steak on the barbecue, accompanied by a fresh salad for our main course, all purchased from a cursory stop at the fish market in Le Marché de Noumea (Noumea's Market).

 

Having enjoyed some relaxation and recuperation following our arrival, it was time to become tourists in our new home. First stop was a more extensive snoop around Port Moselle et Le Marché de Noumea, where we browsed the large selection of fresh fish and produce available, as well as all the handicraft stalls. From there we wandered along the waterfront to La Sorbetière for chocolate crêpes and mid-morning coffee. By then we were ready for our walking tour of La Ville de Noumea (the town of Noumea) which took us to the beautiful La Cathédrale Sainte-Joseph (Saint Joseph's Cathedral), high on the hillside overlooking Port Moselle.

 

When the tiny church of Sainte-Clotilde near the hospital could no longer accommodate the growing Catholic congregation in Noumea, a plot of land, known as "Cap Horn", was purchased in 1874 to build the Cathedral. The foundations were completed in 1876, following which funds were raised by Father Pionnier for the construction which started in 1888 using convict labour. It was blessed by Father Montrouzier in 1890 and eventually completed in 1909. There is also a statue in the grounds, dating back to 1901, dedicated to Joan of Arc.

 

Next stop was Maison de Higginson (Higginson House), a beautiful chateau-style home that was occupied by one of the many affluent families in the 1900s. Our takeaway lunch was enjoyed under the trees along with many of the town's workers on their lunch break in Place des Cocotiers et Ses Jardins (Coconut Square) before making our way to Le Musée de Nouvelle-Caledonie (Museum of New Caledonia), which depicted the history of the indigenous Kanaks, who still reside in the villages scattered around New Caledonia and continue their traditional lifestyle. Our wanderings also took us through the Quartier Latin (Latin Quarter), Polynesia China Town and along the high-end streets of Rue de L' Alma and Rue de Sebastopol with their upmarket clothing, perfumery and cosmetics stores. It was a very interesting day and, although we spent most of the day touring, we barely scratched the surface of places to see and things to do in Noumea. There was still plenty to look forward to. The day ended with another beautiful sunset and an amazing "green flash", given the crystal clear horizon.

 

What became somewhat of a habit on both our visits to New Caledonia was enjoying breakfast, while lounging in the shade of swaying palms with the locals at Le Marché de Noumea, a breakfast that included “deux grande café au lait and a selection of “crêpe au chocolat, chaisson pomme, pain au chocolat et croissant”; nothing like a caffeine and sugar rush to start the day! Hey, “in Rome...”. This was usually followed by a wander around the fresh fish and produce stalls to select the ingredients for our meals. On one occasion Roy was also fortunate enough to receive a hug from a group of girls handing out free hugs around the market. Needless to say, he walked around with a smile on his face for the rest of that day!

 

Our next area of exploration took us across Baie de l' Orphelinat and into the biggest marina we've seen. It just kept going on and on as we weaved our way between the slips in the dinghy, but not a dinghy dock in sight. We eventually tied up to a slip in front of one of the restaurants and discovered it was a private marina nestled up against Pointe Chaleix et Pointe Brunelet. Fortunately we had noticed a number of dinghies tied up near the fuel dock and further inquiries informed us that we could do the same for the equivalent price of $3USD. With the dinghy secured, we set off on foot towards Baie des Citrons and Anse Vata. En route we passed a number of very fancy apartment complexes and shops before reaching the white sandy beach of Baie des Citrons. Being a Saturday, the locals were out enjoying the good weather, so we found a bench with a view and enjoyed our picnic lunch we had brought with us. Next stop was Aquarium Des Lagons Nouvelle-Caledonie. Elaine had read about the coral at this particular aquarium, but nothing prepared us for the fabulous sights. The most unusual, brilliantly coloured varieties of coral from around New Caledonia have been successfully "cultivated" and preserved here and they are stunning, not to mention the amazing array of fish we had never seen before. It is definitely a "must see", one that left us in awe. After that visit, we were definitely looking forward to snorkelling around the islands to see everything in its natural habitat.

 

While in New Caledonia we had the privilege of celebrating a wedding anniversary on each visit. For our 34^th Wedding Anniversary, Roy was up early to head to the market in order to purchase dinner; lobsters, langoustines and prawns, but, of course, couldn’t resist returning with some French pastries for breakfast and a baguette for lunch. We were, however, definitely taking advantage of the fresh fish market with decent fish, as we haven't had the opportunity of one which had something other than reef fish, surprisingly, since leaving Samoa the year before.

Roy cooked up a storm in the galley that night, producing a shellfish delight served with savoury rice and a salad. After the previous year’s fiasco in Savusavu, Fiji with Nina (Lynda and Steve), we decided to play it safe on this occasion and cook for ourselves. At least that way we knew we'd actually get a meal! Of course, a year later, on our second visit to New Caledonia, events overtook us again, but we eventually got around to celebrating our 35th Wedding Anniversary properly nearly two weeks after the fact with a very unusual, but delicious lunch at a little restaurant we found quite by accident on one of our walks, Au P'tit Café. It was a good job we'd made a reservation a few days before as the restaurant was completely packed and certainly confirmed its popularity. It seems that having to do a "take two" on our anniversary celebrations is becoming a bit of a habit, but better late than never!

 

Prior to leaving Fiji, we had considered our options for sailing around Vanuatu and New Caledonia. In particular, how we would reduce our beats to windward, given the orientation of the islands to each other. Our chosen route on our first visit to New Caledonia, meant a sacrifice of the Loyalty Islands, especially Atoll d’Ouvea, but having seen what else New Caledonia had to offer in terms of sailing destinations within the lagoon, we didn’t feel like we'd sacrificed too much. Of course, that was until our second visit, when, in fact, we did get the opportunity to visit two of the Loyalty Islands, something we are definitely pleased that we got to do in the end, although it took two separate attempts to do so.

 

Our explorations further afield of Noumea on our first visit to New Caledonia, meant a rather brisk 7 Kts sail on headsail alone, with a few knots of current on the stern to help us along, which took us to Anse Majic in Baie de Prony, before making our way to Ile des Pins, the southernmost island of New Caledonia. There is one aspect of sailing that never ceases to astonish us, though. On that particular day, when we entered Baie de Prony we had at least six anchorages to choose from, all of which would have been convenient for an early morning departure to Ile des Pins. We could just as easily have turned to port, but we turned to starboard. When we arrived at the first anchorage, we decided it wasn't sheltered enough. The second one was too deep, so we settled for a mooring ball in the third anchorage and, lo-and-behold, on one of the mooring balls, was Time Bandit (Anne and Stuart). They had just arrived from the Loyalty Islands that morning and we hadn’t seen them since leaving Las Perlas in Panama in February 2016. There are so many cruising friends who we've tried to meet up with during our travels and never quite managed it. For example, we'd made arrangements with Cattiva (Maria and Maurice) to see them in Tonga, New Zealand and twice in Fiji, but it never materialised. We barely managed to cross paths with Blue Summit (Kate and Steve) in Fiji, but missed them in Vanuatu. We'd even tried to touch base with Time Bandit in Suva, but that fell through as well. Now, in the most unlikely place, here they were and we thought they were sailing around northern Vanuatu. A small world indeed!

 

After waking up to the alarm clock at daybreak the following morning and checking the weather for our sail to Ile des Pins, we decided to stay put and enjoy some magic in Anse Majic, given that the forecast indicated at least 15 Kts of wind on the nose. With that we went straight back to bed. Once we surfaced again, we'd no sooner enjoyed a cooked breakfast when Time Bandit hailed us to find out why we hadn't left. Turned out they'd changed their plans to sail onto Noumea as well. As a result we ended up spending a very pleasant day in their company and that of their friends off Randivag (Lisa and Sven). The day started with a dinghy ride ashore, followed by a fabulous hike up to the lighthouse on Cap N’doua, where we enjoyed spectacular sea views out towards Canal de la Havannah, Ile Ouen and Ile des Pins and mountain views over Grande Terre. By the time we returned it was mid-afternoon, which meant a nap was definitely in order. Roy also had to make more temporary repairs to our headsail, since the tape we’d used didn't last at all. Sometimes we just have to shake our heads in dismay at some of the yachting products sold, which are definitely not "fit-for-purpose". What's more irritating is that usually we've long since left the destination where we've purchased these products, so there's absolutely no recourse. We wrapped up our day with all of us congregating on Time Bandit for sundowners and enjoyed the opportunity to exchange adventure stories of our sailing season, given that we'd all sailed to different destinations in Fiji and Vanuatu. Having enjoyed our very unexpected day together and, since we were all continuing west over the next month or so, we said our goodbyes in the hope of seeing each other again somewhere in Australia.

 

It was a case of "take two" the next morning, only this time we were up at daybreak to enjoy very favourable winds to get to Ile des Pins. Under full sails and a bright, crisp, sunny day, we sailed at speeds of up to 8 Kts on a beam reach, with numerous flocks of migratory birds for company. We were literally surrounded for hours as they flew past Paw Paw. Then, as we entered Baie de Kuto we spotted dugongs to our starboard side, but this didn't compare to the breathtaking views that awaited us as we anchored; snow white powdery beaches, trimmed with the most unusual looking pine trees mixed with coconut palms, lapped by gorgeous clear turquoise waters. It didn't take us long to beach the dinghy so that we could start our reconnaissance and the scenery just got better with each step that we took. Our adventures around Ile des Pins included early morning walks to the boulangerie for freshly baked baguette or for French pastries, the latter on a Saturday, since this was the only day of the week that these were available or, if our walk was a little later in the day, we enjoyed an ice-cream while sitting on the cut off logs outside the boulangerie or took a walk to some of the nearby ruins from when Ile des Pins was a French penal colony, including the ruins on Presqu'ile de Kuto. On other days we took a stroll on the beautiful powdery white beaches of Baie De Kuto or Baie de Kanumera, stopping in at Hotel Kou-Bugny's or Oure Tera Beach Resort for coffee and a stroll around their gardens, enjoying the constant pleasure of the stunning views that were simply breathtaking! These were only emphasised during our tour around the island after preparing a picnic lunch, collecting our hired car and setting off in an anticlockwise direction around the island. Our travels took us through the tribus de Comagna, Voa, Youati, Quatchia, Touete, Gadji and Kere. The only village we didn't visit was Tribu de Wapan as this was a little off the beaten track.

 

Besides the spectacular scenery and views, we certainly had some very interesting sights to visit along the way and thoroughly enjoyed the diversity. Baie de St Maurice revealed an intriguing mix of Christian and Kanak sculptures overlooking the reefs of Port de Vao and out towards Ilot Brosse. En route to Baie de St Joseph we stopped at La Mission de Vao, established by French Catholics who landed on the island on 8^th August 1848, resulting in an evangelical population in Vao centred around the mission. By the latter half of the 19th century the Notre Dame De l'Assomption Church had been built (1860-1871), the Presbytery by 1848, a girl's school by 1882 and a boy's school, the present day St Joseph's high school by 1894. In the bay itself, we saw the various handcrafted outrigger canoes that normally took visitors into Baie d'Upi. Unfortunately, due to the strong winds, none were sailing on the day, but we were still able to enjoy the beautiful scenery.

 

Next stop was Baie d'Oro with its crystal clear waters and where we visited Le Méridien Resort and Spa for a bathroom break and a mid-morning coffee. Refuelled, we continued north, but not before enjoying a walk to the Oro Bay's natural swimming pool. En route to Baie de Gadji, we had the opportunity to stretch our legs again as we meandered through the lush tropical gardens en route to Queen Hortense's cave, where we explored the refuge of Kanak royalty. The cave was amazing with the most unusual and enormous stalactites formations. By the time we reached Baie de Gadji, we were ready for our beach picnic of a sliced baguette accompanied by French brie, fois gras, jambon serrano, saucisson chasseur, kalamata olives and fresh fruit juice, while enjoying yet another picturesque bay. The final leg of our journey took us to Baie de Ouameo and Baie des Rouleaux which overlooks Ilot Moro and, by this stage, we were left in no doubt that Ile des Pins was a very beautiful island with absolutely no shortage of stunning, powdery white sandy beaches that go on for miles and that are lapped with the most incredible shades of turquoise blue waters. We did, however, notice that there were no fruit trees, other than a few pawpaw trees that we saw and the general vegetation was semi-arid, but with interspersed areas of lush tropical plants. An environment that couldn’t quite make up its mind as to whether it was tropical, subtropical or temperate, thereby forming a transition of outstanding landscapes and forms, which, in fact, contributed to the area, known as Zone de Grand Lagon Sud, becoming a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We also noticed that the villagers were only participating in subsistence farming, which explained the lack of a fresh produce market and very little fresh produce in the few grocery stores dotted around the island. Regardless though, it was a most enjoyable sightseeing trip, topped off with a turtle popping up to say hello when we were en route back to Paw Paw in the dinghy.

 

Just prior to our departure from Ile des Pins, we spotted Blue Summit entering the anchorage, whom we haven't seen since Fiji. Once they were settled, they wasted no time in dinghying over to Paw Paw for morning tea and a chance to catch up. With so many cruising stories to exchange, we continued later over sundowners on Blue Summit. It was, however, the next morning, seated on the patio of Hotel Kou-Bugny, when Elaine was reflecting on our sailing season, which was, once again, coming to a close. She had the opportunity to digest her feelings after talking to our then two and half year old grandson, William, earlier, that brought home the price we pay for our lifestyle. Listening to him say: "I love you grandma" and "I love you grandpa" just melted our hearts. Looking out over the fabulous turquoise blue waters, Elaine couldn't help but acknowledge that our decision to sail around the world, was indeed a selfish one; taking ourselves away from our loved ones for extended periods of time, but realising this is a balancing act which most cruisers have to manage. Although unforeseen circumstances prevented us from getting back to the USA in July / August of that year, as previously planned, we were definitely hoping that, as we approached a more accessible part of the world, visits would be more regular. Her melancholy mood was definitely lifted after taking, what we thought would be our last walk along the beautiful beach of Baie de Kanumera and stopping in at the Oure Tera Beach Resort for morning coffee, followed by an afternoon of seeing dugongs, dolphins and turtles swimming around Paw Paw, then topping off our day in the company of friends; Blue Summit, Lettin' Go (Ann and Cran) and Vivacious / Kit Cat (Jane and Russ) enjoying sundowners on Paw Paw and basking in the laughter of some hilarious sailing stories.

 

With that, it was another early morning start to weigh anchor and set sail for Ile Ouen. Sailing wing-on-wing, something we hadn't done since our passage from St Lucia to Colombia, we made good progress at around 6 Kts. With a few birds around, Roy decided to put out the handline, but no luck. He was, however, determined to have fish for dinner, so, fortunately the freezer was very accommodating. A selection of mahi mahi, tuna and prawns did the trick, accompanied by a glass or two of Château Sainte Marotine, with its powerful and expressive nose and the pallet structure amble and complex; loosely translated, it smelt like petrol and tasted like vinegar! Only joking, it was a very nice wine indeed! Pity we couldn’t take wine into Australia, otherwise we would have purchased a few more bottles.

 

We arrived in good time to assess the bay we had chosen for the night, Turtle Bay, but based on the weather conditions, we opted instead for Baie Ouenni / Baie Tioae. It turned out to be a very strange bay, though, and was definitely not protected from the wind as we had hoped, given that it was on the leeside behind the rather large landmass of Ile Ouen. It seemed the wind came around the southern end of the island and straight up into the anchorage, keeping the yachts parallel to the shoreline. Fortunately, though, we were protected from the sea which was a far better alternative. That evening, while watching the sunset and seeing another "green flash", we had the good fortune of having dugongs come within a boat length of Paw Paw's stern. They were very shy at first, staying about 200m off, but eventually curiosity got the better of them and we're glad they did! A day full of natural beauty was topped off with a beautiful full moon.

 

After our overnight stop at Ile Ouen, we had originally intended to stop at Ilot Amédée and Ilot Maitre en route back to Noumea, but after a very blustery night, we decided to head straight for Noumea instead and that turned out to be a really good decision. The weather turned very nasty indeed later in the day with winds up to 28 Kts in the protected area of Port Moselle, so we hated to think what it was like outside. Yet another early start, though, had us safely anchored by 0930, but not before we had to make way for a passing cruise ship. While most sailors will admit "it's a race" as soon as two yachts are sailing together in the same direction, we were obviously "out gunned" on this occasion. Regardless, our early start afforded us the time to still drop off the laundry and enjoy “deux grande café au lait” and French pastries at Le Marché de Noumea. However, with the cruise ship beating us to the port, it was a very busy Saturday morning market. Being back in Noumea, however, also meant we had decent internet connection again, which allowed us to catch up on a few landlubber matters, but getting back onboard was a priority in order to ride out the bad weather. It was during this particularly bad storm that we realised we have one criticism of the French islands, and it's the same one that applies to all the French islands we have visited around the world; they do not announce their securité messages or provide the weather forecasts on the VHF radio in English. In our opinion, this is, not only very irritating, but potentially dangerous and had us considering that it would be worthwhile to knuckle down and learn French!

 

It was, however, a blessing in disguise to, not only be back in Noumea, but not in Vanuatu, since medical and dental facilities are excellent and relatively inexpensive in New Caledonia. A toothache Elaine had developed a few days previous suddenly deteriorated significantly overnight and she was very grateful to have secured an early morning emergency dentist appointment with help from the staff at Marina de Port Moselle. Unfortunately a panoramic x-ray revealed that a major infection had developed underneath her 35 year old gold crown. Although contained, there was extensive decay and root canal treatment was required. Armed with antibiotics, painkillers and a follow-up appointment to have all the work completed in a few days once the antibiotics had cleared up the infection, we decided that we may as well do some more sightseeing around Noumea and, while not wanting to waste any gorgeous sunny days that we had left in New Caledonia by staying onboard, we also took the opportunity to head for the beach, Anse Vata, in particular. That, of course, meant our "first rodeo" on the local buses. Working out what bus to take and then where to get it was a little confused by the "hop-on-hop-off" buses arranged for the passengers of another cruise ship which had arrived, but after working it all out, we decided the best option would be to hop off at the furthest point, Ouen Toro, then spend the day strolling back along the various beach fronts. By late morning we stopped at Amorino La Cialdina to enjoy a cappuccino, which Elaine managed to order in French without incident. However, sending Roy back to the counter to order a few additional items turned out to be a very bad idea indeed. What we wanted was a chocolate crêpe for Elaine and a cone with two scoops of gelato for Roy. Well, obviously something definitely got lost in translation when a chocolate crêpe filled with two scoops of gelato arrived instead. Needless to say, we were both in fits of laughter. We have no doubt that the server must have thought it was a rather strange order, but, who knows, it may very well end up on their menu as it wasn't too bad at all. By the time we'd walked the 5 miles / 8km back to Port Moselle, we had definitely earned a drink and ended up meeting two Australian holiday makers who couldn't help but over hear us trying desperately to give the waitress our drinks order in such a way that we stood a chance of actually getting what we wanted. It seemed that learning French was definitely becoming more of a necessity! Anyway, after a delightful conversation with the Australians, we also learnt about a few more places in Australia we could consider visiting.

 

A bus ride also took us to the Centre d'Art, housed in the 1881 prison and from there a short walk took us to the Maison Célières colonial mansion. Unfortunately it was closed, but all was not lost, as we had the good fortune of visiting it on our second visit to New Caledonia and on that occasion, besides returning to the dentist for our annual dental check-ups which, fortunately, revealed that neither of us required any work to be done, we also visited a dermatologist for Roy which afforded us the opportunity to then see Maison Célières. It is a colonial house, depicting the typical architecture of the time and houses New Caledonia’s Maison de la Livre. Paul Joseph Célières, the first owner of the mansion, and his wife Marie Ohlen used to welcome their visitors at the gate, the boundary between the public street and their private domain. The Célières family called the wrought iron gate “Le Baro”, which is a Creole word for "a gate" from Reunion Island, where Mr. Célières was born. The house contains a number of items reminiscent of that island. The garden behind the enclosing wall served as a privacy buffer between street and house and was planted with ornamental plants. When the Célières lived there, the garden was designed to impress visitors with its lavishness. Convict labourers were employed to plant the majestic trees which adorn it. Unlike the kitchen garden at the rear of the house, used to grow herbs and vegetables, this ornamental garden was created for purely aesthetic purposes. While no comprehensive inventory exists of the species planted in this garden, some can be identified from photographs taken before the owner’s death in 1940.These included magnificent royal palm trees and the latan palm, native to islands in the Indian Ocean, planted in the late 19th century. The New Caledonia Directory of 1906 notes that the Widow Célières, residing in Faubourg Blanchot, sold bouquets of flowers, believed to have been gathered from this very garden.

 

Other outings took us along the waterfront to enjoy a delicious lunch at La Sorbetière and on that occasion, we had the lovely surprise of bumping into Blue Summit on the dinghy dock; they had just arrived in Noumea. We also took the opportunity to venture much further afield by bus, given the success of our earlier bus trips. This time, heading over to the east coast of Grande Terre Island, where we visited the Tjibaou Cultural Centre. Since our arrival in New Caledonia we had savoured the French culture, but this was an opportunity to explore the indigenous Kanak culture. During our walk along the Kanak "pathway", we learnt about Tea Kanake, the mystical founder of the Kanak people, and the five stages of life that the Kanaks believe in:

 

Stage 1: The Origin of Being - At the dawn of the world, the moon placed a tooth on a rock emerging from the primeval sea. The warmth of the moon's rays caused the tooth to decay from which the first living being appeared and Tea Kanake is born.

 

Stage 2: The Earth that Nourishes - Born without knowledge, Tea Kanake asks the spirits for the knowledge he needs to live on earth. He learns about the magic of the stones and the grass, how to work the land and to understand the properties of the plants. He starts to grow yams and taros. Yams play a key role in Kanak society and are given the same respect as a human being. It is considered the symbol of a man and the life of each clan is governed by the yam farming cycle. Community life revolves around the planting, care and harvesting of yams and the yam cycle determines the date of all major events from the ritual induction of a chief, to birth, marriages and funerals.

 

Stage 3: The Land of the Ancestors - Tea Kanake builds his house after he exchanges some yams. The spirits also teach him how to live in a community. He plants the tall pines which mark the sacred and tabu places and he speaks the first words of Kanak oratory.

 

Stage 4: Tea Kanake Visits the Land of the Dead - In order to know all about human life, Tea Kanake decides to experience death. He enters the Banyan tree, which is the body of the spirit. Through its roots that reach down into the underground, he visits the land of the dead and is transformed in this womb.

 

Stage 5: Tea Kanake is Reborn as a New Man - Like the shoots that sprout from a cut tree trunk, Tea Kanake, the eternal bearer of the Kanak message, passes through the hole in the rock, the symbol of rebirth. He breaths his solemn words into the ironwood tree, where they will song on forever. From these words a new era begins.

 

It was a fascinating glimpse into the Kanak belief system and one very similar to the circle of life we learnt about in Tahiti. Amongst other aspects, we also explored the "Mwakaa", the traditional ceremonial grounds, a place for formal speeches and ceremonial exchange of gifts, known as "custom", similar to Vanuatu. The three chiefly homes of the grounds were, not only a fabulous display of Kanak architecture, but they also represented the three main Kanak clan groupings; the southern clan, the northern clan and the Loyalty Islands clan. Before leaving the grounds, Roy decided to hedge his beats and placed a few coins on the magical rock, to be sure, to be sure!

 

We also managed to squeeze in a visit to the Musée Maritime de Nouvelle-Caledonie and what an interesting afternoon that turned out to be. We definitely hadn't realised how dangerous the New Caledonian reef systems were to the early explorers. We had no idea that so many ships and lives had been lost or that such a large number of tall ships and ore carriers ferried supplies to and from the archipelago. Discovering the seafaring history and, in particular, the extraordinary collection of the Parouse artefacts, recovered after a search spanning over 200 years to locate the wreckage of this tragic 18th century expedition, was enlightening. Seeing the only remaining medal associated with Captain Cook's HMS Resolution voyage, along with over 2000 artefacts recovered from various other New Caledonian shipwrecks, was fascinating. Of course, the number of shipwrecks eventually led to the extensive navigational aids system established during the 19th century, which cruisers still enjoy to this day. The tragic events of 31^st July 1953 still remains a mystery to these islanders, though, when the overcrowded steamer, Monique, left the Loyalty Island of Maré, bound for Noumea and disappeared. Nothing was ever found of the vessel or its human cargo of 126 people, other than four drums and one lifering.

 

Our final days during both our visits to New Caledonia involved getting through the preparations required for our passages to Australia, which, in many ways, was similar to heading for New Zealand. Fortunately, during our first visit to New Caledonia we received feedback from Time Bandit following their safe arrival in Australia ahead of us, particularly about the Biosecurity and clearing in process. Based on this feedback, we decided it was probably a good idea to fumigate Paw Paw again rather than encounter any issues with the Australian authorities with regard to insects of various descriptions. Of course, that meant spending a morning removing all our open food items, clearing everything out of the galley and opening up every cupboard, floorboard and side panel; basically turning Paw Paw upside-down, before heading ashore for a few hours to allow the vapour canisters time to work; a harsh, but necessary procedure on a yacht unfortunately. Once back onboard, it was a case of clean up and return our home to normal. We were surprised, however, to uncover a number of dead unwelcome lodgers considering we had fumigated just after coming off the hard in New Zealand. It's amazing what flies on to a yacht. To be sure, to be sure, we then decided to smoke the bilges to ensure we reached behind all the side panels and cupboards. Once that was all done, it was time to set about clearing out and cleaning all the food cupboards, cleaning under all the floorboards and in the bilges, ensuring all sporting equipment was clean and free of soil, getting dinghy fuel, getting the last of the laundry done, diving Paw Paw's bottom to clean it and the depth sensor, and, of course, watching the weather window for an actual departure date. Additionally an entire morning was spent completing and submitting all the Australian clearing in paperwork as well as the New Caledonia clearing out paperwork, which, fortunately, was a lot quicker the second time around. By this stage, on both occasions, we were eventually able to say that Paw Paw was clean inside, outside, topside and bottomside and ready to set sail west.

 

However, during our first visit, our departure was dictated by Elaine's unexpected root canal and crown treatment. It didn't help matters that she discovered she had been taking half the dose of the antibiotics she was supposed to, hence the slow subsidence of the pain. Grrrr, the joys of misinterpreting a foreign language prescription! On the bright side, our first departure from New Caledonia, meant we would be another step closer to seeing our loved ones in Arizona since last seeing them in December 2016 and was giving us the opportunity to celebrate our twin grandsons, Brayden and Carter’s, first birthday. On the second departure, setting sail west meant time to take a break from sailing altogether for a few months and to spend time with loved ones in various parts of the world instead.

 

Of course, there was the last of the social events with time and energy to spare. These included a lunch with Blue Summit and Lettin' Go after opting to take a bus to Baie des Citrons and where a good time was had by all at Les Trois Brasseurs, then a fabulous potluck curry evening on board Lettin' Go, along with Blue Summit and Vivacious / Kit Cat. Good food, good company and plenty of laughs created great memories as we all got ready to set sail in different directions, and, finally, an unexpected social gathering at Le Bout de Monde with Plastik Plankton (Kathi and Wolgang) and Wild Sweet (Kerry and Phil) before a cast of thousands arrived for the debriefings associated with the various rallies, the yachts of which had congregated in Noumea over the previous week awaiting a weather window, like ourselves, to head to New Zealand or Australia.

 

It was the excruciating pain, though, that didn’t even begin to describe what Elaine went through with her root canal procedure and which set the tone for our final days in New Caledonia during our first visit. The pain associated with the anaesthetic injection set the stage for the following two hours. With the dentist muttering words like "complicated" and "very difficult" throughout the process and Elaine's pain levels increasing with each passing minute as the anaesthetic wore off, tears streamed down her face. Without the dental assistant available to assist with the procedure, unfortunately the dentist was running out of time and unable to administer any more local anaesthetic. Apologising profusely and wiping away Elaine's tears, the dentist had no option but to continue on, as the decay, nerves and infection had to be removed and disinfected. Once that was all completed and the final stage of the root canal treatment commenced, the next complication occurred. Elaine started to bleed and the procedure had to be halted. So, with her original gold crown replaced and a prescription to continue with the antibiotics she had been prescribed before the procedure, she then had to have the procedure completed at a later date. In disbelief at having gone through all of that and still not have the procedure completed, we stopped at the first bar for drinks to calm Elaine's nerves, Le Bout du Monde. Thank goodness for pain medication and alcohol. Not a good combination, but by that stage Elaine didn't care. More pills, an ice pack and Roy's famous homemade soup finally did the trick. Then, after a relatively good night's sleep, considering the circumstances, we woke to a rainy, blustering day so we decided to stay on board. Roy, however, braved the weather to dinghy ashore to pick up some French pastries, following which we reviewed the various weather forecasting models and concluded that we wouldn’t be leaving for Australia any time that week. So, departure postponed again, but we were still hopeful that a good weather window would materialise the following week. It also worked to our advantage by giving Elaine more time to recover and we ended up enjoying a fabulous passage to Australia; one of the best, in fact, with the exception of a few hours as we approached the Australian coast. That extra week just seemed to fly by and after watching the weather every day, the window we'd been waiting for opened up sooner than we expected. With that it was a mad rush to get the last of our preparations completed; clearing out, moving Paw Paw to the fuel dock to fill up with diesel, dropping in at the dentist to pick up Elaine's dental records so that our dentist in the Arizona could complete her root canal treatment, topping up our provisioning, cooking all our passage meals, completing and distributing all our passage documentation, completing our final checklist activities and squeezing in some quick phone calls to family.

 

In keeping with our habit, we also got to enjoy another breakfast at Le Marché de Noumea with Blue Summit, but, as we all savoured our French pastries and “grande café au lait”, we knew the inevitable was approaching; saying goodbye to the last of our World ARC friends, as we headed west and Blue Summit returned to New Zealand. It was a very sad goodbye as we had come to appreciate their friendship over the past year and would definitely miss their company. It was also the start of a chain reaction, as we had a few more goodbyes to say to friends old and new; Vivacious / Kit Cat, Lettin' Go and Georgia (Chris and Paul). Unfortunately we missed Raya (Ros and Rick), but we knew we would see them again in Sydney. With that, a very strange emptiness settled over the anchorage, as yacht after yacht sailed out of Port Moselle bound for New Zealand. The next morning it was our turn to depart. As we sailed out of Port Moselle bound for Australia, for what we thought would be the last time, we had a lovely surprise with Lettin' Go sounding their ship's horn and waving us off.

 

That morning, since the French authorities don’t require a yacht to leave New Caledonia immediately after clearing out, we completed the first leg of our passage with an extremely fast sail over to Ilot Maitre, where we spent the night. This, however, was our second attempt at seeing Ilot Maitre before departing New Caledonia. Knowing Ilot Maitre was a marine / nature reserve, we thought we would have to pick up a mooring ball, assuming anchoring was prohibited, something we learnt later was an incorrect assumption on our part. Regardless, what we weren’t expecting was that many of the yachts from the ICA rally that year had decided to move to Ilot Maitre from Noumea that morning and as we arrived, we saw one of them pick up what looked like the last ball. After motoring up and down in search of a vacant ball and making a general call to all the yachts on the mooring balls to please advise us if there were indeed any moorings open, we received feedback that there was one, but in very shallow water. With that we decided to hang out for a little while just to make sure a yacht wasn't leaving, although we had assumed they would have advised us of their intentions when we made the general VHF radio call. Well, that was the second incorrect assumption we made on that day. The next thing we see is another rally yacht arriving and, after making a radio call, they are advised by a rally yacht on one of the mooring balls that they were leaving and that the new arrival could have their ball, even though both yachts had seen us waiting for a vacancy. One accepts the fact that mooring balls can be in demand, but such blatant hostility definitely showed a rather ugly side of sailing, one we hadn't experienced since arriving in Fatu Hiva in the Marquesas some eighteen months earlier, when a number of World ARC rally yachts ignored our radio calls for help. This is a rare occurrence in the sailing world, as most cruisers will rush to the aid of others and we have certainly rendered our fair share of assistance in the past. It was just a little more disturbing though when these were yachts we'd come to know since seeing them in New Zealand and in most of the destinations we'd visited. Hopefully it will be a good while before we encounter anything like that again!

 

On our more successful second attempt, once we were anchored and had lunch we headed ashore to enjoy a walk around the island, watch the numerous kite surfers and enjoy some refreshments at the resort in order to spend the last of our French Francs. Then we had the pleasure of bumping into Plastik Plankton again, whom we were also hoping to see again in Sydney as they were departing for Australia a few days after us. We topped off the day with a barbecue aboard and then it was early to bed to get the rest we need before our watch schedule began.

 

Next stop, after a relatively restful night and a delicious cooked breakfast, we enjoyed a slow sail / motor-sail to Ilot Amédée, where the iconic Amédée Lighthouse is situated, approximately 25NM from Noumea, thus completing leg 2 of our Australian passage. Built in 1865, this 16-sided tapered cast iron tower with balcony and lantern is an impressive structure, standing at 184 ft / 56 metres tall, with a range of 20NM. It is one of the tallest lighthouses in the world and is still operational to this day. The metal components were made by Rigolet in northeast Paris in 1862 and the tower was constructed in Paris as a demonstration. It was then disassembled into pieces and transported along the River Seine to the port of Le Havre for its voyage to New Caledonia. The foundation stone was laid on 18^th January 1865 and it was first lit on 15^th November 1865, the saint day of the Empress Eugénie, wife of Napoleon III. Its light signals the entrance to the passage of Boulari, one of only three natural passages in the reef surrounding New Caledonia. On the other side of the world, the Roches-Douvres Light in the English Channel is the twin brother of the Amédée lighthouse.

 

Once we were anchored, we dinghied ashore, enjoyed our first swim without a wetsuit since leaving Fiji, then climbed the 247 steps to the balcony of the lighthouse and enjoyed the magnificent views. Back onboard, unfortunately a good night's sleep eluded us, since the anchorage turned out to be one of the rolliest we'd been in for some time. The winds had turned to the north, but the swell was coming out of the east; delightful, not! So, on 23^rd October 2017, after a very rolly night, we woke to a beautiful sunrise and weighed anchor. Having cleared the pass between Recif To and Recif Le Sournois, we entered the Coral Sea and, with that, it was goodbye to New Caledonia and goodbye to the South Pacific Ocean, or so we thought!

 

Our second visit to New Caledonia, while unplanned, was a completely different experience altogether from the first one. Primarily because we had more time and could, therefore, enjoy the sites we had missed the first time, but secondly because it was a welcome break from the western world of Australia and, in particular, from the medical issues we had dealt with since our arrival in Australia. What we weren’t expecting was seeing almost every single cruising friend we had met since commencing our sailing adventure in 2014. This aspect truly was the highlight of our second visit.

 

As any sailor will tell you, the hardest thing about doing a passage is actually casting off the dock, but having made the decision to return to New Caledonia after spending nine months in Australia and with all the departure preparations completed, on the 26^th July 2018, we did exactly that. Although heading east presented its own challenges, we were fortunate enough to depart at the time of year where winds out of the west are more prevalent, providing us with the perfect weather window overall. After clearing out at around 0800, we left our berth at the Southport Yacht Club two hours later. It was a lovely surprise to receive a send off from Sea Wolf (Glynis and Grant), whom we had met during our time in Australia. As they waved us goodbye from The Spit, we made our way out the Gold Coast Seaway.

 

Our departure was planned so as to take advantage of the slight conditions in order to cross the East Australian Current and help keep a good lookout for the migrating whales. Fortunately we weren't disappointed on both counts. About 10NM out, with slight seas and the skyscrapers of the Gold Coast fading in the distance, we picked up some wind to help us motor-sail and we spotted our first pod of humpback whales. A short time later we spotted a pod of dolphins and another pod of whales to our stern. Once we were through the lumpy current, we hoisted the mainsail and turned off the engines. Being a sandwich between cargo ships, however, is always an interesting position, but under clear blue skies, we continued on without incident. After motor-sailing on and off most of the day, under a waxing gibbous moon to light our way, we were sailing again, given that the winds had shifted to the north as forecast. The highlight of our day, though, was receiving photographs of William and Capri dressed for their first day of school; preschool for William, 4th Grade for Capri. It was difficult to comprehend where the time had gone.

 

At approximately 0300 on 27^th July 2018, the northwesterlies we were enjoying, allowing us to sail at speeds of up to 8 Kts at times during the night, died down, so on went the engines again and stayed on for most of the day, with the wind veering to the north rather than the west as forecast. Fortunately these directions permitted us to sail just south of our rhumbline, but north of our planned route in an east-northeast direction, at an average speed of 6 Kts on one engine. So, under blue, sunny skies, dotted with fluffy white clouds, not only did we enjoy slight seas, but we saw dolphins again while having our morning coffee. Given the amount of motoring we were doing in this part of the world, yet again, Roy also remained diligent as always about his daily engines checks. We spent the day catching up on sleep, ready for another night of watches, but by the evening, with the beautiful full moon rising in the east and the sun setting in the west, the winds had backed again, allowing us to enjoy a peaceful night of sailing with a reefed main and genoa.

 

At around 0400 on 28^th July 2018 the winds dropped slightly, so, rather than deal with shaking out the reef in the mainsail in the dark, we started the starboard engine, which also had the benefit of reducing our leeway. By 0600 we were sailing under full sails again with the wind remaining out of the northwest. At an average speed of 6 Kts, we were slowly making our way northeast towards New Caledonia. The continuing sunny blue skies, warmer temperatures and flatter seas were definitely adding to the enjoyment.

 

That night the winds increased slightly and turned easterly. Although we were still under sail, this change forced us to head north-northeast and reduced our VMG (Velocity Made Good) somewhat. With that change, came lumpy seas as well, but we still managed an average speed of 7 Kts and we had cleared the Capel Bank and the surrounding reefs, so we had room to manoeuvre. Also, by this stage, we hadn't seen any traffic since leaving the territorial waters of Australia, although during the latter part of the passage, we had only two tankers and a cruise ship pop up on the AIS and didn’t encounter any illegal Chinese fishing vessels, which was only a good thing, no doubt! We did, however, have a rather strange visitor during the night, which was a little disconcerting until Roy figured out what it was; a drone. After taking a peek at Paw Paw it scooted off. Weird! It was comforting, though, to receive notifications that the New Zealand Maritime Services were receiving our daily position reports and tracking us as previously arranged. That was in addition to communicating with Keenan every day and learning during Justine and Paul’s visit to us in Australia, that Justine diligently follows us on the Yellowbrick while we are underway. Thank you Justine!

 

As with every passage we pick a weather window that we believe will give us the best conditions to reach our destination. In this case, the forecast showed a "sausage-shaped" high pressure system stretching from the southeast coast of Queensland right across to the southern part of New Caledonia. There was also a coastal low pressure system developing over the Tasman Sea, but expected to remain well south of our route. We would, however, enjoy light southerly winds from this system once it passed over us later in the passage. Our plan was to stay in the southwest corner of the high pressure system and ride the northerly, northwesterly and westerly winds heading due east until the southerlies kicked in, at which time we would head northeast and onto our waypoint at Boulari Passage.

 

Sailing on the edge of a high pressure system meant sunny blue skies and slight seas, all of which we had for the first three days of our passage as noted. What we weren't expecting was for the high pressure system to split into two parts and have the trough created by the low pressure system wedge in between. Well, on Sunday, 29^th July 2018, that's exactly what happened. Crawling along at 4.7 Kts, it felt like we were off-roading again on Fraser Island with Justine and Paul as Paw Paw wobbled over every wave. By that night, although the wind backed to the northeast as forecast, we were still forced to motor at a slower pace to compensate for the short steep waves and very confused seas.  Fortunately we were able to head due east again, though, and continue to work our way slowly towards our waypoint. Being past the halfway mark with 325NM to go and only birds for company, we were looking forward to better conditions. Fortunately by mid-morning on 30^th July 2018 the system had passed over us and the sunny blue skies and slighter seas returned. We were able to motor-sail for a few hours, but the wind died down around noon, so it was back to motoring as we awaited the southerly wind shift. In the interim we caught up on sleep, we were eating well, enjoying our respective books and looking forward to land ahoy.

 

By that afternoon the winds backed to the southwest as forecast and then to the south. But all was not as we had planned. Unfortunately with the south sub-tropical current, the effects of which we had been feeling for a number of days, either in slowing us down or by creating a significant amount of leeway or both, we were at that point in the passage where the decision had to be made to either keep motor-sailing, using the engines to counteract the effects or continue under sail alone and spend an extra night at sea; decisions, decisions! On the brighter side, we enjoyed a beautiful sunset that evening and we were fortunate enough to have Mother Nature make the decision for us. Although we'd already had the wind shift to the south, the lighter winds were replaced with slightly stronger winds than we were expecting and, with that, under sail, we were enjoying boat speeds of anything from 6.5 to 8.5 Kts, reaching a maximum of 10.5 Kts, with the apparent wind just aft of the beam, a following sea and tracking northeast, just south of our rhumbline. It doesn’t get more perfect than that!

 

We had initially expected a relatively slow passage taking an estimated 8 days, but our decision to motor-sail at every opportunity, although burning more diesel than we would normally consider, coupled with the faster boat speeds under sail, we expected to shave between 36 and 48 hours off this passage based on our DMG (Distance Made Good), our VMG (Velocity Made Good) and our DTG (Distance To Go) on 31^st July 2018. A bonus indeed! Even with Roy still suffering the consequences of banging his toe during the night when Elaine had to wake him so that we could put a second reef to the mainsail, we were still able to remain under sail until 0400 when the wind dropped and turned east-southeast as expected. We knew we weren't far off by then, when the VHF radio sprang into life with the all familiar French securité announcement for the latest weather broadcast on Channel 67, in French of course.

 

Because we approached New Caledonia in the dark, Elaine didn't see "land ahoy" during her watch until daybreak at around 0445 AEST when we were roughly 15 NM out, but by 0800 AEST / 0900 NC TIME on 1^st August 2018, we were anchored back in paradise, choosing a spot just off the Amédée Lighthouse. This brief stop before sailing on to Noumea allowed us to have breakfast, run the watermaker and catch up on some sleep after a very lumpy night. It is fair to say that being back in the tropics and the South Pacific islands, in particular, we can both categorically confirm that we are definitely "nesomaniacs" or, alternatively, also referred to as "islomanes". Although we thoroughly enjoyed Australia and there was still plenty for us to explore when we returned at the end of the winter sailing season, there was simply nothing to describe the pleasure we both felt at arriving back in New Caledonia, even after five days and twenty hours at sea!

 

Since this was our second visit to New Caledonia, getting settled back in paradise was familiar and easy, a definite bonus to visiting a place twice! After a good night's sleep we were both up early. While Roy gave Paw Paw a quick freshwater rinse, Elaine tidied up and got breakfast ready. After that it was time to dinghy ashore and get through our laundry list of activities. First stop was the bank, then Immigration followed by Customs and Biosecurity. Fortunately the Biosecurity officer was kind enough to give us a lift back to the marina, with arrangements to meet her at 1400 to hand over our dustbin bag of organic waste which we were unable to throw overboard once we were within the offshore cut-off limit to do so. We also learnt that, since we had arrived from Australia, she didn't have to come aboard and we didn't have to dispose of our butter, cheese or honey which we still had on board after our passage. Apparently the criteria for yachts arriving from Australia is specifically restrictions on meats, fruit and vegetables only which was very different to those associated with our arrival from Vanuatu the previous year. The second bonus was that, once again, the entire clearing in process didn't cost us a penny. So refreshing!

 

Given that we'd managed to get all the officialdom done sooner than we expected, we wasted no time at all in heading to one of our favourite spots in Noumea, Le Marché de Noumea, to enjoy our “grande café au lait” accompanied by our favourite French pastries. Sitting under the gently swaying palms with a view of Port Moselle on the one side and the activities of the market on the other, we couldn't help but notice the much slower pace synonymous with island life and one we much prefer. By then it was time to head to the marina office to register for the various services available to cruisers whether you're in a marina berth or anchored out, as we were. These included access to the dinghy dock, wifi, bathroom facilities, garbage disposal, water, etc. The marina office staff member was also very helpful in making inquiries that determined Elaine could have her blood work done at one of two pathology laboratories in Noumea by simply using the prescription from her specialist in Australia. From there we made our way to the Post Office to purchase our sim card for the telephone and basic data service, but on this visit, we also learnt we could make arrangements with Noumea Yacht Services to obtain the better data plan, although hellish expensive, but at least we were able to make, not only phone calls, but video calls as well to loved ones and wasted no time in "seeing" the family in Arizona. It was well worth every penny just to see the twins laughing and giggling at Grandpa.

 

After returning to Paw Paw for lunch and meeting the Biosecurity officer as arranged, our final activity was to replenish our fresh produce and for Roy to purchase one of his favourite beers, Hinano, something he's been looking forward to since we made the decision to return to New Caledonia this sailing season. Phone calls to family in Ireland and catching up on social media as well as sundowners enjoyed with a fresh baguette, paté and brie, followed by a barbecue on board rounded off a fabulous day, albeit a busy one in order to get settled back in paradise! A nice downpour overnight gave Paw Paw a more thorough freshwater wash down, but also meant slightly cooler temperatures. Fortunately, however, we didn't have to haul out our winter pyjamas again, thank goodness! After breakfast onboard, a rare occasion indeed in New Caledonia, we dinghied to shore to make our rounds at the fresh produce and fish markets. By then we'd worked up an appetite for “café au lait et chaisson pomme”.

 

Having had a few days to settle in, recover from our passage and enjoy some of our favourite treats and places to see, as well as visit the Tourist Office again, it was time to come up with an itinerary for our sail to the Loyalty Islands and exploration of the north-eastern coast of New Caledonia, areas we were unable to explore during our first visit. Our lazy Sunday afternoon, though, was interrupted by the Port Authorities informing us that we were in an unsafe anchorage spot for a cruise ship arriving the following day. With that, we weighed anchor and moved out of harm’s way, but not before we recognised a few yachts from Bum's Bay in Southport arriving with their quarantine flags flying. The downside of our new anchorage spot was that we'd lost our free wifi connection to the marina, since we were too far away, but we had a much better view of the beautiful sunsets we continued to enjoy throughout our stay in New Caledonia. A fair trade for sure! By then, it was time to video call the family in Arizona as previously arranged to ensure all the grandsons were awake from their naps and Capri was home from school. It was a fun hour together with all of them, especially hearing the twins laugh and giggle again when interacting with Grandpa, but listening to William say the first letter of his name had us in stitches. When Keenan asked him to tell us what the letter was, instead of saying "double you" phonetically, he said, with great pride "double me". No matter how many times Keenan asked him to say "double you", he simply repeated "double me". It was hysterical!

 

Elaine’s review of all the tourist materials was very interesting and we learnt that the outer islands had similar customs to those we discovered in Fiji. In the Melanesian world, formalities and words are associated with particular actions in daily life. For example, when arriving at someone's home, a "custom offering" is performed similar to the "kava" presentation to the chief in Fiji. In New Caledonia there is also a set of rules for collective living, built on respect for people, duty, one's word and relationships and, although money allows trading relationships, it is not the centre of human relationships. Politeness, smiling or simply saying "hello" is considered far more valuable and is greatly appreciated. Time is another differentiator, where visitors are encouraged to live at the islander's rhythm, as impatience is frowned upon. In summary, the islander's state of mind is described as a "universe full of friendliness that has kept all its simplicity". It's not hard to notice how our western cultures have lost the plot!

 

Because New Caledonia is a gathering place for yachts from all over the world before they make their way to New Zealand or Australia for the cyclone season, we knew we would encounter some of our sailing friends during our second visit to New Caledonia. However, this definitely exceeded our expectations. The first unexpected pleasure was bumping into Twocan (Margaret and Barry), whom we hadn't seen since leaving Fiji the year ago before, but the next surprise was incredible. Although we had been hanging out in Noumea awaiting the arrival of Cattiva, who had left Tanna Island, Vanuatu, a few days previously bound for New Caledonia, we'd decided to sail out to Ilot Maitre for the weekend. This meant that we would only have a short sail back once we received word that they had arrived. We haven't seen Maria and Maurice since May 2016 when we waved goodbye to them in Moorea, French Polynesia and had missed them by a few days on three separate occasions as previously mentioned, a situation we were trying to avoid this time around. However, our plans took an unexpected turn when Elaine opened her inbox. Instead of a note from Cattiva, we had received an email from Talulah Ruby III (Andy and Paul), indicating that they had picked us up on the AIS and wondered whether or not we were onboard. Turns out they were at Signal Island, just 8NM from us and heading to Baie des Citrons, the anchorage adjacent to us. It was a fabulous surprise, since we'd last seen them in Fiji over dinner as a thank you for the support they had provided to us during our passage from hell. With that we wasted no time in weighing anchor and headed over to Baie des Citrons where we re-anchored and dinghied over to say hello and catch up over a few drinks. We had absolutely no idea what their sailing plans were for the season, so to reconnect with them here in New Caledonia, under such arbitrary circumstances, was delightful. That evening we dinghied ashore and enjoyed a lovely evening together. First drinks at Les Three Brasseurs, followed by dinner at La Fiesta. Another unforgettable night in the company of great friends!

 

Overnight, an occluded front arrived as forecast, bringing with it overcast and somewhat wet and windy conditions, but it was the blaring music that went on until 0330 from the beachfront night club that kept us awake most of the night. This definitely explained why very few yachts anchored in Baie des Citrons. As soon as daylight broke it didn't take us long to weigh anchor and motor the short distance over to Ilot Maitre, where we picked up a mooring ball for the duration of our stay. It was lovely not to be restricted to twenty-four hours as we were in Australia. We'd barely settled in for the day, though, when we heard Maurice off Cattiva on the VHF radio briefly talking to Paul off Talulah Ruby III, both yachts having not seen each other in years, but passed one another while heading to Port Moselle. What are the chances and, at least, we knew Cattiva had arrived safely.

 

We had hoped to enjoy some snorkelling while at Ilot Maitre, but the weather dictated otherwise. All was not lost, though, as we did see turtles and sting rays around Paw Paw that evening while we watched another stunning sunset in completely calm conditions. Life doesn’t get much more idyllic than that, but after rain overnight and a rather chilly start to the following day, we were in two minds of what to do; stay put or head back to Noumea to see our sailing friends. Then an email from Talulah Ruby III made the decision for us. We'd been invited to join them to celebrate their birthdays and Cattiva would be joining the celebrations as well. With that, we weighed anchor and enjoyed a morning sail back to our exact same anchoring spot in Noumea. After breakfast, we dinghied ashore and were fortunate enough to find Maria and Maurice onboard in the marina. It was wonderful to see them again after more than two years and our time together continued through the morning and over lunch at Les Petits Choux patisseries. Then, it was back to Paw Paw for an afternoon nap before joining everyone on Talulah Ruby III for sundowners and a Bonaire Reunion on the other side of the globe, four years after we had all met each other during the 2014 Caribbean hurricane season. After sundowners, a short walk took us to one of the top restaurants in Noumea called Marmite, where we all enjoyed an absolutely fabulous three course dinner. By the time we rolled out of there, we all definitely needed the walk back to the marina. We had barely made it back to Paw Paw, though, when the heavens opened.

 

Another rendezvous took place the following morning; this time at La Marché de Noumea for a late breakfast and, yes, you guessed it; more French pastries and coffee, where we spent all morning under the swaying palms swapping more stories. It was a wonderful reunion, one that probably would never have happened if we'd tried to plan it, making it all the more special. We then said our goodbyes to Talulah Ruby III as they headed off to the outer islands, but we still had Cattiva for company until we were ready to depart for the islands ourselves. Soon thereafter, though, we had a quick drive-by from Sea Wolf who had just arrived from Australia and were heading to the quarantine dock, then we spotted Sea Wolf cuddling up to Paw Paw again in the anchorage. It definitely didn't feel like more than three weeks had passed since both yachts floated happily next to each other in Southport, Australia. With that, it was time to set off to the outer islands, but, as with most things in our life these days, that too took two attempts, but not before we’d enjoyed a delicious dinner on Cattiva the previous evening, accompanied by a very tasty red wine and loads of laughter; another great night to add to all our wonderful memories together!

 

En route from Noumea to the Baie de Prony on the south side of Grande Terre Island, Roy had no sooner spotted Talulah Ruby III on the AIS, when Paul hailed us on the VHF radio. Turns out they were heading in the same direction as us after they'd spent some time on Ile Ouen. After both yachts were anchored safely off Ile Casy, we collected Andy and Paul and dinghied ashore in the hopes of seeing Moose, the resident dog, who usually took people on a tour of this uninhabited island, but, unfortunately, during our hike we stumbled upon his grave which indicated that he had died the previous December. Fourteen year old Moose was remarkable in that he caught fish and drank rain water to survive. He was also cared for by the various sailors who stopped by to feed and water him, together with a vet from Noumea who took care of his health needs. The belief was that Moose was left on the island by the owners of the now defunct resort. Although it was disappointing to not see him, since we didn't get to Ile Casy on our last visit to New Caledonia, we nonetheless had a fabulous hike, which was followed by an afternoon nap and a delicious dinner aboard Talulah Ruby III.

 

The following day, we all moved to the beautiful calm anchorage of Baie du Carenage at the very head of Baie de Prony. It was so quiet, the silence was deafening. Around mid-morning Andy and Paul collected us for our excursion ashore; hiking to the twin waterfalls, which we would never have found under other circumstances. But, as luck would have it, once we'd secured the dinghy to a tree, Andy asked the only two other people ashore for directions, who just happened to be none other than Richard and Freddie, the authors of the Rocket Guide. With their precise directions we had another wonderful hike to the waterfalls where Roy and Paul enjoyed a swim in the crystal clear waters, while Elaine and Andy enjoyed the terrific scenery perched on the surrounding rocks. We'd no sooner returned to Paw Paw, though, when we realised, with the change in wind direction, that we had swung over the outer edge of the shallow area, something we thought we would avoid based on where we had anchored. Although we had ended up in less than 3Ft of water on a falling tide, a slight repositioning resolved the issue. With that it was time to prepare for Andy and Paul joining us onboard Paw Paw for dinner, following which another night of good food, great wine and plenty of laughs came to a close under a magnificent starry sky, with the crescent of a new moon hanging just above the surrounding mountains. At least during this particular dining experience together we got to enjoy dessert, complements of Andy, without Roy shaking an already open carton of cream all over Elaine as he had done the previous night on Talulah Ruby III when we provided dessert!

 

Although we both woke up the following morning a little stiff from our hikes, we enjoyed a lazy morning onboard before waving goodbye to Talulah Ruby III as they sat off for the historic town of Prony and we left Baie de Prony and enjoyed a slow sail to Port Boise. This was to position ourselves for our departure to the north-eastern coast of Grande Terre Island and the Loyalty Islands. Along the way we enjoyed the very picturesque shoreline, but, unfortunately, we didn't see any humpback whales on this outing. Although a rather exposed bay to the southeast, in the very benign conditions we were able to anchor behind the reef in Port Boise in front of an eco-resort which was very peaceful. However, after the hubbub and socialising of the past week or so, it was a little strange to be the only yacht in the bay, although we could hear voices from the resort so we weren't in total seclusion. By mid-afternoon, though, another two yachts had sailed into the anchorage and a third had anchored across the bay. Sitting on the bow watching the birds feeding and the setting sun light up the stunning eastern shoreline, while listening to the waves break gently over the reef, one couldn't help but conclude that we were fortunate enough to be enjoying another idyllic anchorage in New Caledonia.

 

The next morning we were up at 0515 to coincide our transit of Canal de la Havannah with the low tide slack water for, what turned out to be our first attempt at getting to the Loyalty Islands. In very benign conditions, compared to the first time we crossed this pass, we exited the pass and enjoyed a slow sail along the southern end of the north-eastern coast of Grande Terre island, bound for Yate. Roy also took the opportunity to put out his fishing rod, but unfortunately nothing was biting. From the tourist brochures and information we had obtained in Noumea, we expected Yate to be a small town with various amenities, including a tourist office, post office, ATM, medical centre, pharmacy, fresh produce market open on a Monday, a small grocery store and a bus service to Noumea, as well as accommodation, restaurants, camping, walking trails, etc. Additionally, with one of our cruising guides indicating that it was also a popular anchorage, protected in all wind directions except an easterly, we concluded that this would be the ideal place to stay while we awaited the strong northerlies and westerlies to blow over per the latest forecast. It also meant we could top up our fresh produce and get any odds and ends we needed at the grocery store. Well, when we entered the anchorage at around 0930 and found it, not only deserted, but positioned at the base of a number of rather high mountains with fairly steep valleys, our first thought was the possibility of winds being funnelled into the anchorage, especially winds from the west. Then, after dinghying ashore and finding out from a young girl who spoke excellent English that the land was, in fact, tribal land and that the amenities we had expected were basically nonexistent, with the exception of the tourist office, post office, medical centre and pharmacy, we started to realise something was amiss. A walk around the "town", however, revealed a school and sports field, a small church and a town hall, while a visit to the tourist office revealed that the fresh produce market took place on a Friday, not a Monday, and that there were definitely no other amenities, not even the bus service to Noumea. By the time we'd returned to Paw Paw for lunch and the wind instrument was showing wind gusts in excess of 20 Kts coming down the valleys on a calm day, we couldn't help but wonder what the wind gusts would be like with westerlies of 25-30 Kts. Then discovering that the extremely strong out flowing current was due to the anchorage being downstream of a dam and hydroelectric facility, coupled with heavy rains forecast as well, we decided to weigh anchor and hightail it back to Port Boise as there were no other anchorages within a reasonable proximity that could shelter us from the upcoming strong westerlies. So, after 13 hours we ended up right back where we started. All was not lost, though, as we had the pleasure of numerous humpback whale sightings, including one whale within 50M to our starboard side, a pod within 100M to our port side and a pod with a breaching white calf. The other pods were a little further away, but were, nonetheless, just as spectacular.

 

After another very peaceful night back in Port Boise, we both woke up ready to face another day and the decisions required on what to do next. Another look at the forecast confirmed that the storm was still on its way, but arriving slightly later than originally thought. With that we weighed anchor, again, and motored back to Baie de Prony. Having a rising tide to push us along, then seeing more humpback whales was the perfect start to our day. Following a drive-by of a few anchorages, we settled on Baie de la Mine aux Anglais, which would provide us with suitable protection. We also made the decision that we preferred being the only yacht in an anchorage during a storm, since, on every other occasion, it had been problems with other yachts that caused us the most stress during a storm. Once we were settled, a morning coffee followed by a nap took the edge of our fatigue, following which we got some laundry done and enjoyed a nice chat to Keenan, albeit a little tedious over the satellite phone, given that we were in the middle of Woop Woop and neither of our data services were working. Keenan's suggestion to say "over", as one does on a VHF or HF radio, certainly helped prevent us from talking over each other with the delay, but it was rather odd doing so with phones and created a few laughs, especially when Keenan started to put on his American drawl and saying "breaker, breaker, come in rubber ducky".

 

Our seclusion was short lived, though. By mid-afternoon we had two yachts anchored on either side of us and by the following day Talulah Ruby III and Sea Wolf had also made it into the bay. By nightfall everyone was hunkered down awaiting the stronger winds associated with the storm. However, given the continuation of the miserable overcast, rainy conditions, we had the opportunity to just enjoy a lazy day onboard and while Elaine tried to get her head around her latest book, "Everything About Everything" by Stephen Hawkin, Roy continued work on his "mystery" project. For dinner we decided on a beef stew, but Roy wasn’t altogether sure that the meat he had bought was stewing beef as opposed to dog bones, given his very limited French. A definite downside of not speaking a particular foreign language, but it was delicious nonetheless! As the winter storm eventually passed over us, it was comforting to be flanked by friends; Talulah Ruby III to port and Sea Wolf to starboard, but with both of us up from around midnight to keep an eye on things as the winds picked up, we only discovered the reason the following morning as to why Talulah Ruby III and Paw Paw were trying to snuggle up to each other during the night. When we weighed anchor to head back to Noumea, our chain was snagged, significantly reducing our scope, which prevented us from swinging properly when the wind turned to the southwest. With the wind predominantly north and west for most of the previous day, we hadn't noticed that there was a potential problem and we think the same thing must have happened to the yacht, Bravo, that was behind us. At times they also seemed a lot closer to us based on where they had originally anchored. Fortunately Paul was up as well so the situation was under control, but it was definitely a case of Murphy's Law just to give us all an interrupted night's sleep.

 

After waving another goodbye to Talulah Ruby III, we started our unplanned journey back to Noumea and, unfortunately, it was another day of bouncing around with the wind, swell and current on the nose, as well as avoiding a convoy of barges being towed by two tugs. Talulah Ruby III and a host of other yachts were definitely heading in the better direction as they made their way to Ile des Pins in the south of the island group. It was very  frustrating having to return to Noumea, given that we had tried to verify the information we'd gathered before we departed for the Loyalty Islands, but our queries had remained unanswered. Our adventure was not in vane as we learnt a lot about the anchorages on the northeast coast of Grande Terre Island, as well as the fact that there was a complete lack of places to provision once one leaves the built up area of Noumea. Also, given the winds and, particularly the direction, we were definitely much safer having returned to Baie de Prony for the duration of the storm and being back in Noumea meant we had the pleasure of Cattiva's company again and being able to video call the family in Arizona.

 

After our Pacific Ocean crossing and our adventures around the South Pacific Islands in 2016, we still had so many tins, jars and dried products from our original provisioning efforts in Martinique and Panama that we decided it all had to be eaten while we were in New Zealand before it expired. Since then we'd basically been able to purchase fresh produce as it had been readily available in all the destinations that we'd visited, including while we'd been in the vicinity of Noumea. Because we weren't expecting to encounter issues with obtaining fresh produce once we left for the outer islands, we were definitely not provisioned correctly when we departed the previous week. That said, we started the process of rectifying the situation, so Paw Paw's ship's stores were, once again, bulging with tins, jars and dried products, which, even if they weren’t all consumed by the time we returned to Australia, it would come in useful around SE Asia and we no longer had to worry about trying to find fresh produce markets or grocery stores when we were out and about in New Caledonia. Although, finding some would have been preferable, of course!

 

Once again, though, the weather was expected to worsen over the following few days, so we made the decision to just stay put and enjoy the company of friends at the regular rendezvous of Le Marché de Noumea. The only variation was the topics of conversation or who joined Cattiva and ourselves, which included Sea Wolf, given that Glynis had also arrived in Noumea by then. Also, as luck would have it, Maurice had just finished reading "Tales of the South Pacific", a book we had tried to obtain electronically some months back, but to no avail, so we got to borrow it. For the next few days we woke to overcast, gloomy skies, as the second and third storms of the week arrived as forecast; one from the north and one from the south, joining in the vicinity of the southern end of Grande Terre Island, bringing with them wind and rain, but at least the temperatures were mild and we didn't have to run the heaters. As a result, we spent our days on board. While Roy continued work on his "mystery" project, Elaine decided the perfect pastime was to spend her time with her nose buried in "Tales of the South Pacific". However, we received a lot more rain than expected, so, as any sailor knows, that means time to give the decks a good scrub and Roy did just that!. Fortunately the beautiful sunsets continued unabated and Elaine was also able to enjoy a sundowner with Roy again, since discovering a very tasty French fruity, crisp, alcohol-free rose wine. Gotta love the French!

 

By the 27^th August 2018, with the weather moderating somewhat, we had the break we needed before the next storm approached, so we dinghied ashore to settle our tab at the marina, say goodbye to Cattiva, fill up with dinghy fuel and buy a baguette for lunch. However, by the time we returned to Paw Paw we both looked like drowned rats, but that didn't stop us from weighing anchor and setting off for the southern end of Grande Terre Island again, where we decided that a second visit to Anse Majic was the perfect spot to wait out the rest of the miserable weather. Although this was one of the first bays we stopped in during our first visit to New Caledonia, we'd forgotten just how peaceful and idyllic it was, even in the rain. Also, given that we had four hours to kill en route to Anse Majic, Elaine decided to put her time to good use, as well as take advantage of all the rain water she'd collected in our buckets, to give the helm station and cockpit area a good cleaning and, with the rain expected to continue overnight, Roy decided that a hearty homemade chicken soup would be the perfect dinner, which certainly went down well!

 

The rain continued through that night and all through the following day, but, with all the fresh water, we simply continued our cleaning efforts. While Elaine cleaned Paw Paw's inside, Roy got most of her bottom done. It was a good job he decided to do that, since he noticed that one of our zinc anodes was missing; very annoying, as we had only replaced them when Justine and Paul were visiting us in June. Also, unfortunately all the hard work that Roy and Paul had put into cleaning Paw Paw's bottom while we were in Lady Musgrave was unnoticeable as the black growth was back. While our antifouling was doing wonders at keeping the barnacles at bay, it was doing nothing for this new, very persistent nuisance. Eventually, though, the sun peeked through briefly and a quiet calm settled over the anchorage, allowing us to enjoy the beautiful sounds of the various birds. Having been in and around Baie de Prony a number of times by then, the other thing we were not short of, besides the rain, was all the very unusual scenery, with the red mountains surrounding us and an endless number of beautiful coves with beach sand that ranged from red to brown to white in colour, depending on which bay we were in, all fringed with Norfolk Pines, interspersed with swaying palm trees and waters that varied in colour from deep blue to turquoise around the reefs, to green and red as it reflected off the surrounding landscape. With only one other yacht for company during this stay, however, it was the start of things to come.

 

On 29^th August 2018, although it rained on and off overnight and we woke to yet another day of gloomy weather, a brief check of the forecast confirmed conditions were settling and we could weigh anchor at 1100 as planned for our second attempt at sailing to the Loyalty Islands. We had, however, planned on transiting Canal de la Havannah at slack water of the low tide around 1500, but we arrived earlier than expected due to the current and the wall of water from the standing waves was still present. With that we turned around and motored slowly back the way we had come to pass the time. By 1440, the waves had dissipated and we started our transit. Although it was a little rougher than we would have preferred, but fortunately nothing like our transit of the Wide Bay Bar at the Great Sandy Straits in Australia, we were through in about 15 minutes, following which we made our way to the outer reef. As we passed through the outer reef opening, however, we noticed some rather weird looking waves coming directly towards us, but nothing dangerous and never thought anything more of it as we set our course for the Loyalty Islands. We'd no sooner taken the decision to drop the mainsail, since it was slamming around, as usual in the south-easterly swell, when a securité announcement came over the VHF radio in French. However, this time the broadcast was repeated in English which definitely caught our attention, as this was most unusual. It didn't take long to realise why; an earthquake with a magnitude of just over 7 on the Richter Scale had occurred southeast of Grande Terre Island, near Ile Hunter, about 220KM from where we were at approximately the time we were making our way through Canal de la Havannah, the waves of which reached us as we were making our way through the outer reef. That explained the weird looking waves and it was definitely enough excitement for one day! That night we enjoyed a downwind sail, averaging 6.5 Kts on headsail alone, in 15-20 Kts of wind, with a following sea and the moon intermittently peeking through the clouds to light our way.

 

On 30^th August 2018, we arrived in Baie du Santal on Lifou Island, as the sun rose over the horizon. However, as we approached our selected anchorage of Gaatsha, we were amazed to find it completely devoid of yachts, not to mention, very little activity on shore, but we had a wonderful welcoming nonetheless; a whale lazily swimming in the bay to our starboard side. After all the whales we'd seen, this time we were able to capture a photograph before it disappeared. Then, once we'd found a sandy spot to drop the anchor, Roy decided to snorkel it to ensure it was well dug in. What he found was crystal clear water where he could see the anchor on the seabed at 45 Ft below him together with a host of fish inspecting it with him. After breakfast and a morning nap to catch up on lost sleep, we pulled out our cruising guides and tourist brochures to try and figure out whether or not we had inadvertently selected the wrong anchorage, given how deserted it was. Our conclusions and a confirmation email from Talulah Ruby III, however, was that we were simply privileged enough to have this enormous bay to ourselves; 10 miles wide and indented by 5 miles, protected from all directions, except the west. As the clouds cleared and the sun shone brightly in a beautiful blue sky, activities ashore increased throughout the day in the little tribal village at the head of the anchorage. During the early evening roosters could be heard crowing, a sound we haven't heard in a long time, children could be heard laughing while they played on the beach and a beautiful sunset, which turned the sky to shades of yellow, orange and red while giving the water a deep purple colour, brought a very peaceful day to a close. As smoke from the fires ashore drifted into the night air and fishing boats returned home, one couldn't help but wonder who had the more fulfilling way of life.

 

The next morning, we both woke up to the sun brightening in the east, creeping up behind the island of Lifou, roosters crowing in the distance, birds chirping and Roy proclaiming: "That was the best sleep ever!". Not a sound during the night and only a waxing moon lightening the night sky. No wind, no ripples hitting the hulls and no rocking! No rowers swishing by with their coach shouting over a loudhailer. No early morning paddleboarders, canoeists or fishermen chatting as they drifted by our portholes. No water taxis, jetskis, powerboats or ferries to rock us around. No noises from shore or from a floating village neighbour. Just wonderful silence in this very large, unusually peaceful and tranquil bay, with its patches of white sandy beaches interspersed between rugged shores of limestone, lapped by crystal clear water, fringed with coconut palms and the odd Norfolk pine. Did we perhaps arrive in paradise or were these just perfect moments in time! Of course, we were the ones to change the atmosphere by starting the generator and the watermaker and with that another day on Paw Paw began. After breakfast we weighed anchor and enjoyed a lovely sail across the bay to the beautiful Baie de Chepenehe. Once we'd found a sandy spot between the coral bommies to drop the anchor, we dinghied ashore to enjoy the festivities of the Sandalwood and Honey Fair, where the Easo Tribe welcomes visitors to their island and where one can revel in the delicious taste of Lifou honey, as well as inhale the warm scent of sandalwood, ground down to a powder. However, it was the beautiful white sandy beach and the stunning view of the varying colours of the water from the dock that caught our attention initially, following which we enjoyed a wander around all the stalls, decorated beautifully with woven palm mats, tangerines and woven flower pots filled with all sorts of tropical plants, some we have never seen before. The fair was a hive of activity with all the ladies dressed in their brightly coloured traditional dresses, traditional carvers producing their works of art, men building bee hive boxes, as well as fresh produce, honey, and traditional cakes and breads for sale. Choosing a place to eat and, more importantly, what to eat, was a difficult decision, but we weren't disappointed. There were a few items on our plates that we were unable to identify, though, but it was delicious nonetheless. A walk up to Chapelle Note-Dame de Lourdes, perched right on the top of Pointe d'Easo helped work off our lunch and provided fabulous views of the whole bay. The numerous colourful wild flowers, the variety of tropical plants and the abundance of fruit trees reminded us a lot of the Marquesas, although we decided to pick just one pawpaw and a few pawpaw leaves for a tea that apparently helps joint pain and inflammation. We did, however, pick up a little friend who followed us back down the hill, but having a kitten on board was simply not an option, so we had to part company. After a very pleasant day, it was time to weigh anchor again and head back to our Gaatsha anchorage in order to have calmer waters for the night. Over a light dinner onboard, we enjoyed the church service music, followed by local traditional music of the Drueulu Tribe, as it drifted over the anchorage. Friday night is a party night anywhere in the world, it seems!

 

After another peaceful night we were both awake, once again, as the sun rose over Lifou Island, accompanied by the crowing roosters. However, once we'd had breakfast and before we dinghied ashore to explore the tribal village of the Drueulu Tribe, Roy had to make another repair in an exotic location; the hinge on Elaine's hatch snapped in half when she went to open it. Nothing that dampen our spirits, though! Once ashore, what struck us immediately was the fineness of the white sand on Plage de Peng. It was so soft that our feet were buried ankle deep the minute we stepped onto it. The second thing that struck us was the magnificent colours and clarity of the water gently lapping. The last time we were able to see the seabed and all the fish around the coral bommies by just peering over the edge of the dinghy was in Boro Boro and the views back towards Paw Paw floating in the distance were simply breathtaking. The next thing that struck us was the absence of any people. We'd almost walked through the entire village without seeing a single soul, but then we heard fabulous harmonic singing in the distance. On further investigation it appeared we had stumbled upon a community gathering of sorts, but, given that all the announcements were in French, we had no idea what it was exactly. Not wanting to intrude, we made our way back to the dinghy, but the villagers were very friendly, waving and smiling at us as they drove by. We were also fortunate enough to stumble upon the village store where we purchased a few items and an ice-cream each which was enjoyed under a coconut tree on the water’s edge, while admiring the views. Once we were back on Paw Paw we decided that a snorkel was in order, following which Roy finished cleaning Paw Paw's bottom. Lunch, an afternoon nap and a barbecue for dinner completed another day in, not only this anchorage, but the entire bay, that we continued to have all to ourselves.

 

Although the following day was a Sunday, it was definitely not a day of rest on Paw Paw and, although Elaine was having an "off day" healthwise, Roy was full of beans. By 0630 he had the generator on, watermaker going and hotwater heaters on. Then, we'd no sooner had our breakfast, when he had the washing machine going with the first load of laundry on. He did get a little help from Elaine on this activity as she mustered up the energy to at least hang the clean washing on the lines. Once that was all done, Roy donned his diving gear and replaced both the zinc anodes, given the earlier discovery that one had mysterious disappeared. Elaine did offer a smidgen of assistance with this task too, which really only involved handing Roy the items he needed while he was in the water. Finally, Roy replaced the generator battery, which was rather annoying since we barely got 18 months out of the one we’d bought in New Zealand. We had also planned to go paddleboarding being the perfect day for it with calm seas and no wind, under sunny skies, but this had to be postponed in the hope that Elaine would feel better the next day. We also eventually had company for the first time in four days by way of two other yachts. One that arrived early that morning, but was gone by the afternoon and another that arrived that evening and stayed. This got our hopes up; some company while we awaited some wind to head to the next island, given the seclusion of the past week, but to no avail. Not only did they not pay us any attention, they too didn’t stay. It was very bizarre!

 

Anyway, setting company aside, like most people, when it's warm and sunny outside and with Elaine feeling better, we had no trouble waking up early the next day and getting ready to enjoy the great outdoors. It was time to crack out the paddleboards; the first time since leaving Australia, but not before we created our pawpaw leaf brew, which, as mentioned before, is supposed to assist with aching joints, amongst a variety of other ailments. Based on the smell of the resulting liquid, we were not entirely convinced the taste was going to be something we could stomach, but we gave it a whirl anyway! Unfortunately, that turned out to be a very bad idea for Elaine, given that she broke out in hives and had to take antihistamine tablets before it subsided. Note to self: “don’t try that again!”. Regardless, with the paddleboards tied to the dinghy we headed ashore. Unfortunately the conditions were not as calm as the previous day, so we both had trouble standing up on them without taking a splash. Kneeling and sitting worked just fine though. After a frolic in the crystal clear water for a few hours, we returned to Paw Paw, following which Roy dinghied back to get lunch for a few days; freshly baked baguettes. Unfortunately he returned empty handed as the little store was closed. Instead, the leftover soda bread which he'd baked that morning for breakfast had to suffice. Not exactly a hardship!

 

As our time on Lifou Island drew to a close, we'd made the best of a very quiet anchorage and very little activity on shore, making do with the odd fish that paid us a visit; the clarity of the photographs of the fish, taken from Paw Paw's deck, being a testament to the clarity of the water. Absolutely fabulous! Another yacht eventually arrived, but they too departed a few hours later, making that a total of four. The disappointment of visiting Ile Lifou, though, was not the absence of company, but rather that we were unable to explore further afield as there were no car hire facilities as stated in the tourist brochures and most of the roads were closed to visitors. One can only explore the island with a guide, but these are only available from the main town of We, on the windward side of the island, which is obviously unsuitable for cruisers. Understandably, though, these restrictions also included any possibility of visiting the Chieftancies or their grounds, as these are traditionally sacred places which hold great significance for the island people.

 

Being the largest of the Loyalty Islands, 60Km long and 35Km wide, with a population of 9275 inhabitants, comprising three customary districts; Wetr, where the Sandalwood and Honey Fair took place, Lossi and Gaica. The language is Drehu of the Melanesian dialect and, with the exception of toddlers and a few elderly inhabitants, everyone speaks French as well. Being the Administration Centre of these islands, there is plenty to see, but due to the transportation restrictions, we were unable to visit the Vanilla Plantations nestled in the forests and the Maison de la Vanilla or the Grande Case de Hnathalo (the Hnathalo Traditional Meeting House) or the Marché de We for fresh produce or the caves of Grotte du Diable, Grotte Saqea and Grotte les Joyaux de Luengoni or the cliffs, Falaises de Jokin and Falaises de Xodre. A real shame, as what we did see, definitely peaked our interest and we thoroughly enjoyed! It seemed the island is better suited to land based visitors staying in We, who then have access to the various tourist attractions. Alternatively, a guide can be arranged ahead of one's arrival as a cruiser, but we weren't to know.

 

Our last two days on Ile Lifou were overcast and windy with rain during the nights, but it was the winds we were waiting on. So, at 0500 on Tuesday, 4^th September 2018, we set sail for the next Loyalty Island we wanted to visit, Atoll d’Ouvea, made famous in the 1970s by the young Japanese writer, Katsura Morimura's novel, "The Island the Closest to Paradise". This literary work narrates the romantic love story between a young Japanese woman and a descendant of the island. Although the writer has since passed away, young Japanese people, whether they’ve read the book or seen the movie of the same name, have a very special affection for the island. Some even coming here on honeymoon and it wasn’t difficult to see why. The morning after our arrival, though, we ended up re-anchoring off Hotel Paradis d'Ouvea close to Pont de Mouli (Mouli Bridge), given that our first night, when we were anchored a little further along the beach, had the wind and fetch at slightly different angles to each other, resulting in a very uncomfortable stay. We eventually realised that this section of the beach had a bit of a swirl going on due to the shape of the bay and the reef at Pont de Mouli. We should have known something was amiss when the little tourist boats, anchored just in front of us as we approached the beach, were parallel to it and not into the wind. Oh well, live and learn! It was not, however, the night we wanted after a very brisk sail in rough seas that were definitely heavier than forecast, with a horrible southerly swell on our beam and a crab at 30° through Passe de Coetlogon due to the very strong currents, all of which was definitely worth it, though! Even under the overcast skies, set like a jewel in the middle of crystal clear waters, Atoll d’Ouvea was spectacular. It is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site, with its sparkling white sand beaches extending over 25KM, bordered by a bright turquoise lagoon, where the water changed colour every time we looked at it. We couldn’t wait to see it on a sunny day. It is a tilted atoll, partly submerged, with a lagoon closed to the north and the south by a series of reefs and islets, known as Plaeiades du Nord et du Sud and to the east by a raised reef, measuring 35KM in length and only 40M wide in parts. There are approximately 3300 inhabitants, who draw their origins from Polynesian and Melanesian migrations. There are two vernacular languages spoken: "iaai", a Kanak language spoken in the centre and "faga-uvea", which is of Polynesian origin, spoken in the north and south of the island. That said, aside from the inhabitants and some land tourists, we were, once again, the only yacht there. It was definitely a little slice of heaven, though, for which we were very grateful and intended to enjoy to the fullest!

 

Unfortunately, before we could begin to enjoy our stay, we, once again, had to re-anchor. After a very blustery night and the wind continuing to howl throughout the day at a sustained 20-25 Kts, gusting at times to 30 Kts, we decided to move a little closer to shore to try and get a little more protection, since these winds were expected to continue for at least another 24 hours. It was a bright sunny day, though, which again changed the colours of the water, but it also meant the beach beckoned. So, after breakfast and a wonderful time chatting via video to our eldest grandson, William, who was just three at the time, but immensely entertaining, we dinghied ashore. After beaching the dinghy, we took a stroll along the water’s edge of the beautiful white sandy beach which we'd only enjoyed from a distance since our arrival. First stop was the Hotel Paradis d'Ouvea, where we introduced ourselves and where we were made to feel very welcome, to the extent that we were informed that we could use all their facilities, including the pool, bar and restaurant, as well as book any activities through their Activity Centre. It was just so refreshing to be back in the islands of the South Pacific!

 

After a coffee and biscuits in the hotel lounge, we continued our walk along the beach to the Pont de Mouli, built in 1984 and spans the strait separating Mouli and Ouvea Islands which flank the eastern side of the atoll. The views of the strait and surrounding reef, Baie de Lekiny et Ile de Fayawa (Lekiny Bay and Fayawa Island) together with Passe de la Caledonie et Passe du Lifou were absolutely stunning. We were also able to see parts of the cliff, Falaises de Lekiny, although the latter can only be visited with a local guide. The Baie de Lekiny, is a beautiful stretch of water glistening with iridescent colours and is a protected fishing ground for the people of the Fayawa tribal village, which could be seen with its own small white chapel from either the eastern side of Mouli Island or from the bridge. It was a wonderful introduction to this beautiful atoll, regardless of the howling wind, which, fortunately, we were protected from while on shore.

 

With the wind trying to settle down, but blue sunny skies prevailing the following day, we dinghied ashore after breakfast again for another long walk on the beautiful white sandy beach.  This time we headed along Plage de Mouli in the opposite direction to our walk the previous day. This took us to Moague, a tribal accommodation for visitors,  known as a Gȋte, where we enjoyed a coffee and had a "chat" to the owner, which involved photographs and lots of hand movements in an effort to explain we were cruisers visiting Atoll d’Ouvea versus his understanding of thinking we wanted a boat tour. It was the beautiful handmade shell wind chimes and window dressings that caught Elaine's attention, though. We decided to return via the only road that runs along the length of the island, passing a few fruit trees along the way and Cocotier, another Gȋte. Fortunately after walking nearly 7KM, a very pleasant local man stopped to give us a ride back to Hotel Paradis d'Ouvea, where the dinghy was beached and where we got to enjoy the view towards Ile de Fayawa and the tribal village again, which were even more stunning at low tide. Over lunch back on Paw Paw, we spotted the arrival of the yacht on the AIS which we had been expecting. It was 7^th  September 2018 and we had company again, at last. Talulah Ruby III was approaching the entrance to the atoll and their arrival set the stage for the rest of our stay in Atoll d’Ouvea.

 

Our lazy mornings included either Roy waking early to bake bread or another baked delight like a Tres Leche, while Elaine enjoyed a sleep in or heading ashore to the hotel for a coffee to meet Talulah Ruby III. On one morning, with a slight swell running through the lagoon, we decided to spend the majority of the day ashore at Hotel Paradis d'Ouvea. Armed with our various electronic devices, we found a pleasant spot on the veranda of the hotel, where we enjoyed a morning coffee. While Roy continued work on his "mystery" project, Elaine read her book and then took a nice walk along the beach to collect some shells. We couldn’t remember when last we were on a beach with such a variety of perfectly formed shells. A delicious and relatively inexpensive lunch followed. Overlooking the white sandy beach and turquoise lagoon was definitely a view to rival Trader's Café at Musket Cove in Fiji.

 

It was our morning paddleboard excursions, though, that are some of our fondest memories we have of Atoll d’Ouvea; having an absolutely fabulous time on and in the most exquisite, constantly changing turquoise waters, under clear sunny skies, with temperatures around 26 / 27C and spotting fish and turtles, was simply heavenly. Fortunately the water was also warm, as we both took a number of tumbles in fits of laughter. It was these perfect surroundings which magnified our experience, including the fishermen wading in the water with their nets, which reminded us of Niuatoputapu Island in Tonga;. This atoll was more beautiful than anything we ever had the good fortune of experiencing, either during our sailing adventures or before. There was simply no doubt as to why it is considered the closest island to paradise and the jewel of the South Pacific.

 

Our morning walks continued as well, including a walk over Pont de Mouli, then back down to the beach on the other side. On that occasion, we definitely weren't expecting to encounter a group of Australians hard at work, whom we later realised were seismologists, drilling to insert earthquake sensors. It was a little disconcerting considering the last earthquake was a short distance southeast of the Loyalty Islands. It was, however, the spectacular views and colour of the strait waters, which were completely calm, allowing us to clearly see the abundance of fish from the bridge, that were the perfect distractions. We later learnt that there are manta rays in this area of the lagoon, but we didn't see any unfortunately. Our walk took us back along the eastern shoreline of the island bordering the traditional fishing grounds of Baie de Lekiny, as well as the cliffs and campsite of the same name. It was the latter that had us scratching our heads as it looked rather derelict with not a soul in sight, although all the tourist brochures mentioned it. Little did we know, this was the start of things to come.

 

Our afternoons were spent mostly enjoying a nap, but on one occasion Roy tackled our generator gremlin, with the hopes that we’d eventually found the problem after he discovered and had to replace a corroded and brittle electrical wire on the fuel lift pump that had obviously been installed during manufacturing without being tinned. Our evenings included beautiful sunsets and barbecues onboard for dinner, followed by a long chat to family or a good "chin-wag" over sundowners on Paw Paw or Talulah Ruby III, as well as a few excellent meals on shore. On one occasion, after sundowners aboard Talulah Ruby III, we all dinghied ashore for what turned out to be, surprisingly, a very tasty and very well presented meal at Hotel Paradis d'Ouvea. It was another night of great food, wine and plenty of laughter. A second evening of fun occurred with Talulah Ruby III and Q (Chantelle and James), one of two new yachts that had arrived by then and whom Paul had met briefly in Fiji. We were collected by Talulah Ruby III and dinghied ashore for a very tasty local style dinner at Snack Fassy. While Elaine enjoyed the most succulent prawns in a delicious sauce, Roy enjoyed the second choice on the menu, grilled chicken. Both dishes were accompanied by rice, salad and toro, which is a local root vegetable, followed by ice-cream for dessert. A few night caps on Paw Paw with Andy and Paul afterwards topped off another great evening together, evident by the fact that, once back in their dinghy, they thought they were heading towards Talulah Ruby III's anchor light, but in fact, were steering towards a very bright star!

 

One of our days was an excursion with Talulah Ruby III around Ouvea Island, but not before we received the wonderful news that Keenan had passed his 757 / 767 upgrade written examination. Then, armed with our snorkelling gear, camera, some "padkos", swimsuits and maps, we all dinghied ashore, collected the hire car and headed for the early morning fresh produce market in Fayaoue. The astonishment on our faces at the sight of just four lettuces, a bag of tomatoes and a few root vegetables had us questioning whether or not we were at the right place. Unfortunately a brief conversation in broken French confirmed that this was indeed Le Marché de Fayaoue. Fortunately there were heaps of round loafs of bread that had been freshly baked in an outdoor wood-fired oven, which we later realised must have been the boulangerie. After splitting the lettuces and tomatoes between ourselves and Talulah Ruby III and purchasing a few loaves of bread each, we set off in search of a grocery store. Fortunately the first one we stopped at was fairly well stocked, so we were able to get almost everything we needed, with the exception of eggs and decent cereal. Feeling a little relieved and with the tiny car stuffed to the hilt with all our top-up provisions, we drove back to Hotel Paradis d'Ouvea to drop everything off on the yachts, but not before we had to have all our groceries returned, to be re-tallied, as the teller had made a huge mistake with the pricing, which resulted in a bill equivalent to $1300.00USD. With that out of the way, we decided to start our tour on the south end of the island, then work our way northwards, stopping en route at the various attractions that were indicated on our tourist maps and brochures.

 

First stop was the lookout at Passe de Coetlogon, where we enjoyed the views of the pass into the lagoon from a different perspective and where Paul rambled around in the bushes in search of a pawpaw. Having found one, we all jumped back into the car and started the journey north. However, we'd only driven a few hundred yards when Paul stopped the car abruptly and we all bailed out to shouts of an enormous spider that he felt crawling along his neck. Fortunately he was able to swipe it towards the passenger seat and out the door after Roy had swiftly vacated the seat. It is fair to say that that was the most exciting event of the day. We had hoped to find the Grottes d'Hulup (Hulup Caves), an authentic and peaceful resting place for the ancestors of the Hulup tribal village, the Distillerie d'huile de Coco (Coconut Oil Distillery) and Le Trou Bleu d'Hanawa (The Blue Hole of Hanawa), a series of waterholes where fresh water and salt water remain separate and some are a refuge for sea turtles, as well as the Plantation de Vanille and the Trou a Tortues (Turtle Hole), but, after driving around, up and down various roads, following the information on our tourist maps and an online map, we couldn't find any of these sites. We did, however,  eventually find the Savonnerie (Soap Factory) and we got to enjoy the 25KM long La Plage de Fayaoue, with its fine white sand, bordered by coconut trees, as well as the lookout over Baie d' Ognat and Plage de Tiberia. The most obvious sights, however, were the  myriad of Églises et Temples (Churches and Chapels) in various stages of dilapidation,  including Église de St-Joseph, Église de St-Michel, Église de St-Marie, St-Paul et St- Gabriel. Unfortunately Église de St-Joseph, built in 1912, was locked, so we were unable to see the arched wooden ceiling resembling a baby's cradle and its pulpit made of local Kohu wood, for which the church is famous. We concluded our "tour" with a delicious lunch at Snack O Kafika, which Elaine happened to spot on our way north, given the amount of cars parked outside. This was a stroke of luck, as we were unable to find any of the other "restaurants" or establishments noted in the tourist guide, with the exception of Hotel Beaupré, in order to get something to eat. A few more stops at various magasins (grocery stores) provided a few more vegetables and an ice-cream each, which we enjoyed on the beach in front of the Base de Voile (Sailing Centre), while watching some children sailing. By the time we'd stopped at Le Marché de Hnymehe and Le Marché de St-Joseph, where ladies at the former were more interested in playing bingo rather than serve us and where a pumpkin cost the equivalent of $28USD, we were all shaking our heads in dismay, not to mention being in fits of laughter when Paul indicated, in a deadpan face, that "they must have had a rush on sales". The words: "strange, bizarre, odd and peculiar", were repeated frequently at various stages and basically summed up our "tour". All was not lost though. We, at least, had some provisions, we had determined that it wasn't worth moving the yachts further up the coast and we had satisfied our curiosity! It will definitely be remembered as the most peculiar little island with the most magnificent beaches and colourful waters!

 

With the blue sunny skies being replaced with overcast, gloomy weather and the anchorage becoming very rolly over the following two days, caused by an inexplicable swell running, it was time to start looking for a weather window to head back to Grande Terre Island and, with that, sailing preparations commenced for our early morning departure on Saturday, 15^th September 2018. Our time in paradise had come to an end. We did, however, squeeze in a few more fun outings with Talulah Ruby III and Q prior to our departure, all of which were arranged by Chantelle who spoke fluent French,  being French Canadian; a definite advantage in this part of the world. After a lovely walk along the beach and spending the day catching up on some chores, we met everyone at Snack Fassy to collect firewood and enjoy a beach barbecue. The evening was wrapped up around a roaring fire, telling jokes and swapping adventure stories, under another magnificent starry night, with a crescent moon hanging above the western horizon. The previous afternoon we had congregated at Snack Fassy as well to meet the taxi that took us to the Agricultural Fair; a three day event which is hosted by a different Loyalty Island each year. Fortunately for us, it was Atoll d’Ouvea's turn in 2018. It was a very pleasant afternoon with the rain holding off, so we enjoyed a tasty lunch, followed by crêpes de chocolat, while listening to a local children's choir and, later, a live band. With the amount of fresh produce available, we were also far more successful in acquiring fruit and vegetables than our previous outing in the hired car.

 

After exiting Passe de Coetlogon and accommodating the very strong current once again, we set a course for Grande Terre Island and enjoyed a good sail, all things considered, in the company of a few other yachts just for a change. With speeds of up to 8.5 Kts we made excellent time and were able to sail further south than originally planned, entering the lagoon at Passe de Nakety, rather than Passe de Canala. This allowed us to proceed to the anchorage we had originally planned for the following night, thereby shaving a day off our journey. That night was spent in Baie de Port Bouquet, anchored off Ile Toupeti, surrounded by mountains. After a peaceful night, we weighed anchor around 0600, but, with lighter winds and calm seas forecast, we had expected to motor to our next anchorage. Fortunately the winds were out of the east, which allowed us to motor-sail instead. As we approached the south-eastern side of Grande Terre Island, though, a rather lazy, but large easterly swell was running, which basically rendered every anchorage untenable or, at best, extremely uncomfortable. Fortunately we'd already made the decision to head straight for Port Boise or Baie de Prony, having determined that we could enter Canal de la Havannah on the rising tide and, with the calmer waters, it was passable. The swell, however, added another dimension to transiting this pass, which made for an interesting ride. By 1730 we were anchored back in Port Boise, followed closely behind by Even Keels, a yacht whose occupants we had not met, but had left Atoll d’Ouvea the same morning as ourselves, providing company for the duration of our trip. Tucked behind the reef in Port Boise, we enjoyed another peaceful night, but on reflection of our time on the Loyalty Islands, what we found completely staggering, a sentiment expressed by Talulah Ruby III as well, was the total lack of yachts or tourists as we cruised around, given the contrast to our first visit to New Caledonia, where we were competing for anchoring spots no matter where we went. Quite bizarre for such a beautiful cruising ground!

 

Our original plan had been to move to Baie de Prony, await the passing of the weather system bringing a south-westerly wind, then head back to Noumea when the south-easterly returned. Instead, after a conversation and a relook at the weather, we decided to head back to another one of our favourite islands, Ile de Pins. So, by 0700 on 17^th September 2018, we had weighed anchor again and enjoyed a fabulous sail, averaging 7.5 Kts, reaching speeds of 8.5 Kts at times in a 10 to 15 Kt south-westerly and calm seas. Catching a fish at last was the cherry on the cake, but finding Cattiva still in the anchorage when we arrived just after lunchtime, was a lovely surprise! It was also the first time we'd seen so many yachts congregated in a single anchorage since arriving in New Caledonia, with more that arrived throughout the remainder of the day.

 

After a fairly uncomfortable night as a result of the south-westerly swell running, we woke to a cruise ship and two military ships anchored in the bay, as well as military dinghies ferrying soldiers ashore. It was, however, the gunfire on shore that had us wondering what on earth was going on. It was mayhem, to say the least, after weeks of tranquillity and isolation since leaving Noumea a month ago and a stark contrast to our fabulous sail the day before, enjoying dolphins and breaching whales en route. The military helicopter arriving late the evening before should have been the telltale sign. It didn't take long for the skies to be filled with more helicopters, though, and so our day began in the midst of a military exercise. Not quite the island atmosphere we left on our previous visit and one we thought we were returning to, but at least the skies had cleared and the sun was out, albeit for only a brief period. That wasn't the end of our abrupt start to the day though. We'd barely beached the dinghy, seeing a resident dugong on the way, when a woman approached Elaine and asked her if she spoke English. It transpired that the lady was Dutch, but had lived in New Caledonia for the past 20 years, working as an English teacher. She was in Ile des Pins teaching English to a group of locals who wanted to open various businesses to service the tourist trade. They had spent the day before preparing to interact with the cruise ship passengers, but unfortunately the ship departed before any passengers were ferried ashore, citing the seas were too rough. As a result, she wanted to know if we wouldn't mind substituting and, with that, we spent a very pleasant morning on the beach in the shade of the trees answering their questions and exchanging stories of our sailing adventures. Afterwards we enjoyed a long walk along the beach and to the local grocery stores to stretch our legs, dogging groups of military personnel armed and ready for combat. Although a tad disconcerting we still enjoyed an ice-cream and managed to purchase the last freshly baked baguette. On our return we stopped off at Cattiva to enjoy a coffee and catch up.

 

While our time back in Ile des Pins was not exactly what we had hoped for, we spent our days getting through a number of long overdue chores, including replacing the traveller sheet again, replacing the mainsheet block on the boom, doing laundry, getting some cleaning done and getting through some correspondence. We did, however, also enjoy a number of our favourite activities, including a few games of Mexican train dominoes with Cattiva, enjoying long walks on the beach bordering Baie de Kanumera and then stopping for a mid-morning coffee at the Oure Tera Beach Resort or enjoying a walk along the beach at Baie de Kuto followed by a walk to the grocery store for a freshly baked baguette and to get a few provisions, although sadly, there was no fresh produce in sight. Fortunately, we still had some fruit and vegetables from our excursions in Atoll d’Ouvea. Other pastimes included Elaine continuing with her French lessons, which she had commenced in earnest shortly after our arrival back in New Caledonia or reading her latest book in the Harry Bosch series. Roy continued work on his “mystery” project and we enjoyed nice long chats to Keenan who entertained us with his first experiences in the full motion simulator of the 757 / 767 aircraft, culminating in him passing the first check ride of his training. We also received the news of the birth of another baby in the family making us a great uncle and aunt again. Congratulations to Kevin and Maria on the birth of their beautiful baby boy, Blake. Welcome to the family little man.

 

Having missed the opportunity to paddleboard during our stay in Ile des Pins, given that Baie de Kuto remained too lumpy, we decided to snorkel in Baie de Kanumera instead; something we were unable to do on our previous visit to New Caledonia. Although there was a significant amount of dead coral evident and the currents were a little strong, we saw an unusual variety of fish, as well as witnessed the efforts underway to regenerate the coral. Unfortunately a large section around Kanumera Rock was a "taboo" area, where snorkelling is prohibited, but the coral we could see, was beautiful. An afternoon of enjoying the sea life was topped off by a huge turtle swimming within a couple of metres off Paw Paw's starboard side.

 

Waking around 0400 on the 21^st September 2018 by a number of rather loud noises, Elaine’s further investigations revealed that two supply ships had arrived, bringing with them the hope of fresh produce. Once Roy surfaced and the news was conveyed, a plan of action took shape; Roy would have a quick breakfast, following which Elaine would dinghy him to shore so that he could get to the grocery stores at opening time, given that every other sailor in the anchorage would have the same idea. Of course, in trying to get Roy to the far end of the beach, giving him the shortest walk to the stores, resulted in Elaine getting soaked as a wave swamped the dinghy just as Roy jumped out. It didn't help matters that, after all that, Roy returned empty-handed. No fresh produce! Fortunately a VHF radio call from Cattiva a little later confirmed that the stores would be stocked by mid-morning and, with that, we all set off in search of fruit and vegetables again. It's amazing how finding a fresh apple or orange or pear or green vegetable can bring so much joy!

 

On 23^rd September 2018, after an early morning walk on the beach, we spent the remainder of the morning preparing, then enjoying, lunch and playing Mexican train dominoes again onboard Paw Paw with Cattiva. The day was long over by the time we said our goodbyes, but not before Maria had helped Elaine with some of her French pronunciations and we'd watched another beautiful sunset. With that, our second visit to Ile des Pins had come to an unexpected end with another storm forecast. It was not quite the week we had expected with gloomy, overcast weather, sustained winds of 20 to 25 Kts, gusting to 28 Kts, cooler temperatures and a very uncomfortable swell running for most of the time. Elaine did, however, have the pleasure one morning of waking to a very pretty sunrise behind the island, which silhouetted the beach and the palm trees interspersed with pines trees, against a beautiful pink sky and then had a large turtle swim past her porthole. A perfect start to any day! However, given the exposure of the anchorage to the swell in slighter seas, we decided that the significantly higher seas forecast with the approaching storm increased the risk of the anchorage becoming untenable, making it more prudent to leave. So, on 24^th September 2018, barely a week after our arrival in Ile des Pins, we weighed anchor and set "sail" with an intended destination of Baie de Prony.

 

It was also not quite the day we had expected for our 35th Wedding Anniversary celebrations and, instead, had assumed we'd enjoy sundowners and dinner at one of the resorts on Ile des Pins. Events, however, were about to take another unexpected turn. Having motor-sailed all morning, but with good speeds thanks to a following sea, we reached the vicinity of Baie de Prony earlier than anticipated. We'd barely made the decision to continue on to Noumea, when Roy received an alert from Marine Traffic, as we were transiting Canal Woodin that TiSento (Agnes and Bas) had just arrived in Noumea. What are the odds! The last time we saw them was on Roy's birthday in 2016 when they arrived in St Lucia to wave us off at the start of the World ARC. We had also celebrated our 32nd anniversary with them in Grenada prior to departing the Caribbean. Although we were tired from a long day of motor-sailing, we, nonetheless, dropped the dinghy and headed over to TiSento the minute we were securely anchored. It was wonderful to see them after so many years and enjoy a great evening together.  What a wonderful anniversary gift and the perfect way to celebrate our 35th Wedding Anniversary.

 

After nearly two months of hardly seeing another yacht while cruising the outer islands, we'd returned to Noumea to find an abundance of international yachts filling the marinas and anchorages, including yachts from Austria, Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Netherlands, New Zealand, South Africa, Switzerland, United Kingdom and the United States. By late that afternoon there were more yachts arriving, including Cattiva who also decided to leave Ile des Pins soon after us. It also meant the return of our morning routine at Le Marché de Noumea for coffee and French pastries, only this time we had TiSento for company as well. While we’d made arrangements with TiSento the night before for Roy to take them on the rounds to complete their officialdom process, we’d also learnt from TiSento that Platina (Ches and Dave) had also arrived. So, en route to the dinghy dock, we stopped off to say hello , having not seen them since December 2015, when we all spent Christmas together with a host of other yachts in Bequia and who were also in St Lucia to assist the Atlantic ARC yachts arriving that year. We also took the opportunity to have a quick chat to Sea Wolf, who we'd just missed in Ile des Pins the previous week. It was staggering seeing so many of our cruising and a stark contrast to our previous visit to New Caledonia when we only saw Blue Summit.  Watching another pretty sunset that evening, followed by a beautiful full moon rising in the east and looking over at TiSento floating a few yachts from us, was surreal. We couldn’t believe nearly three years had passed and we'd all sailed thousands of nautical miles, experiencing numerous adventures along the way, to then meet again in this relatively tiny chain of islands in the South Pacific.

 

We were glad we made the decision to return to Noumea when we did, given that the various weather forecasts were all over the board regarding the strength of the winds associated with the next approaching storm, which by now had become very tedious. Then the stronger winds, forecast for the following day and that weekend, arrived a little early, so we decided to reanchor to ensure we could put out more scope and not be too close to the yachts surrounding us. It was definitely a tad disconcerting to have such a deep low pressure system originating in the tropics this early in the season. As the dark clouds loomed ominously out to the east, we settled in for a stormy night! It was, however, the beautiful rainbow arching over the anchorage that stole the show, as well as the good news we received that Keenan had passed his FAA check ride in the 757 / 767.

 

Well, the wind howled for two days, leaving us all "boat bound". Even our game of Mexican train dominoes we’d organised on Paw Paw didn’t materialise as it proved to be too precarious for everyone to get to and from Paw Paw in the dinghies. We made the best of the "downtime", though, allowing us to catch up with family in Ireland, for Elaine to continue with her French lessons, for Roy to continue work on his "mystery" project and for both of us to read a few more good books. We also received the news of yet another birth, making us feel like surrogate grandparents, since we rarely saw Keenan without Tyler all through their university years together. Congratulations to Tyler and his wife on the birth of their baby girl. Fortunately, the anchorage was protected from the 30 to 35 Kt gusts that had been forecast, with gusts reaching 25 to 27 Kts instead and sustained winds of 17 to 22 Kts, but dropping overnight to around 10 to 15 Kts. Unfortunately, the bad weather came with the usual inconsiderate cruisers. After reanchoring on three separate occasions to avoid other yachts whose crew had chosen to anchor on top of us, we were well positioned to accommodate the strong winds. That, of course, was until the morning of 30^th September 2018, when another yacht thought it was ok to anchor right on top of us again. When Elaine indicated to them that they were far too close and needed to move, all they did was lift some chain, ending up less than two boat lengths from us and spent the rest of their stay swinging across our bow, over our chain and anchor. What was unbelievable about this situation is that we even dinghied over to them and indicated that we were still not comfortable with their position, given that the winds were turning east and increasing in strength, yet they never moved.

 

As most sailors worth their salt know, it is the yachts already in an anchorage that dictate the method of anchoring and the safe positioning between yachts, given the amount of scope that is in use by everyone, not to mention the fact that it is common courtesy to move if you have been requested to do so by a yacht already at anchor. We have never had a situation like this occur in all our years of sailing and we would never dream of ignoring another cruiser's request in this regard. Yes, in a crowded anchorage, in light winds, it is generally accepted that someone may be over your anchor, but in a wide open bay, with plenty of space and in strong winds, our request was just ignored and left us in a precarious situation if something had gone wrong, since we were unable to lift our anchor, not to mention the worry and anxiety it caused. The irony is that we surmised that this yacht, Intrepid Elk, was probably the one being sold to our friends on Time Bandit, given its make and being Australian flagged. Turns out we were right! Trying to set aside our annoyance and anxiety, though, we eventually got to enjoy an afternoon of Mexican train dominoes with Cattiva, but it’s fair to say, that that night, with the wind continuing to howl, neither of us had a restful night’s sleep thanks to the gross inconsideration of the then owners of Intrepid Elk. Definitely not the kind of aggravation Elaine could afford given her health issues!  We had made the decision to just take Captain Fatty's advice and move again the following morning. Of course, that meant they would have to move regardless so we could lift our anchor. However, although we were awake early, it wasn't long before our anxiety was replaced with relief when Intrepid Elk weighed anchor and another yacht anchored in its place, but in a much better position relative to ourselves.

 

By then we were hopeful that the tropical low pressure system to the north of New Caledonia and the high pressure system to the south, which was reinforcing the wind, would move during the course of the following day as forecast, and it did. With the lull in the winds we ventured ashore to purchase a few items at Le Marché de Noumea, but not before we received a video call from Brooke, enjoying the lovely surprise of talking to William as well, who had become a right little chatterbox. Unfortunately the twins were sleeping and Capri was still at school, but we were, nonetheless, able to see William all dressed up for his school photographs that were taken earlier in the day. We paid the price, however, by getting soaked coming back to Paw Paw after our trip to the market, but it was worth the effort just to stretch our legs with a walk along the promenade. That evening we headed over to TiSento for a Bequia Reunion with Agnes and Bas, as well as Platina. Needless to say another fun evening ensued that ended well beyond sundowners.

 

The following morning, with lighter winds at last and the return of sunny blue skies, another rendezvous took place at Le Marché de Noumea, but this time completely unplanned and unexpected; The whole gang arrived; Cattiva, TiSento, Platina and Sea Wolf; everyone obviously wanted off their yachts which turned into a fabulous morning. It was over one of these breakfasts, that we learnt about the mattress store which Cattiva had stumbled upon, since they were in need of a new mattress and, believe it or not, so were we. Yes, another new mattress for Roy’s cabin! With that, “operation mattress” proceeded over the following days. First off, Roy accompanied Maurice to collect their new mattress, order ours and dinghy their mattress out to Cattiva. Then it was our turn to take delivery, but not before we dinghied over to Cattiva to help them transport off cuts of their new mattress and their old mattress ashore. Once back onboard, it was time to shape our new mattress, but, of course, the entire yacht was turned upside down and it didn't help that it started to rain again. Fortunately this mattress turned out to be a better solution than the last one, with the hope of ending mattress purchases for a while!

 

By Saturday, 6^th October 2018, it was celebrations all around. First Elaine celebrated her last day on corticosteroids, which required four previous attempts to wean off them, since her conditions kept flaring. Next, we received the news that Keenan had passed his final check ride and had obtained his Boeing 757 / 767 type rating. Congratulations to a job well done! A fabulous achievement regardless, but to do so months before he's 30th birthday was outstanding. Lastly, we completed a day of joy aboard Platina along with TiSento to celebrate Ches' birthday. Another fun night of laughter, good food and good wine in the company of friends.

 

On this second visit to New Caledonia, we had agreed to restrict ourselves to only one French pastry each per day in an effort to keep the waistlines under control. Our tenacity, however, always seemed to be short lived. Although La Marché de Noumea was closed on a Monday, we simply found French pastries at another patisserie, especially Les Petits Choux patisserie closest to the supermarket, where we stopped to top up our provisions, then we’d enjoy a light picnic lunch in Place des Cocotiers, joining many of the local office workers who were also soaking up the sunshine in a tranquil garden setting. Tasty dinners onboard generally included paté, brie, jambon parme losie, smoked mussels, olives and a freshly baked baguette accompanied by some or other fruit, including the very sweet and juicy local pineapples, which we definitely couldn’t resist or dinner was a result of a stroll around the fish market and our fresh tuna purchase resulted in some carpaccio as starters and tuna steaks for our main course, followed by “gateau au chocolat au coeur fondant” (hot molten chocolate mini-cakes) for dessert. That, of course, didn’t include our enjoyment of the gastronomic delights that Noumea had to offer with the abundance of fabulous restaurants. We were eventually down to cutting meals to twice a day, where, a late morning coffee at Le Marché de Noumea, accompanied by a French pastry for Roy and a freshly made crêpe for Elaine was enough to tied us over for a late lunch / early dinner at say, Le QG Bistronomique restaurant overlooking the bay after taking a bus to Baie des Citrons. After dinner we would then work off our extra calories with a long walk back along the coast and wrap up the day with a movie night onboard; the Greatest Showman, being an absolute favourite, especially with the new portable Bose speaker Roy had purchased in Australia and connected it to the TV to improve the sound quality. It helped matters that, although we were in the middle of winter, the fresh produce market abounded with locally grown limes, lemons, oranges, pineapples, passion fruits, enormous avocados, bananas and, of course, pawpaws. However, during our first visit to New Caledonia we had pawpaw running out of our ears after all the "gift swapping" we'd done in Vanuatu and had absolutely no desire to sample a New Caledonian one at that time. That was definitely our loss. While enjoying a lazy morning onboard soon after our arrival, we decided to have some pawpaw with our light breakfast and it was one of the juiciest and sweetest we'd tasted. Curbing the expansion of the waistline, though, was, overall, a fruitless attempt, to say the least!

 

We did, however, have time to do something new in Noumea. Some outings were as simple as walking to one of the beaches to enjoy the scenery and all the goings-on while sitting on a bench in the shade of a huge tree, being the perfect way to pass an afternoon. Other days were spent watching groups of youngsters sailing in the bay. With the school holidays, these children were spending their days learning to sail and it was amazing to see the progress they made over a few days. Sometimes an evening was spent watching “Wednesday Night Racing” by the adults in Baie de L’Orphelinat or watching large numbers of local yachts heading out for an evening sail. Unfortunately some of our planned outings didn’t quite materialise, including a hike of Ouen Toro, something we were unable to do on our last visit to New Caledonia because of Elaine's walking difficulties. We had no idea what happened, but after sitting at the bus stop with a myriad of other people for more than an hour and still no bus, we decided to change our plans. Instead, we took a stroll around the Quartier Latin, stopping for a light lunch, then "hiked" up to Cathedrale Saint-Joseph. This was something we'd done on our last visit and wanted to do anyway since arriving back in New Caledonia, so, it was a case of: "there's no time like the present!". Third time was the charm, though, as we eventually found our way to the Ouen Toro Lookout. We couldn't have picked a better day, as the horizon was lovely and clear, which provided spectacular views over the lagoon towards Ilot Maitre, Ile de Canard, Anse Vata and Noumea. Had we known it was a beautiful picnic spot as well, we could have packed a lunch, since we'd definitely worked up an appetite by the time we'd hiked up one way and down another, the latter bringing us back to Anse Vata. After a brief perusal of the various restaurants along the beach promenade, we settled on Le Fare, where we had a very tasty, albeit a light lunch. Since trying to keep the calories under control had proven to be a monumental task and having already had “chaisson pomme” with our morning coffee, having crêpes and gelato were definitely ruled out for dessert. However, given that we walked a total distance of 6.5M / 10KM all the way back to the marina, including the hike, we probably could have risked it.

 

By the 7^th October 2018, we knew our visit to New Caledonia was drawing to a close, but there were still a few activities to do and places we wanted to visit. These included another bus ride to Anse Vata, where we enjoyed a walk along the beach to La Méridien Resort and savoured the beautiful views of the southern lagoon over a coffee, before finding a spot on the bench under the palm trees, where Elaine read her book and Roy tested the results of his "mystery" project, followed by a gelato at one of our favourite cafés, Amorino La Cialdina. We also wanted to revisit the Amédée Lighthouse again. Unfortunately the weather forecast was completely incorrect, so, instead of light winds and calm seas, we had 20 Kts on the nose and very turbulent seas. After about half an hour of slamming into the waves, we decided to turn around and head to Ilot Maitre instead. Neither of us felt that a snorkel at Ilot Amédée was worth such an uncomfortable sail! Once anchored, we video called the family in AZ and spend some time with Keenan and all the grandsons which definitely put a smile on our faces at seeing them running around giggling, blowing us kisses and giving us hugs, but hearing Brayden say "I love you" in his softly spoken manner, was priceless. Then, after waking from a nap we noticed TiSento was anchored next to us; the perfect excuse for sundowners on Paw Paw and the perfect way to celebrate 1000 days since starting our circumnavigation in St Lucia and with the very people who were there to waive us off.

 

Fortunately the stronger winds and turbulent seas we experienced in trying to get to Ilot Amédée settled down. So, under warm sunny skies and light winds, we spent the next few days playing in the water and that meant cracking out the paddleboards again. Needless to say, Roy returned to Paw Paw completely dry after our excursion around the reefs, but Elaine took a tumble on her first attempt at standing up. She was, however, able to stay standing on the paddleboard after that, even in the slightly lumping seas. Seeing turtles and bright blue starfish through the clear water, though, made all the effort worthwhile. It wasn't long after we'd returned to Paw Paw when Agnes and their guest, Suzanne, decided to swim over to Paw Paw and try their hand at paddleboarding. Considering it was the first time for both of them, they did really well and spent nearly two hours on the paddleboards. Cattiva also returned from Ilot Amédée unexpectedly due to the number of sea snakes that were present there, compounded by the fact that they had inadvertently brought one back with them when Maurice discovered it on the deck. Our hope was that it decided to swim back "home" after Maurice managed to get it back in the water. Since the main reason we wanted to go back to Ilot Amédée was to snorkel and had planned on sailing there the following morning, we decided to rather give it a miss and just stay at Ilot Maitre. So, Roy spent most of our second morning at Ilot Maitre cleaning the port hull of Paw Paw's bottom, including the saildrive and propellers which were both long overdue for a cleaning. Elaine, however, decided to spend her morning on her paddleboard again, but added a "snorkel drift" to the mix after spotting Cattiva snorkelling at the reefs.  Her snorkelling efforts were rewarded with beautiful corals and a few turtles along with the usual fish. Before we knew it, the skies to the west were painted with another beautiful sunset and the day was over, but we did hear another familiar voice on the radio, one which we hadn’t heard in a number of months; Anne off Time Bandit, after their recent arrival in New Caledonia to finalise the purchase of their new yacht, Intrepid Elk, promising not to anchor too close when they next saw us in an anchorage.

 

On Thursday 11^th October 2018, our third day at Ilot Maitre, we woke to completely calm conditions with the sun shining brightly. The water was so clear we could actually see the seabed from Paw Paw's decks. So, after making arrangements to meet Cattiva at the reef, it was time to play in the water again. Since Roy had already spent more than an hour in the water cleaning Paw Paw's starboard hull, saildrive and propellers before then, he opted to warm up in the sun in the dinghy instead while the rest of us enjoyed the spectacular corals, fish and turtles. It was one of the best snorkels we'd had in a long time. Roy did, however, jump back in the water briefly to at least see some of what the rest of us were enjoying and we all would have stayed in the water much longer if we hadn't felt so cold.

Unfortunately during Roy's morning cleaning efforts he noticed the zinc anode on the starboard side was missing, this after we'd just replaced both of them at the end of August having discovered the new port one we replaced in Australia was missing. We have never lost zincs in the past, but to lose two, one from each hull less than a month apart, we couldn’t help wondering if someone was actually stealing them, since these are screwed on with locktight and require considerable effort to unscrew. There was definitely something fishy going on, but time would tell, no doubt! Regardless, Roy had to go back into the water to replace the missing anode with the old one we'd removed from the starboard side previously. Fortunately there were no more unusual occurrences, thankfully, as we'd run out of spares. After an afternoon nap we dinghied over to Cattiva for a chat and sundowners where we had the pleasure of enjoying another beautiful sunset accompanied by a huge "green flash". It was, however, to be our last night at Ilot Maitre, unbeknownst to us. After a very lumpy night and little sleep, we were both awake at daybreak the following day. It didn't take either of us long to decide that that was as good a time as any to weigh anchor and head back to Noumea and it also afforded us the opportunity to possibly see the rheumatologist again.

 

Prior to our return to New Caledonia Elaine had decided to take the opportunity to schedule an appointment with a rheumatologist for a second opinion, which had provided some insight and possible options for future treatment, but, with Elaine's condition worsening drastically after having had some success on a gluten-free diet for a few days, it was a mad dash to anchor and get to shore in the hopes of getting to the rheumatologist's office at opening time in order to secure a follow-up appointment, but to no avail; The doctor was, not only out of the office, but on vacation for a few weeks. It was time to accept that the celebrations were short-lived and that she had to go back onto the corticosteroids, making her feel a little like our tattered flags. A coffee at Le Marché de Noumea, having a chat to Platina and then having the surprise of seeing Time Bandit, helped add a dash of sunshine to an otherwise difficult day. Once back on Paw Paw, Elaine set about fixing our tattered flags which looked a little more presentable by the time she was done. It was also time to pack away all our toys as we started the preparations for our departure to Australia. Roy checked the saildrive and engine oil as well as sorted out the chicken chute rigging, while Elaine put things back in their rightful place. It was hard to believe that another sailing season was coming to a close and that we would be heading back to Australia. Being back in the South Pacific islands and seeing all of our sailing friends was a wonderful respite, albeit that Elaine's health issues remained volatile. As Roy said it was a case of: "Hou die blink kant bo!" and, since Nina and Blue Summit were due to arrive in Noumea over the next few days, a World ARC Dropouts Reunion was going to go a long way to achieving that!

 

On 13^th October 2018, being a Saturday and since we were both awake soon after daybreak again, we decided to take advantage of getting to Le Marché de Noumea early. Once we'd secured some fresh fruit and vegetables and enjoyed our usual breakfast, Elaine stayed in the shade of the swaying palm trees, serenaded by fabulous melodic local music, Roy popped to the grocery store for a few top up provisions.  He'd no sooner left, when a delightful elderly Kanak couple joined Elaine at her table, which was swiftly followed by Platina pulling up chairs to enjoy their morning coffee with her.  It was the perfect way to set aside her "medical blues". But, unbeknownst to us, the day was only going to get better.

 

It was early afternoon when Elaine asked Roy if Nina was a ketch or a sloop as she watched a yacht sail into Port Moselle and couldn't remember.  He'd no sooner said it was a sloop, when he spotted the same yacht and, without realising why Elaine had asked her question, commented that the yacht looked very similar to Nina.  As it approached, we both suddenly realised it was, in fact, Nina.  With that, frantic waving and cheering ensued. It had been two years since we'd said our goodbyes to Lynda and Steve in Fiji, although Roy had seen them both for an afternoon in New Zealand. Once they were safely anchored and had freshened up, the WARC Dropouts Reunion took place on Paw Paw. After an afternoon of hugs, kisses and extensive "chin wagging" over a few cold beverages which carried on well past sunset, we made arrangements to dinghy ashore together the following morning. It felt like only yesterday Nina and Paw Paw had been together in an anchorage. It was indeed another wonderful reunion which has made this sailing season so special in this beautiful, diverse cruising ground, where one minute you're enjoying turtles and magnificent corals and the next, the sophistication of Noumea, the Paris of the South Pacific.

 

The following morning we all dinghied ashore to show Nina around, as this was their first visit to Noumea.  First stop, of course, was Le Marché de Noumea for pastries and coffee,  following which Elaine and Lynda strolled around the market,  while the men went off to do "men things".  With the winds forecast to increase again that afternoon and blow for the next few days, it was time then to head back to our respective yachts. We’d also learnt that Blue Summit had arrived in Noumea that morning, although we hadn’t seen them as yet. With everyone hunkered down for the blow, it was, nonetheless, lovely to look out across the anchorage and see that we were surrounded by friends in every direction. Moments to treasure for sure, as we knew it wouldn’t be long before we all went our separate ways, with no idea where or when our paths would cross, if ever!

 

On Monday, 15^th October 2018, we woke to miserable, rainy weather which translated to staying in bed, but after a cooked breakfast and an unsuccessful experiment with gluten-free flour to make pancakes, we decided that our morning would be better spent reacquainting ourselves with all the officialdom paperwork required to clear out of New Caledonia and clear in to Australia. Our afternoon was much more fun, though, as we dinghied over to Nina for afternoon tea and a delicious chocolate cake, freshly baked by Lynda that morning, followed by a game of Mexican train dominoes and a light dinner. A perfect way to spend a rainy day!

 

That Monday was also the start of saying our goodbyes which are always so difficult and come around so quickly after the joy of the hellos. They are, however, a fact of our nomadic lifestyle and continued unabated over the next few days as everyone started to set off. First Platina as they took advantage of the first weather window to set sail for Australia, followed by TiSento as they departed for the southern lagoon and would likely not return until after we have departed for Australia. We did, however, get to enjoy a night aboard Paw Paw with them before they set sail, drinking "policie coffee", which definitely helped reduce our supply of rum and brought us somewhat within the limits of the alcohol import restrictions for Australia. Although the daily procession of yachts leaving New Caledonia continued, fortunately, the majority of our cruising friends were still with us for a few more days and we didn’t stop socialising to the point that we had four separate invites for one evening and simply had to decline all of them gracefully. With Talulah Ruby III back in the marina, it was also the perfect time to undertake "operation liferafts", loaning them Paw Paw’s which is larger and could accommodate all their crew who were arriving over the coming week and we had theirs, all to be swapped back after our arrivals in Australia.

 

In between trying to get the last of our preparations completed, we eventually got to see Blue Summit, since they were kind enough to brave the dreadful weather and stop by Paw Paw for tea one afternoon. A fabulous dinner with Nina at Marmite was also enjoyed, although we all got drenched in the rain coming back to the yachts in the dinghy. Nothing that dampened our spirits, though! Just when we thought we'd seen everyone and couldn't possibly do any more socialising, our trip to Le Marché de Noumea the following morning turned into a fabulous impromptu rendezvous. No sooner had Nina and ourselves docked the dinghies when we bumped into Time Bandit. Then we all had no sooner found a spot in the shade of the palm trees when Cattiva arrived,  swiftly followed by Sea Wolf, Blue Summit and Lettin’ Go, whom we hadn't seen since our previous visit to New Caledonia. Nearly four hours later we eventually made it back to Paw Paw. However, by the 20^th October 2018, the goodbyes had started in earnest. Goodbyes to Blue Summit was swiftly followed by a tearful goodbye to Nina after enjoying a lunch and an afternoon coffee in La Place des Cocotiers, leaving us both with a heavy heart. However, after Cattiva and ourselves had made our way over to Time Bandit for sundowners the following evening, we'd no sooner climbed on board when Stuart informed us that he'd spotted Nina on the AIS returning to Noumea. A quick call on the VHF radio clarified that Nina had issues with the mainsail furler and that they had had to abandon their passage to New Zealand. Although very frustrating for Lynda and Steve, we were, nonetheless, delighted to see them again. Once they were safely anchored, Roy dinghied over to collect them and brought them back to Time Bandit. With that, a lovely evening, albeit under rather unexpected circumstances, ensued. As Lynda said: "Nina just wanted to be next to Paw Paw again!"

 

The following morning, after a peek at the updated weather forecasts, we collected Nina, which saved them the trouble of unpacking their dinghy, as it had been stowed for their passage to New Zealand and, since they were moving into the marina in order to have their repairs done, they’d have no need for it. We'd no sooner found a spot in the shade of the palm trees, when Cattiva arrived as planned. With that, our final morning of coffee, pastries and plenty of chatter was savoured. Afterwards we bought the last of our fresh produce then walked to the supermarket for the last of our provisions. It was lunch time by the time we returned Lynda and Steve to Nina, but we were grateful for the additional time we got to spend with them, even under the less than desirable circumstances for them, but hoping their repairs could be completed swiftly and that they could be on their way again, without incident. The rest of the day was spent cooking our passage meals and completing our final preparation activities. Our time in New Caledonia had come to an end. It had flown by, but we had wonderful memories to take with us.

 

On the morning of Monday, 22^nd October 2018 we cleared out. By the time we'd visited the Immigration, Customs and Port Authority offices, we'd walked nearly 6 miles. Fortunately we had Cattiva for company and we got to stretch our legs before the passage. By 1100 we'd weighed anchor and, with 15 to 20 Kts out of the east, it was goodbye to New Caledonia for the second and last time. Enjoying an average speed of 6.5 Kts, we exited the outer reef at Passe de Uitoe at around 1430 and set our course for Lady Elliot at the southern end of the Great Barrier Reef.