New Caledonia is spectacular and looks like all the images you see of the South Pacific Islands. There are beautiful sand beaches with fringing lush vegetation and then huge steep rugged looking hills with sharp ridge lines rising up beyond. This is all surrounded by blue clear water. I wake up each day amazed at the scenery. When I was about 9 or 10 I read a series of books about a couple of brothers who have various exploits in different parts of the world collecting animals. One of the books "South Seas Adventure" was based in the Pacific Islands and since reading it I have always wanted to visit and have a look around. It's taken 60 years but finally I have made it. Not only am I in this amazing place but Nik flew in on Tuesday so we are together again and will spend the next four weeks cruising the islands around New Caledonia.
New Caledonia is a French overseas Territory in the Southwest Pacific. It was first discovered for Europeans by Captain Cook who named it due to the north coast reminding him of Scotland. New Caledonia consists of the very large central island of Grande Terre, the smaller groups of the Loyalty Islands off the east coast, the Chesterfield islands to the west, the Isle of Pines at the south and the Belep Islands in the north. Grande Terre is 400km long and has a central range of mountains rising to 1600m in the north. There is a barrier reef ringing the main island which contains various lagoons and many smaller islands. Much of the marine environment is a UNESCO World Heritage site. The interior is rugged hills rising to as much as 1600m.
Dramatic Hills of New Caledonia
After arriving I dingyed ashore and visited
Port Moselle Marina to enquire about the check in procedures. The lovely ladies in the marina office could
not have been more helpful and pointed me in the right direction for
immigration while taking care of the customs for me. It’s a bit surreal stepping ashore and hearing gentle music wafted across
quayside café after being knocked about on the boat for seven days.
The check in procedure was relatively
straightforward and involved a trip to immigration to get our passports stamped
and then I had to bring the boat into a wharf to have a visit from Jeremy the
biosecurity officer who took away some of our remaining fresh food. Once all that was complete we went back to
anchor which is a short dingy ride from
the marina and we were free to come and go as we pleased.
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| Noumea and the Marina |
Noumea is an interesting place. It’s the only major centre on the island although there are some other towns. Its situated on a large peninsular with two significant bays as the harbours and tourist beaches along the southern headlands. There are three marinas, a ferry/cruise terminal and a naval base in the southern harbour and a commercial wharf in the northern harbour. The town is centered around the harbour and stretches into and up the hillsides surrounding the town.
It was great to get ashore and amongst the
French shops and businesses. There is a
fish market on the wharf and a fresh food market alongside. In addition, there are boulangeries and
supermarkets like Auchan and Carrefour so we can buy anything we need. Food is not particularly cheap though.
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| The fresh Food Market |
We spent three days at anchor making trips to town and the marina as required to stock up on food, take showers and generally just to wander around. The anchorage is very interesting with quite a few vessels being very much the worse for wear and used essentially for cheap accommodation. On Sunday we brought the boat into the marina and the following day I said goodbye to my crewman Owen, who left and moved to digs onshore hoping to get a look around some of the island.
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| Our Neighbour at Anchor |
The next day I got the boat all clean and hired
a car to drive to the airport which is about 40Kms away to pick up Nik. It was so good to see her again. We both miss each other a lot when we are not
together. Then we spent the next couple
of days looking around Noumea, shopping and sightseeing.
Noumea is a really convenient place to stop –
the marina is very friendly and you can source just about anything you need nearby
– but the real draw is the islands scattered within the lagoon and outlying
island. We left the marina on Friday 23rd
with a planned destination of the Isle of Pines about 70NM south. We will just do short hops over the next four
of five days anchoring out at islands and secluded bays as we go.
Am looking at returning to Australia via
Vanuatu, the Solomons and PNG. This
route does not have any major crossings i.e. max approx. 3 to 4 days and with
the prevailing weather so much more comfortable. Trip duration would be about 6 weeks in
total. Ideally I would like to take crew
so if anyone reading this is looking for a break and a bit of adventure let me
know.
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