18.02 anchored at Port Boise, New Caledonia

Finally we headed out off Port Vila which had become the longest place we had stayed. Micky finally recovering from the minor infection on his shin, probably visited by a fly, turned into quite a nerve-wracking situation. Within 30 minutes of being ok he completely went into high fever and was out of it for four days and ended up with a leg swollen the size of an elephant. When speaking to others it seems to happen more often than we think and not taken care of in time we lose a leg or more...

Not to be forgotten, Port Vila's fantastic colourful market with so many fruits and vegetables that I had never seen before and all displayed in the most creative ways. Salads and nuts (one by one) all tied up with a piece of thin bamboo through them; the different herbs, the bundling up of the cassava, the colours of the local flowers, mostly pinks and oranges, and all this 24 hours a day when the different families take their turns on the stands. Also found the amazing Mama's market where all is hand made by the ladies themselves, so this going from their dresses and you can see them sew away all day on their sewing machines to the beautifully handwoven baskets and carpets.. somehow.. I did sneak some onto the boat :-)

Another must do, other than touring the island which has so many diffent trees, the smiles of everyone we encountered along the roads, the white sandy beaches, the snorkelling where the most colourful clams can be found is to do a 'cava' trip at Ponga Point... this is the greetings drink to island life, but it definitely does more to the brain than just tasting this not so innocent not so nice tasting roots drink from the coconut shell..

The first two days of sailing as we left Port Vila were fantastic and then no wind and waves straight up the nose...as the dark is hitting in, we have decided to go for anchor tonight before we go zigzagging through the little rocky islands tommorrow - direction Noumea. We arrived in this amazing natural bay with tall thin trees around the whole bay and we heard the singing of so many different birds while the sunset hit in... and ...as we had just anchored off we were greeted by a dolphin right next to the boat ! Most amazing anchorage ever !!

Last night's sunset with our extraordinay encounter with the lonely blue whale just swimming by on this golden flat ocean, has definitely been the highlight of the whole trip ! At one point he/she popped up his/her head and then went down under... it really is the most fascinating thing to see.

Also today's treat was when we saw thousands of birds coming by in a straight line and when one would look on port side from back to front of the boat, all we could see were these quite small dark coloured birds flying low over the water, quite a spectacle too.

Strange as it is, but after 2 months of sailing now, my time on the boat has come to an end on arriving at Noumea as Sydney has become too far as dates have to be met. Micky is into becoming a grandfather and me back to the house in Malta, which must get going. The only good thing is:- not to sleep next to my lifejacket for some time !

It has all in all been the most extraordinary experience and hope to do it again ... Once the Pacific, always the Pacific...