Noumea, Nouvelle Calédonie (New Caledonia)

6-11 NOVEMBER 2011

OPPORTUNITY MISSED

The six-and-a-half day sail from Lautoka, Fiji to Noumea, New Caledonia was fairly uneventful. We came across quite a few long-liners out from Fiji and so had to keep a sharp lookout during the night. We sailed through the Royals and approached Vanuatu. We had planned to stop there at the island of Tanna to see its volcano, which is reported to be the most accessible active volcano in the world. Unfortunately, the seas were up and attempting to sail in there seemed a bit treacherous, so we decided to just head straight on to New Caledonia. Jim, however, was on watch around 4:00 a.m. when we passed Tanna, and so he at least got to see the volcano’s red glow.


“JE PRENDS”

We arrived at Port Moselle Marina, the yacht marina in the port of Noumea, at about 10:00 p.m. Sunday, November 6. The following morning the authorities came to the boat and cleared us in. After the customs/immigration officer left a bio-security officer came to the boat and took our fresh produce and eggs.

The bio-security officer was a very nice man who spoke little English. I would show him various foods, and he would hold out his little green plastic bag and say, “Je prends. Je prends.” Somehow enough high school French came back to me for me to realize that he meant “I take. I take,” and that I should put the offending limes or sweet potato or whatever into the little bag. He also took our eggs but informed us that we could break them open, give him the shells, and keep the rest, but since we only had one or two left anyway we just gave him the whole eggs.

PORT MOSELLE

Port Moselle is a nice, clean place, with dockage for cruise ships on one side of the harbor and yachts on the other. Port Moselle Marina, where we docked, is adjacent to Le Bout du Monde Restaurant, which is a pleasant place to sit outside by the water in good weather and partake of breakfast, lunch or dinner. During our stay we ate there several times, trying such dishes as mussels gratinée, tartine Scandinave and salad Tahitienne. We especially enjoyed the mussels there. Le Bout is also a popular local venue for Happy Hour.

The marina itself includes showers, washers and dryers, a fuel dock, and a convenience store where you can get ice as well as a cold soda.

A short walk beside the harbor from the marina brings you to the Village Market where locals sell fresh produce and seafood as well as souvenir trinkets. We took advantage of a visit there to purchase some limes and mahi mahi.

Just beyond the marina area toward town is a little park with a most unusual sculpture of the American flag. The park is a 3-dimensional thank-you note to the U.S. for protecting Noumea during WWII. What a pleasant and unexpected surprise!

DOWNTOWN NOUMEA

Noumea is the capital of New Caledonia, which is a French protectorate. While Port Moselle is geared up for tourists and mariners, the city itself belongs to New Caledonians. We found a large supermarket and a lovely kitchen store along the lines of Williams-Sonoma there, but finding a quaint little bar or café totally escaped us. Consequently, the only place we dined out in Noumea was right there at Le Bout at Port Moselle. (We were told that there are more bars and restaurants in the suburbs, as it were, but you would have to take a taxi to get there.)

“TOO LATE” TRADY

While in Noumea we needed to get a fuel filter housing for the engine. In search of this item we first walked all over town, but what little the downtown offered in the way of marine supplies did not include such items. So we continued on for several more miles past the port into a more industrial area where we stopped at a small commercial establishment that sells fuel filters. The owner of the establishment was a Frenchman who did his best to be kind and helpful, but despite the fact that he with his little English managed to understand what Jim with his little French was trying to communicate to him, the bottom line was that he simply did not have such a part. However, he added, his wife Trady was due to arrive any minute and she could take us to the Maison du Filtre where they should have what we needed.

Trady did indeed arrive soon and was quite cheerful about chauffeuring us to the House of Filters, which turned out to be about a 20-minute drive. On the way we learned that Trady was from Singapore and had lived in Paris, France for some years. When Jim mentioned that the French were certainly proud of their language, she burst out with a very contradictory opinion:

“They are NOT proud of their language,” she said. “The reason they won’t speak English is because they are ashamed. They are ashamed of their English. It is no wonder they cannot speak English well. The French do not start learning English until they are seven years old. Seven! Too late, too late! In Singapore, we start learning English at three or four. Seven too late!” (No wonder I’m embarrassed to speak French: I didn’t start learning the language until I was 16!)

After a very entertaining ride with Trady we arrived at the House of Filters where Trady served as translator and established that they did indeed have the part we needed. And so we purchased the part and, once Trady had finished conducting her business there, she drove us all the way back into town and dropped us at the supermarket. What an amazing lady!

FAMILIAR FACE

The day before we left Noumea we met up with our new Aussie friend Greg, whom we had met in Fiji. He, too, was taking his boat to Australia and had pulled in to Port Moselle for a few days. It was great to see him again and hear of his sail to Vanuatu where he did get to see the volcano. A guide takes you up the mountain in a Jeep, he said, adding that the ride up alone was quite an adventure. Once you get to the top of the volcano you can get within several feet of the opening. Lava is shooting up and it can be dangerous. (In fact, a Japanese couple was killed while viewing the volcano up close.) Nonetheless, it was “awesome,” Greg said. Sorry we missed it. Maybe next time!

CLEARING OUT

Although the authorities will come to your vessel when you arrive to clear you in to New Caledonia, they don’t allow you the same courtesy when you leave. This presented a bit of a problem for us as we did not find out till 3:00 p.m. on Thursday, November 10, that the next day was a holiday and if we did not clear out Thursday afternoon we would not be able to clear out until Monday. This also moved our schedule up a day, causing us to leave on a Friday instead of Saturday. (Most sailors know that you should never begin a voyage on a Friday, but Jim reasoned that we were not beginning a voyage – even though we would be setting out on a 10-day journey across the Tasman Sea -- but simply continuing a voyage already begun. Hmmm…)

Clearing out involved getting a taxi to one office, then another, and finally walking almost a mile, crossing a ravine, and all but running back up the hill to get to the final office before they closed for the 3-day holiday. We made it, but it was close! At least the last stop – the port control office – was worth the visit. It is located in a modern control tower with lots of glass, reminiscent of an air control tower. And the view was spectacular! Now all we had to do was walk 5 miles back to the marina.

Friday, November 11, we paid the dockage, filled the water and fuel tanks, and headed for Australia. G’day!