The crossing from Cairns to New Caledonia is proving as tedious as expected. We first have to motorsail down the East Coast from Cairns to McKay where we make a technical stop with one of our two generators producing a exotic 30 volts voltage. Although we just stay an overnight we are impressed by the services provided by the marina and various specialists. Unfortunately the weather is against us and we have to stop again for a few days further South. We are desperately seeking for the right window to cross to Noumea where Marc's parents have been waiting for us. It will not come and we will venture at sea with headwinds between 20 and 30 knots, 3/4 meters waves. The only entertainment during the crossing is the amazing somersaults of two minke whales about 200 meters from the boat. We arrived shattered and are greeted by Grandparents relieved to see us and thrilled to spend time with their grandchildren.
Chasse Spleen and the crew need to recover for a few days before heading to the Ile des Pins for a week with Marc's father onboard.
We first head to the Baie de Prony. We drop the anchor in the furthest place in the baie, extremely well protected in all wind directions. Rivers and waterfalls are easily accessible in dinghy and there are even a warm water stream and hotbath. Hoping to see humpback whales which have "officially" arrived in New Caledonia, we are exploring every part of the baie of Prony but yet again with no luck.
Ile des Pins is the highlight of our cruising in New Caledonia. We have seen many exotics white sand/coconuts beaches during our travels but Iles des Pins is a dramatic and unique landscape in the South Pacific.
Ilot Brosse with its combination of beautiful shades of blue, amazing beach densely covered with pine trees is a delight for the eyes. We are the only boat at the anchorage and have the beach to ourselves: barbecue, swimming, spotting sea snakes "tricots rayes" are all on the programme.
After a few days we head for the Baie of Kuto. The anchorage is nice, with a pretty walk on land and welcoming locals. The beach provides a very good spot for a nap under the shade of big trees with a breeze coming from either side of the peninsula. The hotel onshore also provides a nice spot for sundowners. Unfortunately we need to head back to Noumea as Marc's parents need to catch their plane back to Europe. We were glad to finally have the opportunity to share with Claude a bit of the yachties' life at its best.
We will extend our stay in Port Moselle as we wait for new passports for the boys. We are happily surprised by the Haut Commissariat for their flexibility since our case is not very common (French nationals with a UK residency).
We are fortunate to meet Bora's crew again; this gives us a great opportunity to share memories of the good 'old' days in the Marquesas islands.
Our extended stay leaves us time to finalise a food provisioning with all the French delicacies that we could miss later (baguettes, croissants, smelly cheeses, saucissons, jambon de pays, Merguez and chipolatas sausages, cornichons, Dijon mustard etc).
As we head towards Vanuatu we decide to spend a few days in the Loyalty islands which we bypassed two years ago. It is interesting to get an exposure to the nest of Kanak insurection at a time where relations between Caldoches (French white established in New Caledonia for generations) and kanak communities at relatively tense with the rising uncertainties linked to a potential 2014 independence. The recent decision of raising both flags (tricolore and kanak flags) on administrative buildings caused a bit of emotion on both sides.
Upon our arrival in Lifou, Marc goes onshore to "do the coutume" with the local chef. One should officially introduce himself to the big man offering a 'manou' (a piece of fabric), some cigarettes (or other goodies) and some money (especially appreciated!) as a token of friendship. He is welcomed by the uncle of the chief (as the chief is currently working in the mines on the mainland) with a pro-independance speach. Being open minded Marc even suggests that he would be very happy to raise a kanak courtesy flag on Chasse Spleen if he could find one.
The anchorage in Jonkin Bay is beautiful, a huge cliff falls directly into the sea and there is a very scenic spot for swimming in crystal clear water under the trees. The view from the guest house is stunning and we see whales blowing a few nautical miles off shore.
Lifou is also a big producer of vanilla pods in the region, so I decide to venture with the boys and Maxime to the local vanilla plantation. On our way we are picked up by a charming couple taking us to their place where they cultivate their vanilla. We are fortunate to get an explanation of the whole process in their back garden. We head back to the boat with enough vanilla for a year of cooking as they kindly offer handfuls of vanilla pods. A delicacy for our future rice puddings and Tahitian 'poisson cru" salad.
As we wake up in the middle of the night to head to Ouvea we are surrounded by deep loud breathing noises and flapping in the water. These have to be whales! This is unfortunately a pitch dark night and there is no way to see them. As we finally decide to use a spotlight, they all vanish! Very frustrating!
Ouvea is a huge atoll with white sand beach and coconut trees for miles on end: a beautiful postcard. As we reach the shore, Marc does his "coutume' duty again and is officially welcomed and under the community proctection.
On Sunday as everyone leisurely sits in the shade, he will be invited to join petanque games by the locals.
The weather is not great but we find one day to venture with the dinghy to the South Pleiades (small islands, South West of the lagoon). They are gorgeous, very wild and offer good snorkelling and potential diving. Unfortunately we will not be able to come back and need to leave Ouvea fairly quickly as weather forecasts are worsening. We do not even have a chance to say a formal "tata" (good bye) to the villagers.