Photo: Brian and Phil and the sea snake found in our dinghy outboard motor!
Koumac has a population of 4,000 and is by far the largest town we have visited in New Caledonia. The majority of the town's population work in connection with the nickel mine which operates 24 hrs a day. New Caledonia's major industry is mining as it is one of the easiest places in the world to extract nickel and other minerals. The landscape is red soil, with little vegetation and the large open cast mines, the hills around the town are changing as the ore is extracted from the top of the hills reducing their height, we've seen hill tops flattened as we cruised the coast, but the residue or non ore soil is deposited alongside the open cast mine raising the height of those hills. Therefore the landscape is constantly changing and with enough mineral ore in New Caledonia for many, many years to come, this is a pattern that will continue. We were lucky to arrive in Koumac the day before the annual open days at the old disused mine; it was fascinating walking around looking at the old buildings and machinery which are in the process of being restored and yes, Brian found a 100 ton dump truck to climb all over. The views were pretty spectacular too; the access road to the mine reminded us of a ski access road. We then visited the new working mine which is close by. We had a combined BBQ ashore in the evening to round off a very busy day.
Next it was onto Baie de Gomen, a short 12nm motor down the coast and still inside the outer reef which lines the west coast. We sat in the bay for 3 days while a SE blow went through, not ideal for sailing down the coast as SE is the direction we wanted to go. We went for walks, had games afternoons (card and board games!!!) and drinks in the evenings. This was the first place since leaving New Zealand where we have had a duvet on the bed at night. We are either getting soft or the temperature is getting cooler as we ever so gradually move further south.
An overnight stop at Baie de Chasseloup, which included a 2 hour walk to find the local supermarket/dairy for bread, was our next stop. Shops in New Caledonia close for 2 - 3 hours for lunch and we had problems finding one that was open. Baie de Chasseloup was the last stop inside the main reef heading south, going onto Port De Mueo the next morning. The entrance through the reef to the anchorage was amazing, with breaking waves and blue azure water that no photo could do justice to. A motor sail the next day saw us anchored in the southern lagoon at Ile Lebris. A swim followed by sundowners on the beach and an early night after the early morning start.
First stop the next day was Ilot Tenia, an island with a white sand beach and coral reefs. For those of you from Auckland it reminded us of an island in the Hauraki Gulf on a Sunday, lots of day trippers and fizz boats!!!! We swam, snorkeled and went ashore to walk around the island before heading off to Ilot Ducos and Mosquito Bay; yes Brian actually selected a bay named after mosquitoes, for the night. We had drinks on Dol for Lyn and John, the ICA rally organizers, and the other yachts in the fleet, as this was probably the last time we would be in the same bay as them before they head back for New Zealand and we move on to Australia.
On Monday morning, Brian made pikelets for morning tea with Phil and Raewyn from Buton D'Or who were trying to organize how to collect their son from Noumea airport the following day. Unfortunately Brian cast off the painter before he started the outboard, something Gail frowns on, only to find the starter cord jammed and he could not start it. It was out with the paddles and a slow trip across to Buton D'Or with Gail still hanging onto the pikelets. After morning tea Brian and Phil decided to sort out the outboard issue, they unscrewed starter cord casing and immediately found the problem. A sea snake had found its way in, we are still at a loss as to how it got in there, and was caught around the starter cord!!! Snake removed, photo taken and problem solved, and the outboard was working again. One of the other yachts in the fleet had a friend who lived locally who kindly offered to run Phil and Raewyn to and from the airport. While the other yachts moved closer to Noumea in preparation for returning to New Zealand, we moved to Ile Lepredour Presqu'ile de Bourake, close to where Phil and Raewyn were being picked up the next day. That evening we invited Phil and Raewyn for dinner and had a very enjoyable evening.
Baie de Uitoe was our next stop, another motor into 20 -25 knot head winds. The southern lagoon is very like the Corommandel with lots of islands and the mainland high hills behind, the only difference being the reefs surrounding the islands. We have not fished for a while as sicataria, a virus which attacks the nervous system and is carried by fish, is prevalent in reef and pelagic fish inside the main reefs. We went for a walk along the coastline for some exercise and had sundowners with Phil, Raewyn and Craig on Dol.
We are now in Noumea to catch up with friends before they leave for New Zealand and with a weather window looking like opening next week, we may leave at the same time and head to Australia a week earlier than originally planned. Will update the blog before we leave Noumea.