Noumea, New Caledonia

The Admiral and I spent a few days in the marina at Port Moselle prior to her departure to London. We spent a pleasant few days at the Island of Ouen and Ilot Maitre and completed the scrabble tournament on the ipad and the Admiral won quite comfortably by 10 games to 8.
Joanne arrived a few days ago and we are waiting for Roger to arrive tomorrow. The weather looks quite good for a window on Tuesday. So we will be busy doing the checkout, fueling and provisioning over the next day or two in order to get ready for the 1000 mile cruise to Newcastle in Oz.

Ilot Maitre, New Caledonia

Ile de Pins. A view of the southern lagoon from the highest point on the island. It was only 262 metres high but quite a steep climb. The almost 360 dgree views were worth the effort

Both sides of the Baie de Kuto, Ile de Pins. We are anchored on the right

Callisto at the baie de tortue. We had the bay to ourselves and visited a ruined jade mine. Saw dolphin and turtles

The admiral and I in the world's largest infinity pool. Ilot Mato

The admiral at the top of the mast taking photos. She likes it up there!

Ile de Pins. The white sand was so fine it felt like clay

The ruins of the prison built to house French convicts in the 19th century

Sunset Ile de Pins

Ilot Mato in the crystal clear lagoon

Ilot Mato. A tiny fly speck surrounded by coral reef

A white peacock looking for company on our trip to the zoo in Noumea. Not too many animals but lots of exotic birds and plants in a beautiful surroundings

A flying fox La Roussette in French

The Natou bird a kind of wild pigeon. Both of these creatures feature on the menus of the better restaurants in town. Only on France

The Cagou bird. native to New Caledonia. It cannot fly and allegedly barks like a dog

Sunset at Ilot Maitre

Ilot Maitre. Very nice resort and beach

Baie de Kuto, Ile des Pins, New Caledonia

We are now in the beautiful turquoise bay of Kuto on the Ile des Pins ( Pine Island). We spent the weekend in a tiny islet called Ilet Mato tucked inside a reef. The weather has been superb and the water very clear, almost as nice as the Tuamotus. We saw a great deal of sea life including reef sharks and sea snakes and dolphin. The reefs are very healthy and full of corals. The weather here is quite cool at night but is perfect during the day. I needed a wet suit to snorkel on the reefs.
There are literally hundreds of tiny island and anchorages in New caledonia and it's too bad we have only another 2 weeks to spend here. It would be easy to spend an entire season in this wonderful place.
We had an easy 35 mile day sail to Ile des Pins inside the barrier reef and we look forward to exploring this island over the next day or two. Photos to follow

Noumea, New Caledonia

We are leaving this morning to cruise some of the islands in southern New Caledonia with Kilkea and Tahina. We plan to visit Ouen and the Ile des Pines. Weather forecast looks good and are off in a few minutes. We may be out of touch for a few days so full report and photos to follow.

Ilot Maitre, New Caledonia

The French navy moving boats about. Much as they do in San Diego

cutural centre

traditional dwelling, new caledonia

Ilot Uere, a quiet anchorage 10 miles from Noumea

Petit Rade, Noumea after a brief shower

Ilot Maitre, New Caledonia

We have had an eventful two weeks since our arrival in Noumea. We have very much enjoyed being in France in the Pacific. We spent our first week in the marina in Port Moselle getting the boat cleaned up, the fridges serviced and wandering around the town. To our surprise, we were berthed next to a Canadian couple whose surname was also Last. What are the chances of that, one might ask!
We met my birthday buddy Swen and Katrin from Solar Planet and enjoyed the local restaurants with Dave and Marion from Kilkea.
We saw the aquarium ( see below) which was quite excellent for a small town. An added bonus was the replacement of an upgraded esspresso machine so the Admiral can again have her morning coffee. We found it by surprise in a very upscale kitchen gadget store and just had to buy it as the old machine died a few months ago.
We left the marina last Monday and anchored outside the town in a very crowded place and the next morning was awakened at 0600H by a huge tug and asked to move a cruise ship was coming to town. We moved to the adjoining bay and got same treatment from the French Navy to warn us that a destroyer was backing out of its berth and would we please move again. Such is the cruising life.
We took a bus trip across town to the Tjibaou Cultural Centre on a very clear and beautiful day. This was built by the French about 15 years ago by Italian designer called Renzo Piano at a cost to the French taxpayer of more than 50 million Euros (70 million USD). The museum was architecturally spectacular but we expected to see some indigenous New Caledonian cultural exhibits but most of what we saw was contemporary artwork done by Europeans. The place was reminiscent of the Getty Museum in Los Angeles but was more a monument to the glory of colonial France than New Caledonia.
We did visit two other much more modest stuctures subsequently,that did show the development of Noumea and New Caledonia from its discovery to the present day.
We left Noumea four days ago as a low pressure front was coming through with strong westerly winds so we left for a small islet about 10 miles out of town and spent the weekend in a delightful, protected spot with a very nice beach and live coral to explore.
This was just as well as we got the predicted westerlies to over 20 knots and about an inch of rain.
This morning we arrived at the Ilot Maitre where there is a resort and internet!
More photos to follow.

Noumea, New Caledonia

The admiral and I go diving at the aquarium in Noumea. We managed to stay dry throughout.

Reef Shark

Clams

Unidentified Fish It had a face that looked like an elderly man. Can anyone help?

Lion Fish

Corals

Sea Urchin

Sunset in Noumea with a view of St Joseph's Cathedral built by French convicts in the 19th century

Port Moselle Marina, Noumea

Porc Epic (porcupine) Island, South New Cal

Green Flash at sea on the way to New Caledonia

Port Moselle, Noumea, New Caledonia

We have been at Port Moselle marina for a few days and have been enjoying Noumea very much. The voyage from Vanuatu was quite pleasant and the entry to the marina was quite simple. Clearance into New Caledonia was also painless and customs and quarantine and immigration was done on the dock free of fees and very politely. Quite a difference from Vanuatu, fortunately. Vanuatu had a French flavor but Noumea is just like France. More than half the population of 70,000 are French and the town looks just like a provincial French town on the Atlantic coast but with better weather. This is France. in the South Pacific.The roads are not only present but are free of potholes and have drains and curbs. On the day of our arrival President Nicolas Sarkosy was here. We thought perhaps he had come to welcome us but in fact he came to open the Pacific Games which is being held here until September 10th. There are many activities to do and see during the games and we will probably stay here a few more days and then cruise the southern part of New Caledonia. Most excellent stores and food markets here and the weather has so far been superb. Photos to follow.

It's a girl!

We just got the news today that

Jessica is going to have a baby girl in January. Yet another milestone approaches.

More news from New Caledonia to follow.