Language No Obstacle for a Recharge

While our new IridiumGo satellite communicator has been terrific with text messaging, plain text emails and limited satellite phone calls, at the end of the day, we're accustomed to PROPER internet communication. We've been lucky so far  because our Telstra wireless modem works with the New Caledonia OPT Liberte pre-paid Sim and every 2nd day we've activated an internet connection for 24 hours. Speeds have been equivalent to those we experienced with Telstra travelling up the Queensland coast and coverage has been much better than suggested by the New Caledonia Rocket Guides. Perhaps our targa bar 9db gain broomstick aerial is a factor.

Everything was going along swimmingly until the credit ran out on the sim. Instructions we'd been given were to buy a recharge card, available at almost any General Store, Supermarket etc. We hadn't been monitoring our credit and oops it ran dry of course, at the most inconvenient moment. Being anchored in a bay some 10kms from the nearest shop of any description demanded some creative thinking when faced with no internet for up to a fortnight or a 40nm mile return trip over 2 days through the reef pass etc back to Kuto. Surely it must be possible to re-charge the card by credit card? No documentation indicated that it was possible. This was indeed 'Merde'!

Having all the time in the world gives one courage to phone Telstra when you need to; why not the 'Telstra' of another country and in halting French?

We not going to claim it was easy, nor that we were successful on the first attempt, but we got the hang of the menus after a couple of goes and eventually spoke to an accommodating fellow with a ridiculously sexy French accent, who cottoned on to what we wanted and after making enquiries of his own, delivered this piece of gold:- http://rechargetonmob.nc

Yay!

Blogmistress on the case

2018 update
Tip: Visit the App Store to download the new RechargeTonMob app before you leave regular internet range

Kuto Lunch

After a busy morning of sightseeing and failing to really come home with any notable produce from the Vao Saturday morning markets, our last resort was to head for the resort that The Bloke and Geoffers had discovered a few days previously. Apparently they hadn't had a beer or three, or any chips they had assured us. But then they admitted they had after all, and thought we girls might like to sample them too. No food prep or dishes?... an easy sell!

View to Baie Kanumera through a hole in the trunk of a gnarled tree.

Plaited palm fronts creating a screen on the foreshore

A grove of very gnarled Bugny trees. 

We couldn't imagine any wind causing them to flutter or bend.

A gite. Very Rustic beach-side accommodation adjacent to the little resort.

The tide had receded further by the time we'd eaten and enjoyed a few bevvies, allowing us to take a closer peek at the rock sacred to the local Kanaka people. A sign made it clear not to go further.

Some formidable looking totems up above.

It was sad to see multiple signs both in French and English along the beachfront at Kanumera Bay indicating areas of private property and not to trespass. The signs were exceptionally rude and probably reflected the severity of the intrusion experienced by the locals and a measure of the thoughtlessness of others. We felt extremely uncomfortable passing by.

Anna saluting the end of the day with a pinacolada.

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Having a Vao of a Time

Our initial anchorage at Ile Des Pins was in Kanumara Bay in order to escape the winds with the westerly component. It wasn't until the next morning that we relocated to Kuto Bay around a little headland to benefit from a wind shift. Unfortunately the swell accompanied us to begin with too.

Carved totems at the head of the jetty at Kuto Bay

Anchoring position in Kuto Bay, just around from Kanumara Bay

A walk ashore by SpAnna and myself confirmed that the local General Store offered slim pickings once our baguette requirements were filled.  Apparently, better supplies of fresh produce could be obtained at the Saturday morning markets held in Vao just 7km down the road. Needing to confirm 2 tickets back to Noumea for the Sunday afternoon local ferry, meant waiting for the Saturday morning ferry to arrive at 9am. By the time a 6,000XPF per ticket price was confirmed for the next day and a taxi ride to the village of Vao negotiated, the remaining produce at the market was little more than the 'slim pickings' of the General Store - some yams, potatoes, coconuts, carrots and cabbage but with bonus lemons and limes.

 This view towards Ilot Brosse (Alcmene) barely does this vista justice.

Having requested that the taxi driver return for us in 2 hours meant that we had some time to wander around the village lanes and look at the civic buildings along the main road. As a shopping expedition it was a bit of a flop but we enjoyed the festive atmosphere with a cracking band playing reggae music under a marque. Dreadlocks and reggae culture seem popular in New Caledonia. Listening to Sting's "Englishman in New York" sung in French and to a reggae beat was most interesting!

Geoffers and SpAnna pose in the 'fenced' area around the war memorial in Vao.

Note the use of whole tree branches and totems to form a perimeter.

Missionaries in the late 1800's established a church and school in Vao. The architecture is very French but with a Melanesian touch.

The Church Tower at the rear

The nearby school grounds contained a mixture of building styles and building materials

 

A Presbytery situated adjacent to the church, was quite grand and the entrance to the grounds marked by two serious looking carved warrior figures - not the ones wearing shorts!

 

Locals are perhaps called to prayer by a pair of ornate traditional bells decorated with a decorative motif and christian symbols. The name 'Hortense' was included in the casting of one of the bells.

We couldn't guess what had happened to this building but it was thoroughly propped up.

We learned that this neatly raked area with shade areas and stumps to sit on opposite the Mairie (Town Hall) was the local 'coffee shop'. Owing to all the morning's activities being centred at the market place, it was 'closed'.

This administration centre/ Town Hall had a brand new roof and was in a local style.

We returned to the anchorage from this little excursion with a bag of endive, some limes and lemons as my trophies for the day. Scurvy won't be visiting SV Zofia this week at least.

Racing Down to Ile Des Pins

As usual two or more boats traveling in the same direction constitutes a race. Seeing as both Cruising Kitty and Sans Souci were headed to Ile Des Pins like us, the sailing was bound to be a little competitive.

The exit from the Baie de Prony was occasionally through sun showers and rainbows lit up hillsides. The nearby terrain showed the scars of both forestry and mining. Sadly, both activities resuled in quite a bit of erosion and land slippage.

Old mine entrance and remnants of a wharf

Sans Souci led the way out of Baie de Prony but once we'd put up our sails it was not long before we shot past and opened a gap of 1.5 nm.  At this end of the Grande Terre of New Caledonia, the fringing reef is not as complete and there was plenty of swell breaking through from both the south and east making the 17-20 knot beam reach quite vigorous. The swell was courtesy of a low pressure system in the Tasman Sea which was providing plenty of heavy weather on the East Coast of Australia.


Our 42nm passage was completed in just 6 hours 'door-to-door' with boat speeds of 9 knots frequently noted by the Bloke who hand helmed most of the way. Our average was about 7 knots with a 2 knot current in our favour enabling us to arrive by 2pm for a late lunch. We were on too much of a heal to attempt any catering en-route. Fortunately our guests needed no acclimatisation and enjoyed the ride too.

    

When Stars Align

Concerns about our rigging were luckily short lived and resolved by the magical Monsieur Herve, from Noumea Yacht Services who had arranged not only for George the rigger to attend but also a marina berth to facilitate the inspection. Getting a pen is almost as hard as securing George's services so scoring both was a feat. With the assurance that all was well, we were able to focus on preparing the boat for visitors: Geoffers and SpAnna were on the way. Weather checks looked like they might be bringing good weather with them too!

Calm morning in the marina

Our hopes of making a trip south to Ile de Pins looked like they could eventuate, so after a morning spent topping up on food, beverages and water, we cast off to make the short hop down to Ile Uere, a terrifically cute little anchorage we'd visited before. We thought it would offer our new crew a bit of an orientation. As the afternoon progressed, misty rain began falling but we barely noticed as we had much catching up to do. The more we sampled the wines, the less we noticed.


After a good overnight drenching we departed for Baie de Prony, about 20nm south of Noumea. The misting rain persisted for some time with small islands popping into view through the mist with thin pines poking out at weird angles. We've spared you pictures of rain. There has actually been lots of rain but it does serve to make one appreciate the good days so much more. With many days of SE trades it had looked likely that a southbound itinerary would be unlikely, but Plan A looked like a possibility after all.


Although we had planned on anchoring at Ile Casy where a dog called Mousse lives alone and gives visitors a tour of his island, the wind made neither anchorage look good. We'd like to experience a guided tour from Mousse but on a better day. We soon learned that other Go East Rally boats were nearby and in an anchorage more suitable for the conditions, so we pealed off to Baie Carenage. We hadn't long got the anchor down before a fleet of dinghies raced over. Crews of Sans Souci, Bossa Nova, Easy Tiger all piled on board to say "Hi" and "BTW 5ers is going to be on Sans Souci tonight!". Cruising Kitty was around the corner too and by the time La Jorja rocked up and added yet another 3 heads, our host's boat was dipping noticeably at the stern.

The welcoming committee

Having spent a few days in this anchorage already, the others were full of advice of what we could experience ashore. With the exception of 3 encounters with sea snakes, as told by team Bossa Nova, it seemed that some nice sightseeing might be ahead. 


The Bloke opted out of the tour which was up to the head of this branch of the river and beyond some mud banks and mangroves.

A popular spot judging by the nice jetty with stainless steel steps leading up to the hot spring.

Here's SpAnna!

Here's Geoffers in the Hot Spring, except that it was luke warm

A roofed area with benches makes for a popular spot with an open air fire nearby too

A trail led up the hill behind the spring to some waterfalls. It was slippery in places so it's lucky we hadn't attempted this the day before when it would have been treacherous.

Clear, clear water about the same temperature as the 'hot spring'.

This little tree stood alone like an up sized bonsai plant in the midst of some rapids

Technically, we hadn't anchored in one of the two noted anchoring spots. Up against a tallish hill in 18m of water we enjoyed a couple of very still nights - which is just as well following the sundowners and some birthday celebrations with the other rally boats. Luckily, we found better internet in this spot than was reported upstream (lucky for you Mum!). Plans for tomorrow include an early start and the dinghy needs to come up also. Then it's 30nm down to Ile de Pins in waters which are supposedly very beautiful but are shallow and full of reefs. The Bloke will be glad of a 2nd attentive Skipper on board; so long that is, as neither has a sore head from all the merrymaking....oh dear, drinkers with a sailing problem!

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A Couple of Golden Days

There is nothing like recovering from a hangover 'you could photograph' and being gifted a couple of calm days to re-enter your life. Drinks aboard the Rally 'young'ns ' boat Frozzie, the night before included too much salty popcorn which facilitated a thirst. Seriously, at my age I ought to know better! The arrival of dawn with slightly rolly conditions left me very shabby indeed. The Bloke was patient and sympathetic.

While our fellow merrymakers on Frozzie, Sans Souci and Songlines left our anchorage at Baie Maa for points south, we lingered on to restore equilibrium and enjoy mirror calm conditions.

Happy Days.

The crew was up and about again but celebrating the end of day with a lemonade.

The sunset had us mesmerized.

Having been recommended that it's sunnier out on the islands towards the reef and away from the Grand Terre, we headed out to Ile Kouen, a tiny cay surrounded by reefs providing protection from all directions except N. We were alone initially, but joined soon after by an American cruising yacht.



We went ashore to walk around the islet and admired a mother eagle who was supervising the play of her grown chicks from the tallest available shrub.

 

The foliage was almost like a cabbage.

   

Our first day in this lagoon was a glass-out and being accompanied for fivers by US couple Bill and Sue off SV Avante was a lovely conclusion to the day.


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