New Caledonia part 1: île des pins
10th of October 2019
We're in New Caledonia at the island Maré of the Loyality Islands.
Just one night to time the passage through the reef around the huge main island. It's a bit tricky entering New Caledonia. You're supposed to go to Noumea first to check in while passing all these beautiful places and good stops. But Noumea is all the way on the other side!
As it's mostly channel sailing (in between buoys) for more than 45 miles, with strong currents changing direction 4 times a day, we decided to stop a few times (for safety reasons 😜).
We did not go on land however as you're supposed to pass the biohazard clearance first before using your dirty shoes on their land. And as we heard the police have a new boat that probably needs paying off, we do not take the risk getting caught 😏 Biohazard, by the way, didn't even look at our shoes, but they took the honey and one lemon! 😈💪
11th of October 2019
While sailing through the pass along the South of New Caledonia, we are very much awed by the beauty of this country. It's a bit painful to see the impact of the mining but we will try to look past that 😎
First stop in the "Baie de Prony". As we enter the bay there's a huge whale plunging just in front of the boat. Geoffrey doesn't believe me but we later learn that this bay is their mating area so I was right! 😏
13th of October
And then we arrive in Nouméa.
It's called the "Paris" of the Pacific Ocean. Three of these enter almost every day!
I'm very excited and have already planned a two day city discovery with plenty of museum visits. But then we get to the city and as Geoffrey says, I guess it looks like one of the outer "arrondissements" of Paris... Difficult to see the beauty or the lost beauty. This is all we managed to get on picture:
The church with a view from the church.
The quota of homeless people and bums seems to be quite similar as in Paris. The whole marina is filled with sailing boats that once arrived here 30 years ago and have never moved since. There's no more place to anchor in between the moorings these people have just put there themselves. We have the permission to anchor in the channel by the police who acknowledge there's a "problem" 😂
For our sailing friends: Since you have to stop here go to have lunch at "Le Bout Du Monde" in Port Moselle. It's a very nice bar with delicious food. You will have a hard time getting a spot in Port Moselle, but contact the Marina Port du Sud on the other side. They are wonderful, efficient and it's clean! Point Rouge Noumea is just next to it and a good place to rent a car 😉
16th of October 2019
But quickly there's no shade at all! It's very steep and the rocks also give a lot of heat, so it turns out to be a hard climb.
The view is again very rewarding!
We were a bit thirsty after the hike 😂 Great terrace while we enjoy the beach until the last bit of light 😍
Day 3: Rent a car and visit the island. Departure from Kuto ...
... to Vao.
Arrival at "La piscine naturelle d'Oro".
Hup along a river bed for lunch at Baie d'Oro @Le Kou-Gny.
On the way back we pass a fancy hotel 😎
And what seems to be the only store of the whole island along the petrol station 😎
Excellent trees to dry our gear 😂 Classy!
While we enjoy the dolphins, we also do school work and water bottles need to be filled 😎 Luckily the water is clear so we'll have nice and tasty water from our dessalinator.
And there it is: baie de Prony again! We'll anchor in front of île de Casy .
We did not go on land however as you're supposed to pass the biohazard clearance first before using your dirty shoes on their land. And as we heard the police have a new boat that probably needs paying off, we do not take the risk getting caught 😏 Biohazard, by the way, didn't even look at our shoes, but they took the honey and one lemon! 😈💪
While sailing through the pass along the South of New Caledonia, we are very much awed by the beauty of this country. It's a bit painful to see the impact of the mining but we will try to look past that 😎
The anchorage is just in front of the natural reserve Cap N'Dua (Bonne Anse just before baie à Toto) and very calm. There seem to be plenty of fish and coral here, but we're not sure yet if you can swim. Apparently there are quite a lot of bull sharks in New Caledonia. Beautiful sunset though!
12th of October
We are staying at baie blanche (or baie Ué) to shelter for the heavy winds. Not so pretty but dolphins and turtles entertain us for an evening 😎
Again I'm sorry for the poor picture quality. We will look for a new Nikon body in Noumea 😑
It's true we're a bit cold here, a "low" 25°C is just not what we're used to anymore, still ...
This is better 😁
The clouds predict: wind - wind - wind !!!
And then we arrive in Nouméa.
The church with a view from the church.
A tribute to Jeanne d'Arc
And a cosier quarter (from far ...):
While everything is crazy expensive, we managed to find a good deal on a new body for our Nikon camera. It's still a big budget but just necessary considering what's still to come 😎😀
16th of October 2019
While we already saw a lot of Pine trees sailing through to Nouméa, we wanted to see what "Île des Pins" is all about.
We are once again duo sailing with our friends from Sonam 😎😍
The sailing around New Caledonia is not so comfortable, but the destination is worth it!
Beautiful silky white sand with not one imperfection! 
Day 1: play play play on the beach!
Day 2: let's climb to that hill top!
Oeftie! It's hot during the day. We start of under the trees...
Tchhhh Mathieu, just follow the instinct of the woman 😂
Or are we just better at reading the signs ?! 😏
Here Geoffrey pretends to carry the backpack even though it was only for the last 100m 😏
View over Baie d'Upi et Île Taré:
These four children are just so great together!!!😍
View over the anchorage:
With it's tribute "Saint Maurice" and view of île Kotomo.
The sculptures are funny and very beautiful!
These trees are so pretty and intriguing. They are actually very soft!
You have to cross the lagoon to actually arrive at the natural swimming pool.
And there it is!
Christal blue water. Some fish but not really worth it to carry the snorkeling gear...
Noso's:
Really dinner with our feet in the water.
And off course they haven't played enough yet, so we end the day along the beach again 😍
Day 4 is just for some snorkeling, school and play on the beach.
That's going to enough for a great dinner!
The girls decide to go on a kayak tour alone. hmmm maybe too early, Daddy had to go get them back!
And we try all our flags today. Hockey club Merode, Grimbergen, the local tribal flag of the Kanak's of New Caledonia and our new Down Under Rally flag. We joined the down Under Rally as they help with the clearance into Australia and they provide an enormous amount of information to sailing along the Australian coast. It's worth every penny so if you have to go towards Australia check it out: https://www.downunderrally.com/.
Geoffrey was jealous of Matthieu's catch so he went spearfishing for squid! I was already dressed for dinner so a bit annoyed because as delicious as it is, it's a dirty job!!!
We gave it water, but every time it has water it's able to ink again! Lesson learned!
For day 5 we reserved a trip on a very typical pirogue. Geoffrey wanted to see the rock formations in the baie d'Upi and this is the only way. Off course it comes with a visit to the natural swimming pools and baie d'Oro. So you better do this before renting a car 😏
It's quite beautiful but do not be shocked by the mass tourists doing the exact same thing... You have about 1,5 hour of sailing before being dropped off at a very narrow path to the swimming pool.
As you all arrive at the same time it's quite crowded so we decide to try and discover the underwater fauna of baie d'Oro. It is non existent until you really go to the edge. You'll feel the cold ocean water and immediately see the fish appear. Unfortunately the current is very strong here too so it's a short swim. But a very cool pic-nic place.
After this "exhausting" visit, we just cannot get past the Meridien a second time without getting an ice cream with a view 😍
And day 6 is just the perfect moment to head back to baie de Prony 😏 We feel like discovering some of the tall forests on the mainland.
22nd of October 2019. The sail back is just amazing. It's those days that make you forget all the other crappy ones!
See you soon for more!
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