Thursday, 31 May to Monday, 4 June 2018
This trip we are planning to do a circumnavigation of the
big island of New Caledonia, Grande Terre. So, on Thursday we left Ilot Amedee
and sailed south to the Baie de Prony. A favourite of ours last trip, we were
keen to revisit this large bay in the south province. We enjoyed a pleasant
sail in a light ESE, the direction we wanted to go of course, until nearly the
entrance to Canal Woodin where we started the motor and make our way to Baie
Caroline. This was well protected from the expected NW overnight but still
gives us access to the track to the lighthouse at Cap N’Dua on Friday morning.
The track is wide but slippery in parts due to the red clay.
The view from the top is spectacular though and we enjoy a cup of tea with 360
degree views. It’s too early to see any whales but several yachts go past
heading south.
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| Warren can see Ile de Pins |
In the afternoon we head to Baie de la Somme on the western
side of the Baie de Prony. It has a pontoon which lets us get ashore without
the red mud sticking to everything.
There is a path that starts here that goes
over 20km to the north through Baie de Carenage. We do the first 4 km only
through Prony Village to an old wharf.
Prony Village was the site of a penal settlement from 1867
to 1912, set up to supply timber to the ever-growing Noumea. The convicts felled
and moved large logs manually on timber tracks to the bay where they were loaded
on ships.
A few stone buildings remain but the forest has started to reclaim
some.
This timber felling and the more recent mining has led to
the erosion that is evident as red scars all around the Baie de Prony.
On Sunday, we sailed 13nm to Port Boise, a good launching point
for our next leg to the Loyalty Islands. This was another protected and
beautiful bay, with a walking trail right around the edge. On Monday we decided
to launch the kayaks however and investigate the creeks and rivers leading into
the bay.
We paddled for 3 hours, around half of the bay and up 4 small creeks
as far as we could get.
There is plenty of fresh water running into all these bays
via small creeks and rivers. I am not sure I would want to drink it though because
of the heavy metal content.
Tired after a long day, it was early to bed as we have a long sail next day.
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4 comments:
Wow, great to read your interesting description of the island and bays you explored today. It seems that you are having ideal weather too!
All is well here, although the first round of the champs had to be cancelled last Thursday due to bad weather-lots of rain the night before and then more throughout the morning.
Stay well and travel safe.
Janette 😉😉
Finally caught up with the interesting blogs since the start of your trip... well done for a hassle free crossing and looks like you are having a bit of fun around the islands and practicing your French. tres Bien
Now I know where Tallisker went to as well, as a monohull (wash your mouth out) now resides at his pontoon.
fair winds and keep the blog coming. we leave for Europe next week.
Ly -La - Ly
Thanks Janette. Good luck in the championships - I hope the weather is kinder for the next 3 rounds.
Thanks David.
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