Northern Province, New Caledonia - Part 2

Friday, 22 June to Monday, 2 July 2018

On Friday, we rounded Ile Tiya and began the trip south down the west coast of Grande Terre. We had originally planned to go further north to the Belep Islands but with SE winds for the foreseeable future, we decided not to add another 25nm to the 200nm to Noumea.

Time to head south - rounding Ile Tiya 

We had lunch at Ile Neba but when the wind went around to the south a nasty swell came around the corner. We motored 6 nm to Ile Yava, another picturesque anchorage. We spent 2 days here and enjoyed a long kayak each day.

Ile Yava

On Sunday afternoon, we motored 6nm to Poum to buy some bread and petrol. One small shop and a larger, more modern one at the service station, which unfortunately was out of petrol for the outboard and generator. 

Poum wharf

Saraoni, who we had met at Touho, caught up with us here and they got some great photos as we left Poum on Monday. 

With the south easterly winds set in, and no cruiser liking to sail to windward, we are happy to sail shorter legs to slowly eat away at the distance to go to Noumea. So today was 15nm to Ile Tanle. 2 nights here with just the chooks ashore for company.

On Wednesday, it was 35nm to Koumac, one of the larger towns in the Northern Province. We stayed 4 nights in the marina here, a chance to give the boat a good clean and use the very reasonably priced washing machines and dryer. Quite a treat after hand washing.

Phase2 and Saraoni (South Coast 36 Ketch) on the visitors pontoon

The town is 2 km inland from the marina so we rode our bikes to the tourist information and practised our French. Most of the people we met have no English, unlike Noumea where they all say they have “a little” but actually understand most of what we say. The butcher enjoyed my attempts at French – they all go to the same charm school it seems and the meat was good quality.

Good bike lanes on one street!

On Friday, we rode to the Koumac Grottes, caves about 10km from the marina. 

Free entry and a lovely park to enjoy a cup of tea. You can go over 380m into the big cave although we only did about half of that distance. Pitch black but our headlamps showed the limestone formations.

On Saturday, we took a tour of the old mining village of Tiebaghi with a guide Gizelle who sadly spoke no English. As we were the only ones on the tour, we relied on Google translate. We did work out that Gizelle’s grandfather had come out from Italy to work in the mine in the 1930’s. The many single Italian men were housed in a 3 storey building, well away from the married women! 

View from the village

Italian, Javanese, Vietnamese, Japanese and French all had separate areas in the village built on the side of the mountain. Her parents also worked and lived here. The village was home to 2000 people including the 600 miners. 

Club still used for weddings and baptisms

Bakery could make 600 loaves per batch

Well equipped hospital

During the war the mine was the largest producer of chromium in the world as well as producing nickel. The village was abandoned in 1964.

Saturday afternoon was the weigh-in for the local fishing competition. About 20 boats competed and the winning boat had caught over 400kg of tuna.

Gendarmes supervising the weigh-in 

On Sunday morning we left Koumac and sailed 21nm to Baie de Gomen. Nothing here except another mine and wharf. We were surprised to discover that the ships cannot get in to the wharf as the bay is too shallow and the nickel is transported to the ship outside the bay in barges. 

Seems a very inefficient process! Luckily they weren’t working on a Sunday as they load all night.

Baie de Gomen

Next stop was Baie de Chasseloup, a much more picturesque bay with a Nautical Centre. Schoolkids had been out sailing in their Optomists as we sailed in and we chatted with the instructors after going ashore for a walk. 

The dive instructor said just outside the reef was some of the best diving in New Caledonia. 

Circled twice looking for a way to get onboard!

Baie de Chasseloup is 128nm from Noumea and is the last anchorage in the northern lagoon. From here we have to go outside the barrier reef to continue our circumnavigation.

Northern Province, New Caledonia - Part 1

Thursday, 14 June to Thursday, 21 June 2018

We left Mouly at 0625 in a 15-20 knot easterly breeze. We set the spinnaker as soon as we had exited the lagoon and made good time, averaging 8 knots across the passage. Highlight of the trip was seeing 2 pods of what we think were Pygmy Killer Whales about 10 miles out from the pass. Initially we thought they were dolphins, but their black bodies, square heads and behaviour (including breaching) looked more like whales. The somewhat rare Pygmy Killer Whales (actually a type of dolphin) seemed the closest match when we got some internet and checked. Sadly, no pictures even though they were close to us as we were too busy trying to work out what they were. They seemed to like sticking their heads out of the water, spyhopping. We were also pleased to get our second mackerel for the trip as we entered the passage at about 1500. 

We followed the markers into the village of Touho were we anchored off the small marina. This was a very protected anchorage and the village had a service station close to the beach with a well-stocked store and produce from the local bakery. Fresh bread, pastries and croissants – more exercise needed if we are going to eat like this. 

The distinctive pine above was planted in 1870 to mark the first marriage between a Kanak and European in the village. 

Locals collecting in the shallows on dusk

On our second night here, we were joined by Nicky C, who are also going around the island but in a shorter timeframe than us.

Christmas tree in the Mairie (town hall)

On Monday, we headed up to Hienghene for 2 nights. We had hoped to go into the small marina here but all the buoys in the river have been removed and Warren wasn’t happy with the depth at the marina. We anchored off Tours Notre-Dame (or La Poule, The Chicken), an interesting rock formation at the entrance of the bay.

We went ashore on Sunday and walked to the Cultural Centre which is being renovated. 

This was the first cultural centre in New Caledonia, built on the site of the 1975 Melanesia 2000 Festival attended by 2,000 performers and 50,000 spectators.  The festival marked the beginning of a process aimed at recognising and supporting Kanak culture. Local tribes spent a year transforming a swamp and building 2 huts for the centre. Sadly one of the local chiefs and 9 of his subjects who worked on the project were murdered during the 1984 “disturbances”.

This was once a prosperous place, cruise ships used to stop at Hienghene and there was a Club Med nearby. It all looks a bit sad these days.

Cascades de Tao

From Hienghene, we headed further north to Baie de Pam passing numerous waterfalls on the way. This is one of the few anchorages in the area recommended for the NE wind that was expected overnight. It wasn’t so great for the 30 knot southerly that came through instead. Next morning we moved further north to Poingam, protected from any wind in the south quarter. 

Anchored about 500m offshore at Poingam

You guessed it, we had a northerly our first night here, again not in any of the 4 forecast models we looked at. We sat it out and were pleased to see the wind stay in the south for the next 2 nights we were anchored there. 

We had an interesting 2 hour walk up the hills behind the resort to see the wild horses and the nearby salt pan.

View from the top

We followed this with lunch at Relais de Poingam on the beach. Very nice and Warren even ate the seaweed accompanying our venison. 

Our original plan was to sail further north from Poingam to the Belep Islands, however with strong SE winds expected, we decided to make this our most northerly anchorage of the trip.

Loyalty Islands

Tuesday, 5 June to Wednesday, 13 June 2018

We left Port Boise at 0630 on Tuesday morning for the 100nm leg to Lifou Island in the Loyalty Group. We motored in light winds until 1020 when the wind had built enough to raise the spinnaker for the first time this trip. 

The wind stubbornly stayed in the SSE so it was not the best sailing angle but as the wind increased to 15-20 knots the sail became more enjoyable. 

Hard work this sailing

Highlight of the day was catching an 85cm Spanish mackerel which was dinner as we approached Lifou. 

We stayed well clear of the reefs and were happy to anchor in the dark at about 2200 having been here twice before. We could see an anchor light as we approached and we discovered Ansoba, another rally boat anchored close to shore.  

Ansoba (an Island Packet, Lester) at Drueulu

With bad weather headed our way, we headed off for Ouvea while Ansoba were going to sit it out at Drueulu. We had a later start than we had planned after we decided to go ashore and buy a baguette at the small shop. The breeze was E 15-20 most of the day and we sailed under main and jib only in the frequent rain squalls. The wind freshened and waves increased as we approached the pass at about 1700 and we were glad to gybe and enter the protected pass and lagoon. We anchored just on dark off the Hotel Paradis d’Ouvea after 50nm.

Our previous visit here had been in perfect weather, unlike our first 2 days this trip where we had rain and 30 knots of wind. We couldn’t leave the boat so did some baking, washing and watched some movies. The wind generator comes into its own in these conditions. On Thursday morning another yacht appeared but anchored about half a mile away. It turned out to be Sweetheart, another RQ yacht on their way to Vanuatu. Small world sometimes!

Sweetheart sitting out the wild weather

On Saturday, in clearing skies we headed ashore and caught a shuttle bus to take us to the Fete du Lagon in Saint Joseph about 35km to the north. We had heard about this Fete in Noumea and were keen to see what it was about.

It is actually celebrating the 10th anniversary of the UNESCO world heritage listing of the Ouvea Lagoon (and 5 other sites around New Caledonia).

There were not a lot of people but those present enjoyed the food stalls, kids traditional dancing, volleyball, bicycle race and basket weaving race!

Warren even surprised me by trying fish sausage and coconut rice after it was recommended by the local doctor – sadly he didn’t enjoy it as much as me. The doctor had an educational display about how much sugar was in various drinks as diabetes is a rising problem here.

We spent some time looking at the displays about conservation of the area and mangrove regeneration projects being undertaken by the locals. One of the conservationists, Romain, who spoke good English, explained it all to us.

Our only worry was when our shuttle didn’t turn up at the prearranged time, or when they said they would after 2 phone calls. Romain helped us out with the French speaking taxi driver and eventually recommended we get a lift with an interviewer for Noumea radio who kindly offered to go out of his way for us.

On Sunday we did a tour of the cliffs of Lekiny with Felix a guide from the Lekiny Tribe. 

This lagoon with its steep cliffs is an amazing sight, however is off limits to visitors unless with a local guide. The bridge across the entrance to the lagoon is frequented by large schools of eagle rays that feed on the outgoing tide.

In perfect weather, we drove to the mouth of a small creek that we had to wade across, and we then climbed up and walked along the cliff face.

At the end of the cliffs, Felix showed us a small grotto that was used by the tribe in 1953 to escape a severe storm which destroyed their village. In 1963 they went back to the cave and had a small service to thank God for saving them. A small chapel was built in the grotto and it is used for the baptism of children in the tribe. Felix said he was baptised there. 

We then went for a snorkel in the lagoon. Where there were lots of fish and some nice coral.

On Monday, we went for a bike ride to Fayaoue for some supplies and arrived back to find RQ yacht Nicky C anchored nearby. We had a beautiful dinner with them at the restaurant (Hotel Paradis)  that evening. We burned some of these calories off the next day with a 36 km ride to the Memorial for the 19 in Hwadrilla. This is a memorial to the 19 Kanaks who were killed on 5 May 1988 by French police and commandos who were brought in to end a hostage drama in a local cave on Ouvea. 

2 of the rescue team were also killed and the memorial was recently visited by President Macron on the 30^th anniversary of the clash.

3 more catamarans arrived at the anchorage, 2 from Australia and one with an Israeli couple on board doing a slow circumnavigation. We enjoyed hearing some of their stories over a cuppa, including how they had to repair the yacht in Fiji after it was holed during cyclone Winston in 2016. We look forward to catching up with them when they come to Brisbane later in the year.

Wednesday afternoon we moved up to Mouly to be ready for an early start on Thursday back across to Grand Terre to continue our lap of New Caledonia.