Ouvéa

The only true atoll in New Caledonia, Ouvéa is a huge 25km-across lagoon with the land on the eastern side and shallow (12m) flat water on the west. With the wind blowing over the land, it’s a sheltered spot to spend a few days, and a good place to leave the boats and families when we go back to Nouméa to check out.

First couple of nights we spent anchored off the Hotel de Paradis, swum, walked and relaxed in good weather. The Loyalty Islands are much more Kanak — local — than the main island. Even so far as being firmly anti-French, so we took our french courtesy flags down and made it clear we were English / Australian. Beautiful turquoise water meant lots of sand… But no coral or fish for snorkelling, so for the third night we headed south a few miles to an anchorage closer to the cliffs and coral; off the village/”tribu”/tribe of Mouly.

Local custom here (“Coutume”) dictates that you ask permission from the local chief before you swim in his water, walk and explore. We found the chief, presented ourselves and a gift of rice and cloth, and made it clear we were not going to be fishing (taking their precious resources). Unfortunately this chief was reluctant to let us go up the beach towards the cliffs – from what I could ascertain from his French anyway. We hung out on the beach for the afternoon. Being a Sunday all the local kids were out playing and our gang had good fun with them in the sea and sand.

Next morning I phoned the airline to confirm the flights… They are on! So we sailed up north a few miles to be anchored close enough to walk to the airport in the morning. Jumped in the dinghy to go ashore and find the chief… Who this time was a jovial bundle of welcoming smiles in a scruffy falling-apart tee shirt who had no problems with us doing what we wanted.

The islands are remote, a combination of traditional and modern. People live on separate well-tended plots, usually with a traditional thatched hut and a more modern timber/tin shack next door. Nice to see the huts still in use, in the same way as they will have been for hundreds of years. A few French around, in administrative and police roles, but mainly Kanak.

Wandering along the beach we bumped into an old fisherman cleaning his net. With limited French (and a limited number of teeth) but smiling and welcoming, he nipped off into the trees to bring us back some coconuts to drink.

…

Now, writing from Nouméa, we’ve managed to check out! Customs, immigration and port captain have given us the OK to leave the country. Passports are stamped, boat papers signed, and James and I are waiting for our flight back to Ouvéa to reunite with the mums and kids (who spent last night at anchor) before setting sail for Tanna (Vanuatu) tonight. It’s a couple of hundred miles, should take two days, bringing us in on Friday at some point.

Vanuatu is going to be remote and very different from New Caledonia… looking forward to it! After that, Fiji, which is a further 4/5 days on from Tanna. As it’s a slightly longer passage, into the south east trade winds, we are going to wait in Port Resolution on Tanna for a good weather window. Might take a couple of weeks, and we won’t have internet in Vanuatu so next update will be from Fiji, perhaps mid September.

I’ll post mini blogs on the iridium tracker page for the next few weeks.