Exploring the Islands of New Caledonia

After leaving the Isle of Pines, we took off to explore more of the beautiful islands in New Caledonia.  So many remain untouched and pristine.  We couldn't decide which one to visit first.

Before we did… Martin and David had to do a rescue.  A woman and her sons came out on paddle boards and a kayak but couldn't fight the current to get back in to shore.  So David had to load them all up in the dinghy and take them back to shore.

Also, this blog wouldn't be complete without congratulating Martin on his new purchase.  After 40 years, he FINALLY purchased a new pair of fins (on the right).  I think that these may just turn him into a super hero.

Out with the old and in with the new!

Discovering a new island.  The island of Alcamere.

Martin and David anchoring the tender as we go ashore.

Lily loves to play in the sand.

Family Photo.

Me doing what I do best… snoozing.

I can't get over the white beach.  The sand was like powdered sugar.

AMARA keeping an eye on us from the bay.

Toesies in the sand.

Martin doing what he does best… dancing.

Our little angel.

 Next stop.  Brisbane!

Isle of Pines

The next day, we took off for the Isle of Pines to see what all this talk was about.  The trip to Isle of Pines was probably one of our longest and roughest days at sea.  Even in our cruiser guides it states, "Getting there can be a problem, as generally the passage is to windward."  What should have taken us only four to five hours to get to, took us ten hours.  The swells were so large that it felt like we were riding a bucking bronco the entire time as we rode up and down each wave.  It was miserable… MISERABLE!  A few times we thought about giving up, turning AMARA around and heading downwind straight for Brisbane.  However, we just kept saying, "Let's go a little more" that by the time we wanted to head for Brisbane, but by then we were closer to the Isle of Pines and decided to just go for it.

Needless to say, the beautiful white sandy beach and turquoise waters were a sight for sore eyes.  All I wanted to do the minute that we arrived was to just get out and walk around.  So we did just that.

I have to say, that the Isle of Pines does not disappoint and was truly a paradise for us after such a grueling run that day. 

Discovering the Bay of Prony

Our first stop on our way to the Isle of Pines was at Prony Bay.

The Bay of Prony is a beautiful bay that is five miles long and six miles wide that meanders through a lovely little valley.  It has a hard scrub vegetation with loads of red soil heavily scarred by past mining activities and water erosion.  The Bay of Prony is known for the fact that it was once a nickel-cobalt mine and a place where the French brought their prisoners to mine the land.  For tourists, it's better known for its hot springs and great hiking.


The Bay of Prony with AMARA in the forefront.

Going down the river toward the hot springs.  It got a little shallow, so we had to get out and walk the tender down the river.

Our Little Adventurer

Martin isn't so sure about the "hot springs"

The gang

Lily and I decided to bow out of the hot springs and enjoyed it from the sidelines.

Getting back to our dinghy.

The Mangrove trees

That evening, we spent the night in the bay and had our good friends (Lazy Bones) come over and join us for some hors d'oevure and some fun chatting.

Off to another adventure the following day.

Still having a ball in New Caledonia

These photos are strictly for grandparents--sorry to bore the rest of you.

We saw a little carnival in Noumea, New Caledonia and had to stop and take Lily on some rides.  I have been telling Martin this entire trip that the minute we get home, we are taking Lily to Disneyland since she has been a little trooper these past few months.  However, we weren't sure if she would like rides.  Well, these pictures prove otherwise… the kid is ready for Disneyland.

Grandmother Frey and Nana Collins, enjoy!

New Caledonia

The sun setting just over the water as we get closer to New Caledonia.

Yesterday, we arrived in New Caledonia after four days of sailing.  Two of them were directly into large swells and the last two having essentially almost glassy waters.  It was uneventful other than the fact that we kept dwelling on the matter that we are getting down to the last of our passages.  I still can't believe that we are almost to Brisbane!

Noumea, New Caledonia

We have been in the city Noumea, New Caledonia for only a day and stopped to have dinner with 2 other cruising families that we have become quite close.  We were with the families in Fakarava (in the Tuamotos—back in June) and we have kind of followed each other since.  It was great to see them as we were a good two weeks behind them due to the generator going bust and us having to stop in Port Denarau, Fiji a little longer than we would have liked.  We loved catching up with them, swapping "boat talk" (which happens more often than not when cruisers get together) and just enjoying good company with wonderful people.

Dinner with the gang.
The ambiance left little to be desired by the French food was amazing!

None of us had slept the night before because we were on the last
leg of our passage into New Caledonia.
Sleep caught up with Lily a little sooner than the rest of us.
Poor kid.  We drag her everywhere.

Tomorrow we head to Ile des Pins which has also been named "Paradise" by many other cruisers that cross our path.  It is known for it's untouched, white beaches and turquoise bays.  Initially, we decided to just skip it and make New Caledonia be a quick layover before we headed to Brisbane.  However, after dinner last night, we were told (rather scolded) by the other families that it as a "must see."  So, I go dragging my heels a little bit as I am anxious to get to Brisbane, but I also know it will be worth the excursion once we arrive.

*  *  *

You may have noticed if you have been following our real-time map on the blog that it looks as if we never left Fiji.  We're not sure, but we think that when we plugged into the onshore power in Port Denarau, Fiji that we may have shorted a circuit and lost power to our satellite phone.  Unfortunately, the tracker for our virtual map on the blog is hooked up to that sat phone.  The good news is that we have a back up handheld satellite phone.  The bad news is that our tracker can't be hooked up to it.  So, you'll just have to trust us that we are still moving ahead into the deep blue toward Oz.  The bummer is that I won't be able to do many updates while making our passage, because that too was a capability through our now defunct sat phone.

I will continue to do updates and will post wherever I can get coverage.  

Off to paradise...