Here we are in France and we are ready for it!
By the time we reached New Caledonia, you have to realize, we had been cruising to small towns and villages for the longest period
since we'd been cruising almost 5 year ago. We were really ready to get to the "convenieces" even though they were a bit more expensive in
New Cal. We found that this place became one of our favorites. The folks were especially nice and helpful and very often
spoke English. Of course, the food was great but quite pricey! Not many pictures of the town here...we just did city stuff like
museums and the aquarium and they look like most of the others. It was a fun place to walk around, the bus was easy and the
marina was near parks and downtown but there were not movies in English!
Most of the photos below are from when we took CYAN north cruising inside the reef exploring the islands and anchoring in
interesting locations often walking around the rocky coastlinesof the islands. Lynn had recently had an ear problem so she
wasn't snorkeling but Chuck went several times. He found the water colder there and we both found the climate cooler. We
were able to anchor right off the coral reef surrounding the whole area right on the edge of the sea in very mild sea conditions,
almost dead calm. This only happens once in a while and and we got to see some lush coral gardens. We intended to
sail all the way around New Cal but decided to join the rally to Australia which left from Koumac.
 New Cal sunset |
 Marina |
 From our picnic |
 Island Rocks |
 Sea Snake |
 Sardine Fisherman |
 Dinghy on Beach |
 Captain |
 The Blue Water |
 Sunset |
The folks in Koumac, in northern New Caledonia, want to increase their presence in tourism industry so they organized many activities
for the 9 cruising boats that were there for the Port to Port Yacht Rally to Bundaberg, Australia. We were one of the last
boats to enter but we were so glad we did. It became one of the most exciting things we had done as cruisers. What
a great bunch of folks with which to enjoy 4 days and nights of activities and parties. We had excursions to caves, mines,
an abandoned mining town [absolutely fascinating], and a cattle ranch. We had French wine tastings, happy hours, welcome
parties and riotous pig roast the final evening.
Lynn's birthday was the evening of the wine tastings and it was a special way to celebrate the
occasion. I will also mention that the first photo below is not often shown by cruisers. We are backing into the marina slip
and the other cruisers were so entertained that they photographed the job. Our kind of boat is not easily backed up!!!
It has a full keel.It was 6 in the morning and we hadn't done it in ages but we made it! Just to show another part of the life.
Gotta keep in practice. After the events were over and we were needing a rest, all the boats took off for Australia via
Chesterfield Reef as you can see below.
 Bacing into slip |
 Watching carver |
 Birthday Girl |
 Old Mining Town |
 Pig Roast |
Chesterfield Reef an area in the middle of the Coral Sea that is actually several narrow sand bars owned by New Cal and France. It is used as a
nature reserve and has an amazing number of tame sea birds and a great many shy sea turtles. The huge turtles were mating and laying eggs
while we were there. All of us were so impressed with the specialness of this location.
When cruisers get together there are always reasons to gather on the beach. We didn't miss a single evening of
the 4 days we were anchored waiting for good weather to travel on the Australia. Even then, we all ended up with south winds
and swell on the beam and uncomfortable seas. One boat ran up on a reef and was lost but the crew was rescued by other cruisers.
 At Anchor |
 Lots of Birds |
 Watched couple |
 Navy Checks us in |
 Mama Boobie |
 The Dinghies are Comin' |
 Another Sundowner! |
To go on to the Next Page:
Our voyage to Australia
To return to the Journey Log page
To Go back to the Vanuatu Page