Letter from Atlantia Nov 2010 (written from Coffs harbour Australia about our previous landfall)

Nouvelle Caledonie as the French call it. After all it is French! (Captain Cook called it New Caledonia). The main town and capital of Noumea is near the south west corner and certainly reflects a small town on the Mediterranean coast of France. There is active yacht racing (about twenty cruiser racers) twice a week, and when we visited the aquarium we passed almost a hundred windsurfers racing up and down in the twenty knot breeze, just yards away from a beautiful sandy beach.

The entry,exit and anchoring were all free to visiting yachts, similar to other French islands in the South Pacific, but very unlike the rest of the Pacific islands, except New Zealand. The consequence of course is that we spend more money in the town! In this case visiting museums, cultural centres, zoological parks and the aquarium.

The voyage from Port Vila in Vanuatu was reasonably uneventful and we had a very pleasant sail the first night, leaving Port Vila at the same time as Kukka, an Australian yacht from Sydney. It was nice to have some company for the first day and night, even though the wind veered (or is it backed in the southern hemisphere!) taking us from a fast broad reach to a slow beat on the wind.

Our second night was spent at anchor in the Loyalty Islands, which seemed similar terrain to that of Tonga when viewed from the sea, and perhaps Fiji when looking towards the houses in the village.

The third, rather long, day brought us inside the reefs on the eastern coast of the mainland of New Caledonia and to a beautiful secluded anchorage amongst palm trees and calm water and with a view of the magnificent steep hills that sweep down to the shore. There was not a soul around, not even a dugout canoe!!

We caught a 16 pound wahoo and a 7 pound skipjack tuna on the way in and gratefully ate some parts of them for tea. Since we had just run out of fresh food they were very welcome. We only tend to cast out a line when we wish to eat fish, and on only a few occasions have we failed to catch our supper. The bait we are using presently is a New Zealand pink and white eel, kept permanently in its own fish oil in a ziplock bag, when not luring fish. The latest one is a bit chewed, but has caught bluefish, tuna, wahoo and dorado (mahi mahi, or dolphin fish are other names for the dorado). Recipes stretch from cerviche (raw fish) to fish curry, through to beer battered (with our home made, Australian kit beer!) and bread crumbed. Just plain grilled with salt, garlic, lemon and a few dried herbs remains a favourite though. If we could find a potato to make decent chips, our cup would runneth over!

On the last night before checking in at Noumea we anchored in a beautiful bay off the Woden Canal, only to find our good friends Ian and Ida on the catamaran Ishka there (we had crossed the Pacific to New Zealand with them). They had been in New Caledonia for some time and were exploring the southern islands, and using their surfboard a great deal as well. We would have liked to make a party of the meeting, but such are the regulations that, although we are allowed to anchor on the way to clearing immigration we are not allowed to get together with anyone. This is obviously to stop us passing on any infectious diseases we may be bringing in, or passing on bales of drugs, which of course we have no intention of touching. We are pleased to say that in our travels we have seen major successes against drug smuggling by the Australian coastguard as well as the Dutch navy and the American coast guard. The French naval presence in the South Pacific no doubt helps as well. Long may their successes continue.

When we arrived at Noumea we went straight to the marina who checked us in to the country with no fuss whatsoever, except for not knowing which side our fenders should be (much to Margaret's chagrin, since she had to move them twice!). We do like countries who welcome us, although we have found that it is always more complicated, and sometimes more expensive, to book out again than to book in. Since we found them so pleasant at the marina we stayed there for nine days soaking up the culture of the city. It was interesting to note that the cultural centre and the museum of ethnic art recorded the real way of life still found in the villages of New Caledonia outside the few main towns. Together with most of Vanuatu , the villages have had much the same way of life for the last two thousand years, with the exception, hopefully, that they no longer kill and eat the men from the village next door. No doubt that will change with the recent advent of mobile phones and internet bringing greater knowledge and hopefully more peaceful interaction between the villages. There is a strong movement in New Caledonia for independence from France, but there is little doubt that gaining this would lose them a substantial amount of money and administrative expertise from the present French government, (ably assisted by the common market). Presently the country is nearly the worlds biggest producer of nickel. It seems the island is one great heap of the ore and large smelting and mine works can be seen on the shore, with conveyors stretching into the mountains, and large ore carriers and barges floating in some of the bays. Industry in the raw. Unfortunately there are also many scars on the hillsides caused by previous ore extraction, with gashes of red earth and stone showing between the green scrub. Not the New Caledonia that Captain Cook first saw.

The town museum gave a good account of the French occupation of the country from the beginning of the nineteenth century, when the islands were used as a penal colony for French citizens. Many of the roads and some of the stone public buildings from the nineteenth century were built by convicts, some of them political prisoners who never saw their way back to France. The museum also gave a good exhibition of the American bases and influence during the second world war when the standard of living there was suddenly elevated. The general populace doesn't seem to have looked back, perhaps with the exception of some Melanesians, who appear to prefer the attitude that probably prevailed when Captain Cook first visited the islands. Viz. rather inward looking. (despite their wish for tourist cash).

We visited the zoological park which was accessed by bus and then a walk through a supposedly rough area. They were very nice to us in the area though. In many places, especially where the cruise liners visit, there seems to be a slight 'them and us' attitude. This is probably because the cruise liner passengers are not given any time to talk with the local people, and in the locals view the visitors are therefore only to be treated as sources of revenue and not as human beings. They may have a point, but it certainly creates a strain on 'normal' attempted relationships.

The park however was full of the most delightful schoolchildren, learning about their local flora and local birds. (there are no indigenous fauna). 'Bonjour, bonjour' seemed to be piped from every corner. We were pleased to see that each class was composed of every hue of skin colour and that they were all behaving quite normally for six year olds. Holding hands while the teacher was looking, and hitting each other when the teacher wasn't looking! The indigenous birds were spectacular, especially the New Caledonian 'national' bird, the cagou. This is a flightless bird, similar in size to a muscovy duck, but more elegant with longer legs and a slimmer body (tres chique). It has a covering of soft grey feathers and a long crest which it raises when it fancies a bird of the opposite sex.

It also flaps its short wings, which are banded underneath in black and white, when courting. It has to turn its tail to its potential mate however for the full viewing.

We saw a young chick hopping from bush to bush. It was extremely well camouflaged and difficult to see. There were also scarlet ibises and spoonbills beside a large pond as well as the local storks and pigeons which are varied and spectacular. The park also possessed a hornbill from further north in Indonesia. The bird was large, spectacular and had a very loud voice. We look forward to seeing them in the wild later on. Indian mina birds were everywhere, including one in a large cage. We tried to teach it to talk, but to no avail. We think it spoke french.

The cultural center was amazing. It was designed by Renzo Piano from Italy and is truly great modern architecture. The pavilions represent the grand casses or chiefs houses, of which there are a number exhibited alongside the center. The best of Melanesian architecture with its practical basis is contrasted strongly by the modern pavilion architecture with its ethereal, and almost spiritual nature. It was a great experience to see the two side by side and it was elevating to see what modern man can achieve. There was a photograph of one of our friends from Vanuatu, Eddie Hinge, in one of the exhibitions. The picture was taken during an arts festival which had included all the Melanesian islands in 2002. The other pictures were all of islanders dressed up (or not as the case may be) in their local and traditional dress, and painted with white and multicoloured face paints. There were also exhibitions of excellent modern melanesian art and modern totem poles donated from various melanesian and polynesian communities. The library of melanesian art was extensive. We had lunch in the the cafeteria. The food was quite tasty but the only serving person there seemed to just watch our struggles with how the self service worked rather than trying to help us. The gallic shrug has come halfway round the world!

The cultural center was complimented by a museum in the center of town giving a history of the melanesian people in New Caledonia. There were a considerable number of carved 'pylons' there. These once sprouted from the tops of the grand casses, or chiefs round houses. They were grand in their own right, even without the houses.

The aquarium was another innovative building. The front elevation was composed of a waterfall falling in front of green frosted glazing. It looked like the outside of an infinity pool. Fortunately the water parted over the entrance to let us in. Inside were all the south seas fishes,

including ones that glowed in the dark and were viewed from a specially dimmed viewing gallery.(we nearly tripped up over each other).Also included were all the poisonous ones such as the stonefish, scorpionfish and lionfish.

Perhaps the most interesting of all the exhibits were the nautilus (or is that nautili?). We saw them mating, sleeping, and just generally moving around. They can live at depths of up to 250 meters.

We left our week of culture to explore the most southerly island, des Isle des Pins, or the Isle of Pines as Captain Cook named it whilst passing by outside the reefs. We managed to find our way through the offending reefs to two of the most beautiful anchorages, with azure water and white sand beaches.

We sailed around one of them and discovered outrigger dugout sailing canoes still in use. They are tourist attractions nowadays and unfortunately use outboard motors mare than sails.

We saw a number of banded sea snakes and kept well clear.

We also saw a turtle shell washed up on a deserted beach. The shell was of interesting construction. The back bone and ribs were clearly visible internally and cartilage spread between them to create a smooth external surface which was covered in a hard skin of thin turtle shell. It was almost translucent.

We cycled for about 12 km on our bicycles to see the local village and then decided to visit the rest of the island on a hired scooter.

We saw the most wonderful cave where the local queen had sheltered during local inter tribal wars in the eighteenth century. We are glad to say that she survived.

The island is well named. Some of the pine trees are over 150 feet high and have trunks exceeding six feet in diameter. These trees make the central posts for the grand casses around which all else hangs. We are not sure if they use live trees but it seems entirely possible that they used to.

We seemed to manage the scooter adequately and we think we received the deposit back. We know we are only half way round the world at the moment but we are starting to look at further adventures when we get back to Scotland. We are considering taking the masts out of Atlantia and traversing the Rhine, the Danube (to the music of Johann Strauss), the Black Sea, the river Don, the next canal, the river Volga and canals to St. Petersberg and finally the Baltic sea and Kiel canal back to Holland. If you speak German and Russian, and fancy a trip in a few years time, please let us know Hope you like the pics

Love Atlantia