Ilot Mato to Noumea
ILOT MATO
After a three and half motor(again) we arrived at Illot Mato at low tide and decided to take the narrow passage through the reef to the anchorage rather than go the long way round. The passage is about 15-20m wide and has a depth of 6m and with low tide you could clearly see the coral that on a cloudy/rainy day would test the nerves. On arrival we were greeted by the Remoras who obviously heard all about us from the last clan so we expect to be touring these around for a while.
Joining us on the passage over to Mato from Prony was John and Kat on Katfish and Mike and Anita on Curried Oates. The weather after our arrival turned sour with black sky’s and rain. Always looking for a positive, we hooked up the water catchment system to capture the runoff from the roof into our tanks. The campfire would have to wait.
Tomorrow came and what a day! Blue skies, warm weather and crystal clear azure water. The kayaks came off Priscalina and by mid morning we were paddling our way around the many fringing reefs of Mato. Saw reef sharks working the shallows, turtles doing their thing and lots of colourful fish darting in and out of the coral. More than 3 hours passed before we got back to the boat.
Late afternoon we constructed the fire for a great night on the beach at Mato, joined by Mike and Anita (Curried Oats), Steve and Jill (Idyll Island) with their guests, Kevin and Mary Louise. A good fire, several bevies and a social night under the stars of the South Pacific. What could be better?
The following day went from picture postcode perfect to quite miserable. A day for ‘boat jobs’, including our first ever attempt at bread making. An honourable effort we thought, and after 3 weeks, the freshly baked bread with butter and vegemite was delicious!
The decision was made, after looking at the weather for the next few days, and finding no improvement coming, to start making our way back to Noumea with a few anchorages along the way.
BAIE DE LA TORTUE
Two hours of motoring (again) from Ilot Mato to Ile Ouen and into Baie de la Tortue saw us zig zagging through reefs that were spectacular including the large trevally caught trolling the lure. It’s size helped us make the decision to release him back to the briny just in case he was a cigueterra carrier. As soon as he was released and the lure back in, it was hit again by a mackeral, although the tardiness in getting to the rod gave him enough time to spit the hook and get away. We already had dinner lined up on Katfish but we wouldn’t be adding to the feast that night.
Baie de la Tortue was a lovely little bay which once would have been a lovely little getaway for tourists and locals alike, as it had a lovely little resort with a great view of the bay. It must have hit the hard times as it had been closed for 14 years but the gardens were well maintained by Alex the caretaker.
We met Alex later that day when we ventured over to the beach to check out the resort and the traditional hut high on the hill. Alex, originally from Vanuatu, lived next to the hut and greeted us when we went to take photos advising us that it was private property. However after talking to him, (his English being sooo much better than our French) he invited us to take photos.
That night it was dinner on Katfish, which was a large tuskfish that they had traded at Ilot Mato for some fuel to a local fisho who hadn’t quite calculated how much juice he needed to get home (or it was their normal practice to get cheap fuel?) The fish fed six of us and was beautifully cooked on the BBQ by John.
ILE LAREGNERE
The next morning it was off to Ile Laregnere, a little island surrounded by reef just inside Dumbea passage. The island comes complete with 20 mooring buoys, toilets, camping area and fire pits. On route the lure went out again and this time, success. A nice Spanish mackerel ended up being portioned into 20 or so cutlets. We picked up a mooring and settled into a rather bouncy night with the winds up to nearly 20 knots and coming from the west (unusual and not predicted). It also appeared to be a big party island with several groups celebrating away the night, singing chants and consuming bevvies. Thinking that Parisians had a great life and never worked, we later found out that France had won the World Cup – fair enough then.
BAIE UERE
Tuesday we decided it was time to move on as Mr Weatherman had predictions of much the same, so it was off looking for a little more protection and less roll
Two hours away and closer to Noumea, we arrived at Ile Uere, a pretty little bay, protected from all angles of wind and strengths. Papiga, another rally boat, with Frank and Tanya on board were here and we chatted with them on the beach later that day. They are heading to Loyalties and also back to Australia around the same time we are, so we will keep in touch and see if we can travel together maybe?
The tender stayed up and we used the kayaks to paddle around the bay to walk and explore the little beaches. Sadly the bay catches the tides which includes the various plastic and rubbish left behind. Such a shame. One good thing we have found is that the free moorings and buoys are very well maintained. We had seen the authorities checking at both Baie Majic and Ile Casy but also saw them pressure clean and dive the protection buoys here at Uere.
The bay also housed what we think is the local schools sailing club, so Wednesday and Thursday mornings was ‘sail around the bay’ days for them. It was wonderful to see all the colours, hear them laughing and throwing each other into the water (which made us query the fisho’s who had told Papiga that there were bull sharks in the bay!) We had a wonderful few days here until it was time to head into the Marina on Friday, to get everything organised before Steve flew to Melbourne for a week at the ARRO challenge. Brrrr.
