Leaving at 0700 we first had to motor past a large log floating in the water which when we neared, moved. Yes, the first of our whale encounters. Mother and calf were sleeping and as we neared with our whisper quiet Yanmar (Not!) they awoke and dived down, surfaced, down and off. Papiga, who were following a little later,  had them breach in front of them.

Later that day we arrived at Ouvéa  or in other words, paradise. We stayed at Ouvea for seven nights at three anchorages. First up was Lekiny and right on the doorstep of the resort. What a place, 5 star and with the best crab you’ve ever eaten. We thought it was a mud crab that everyone was eating but when we enquired, found out it was coconut crab – a land based crab. Have to say that it beat the Qld mud crab hands down, better taste and full of meat. It was that good, we went back on our last night for another round.

The next day, after Jennie’s perusal of the ‘Rocket Guide’, decided to walk to the local Arts and Crafts market that were on every Tuesday at Mouli. We walked for miles, consulted the map, voted on whether to keep going, and eventually got to the end of the Island (without finding the markets!) On the way we had passed a ‘Snack Bar’ , so on our return trip, called in for lunch and a beer. Oh well, lunch wasn’t on yet, but we had the beer instead. Ended up a mere 16km walk!

Lekiny has some absolutely stunning scenery which we hope the photos capture. It also has a fair bit of history as the Loyalty Islands was the stronghold of the independent uprising against the French. They will be shaping up again when they head for a referendum on November 4th this year. We spoke to several people here at the Loyalties and also in Nouméa. Outside of Nouméa most of the Kanaks want it, but in and around Nouméa where the French stronghold is, they want no change. Let’s wait and see.

Second stop was Fayaoue. A great stop to walk and replenish supplies with a number of little shops. This was another of Jennie’s infamous tours, promising local,open air markets every Wednesday. So we trekked up the coast but turned around when it seemed we were past all civilisation. Called in at small store and asked. The girl said ‘Yes, every Wednesday just over the road’ ??? When she realised it was Wednesday but no markets, she looked at the calendar and told us it was ‘Assumption Day’ – public holiday!

Ouvea is 45 kilometres from north to south and over our three stops we walked about half of the island. Interestingly the locals all wave, pull over and over lifts and are generally the friendliest people you could meet. We could live here.

We had to leave sometime, so the decision was made to head off on the Saturday and overnight it back to Bay de Prony albeit we would have to motor most of the way as there was no wind to speak of for the next week, but that beats pounding into oncoming seas that normally occur with the predominantly south/east winds. Leaving the atoll, the rapala lure that had faithfully served us was taken in an almighty run that resulted in it being pulled clean off the wire trace. The culprit was massive – a massive manta ray who, with his friends, decided to bid us farewell as did some local fishos who came up to the boat to show us their enormous lobster and fish. We didn’t know if they were trying to sell them but they couldn’t seem to understand our garbled French and creative hand gestures. Needless to say, they headed off chuckling and obviously in for a good feed which was good as we had nothing to cook the lobster in.

After a night of sailing and motor sailing, daylight emerged as we rounded the bottom end of New Caledonia and so did the whales, who put on a wonderful show just for us. Oh, and the trip back netted us two tunas, one a keeper the other released after a bit of fun. Still after the elusive Mahi Mahi.