Back to Noumea  15th - 18th June

South Coast . Walk to Cap Ndoua lighthouse.

We spent a week exploring the Baie De Prony and enjoying this wonderful place. However, the food supplies were becoming uninspiring, so we needed to sail back to Noumea to restock and have a general clean up. There was almost no wind so we motored all the way, but the mountainous scenery slid past slowly on a beautiful sunny day and there wasn't many of those.

After spending our first night back anchored in the Baie de L'Orphelinat we organised to spend four nights in the Port Moselle Marina so that we could re-fuel, fill up the water tanks, do some food shopping and get rid of the mouldering pile of laundry skulking in the back cabin.

Olivia was accommodated on the visitors pontoon along with all the other visiting sailors. Most were Aussies and that night we went with 12 others to a Vietnamese Restaurant where we had our best sociable time since arriving in New Caledonia. The marina is in the centre of Noumea and very close to the fresh food markets, so we spent some time perusing the fruit and veges that were a huge improvement on the quality of produce in the supermarket. Much of the fresh produce in the supermarket I would not feed to my chooks (that is if I had any!)

We were beginning to consider a trip back to Aus and contacted Bob in NZ, but he advised that it would be at least a week until the weather was suitable. That worked out well as we wanted to do a trip to the north of Noumea and out to some of the sand cays in the lagoon.

North of Noumea  19th - 23rd June

Enjoying Baie Maa

In the distance, north of Noumea, are some very high, rugged looking mountains and the further we went north the more impressive they became. Our first night was spent in Baie Maa, a picturesque bay surrounded by hilly, cleared farm land complete with beef cattle.

Across the bay we could see several villages dotted along the shore and bays, so the next day we motored across to Tiare, anchored off and took the dinghy to explore the canal development there. By the time we arrived back at Olivia the wind had piped up so we thought it a good idea to find a more sheltered anchorage in Baie Papaye for the night. Several other boats had the same idea.




Liz and friends at Timbia. More of those community dogs.

On Friday the weather was calm and sunny so we motored further north to Ile Moro where we anchored for lunch and dinghied ashore to explore the reef and some interesting weathered limestone outcrops along the shore. This island seemed a little too exposed for a night anchorage so we decided to motor across the bay to Timbia, a settlement along the south side of the same bay. Watch out for the  coral bombies here. The water is silty and it is hard to see where they are. We anchored twice as one of the locals informed us we were probably a little too close to a bombie for comfort.

Ile Moro

Having sailed up the coast via the mainland we thought it would be a good idea to visit some of the coral cays in the lagoon on the way back to Noumea. We picked Ilot Ronde for lunch and Ilot Signal  the next day. Ilot Ronde was typical of everyone's idea of a coral sand cay - beautiful white sand beach, crystal clear water and stunning coral. Ilot Signal was similar, but was covered in prickles like you would not believe - Gallon's Curse and Caltrop. It was a bit disappointing. While we were at Ilot Signal Met Bob contacted us to inform us that there was a weather window opening for passage back to Aus, so we motored back to Noumea for an early start for checking out and a quick shop for some more fresh food before a lunchtime start on Monday.

A bunch of flowers for Liz

Checking Out 24th June

The day dawned dull and showery, no wind! Checking out is quite a process which includes a 5-6km walk to three different offices, those being Immigration, Customs and the Port Authority. They must be visited in this order. Most of the time we walked in the rain, not heavy, but enough to wet you through. Once all the documents had been stamped and handed over we made a quick trip to Johnston's Supermarket to get a few last minute stores. Lastly we stowed the dinghy on board, deflated and packed in her bag and tied down to the cockpit table. We were ready to go and it was still drizzling. A quick check informed us that the weather was OK for our trip.
Goodbye Noumea.

Sunrise, Baie De Prony

The Trip Back To Australia  24th - 30th June

I will never do that again!!

We motored out of Baie De L'Ophelinat in the drizzling rain towards the Passe Dumbea. We continued to motor all afternoon and into the evening. During the night the wind blew up and soon became quite strong. By the morning the wind had really picked up and we had to put a third reef in the main sail and from then on until day 5 we sailed with the three reefs in the main and no other sail and with this configuration she maintained 5-6kts. From day 2-4 inclusive we had very strong winds which Peter estimated at 25kts at best and up to 35 - 40kts in strong gusts. The only saving  grace here was that it was from behind the beam. By day 5 the wind had abated to 25kts, which was a huge relief and on the last day with Australia in sight the wind gradually died and for the last few hours we motored.

Day two. Things are starting to get lumpy!

This was not the storm conditions you read about in various sailing tales, but it was horrible. Firstly, I think I gave Peter and I food poisoning with some meat stew (I don't really know what it was - hard to tell by the packaging!!) that I had cooked two days before and we ate on the first night. I didn't particularly like the look of the meat but thought that cooking it well with heaps of veges would be OK. Both of us spent day 2-4 intermittently throwing up over the side. We could not eat anything. Even the tiniest bit of food provoked another bout of vomiting. Peter has not been seasick for over 20 years and I have occasionally felt queasy, but never actually sick for much the same time. I think it was the meat.

It was relentless! The wind!! Day three dawned squally and raining with big swells and water continually dumping in the cockpit. The tops were being blown off the waves and whitecaps. We put  the lee boards in the companionway and poked our head out every 20mins to keep watch. We made sure we had the ship alarm on the chart plotter activated and no-one would be coming from Australia in this, so that left fishing boats. Peter used the radar seriously for the first time and it was useful in these conditions. Visibility was poor, but it appeared no-one was out there with us. The only ships we saw were on the last day just off the Queensland coast.

When we felt able to eat again it was a matter of just grabbing anything from the cupboard that came to hand, usually biscuits and cheese. There was no way it was safe to prepare food. We had no hot drinks for most of the trip - too dangerous to boil water. Even drinking water had to be done from a bottle, or wear it. At one stage, when we were able to eat again we decided a cup of soup would go down well. Peter opted to make it and opened the overhead cupboard to get out the sachets. The sugar container had dislodged itself from it's spot and as he opened the door it fell out, hit the floor and deposited all of it's one kilo of sugar all over the galley floor. Try cleaning that up in those conditions!!!!

Olivia is a great little sea boat and we had no breakages. She sails so well on just a reefed main or a headsail alone. Her counter stern enables her to flip her bum up over those nasty following waves that are determined to poop her. Waves constantly whacked into her side making a sickening jolt and pouring a waterfall into the cockpit. For three days we sat, propped in the cabin or lying down. You can't do anything and I had too much time to think about things that might go wrong. Have I mentioned - I will never do that again!!

We opted not to go further on to Vanuatu, although Peter would have liked to, because I chickened out after our trip over. I did not want to get even further away from Aus when it was only Peter and I to bring Olivia home. Having Audrey with us on the way over made things very much easier. Having to front up for a watch every three hours in those conditions was hard.

Just to finish off our trip to Southport, we arrived at 1am and as we approached the Gold Coast Seaway entrance we noticed another boat entering just in front of us. It turned out to be Moor R & R. Lucas tells us in his anchorage guide that the Seaway readily breaks with the tide ebbing into a developed swell. We thought our arrival was timed quite well for slack low tide. Just as we steamed over the shallow part at the entrance a breaker picked us up and helped us in. Hairy to say the least!! We anchored in Bums Bay at 1.30am and fell into bed for a well earned, still, peaceful sleep.



Endless wilderness New Caledonia South

Re-Entry  1st June

Sunday. Not a good day to ask officials to check us in. We waited in Bums Bay with the yellow Q flag hoisted and at 8am Peter rang Border Force to alert them to the fact that we had arrived. We had expected it to be Monday, but strong wind has the advantage of providing a quick trip. We were advised to make our way to Southport Marina when we had organised a berth on the Super Yacht pontoon which is also used for vessels in quarantine. Border Force turned up as we docked and proceeded to ask lots of questions and fill in all the relevant forms. No charge there! They then arranged for the Bio Security mob to come and do their bit. We were told it 'might not be today'.

Meanwhile we were unable to go ashore until Bio Security had done their thing. Luckily they dredged up an official who was able to come on a Sunday and he came and asked a lot more questions and inspected the boat. He took some food, but not much. We had in fact not stocked up too much in Noumea as we knew the drill here. He took a few eggs, vegetables and the rubbish. In all half a rubbish bag full. That cost $150 charged by the marina to dispose of it correctly. He took some photos and told us we were cleared to go, but that we would need an inspection as Olivia has a lot of internal wood fittings.

It was arranged that the boat would be inspected at Manly asap. That man duly arrived two days later and there was more questions and form filling. Then he inspected the boat, took photos and presented us with a bill of $230. We had only been to one country and were away for 8 weeks, so the whole process was not too onerous. Beware those who come from Asia, America, Africa etc, maybe over $1000 and a long wait while red tape, unlimited form filling, inspections etc which require approvals from more than one authority are processed. He was very chatty.

Olivia has been passed.

In Conclusion

I'm glad we went to New Caledonia. It was on the 'To Do' list and it was certainly an adventure. I loved Baie De Prony, the sand cays and exploring Noumea. The scenery is stunning. We found everyone helpful, especially the marina staff at Port Moselle, but, I will never do that again!

Re

Tipplers on the way to Moreton Bay. Bliss!

We are now berthed at Manly in the Moreton Bay Trailer Boat Club for a month. Both Peter and I are going back to WA for a months holiday. We will be back here on 29th July to ready ourselves for the trip up the Queensland coast to Townsville where we'll probably keep Olivia for the summer.
 

Moreton Bay Trailer Boat Club Marina

New Caledonia, Ile des Pins and Baie De Prony

Noumea to Ile des Pins   27^th May – 5^th June



Welcome To Ile Des Pins, Kuto Baie Anchorage

We have explored the centre of Noumea very well, along with the resort areas in the Baie des Citrons, Anse Vata and Ilot Maitre. We again visited the Ilot Maitre, but this time we took Olivia and surrendered our convenient spot in the Baie de l’Orphelinat to one of the many other yachts that are visiting at the moment. So far, the day at Ilot Maitre, has been one of the only sunny days we have had here. The weather has been overcast, light winds and occasional rain showers – not what we envisaged when we planned our trip to the South Pacific.

We had an interesting pizza dinner out in a Mediterranean Restaurant near Audrey’s hotel. (The waiter was lovely and we met up with some friends from a couple of years ago. Ric and Val might remember Leonie and Paul from the Moody, Spirit Chaser, which they anchored very close to in Cooktown, and Barefoot Bowls!) We farewelled Audrey early on Wednesday morning and made our way back to Olivia for a quiet motoring day down the coast to the Baie de Prony. This bay is on the southern tip of New Caledonia and is a huge waterway made up of many small bays and a couple of islands. There are plenty of anchorages and two are known as cyclone bolt holes, so protection can be found for any winds there. We spent the night in a tiny bay in Bonne Anse Rade de L’est, with another motor boat. The night was quiet and still and as the bay was close to our course for Ile des Pins (Isle of Pines) it was convenient for an early start.

 

Convict Ruins, Kuto Baie

 

Ile des Pins

As we approached Kuto Baie we could see a huge cruise ship anchored off for a day stop over at the Ile des Pins. It was massive, like a block of flats in the ocean. Several small motor boats were ferrying passengers to and from the ship and the markets and other attractions in the bay. We anchored opposite the hotel/resort along with about fifteen other yachts. The beach looked beautiful, white sand with a line of gentle surf breaking on the shore, coconut palms lining the beach and the resort perched at the water’s edge. After we had Olivia settled we took Lily ashore and pulled her up the beach after dodging the line of breakers that were just negotiable with the dinghy. There were lots of tourists from the cruise ship and we explored the immediate area.

There is another bay, Baie de Kanumera which is just across a low section of the beach on the opposite side of the point. This bay is very picturesque as it has two sections that are separated by a huge limestone rock in the centre. At low tide you can easily walk to the rock, however a sign nearby asks that you do not climb the rock as it is culturally important to the natives of this area. It is guarded by two totem poles.

 

Just Looking
 

guardians Of The Rock

 

This part of the island is dotted with the ruins of a penal colony that was set up here by the French in the mid 1800s. It reminds me a little of Rottnest, although it was obviously much larger. The ruins are spread out through the bush and some are several kms away.

We have discovered two general stores up the road from Kuto Bay. The nearest one is quite well stocked and has fresh baguettes every day, which we purchase for our lunch. The second one is further along the road and is much more a local affair. We brought some apples, oranges and milk there. We like the baguettes at the first store best.

Yellow Dog

Up we go!
 

On Sunday we decided to walk up the highest mountain on the island which is not far from Kuto Bay. At 262m we thought it would be a good Sunday exercise. As we walked past the resort a yellow coloured kelpie type dog joined us. There are many dogs here that appear to belong to nobody, although they are healthy and well cared for by somebody. Anyway this dog attached itself to us and would not be put off. He walked with us to the top of the mount even though we tried to palm him off to anyone who we met. Yellow dog accompanied us to the top and we shared our morning tea with him, even some water. He sat like a sphinx on command and ate his biscuit delicately. Someone has taught him manners. Once morning tea was over he heard another party of climbers coming up and decided that nothing more would be forthcoming from us and he disloyally went to join them. We haven’t seen him again. He was a beautiful dog – coming from me that is big praise

The Climb

The view from the top was stunning and for once the sun nearly appeared. It is the only time we have seen a hint of sun during our week here.

Liz and Yellow Dog make it to the top

 

Liz Gets Dumped!

Monday was overcast – again! We decided to walk around the headland between Kuto Bay and Kanumera Bay. It is a pretty walk through the pine trees and pandanas palms and gives a great view of the reef in Kanumera Bay. Arriving back at the dinghy we realised that the tide had gone out and Lily was now anchored in the breakers rolling in along the beach. It is hard to find a spot to leave the dinghy when going ashore as even in the calmest corner there is a decent surf breaking on the beach. At this stage we weren’t game to leave Lily tied behind the floating jetty as we didn’t know when next the cruise ship would arrive or even if it was acceptable to do so.

Lily was by now half full of water so Peter had me holding her while he bailed some of it out. All of a sudden some bigger waves began breaking on us and the naughty dinghy flipped up, broached and completely flattened me. So much for my clean shorts! Both shorts and I were totally full of sand. It was even in my ears. The moral of that story is that ‘stuff what anyone says we are now tying the dinghy behind the floating pontoon’!

Folding Bikes

Nice bike riding, Not many cars!

 

Yesterday was raining most of the day so we stayed on board reading. The highlight was watching a huge ferry dock at the old jetty. It has arrived here twice this week bringing tourists for the resorts.

Following our day on board we decided to take the folding bikes ashore, assemble them on the floating dock and ride to the capital, Vao. There is little traffic on the roads and the day was cool and clear. We had only gone a couple of kms when I noticed my bike had a funny swaying motion. Peter discovered that the pin in the main hinge had dropped out. #$!!*! He rode back to the jetty to see if it was in the bike bags and I walked back along the road pushing my bike looking for the pin. Luckily Peter found the pin on the jetty, but the circlip that held it in place had gone. While I sat on the beach Peter rode to the fuel station, a bike rental place and eventually Vao, to try to get a circlip to fit, but no luck. Sooo! Peter got to see Vao and I did not!! So much for new bikes! Apparently there is not much at Vao but a few houses, a huge church and general store.

Finally on Friday 7^th we gave up on the weather and sailed in a gentle SE breeze back to the Baie de Prony. The weather had been disappointing but the L’Ile Des Pins is a lovely place to visit. We enjoyed our seven days there.

 

Pines

 

More of the Rock in Kanumera Baie

 

Baie De Prony  7^th – 14^th June

 

On the way to Baie de Prony
 

We had a pleasant sail back north to the Baie De Prony and anchored in Bonne Anse Rade De L’est, the south eastern most bay. There are six small bays to anchor in in this natural harbour. We chose anchorage C and spent two nights in peaceful, calm conditions apart from the anchor chain rumbling over the coral bottom as the tide swung Olivia around in the night. I learned to ignore it.

There are many walking tracks around the whole bay and the scenery is stunning - mountains and wilderness as far as the eye can see. The landscape is slashed by huge, orange eroded patches, some natural (we think) and some the results of made roads and mining.  On the first day we found a track leading to the lighthouse at Cape Ndoua. The view from here over the southern lagoon was superb. The red/orange soil here sticks to your shoes, feet and any other clothing or body part that touches it. We thought pindan pink in Derby WA was bad when we lived there – this earth stains everything it touches so care needs to be taken to wash feet before climbing back on board.

 

Walking The Wilderness. You can just see Olivia in the bay. All by ourselves.

 

Following this we motored over to the Rade du Nord and anchored in the eastern bay so we could look for the convict ruins. The forest is so thick that any ruins have long been overgrown, but we did find a delightful little spring near the beach that had been walled and the water was crystal clear and tasted very fresh. We left this bay after lunch and motored to Ilot Casy where we spent two nights on a mooring on the northern side. The mooring was close to the beach, but tucked in out of the SE wind.

Ilot Casy once had a small resort on it, but that has now gone. There is still a functional jetty and pretty camp area under the trees. A ferry runs from Noumea and drops campers off periodically. The walks around and over the island are numerous and interesting.

 

Ilot Casey



Cycad Forest, Ilot Casy

 

New Caledonia has very few wild animals except pigs and deer. There are no snakes - only sea snakes, a few lizards and some birds, but we heard very little bird song in the anchorages. None of those squawking parrots that we have, except a few in a tree in Noumea. The plant life is more interesting and it is quite different to Aus. The only plant we have seen that is similar to Aus is a wattle. There is a Grevillia type flower that has leaves like a Bay Tree. There are lots of Cordyline type plants and other large leaved plants that I do not know. The hills are covered in sparse bush and some of the valleys and lower lying areas are covered in thick rain forest. We came across a Pitcher Plant on the walk on Ilot Casy and in the Baie Du Carenage which was very exciting. Ilot Casy had the most amazing Cycad forest. My Cycad at home is still a baby!

 

Autographs Ilot Casy. We didn't do it!

 

Our last three nights in Baie De Prony were spent in Baie Du Carenage East Anchorage. Our first night we were alone and everyone else anchored in the West Anchorage. We wondered what was wrong with our patch, but there was nothing and on the following two nights six boats anchored with us. It is such a beautiful, wild place. At the end of our bay is a wide waterfall and near this is a hot spring that has been planked in and is decked around. However, the deck planks are rotting and care is needed so that you don’t go through them. The spring is warm and you can see it bubbling in through a hole in the rocks. We sat in the spring enjoying the warm water and our first bath for a while. The spring is just a short walk up from a jetty near the waterfall.

Anyone for a warm bath?

There are walking tracks everywhere here and we climbed some steep hills, found waterfalls, springs and ruins of old mines. There is no shortage of beautiful clean water which runs in creeks all over the hills. It would be interesting to know if this happens all year round. This is supposed to be the dry season so maybe it does.

 

 

On our last night in Baie De Prony we invited some Melbournites on board for drinks. Fred made us coffee in the morning as we’d complained about the lack of coffee shops here. He came over with a natty little coffee maker, something like a pressure cooker, and made us a cup each. Thanks Fred! Best coffee in the Baie! Anyway we enjoyed the company of Fred and his crew for nibbles, drinks and storytelling that evening.

 

A majestic landscape. The bare maountains of south New Caledonia

 

We are now back in Noumea in Port Moselle Marina for a stock up, clean up and a bit of R&R.

 

Pitcher Plants Baie du Prony

 

Noumea First Week 16th - 25th May 2019

Checking In

 



Baie  De L,Orphelinat  Anchorage

We arrived in the Baie De L’Orphelinat and dropped the anchor outside the other moored and anchored boats and as instructed by Customs stayed on board for the rest of the day. The relevant offices closed at 11.30am so we could not check in till Thursday. We didn’t mind as after our strenuous sail from Aus we needed some down time.

Next morning we set off to do the official business of checking in and dinghied to a marina on the south side of the bay where we were directed to Port Du Sud Marina to look for the Capitainerie (Harbourmaster, Marc) who would complete some of the process with us. We filled out forms for Customs, Immigration and Quarantine which took some time and cost $50 Aud. We also organised with Marc to rent space for docking the dinghy for two weeks (about $100 p/w) as there appeared to be nowhere to park her. The only dinghy docks are in Port Moselle and here, and both are pay docks. The waterfront around this harbour is lined with rock walls and we have been told to be very careful where we leave the dinghy. So, we paid up and it has been very convenient and also gives us a key for the showers and laundry.

After completing business with Mark, Peter had to meet the Quarantine official and take him out to inspect the boat. He took all our fresh food, not much, because we had eaten most of it. It was raining hard, but luckily the Quarantine man was young and didn’t appear to mind his journey in the rain. Meanwhile Audrey and I decided if we got a taxi we could make the Customs in the centre of town before they closed at 11.30 am. We must have just made it and finally all the official business was done.

The rain was still coming down steadily as we walked back to Port Du Sud. I started out with an umbrella, but soon discarded it as no-one here takes any notice of the rain and goes on as if the day is fine and sunny. I didn’t want to look out of place so the brolly went in the bag and I joined the locals in the rain. Aud and I found our way back to the marina without much effort and then joined Peter for lunch at the Le Bintz restaurant where we had curried prawns and fish. We had earned it!! Le Bintz is rated as one of the top 10 in Noumea. We go there every day for drinks or coffee and to make use of Alex’s Wi-Fi.

Noumea

We are still anchored in Baie De L’Orphelinat because the weather for the first nine days ranged from windy to very windy, from the SE (trade winds), with intermittent rain showers. There was no reason to leave our cosy anchorage as we had Noumea to explore. We have walked around most of this city and explored the harbour, Port Moselle, the city centre, markets, the cathedral, war memorials and resort beaches in the Baie des Citrons. We even walked around to the north-west side of the Port Moselle Harbour to the chandleries. Lucky Aud and I. That was Peter’s choice.

Our organisation for communication with the outside world has not gone according to plan. Both Aud and Peter set up an international roaming day pass which they both thought included Noumea, but when we arrived discovered that it did not. Consequently we have been very careful with phone calls and emails etc. Peter arranged his with the help of Telstra in Albany and they will be getting a serve when we get back. Audrey has bought a local cheap phone and sim card and we have been using that to phone home.

Sim Card

After Aud purchased the phone we had to find a Post Office to buy the relevant sim card. We had some directions from the phone shop lady, but as it was in French we ended up a little confused. I decided to look on the tourist map which had little envelopes to designate where to find the PO. When we reached the envelope we thought was on our intended route – no PO. More directions from locals only served to confuse the issue further. Then someone said it was on Av du Mar Foch. Finally, an hour or so later we ended up almost where we began on Foch Av at the Foch’n Post Office.

Out comes the Sun

The weather changed for the better yesterday, after a rainy, gloomy start. We booked a ferry ticket for a ride to Ilot Maitre for the day and were disappointed when we awoke to heavy rain and gloomy skies. Just our luck we thought! The island is only 3.5m from the harbour and not long after we arrived, the sun came out and the day turned into a beautiful, picture post card, glorious day – our first here. All of a sudden the place lit up and we swam with the fish and ate our sandwiches on the beach in the sunshine. The anchorage here is very crowded and we did not want to lose our spot, hence the ferry trip.

 

Liz and Aud enjoy the sun at Ilot Maitre

 

Car Hire

We will never do that again! It seemed like a good idea. Hire a car for the day and drive down the coast and then inland to Lac de Late. The roads are narrow, everyone drives much faster than the limit and it is all on the wrong side of the road. We never made the lake, but did see some of the coast to the south as far as Plum. It is very scenic and mountainous. The whole back drop here is mountains, where dark, ominous clouds collect in the evening and send showers down most nights.

Final Thoughts

·         When the sun comes out Noumea and surrounds are picture postcard perfect.

·         The coffee is not to our taste, although Peter is getting used to it. We have resorted to Mac Donalds for coffee at times. Alex at the Le Bintz Restaurant makes a nice latte for us. At one patisserie Peter asked for a large coffee for each of us, complete with hand signs. The young lady served our coffee, which was in large paper cups, however the amount of coffee in there was the same and it was only half full!! We tried!

·         We bought some almond croissants and will never do that again, so sweet and like over-dosing on marzipan. We all felt sick for the rest of the day.

·         There is very little room to anchor in this bay or Moselle Bay due to boats on moorings and at anchor. The marinas are full. Every man and his dog must own a boat here.

Peter at the old gaol

 

Au revior Australie   8^th – 15^th May

On Tuesday ‘MetBob’, our weather Guru from New Zealand, gave us the go ahead for our sail to New Caledonia. One small comment in his forecast did not necessarily impress itself upon us as it should have, due to our desire to get underway – ‘it’s not going to be entirely comfortable but this seems to be the best for this week.’ The email was long and the description of weather systems detailed so this statement was glossed over somewhat. He gave us way points to sail to and this involved doing a loop to the south to pick up favourable winds. We ended up covering 920nm in 6 days 23 hours and 20 minutes. MetBob gave us a time of 7 days and 59 minutes. Hey! Not bad! We were impressed with MetBobs forecast and our own sailing ability.

We spent two nights in the marina at Southport gearing up for departure and Border Force arrived at 9am Wednesday to clear us out. This was a relatively simple procedure that took less than an hour and then we were on our way. The day was magnificent and we sailed in a gentle northerly all day, Australia gradually disappearing behind. Day 2 continued fine and mild until the late afternoon when the wind turned East and began to push us off course – not so comfortable sailing close to the wind.

On day 2 we reached our first way point near the Brisbane Sea Mounts and we turned E/SE towards way point 2 just north of Middleton Reef. On Friday the frontal system caught up with us and grey overcast skies and stronger winds meant we were experiencing a boisterous sail. No hot drinks, too dangerous. I was feeling queasy as the wind turned even harder on the nose from the SE. Saturday followed a lumpy, windy, squally night where dinner was 3 minute noodles.

By Saturday the wind had swung to the south and the swells had picked up to 3.5m and swamped the cockpit in spray and occasionally dumped a big greenie in as well. Audrie seemed to catch the brunt of that! Unfortunately the rest of the trip followed this pattern. Strong, gusty winds, bigger swells than I liked to see, squally, grey skies with a patch of sun here or there and generally thoroughly uncomfortable.

Audrey and I compared bruises. We both looked like we had been dropped in the cement mixer. It felt like that too, actually. At one stage Peter took a full on dive over the table and landed head first in the bookshelf. That alarmed us and reinforced the adage, ‘one hand for the boat and one for self.’  Audrie and I decided that toast and vegemite was all we could contemplate cooking one morning, but it took two of us to manage it. The toaster required someone to hold it on the burner and even then the toast resembled something that a seagull had shat on rather than evenly spread vegemite and butter. Way point 3 had us turning further north and this alleviated the discomfort a little as we sailed just off the wind.

One interesting thing that happened out there in the middle of nowhere, was that we saw a ship turn up on the chart plotter. On examining the AIS info we discovered it was a tanker bound for NZ. It was not on a collision course, but quite close so we kept a good eye on it and eventually saw it passing in the distance. Then suddenly it turned at right angles and headed straight for us again. This was concerning. A ship in the middle of nowhere altering course towards us makes one feel very vulnerable. We kept our eyes on the chart plotter for several minutes and were very relieved when it again turned on its original course away from us.

Considering the conditions we had only two minor breakages. One was the top batten broke free from the batten car on the mainsail and then so very close to our destination one side of the lazy jacks broke free making it more of a challenge to drop the mainsail. The only other problem was when Aud discovered a leak through the deck had saturated one side of her bed forcing her to relocate to the main cabin.

Wednesday: 6 days, 23 hours and 20 minutes saw us entering the Boulari Passage into the lagoon and on our final approaches to Noumea. This was definitely not a comfortable passage, but not overly concerning given the prevailing wind conditions. The boat handled it well and we all have full confidence in Olivia’s seaworthiness.

 

Sailing Olivia 2019

A New Sailing Season Begins      26th April - 3rd May 2019

Scarborough Marina



The sun rises on a new day and a new sailing season, Scarborough Marina

Karin dropped me off at Perth Airport at 9.30pm ready to board the midnight flight to Brisbane, then on to Scarborough Marina where Olivia had been residing for the summer. Peter had gone ahead 5 weeks earlier to do some routine maintenance, such as antifoul the hull, service the motor and install a new echo sounder. He also had some jobs to do for me, mainly find a bicycle shop that could sell us some fold-up push bikes. I have been wanting one of those for a while now. He also had friends Robin and John from WA join him for a fortnight of exploration from Moreton Bay down to the  Gold Coast.

At Perth Airport I met Audrey, a sailing companion of many years, who was taking 5 weeks off work to help us sail Olivia to New Caledonia. We have planned to go to New Cal for some time and this year is the one! Our plans are to set sail for New Cal as soon as the weather allows and if time permits perhaps do Vanuatu as well, before heading back to Townsville later in the year. We have been in contact with Bob, the weather guru, from New Zealand, who is renown for his weather routing advice for sailors transiting the Pacific Ocean. We were anticipating a departure today, Friday 3rd May, but Bob tells us that strong headwinds are expected in a few days, so we are staying put for now.

Scarborough Marina is a good place to leave Olivia over the summer as it is one of the cheaper marinas in Moreton Bay and it has an excellent lift out facility for maintenance. The staff are friendly and the amenities clean, fuel jetty accessible at high tide (for us), and the shops are an easy bus ride or long walk away, depending which takes your fancy.

Audrey grazing on fungi on the way to the shops!
Actually she was taking an artistic photo. 

Our walk to Redcliff took us along the seafront for five kms of parkland and on the way we discovered that the Faraway Tree is actually in Australia. I knocked on the door, but no one was at home.

We found the Faraway Tree.  It's at Scarborough!

A Trip To Brisbane

We had a spare day so we decided to take the train ride into Brisbane city to find the AEC Office so that we could do our absentee votes and get that little job out of the way. Having accomplished that we found a money exchange and purchased some petty cash for New Caledonia. Our $200 turned into 13,000 SPF. We could easily be multi-millionaires there!!! After the conclusion of our business we decided that lunch on the South Bank was in order and we enjoyed a leisurely walk through the parkland.

South Bank

 

Having accomplished all we wished to do in Brisbane City we made our way to Central Station to catch the train back to Kippa Ring, then the bus onwards to Scarborough. Things did not go according to plan. Firstly the bike shop rang Peter and informed us that the folding bikes had not yet left Melbourne and would not arrive in time for our departure to New Cal. Big disappointment!!! Order cancelled! Then when we were still five stations short of our destination an announcement informed us that there was a problem with the overhead power lines ahead and that passengers would have to disembark and continue by bus to our destinations. I won't swear here, but we did.... However, buses were quickly provided for us to continue our journey, although somewhat extended due to traffic building towards rush hour. Finally as we arrived at Kippa Ring Station as our 699 bus pulled away before we could get off the train/ bus. Damn!!


Folding Bikes Arrive

Hooray!! Postponement of our departure date has meant the bikes are here.
The folding push bikes arrived yesterday evening, after much anguish because we thought they would not make it before we left. They had to come from Melbourne. The postponing of our departure date meant that the bike shop could get them to us just in time. They look beautiful and I can't wait to get on them and go for a spin. We had better read the instructions as the one we took out to try, definitely did not go back in the bag quite like it was packed before. We all had fun trying it out on the pontoon, scaring the onlookers as we wobbled our way along. Something about a narrowish walkway, water each side, made me nervous.



Maiden Ride: Spectators Audrey, John, Colin & Issy

Peter had already made friends with John (English) and Colin and Issy (Scottish) who were berthed either side of us. Both of these boats are on their way to Thursday Island for the Indonesia Rally leaving later in the year. Such interesting people, with world sailing experience make us feel mere novices. We have had a great time socialising with them and other yachties from France, USA and Canada who have sailed in here and briefly shared time with us. It has been sad to say goodbye this morning as we departed for Tangalooma Wrecks on the western side of Moreton Island before motoring (probably) south to Southport, on the Gold Coast, where weather permitting, we hope to check out next week.

My first blog for 2019 will have to contain a big thank you to John who ferried us to the shops for our stores, in his hired car. Also to Issy and Colin for being such good neighbours at the Scarborough Marina during our short stay. Safe Sailing friends and hope we catch up some day.



Audrey has a go

More Maggie Island 13th to 22nd August

Goodbye Friends

Lexie curls up for a sleep while Ric has dinner with us on Olivia

Arkaydes, Blu Glass, Moor R&R, Blue Pointer and our other Lake Macquarie friends have left us now and headed back south to the Whitsundays. The night before they left we had a "Pot Luck" dinner on Moor R&R. What a delicious selection of food was on offer. It was a lovely evening and a great way to say goodbye for a while. Peter may see them when he and Mike Clarke head that way next week. We have been having plenty of light northerly winds so lets hope it continues, to see them on their way.

The Walks

The lookout walk between Florence and Arthur Bays. Beautiful!

We have now walked every track on this island. Today we climbed over the hill to Radical Bay and then on to the lookout on the promontory between Florence and Arthur Bay. I have never done that walk before and it is a very pretty walk, lots of Magnetic Island Pines and piles of boulders that this island is known for. The bush is looking very dry and many of the leaves on trees and shrubs are frizzled up from lack of water. Amazingly the Kapok Trees are flowering and despite the thirsty landscape these trees burst forth with their beautiful, clear, yellow flowers. They provide an optimistic touch to the parched hillsides. Peter and I are getting very fit now. We have been walking 9-10kms a day. Our walks always include a trek over the ranges as Maggie is very steep. I hope I can keep up the exercise when I get home.

Kapok Trees - no leaves, parched bushland - the definition of optimism

A couple of days ago we did the Forts Walk. There are always koalas there and we found two that were attracting the attention of the tourists doing the walk. One was a mother with a baby clinging to her tummy. SOOOOO cute!! We have come to the conclusion that the Parks and Wildlife people put them there. They are always conveniently at just above eye level and are always on that walk. We rarely see them elsewhere. There are well worn tracks into the bush where the koalas rest in the fork of a tree. If they do put them there it would at least be a useful activity for the P & W to do (entertaining tourists etc) Setting fire to uninhabited islands all the way up the Queensland coast the way they do, seems to be an exercise in stupidity. So many of the islands and many of the Capes are scorched from fires supposedly lit to control weeds. Strange! When I observed where a fire has been weeds seem to thrive. Even Magnetic Island has an area that has been burnt. Did anyone think about the 1500 koalas that are supposed to be here before they set fire to the place? I still think about those huge racehorse type goannas that live on Lizard Island, as when we were there two years ago, 'Sparks and Wildfires' set fire to the place in front of us.

Forts Walk

Tomorrow we are saying goodbye to Magnetic Island for this year and are off to the Breakwater Marina for a week. Here we will have a clean up, catch up with the family and pack me up ready for the trip back home. I have 3 weeks of teaching, in Albany, for my cousin. I am starting to get my head around the idea of work. Actually I am looking forward to it. Peter will be able to have a wonderful time with his ol' mate Clarkeii and won't have me nagging him to do stuff.

Just got to go down there and back up the bush track over that hill and then it's coffee in Horseshow Bay. Yay!!!

Eating Out on Magnetic Island

Best Vegetable Lasagne. Yum!

Made short work of the coffee and scones. Loved the coffee mugs. Tamarind Tea House, Arcadia

Goodbye Beautiful Magnetic Island

Horseshoe Bay. The boats are tucked in the corner out of sight

Forts. Cape Cleveland in the background