Simply magic

Destination: New Caledonia

Jill Knight finds the New Caledonia of today just as exciting and memorable as the laid-back but exotic destination she encountered 25 years ago.

Sailing Cooee to New Caledonia was a repeat of Cooee's and my first voyage together, in 1983: that was my first offshore passage. I loved the place then and I love it still: exotic, stunningly beautiful and yacht-friendly, so many cruising possibilities, and, for most CH readers, very close to home.

The population is under 250,000, 45 percent of whom are Melanesian, and the culture is a fascinating mix of French and Kanak. Apart from regional cruisers, many round-the-world sailors make it the final stopover before they head for summer shelter in Australia or New Zealand.

The main island, or Grande Terre, is surrounded by the world's second-longest barrier reef, and the lagoon it encloses, the world's largest, is dotted with islands. New Caledonia is a cruising sailor's heaven, especially sailors who enjoy solitary getaways in pristine anchorages.

Arrival
There are several passes through the barrier reef, and for yachts arriving from the south or west the Passe de Boulari is the safest; it is marked by lights and is unaffected by currents or overfalls. However, this does not mean it is without dangers, and even the most experienced navigators can become confused here, often just inside the pass.

Noumea is the only entry port and lies another 15 miles across the lagoon. Raise your Q flag and call the Port Moselle Marina on VHF 67. They will give you a free day and arrange for clearance and a welcome drink at the bar. Customs granted Cooee clearance for 12 months simply by fax from the marina office.

Immigration officers came to the boat and stamped our passports. Then Quarantine came and asked for our fruit, vegetables and honey. There were no charges to pay so as soon as the officials left, down came the Q and up went the tricolour: we had arrived.

My brother and his wife had sailed from Australia with me and had just over a week's holiday left. They tend to be energetic as tourists, so we packed a lot in. But first came the prosaic stuff: laundry is done for you if you take it to the marina fuel dock; the fresh fish and vegetable market is on the waterfront and opens every day between 5am and noon with the weekends being the big days; a Casino supermarket will appear if you follow the waterfront road past the fresh market and shipping port; a voilerie for sail and canvas repairs is just across the road behind the marina office; filling a gas bottle is not straightforward but can be done at the single depot out of town if you can arrange a ride Ð perhaps two rides since it may not be filled immediately.

Being tourists
With chores out of the way we put Cooee on her anchor, visited the offices du tourisme for both the provinces, Sud and Nord, hired a car and spent two days driving north to Hienghene and back. We saw much of the Grande Terre on the trip: western beaches, central mountain ranges and cascades - with parts of the inland devastated by nickel mining and subsequent erosion Ð and the dramatic northeast coast, where we found Hienghene to be truly spectacular. One thing that surprised us was that the country was almost empty of people once we were outside Noumea. This main island is 400km long but there was no pulling over on a whim for café au lait and croissants. Food, wine and accommodation take some tracking down beyond Noumea.

After our land trip we had time for a few days on the lagoon. There are quite a number of islands within 10 miles of Noumea and we chose Ile Laregnere, which is tyEven though it was school holidays there were only a handful of people at the island and all went home at night. On our third night afloat we anchored in L'Anse Kuendu on the mainland, where there is a hotel built in the style of a Melanesian village; it boasts one of the country's best restaurants.

Cultural events
Back in town one of the most enjoyable things we did was take a bus to the Tjibaou Cultural Centre. Contemporary buildings are beautifully combined with stylised Kanak great houses, and an ongoing program of performances and exhibitions promotes the Kanak heritage. We had read accounts of New Caledonia's sometimes bloody history and found our visit to this wonderful memorial to the revolutionary leader Jean-Marie Tjibaou a moving experience. Apart from this there was a lot going on in Noumea and after my guests left I was kept busy whenever I was in town with live music by local and foreign artists, galleries, and regular events in the Place des Cocotiers, a park in the centre of town Ð all of the events free. Live en aout is an annual event: the month of August is packed with live music performances in bars and restaurants around town. Every Thursday evening there is an event of some sort in the Place des Cocotiers, and the weekend markets on the waterfront are social events in themselves.

Getting around on land
On a previous visit I was lucky enough to have made some friends who went hiking on weekends. The hiking in New Caledonia is marvellous and spectacular. Anyone with botanical interests goes wild over the great number of species unique to the country. The Department of Natural Resources in Rue Jean Jaures has a set of brochures, each one summarising a hiking trail, and these tracks are worth knowing about: several of the walks we did, for example around Prony and Yate, are easily accessed by anyone anchored in these places. Detailed maps of the trails are available for sale in newsagents. For getting around town buses seemed good value, but services are sparse to the north and can be unreliable. A bike could be useful but there are a lot of hills.

Weather and tides
A free booklet from the chandlery, Marine Corail, contains tide tables and other useful information such as times and frequencies for weather broadcasts; it includes a list of words used in forecasts which are, of course, delivered in French. The first time I listened on VHF (channels 26 and 28 worked best) I was lost, but before long I knew the format and the weather language and was fine. Broadcasts from Charleville on HF were coming in loud and clear Ð Queensland coast and Coral Sea among others Ð giving one a pretty good idea of what was on the way. The marina at Port Moselle posts daily charts on their noticeboard also, and reading the text with the help of a dictionary is useful preparation for the voice broadcasts because the language is virtually the same.

Anchorage in Noumea
On previous visits I'd had brief cruises south of Noumea Ð Baie du Prony and the magnificent Ile des Pins - and a little time on the east coast. On this visit I envisaged a lengthy foray north along the west coast. I imagined calling in to village markets for social contact and fresh provisions as I drifted from bay to island to reef: even after our car trip the implications of the empty countryside had not hit home. In the event there was almost nothing outside Noumea except pristine beauty: no people, no markets, no boats. Even when, on a couple of occasions, I thought I had anchored off a village, they turned out to be uninhabited Ð holiday houses, presumably. My solution to this lack of population undoubtedly made for a richer overall experience: I ended up taking three short trips north, returning to Noumea every couple of weeks for fresh stores and a dose of human company.

The two main anchorages in town are Baie de la Moselle just outside the marina and Baie de L'Orphelinat. Both have protection from the south, east and north but not from the west. When a change is on the way, occupied boats start to move across to the Petite Rade on the western side of Moselle, a move of less than a mile for most. Where to leave the dinghy when anchored is something of an issue.

There is a beach that I used occasionally at the end of the breakwater in Moselle, but most often I visited friends in the marina and left my dinghy at their boats. For a payment, the marina offers use of its facilities to crews at anchor, and while I was there a public mooring place was made available for dinghies near the market.

Boat bits and services
Marine Corail is the major chandler in town. While some reduction of taxes on items was available for yachts in transit, normal Australian prices were lower on the few items whose costs I checked. I noticed a couple of other marine retail outlets on my wanderings; Nouville Plaisance is one of two haulout facilities and it has a comprehensive range of equipment and services for boats. For do-it-yourself jobs requiring more space than one has aboard, there is a bench with a vice outside a small abandoned-looking shed close to the southern end of the Port Moselle fuel dock.

Food
Supermarkets, butchers and bakers in Noumea have most things one might want, much of it from Australia and New Zealand, but import taxes make everything very expensive. Nevertheless it is possible for those of us who are impoverished to spend time here without it costing a lot. Since Quarantine officers are interested only in honey, fresh fruit and vegetables, there is no reason not to stock up on canned, bottled and dried foods in cheaper market places such as Australia. I did not hear of any boats being required to have stores of alcohol bonded, but in any case wine, at least, is reasonably priced: not champagne though, so bring your own.

The fresh market is expensive but not outrageously so and I have to say I did not resent the expense. Tomatoes might be small, bananas spotty and pawpaws oddly shaped, but unlike the big, bland, glossy, long-lived stuff we find in Australian greengroceries in the main, fruit and vegetables here taste like the real thing. The fish market is magnificent and seafood seems reasonably priced, including crabs, which are plentiful.

Communication
Communication needs are well catered for in New Caledonia. Public telephones operated with phone cards or credit cards are ubiquitous: they stand in towns, outside towns, on deserted roads and beaches. I even saw one that might be useful for cruisers in the usually uninhabited historic village of Prony. There are internet cafés in Noumea but I use a PocketMail device for emails, so wherever there was a phone I had access to cyberspace. The PO always seemed to have long queues but newsagents stock stamps.

Health
New Caledonia like anywhere, to take precautions against coral cuts and diseases like hepatitis and AIDS. There is no malaria but dengue fever occurs, as does ciguatera in certain fish species in certain sites. No one seems to worry about the ever-present sea snakes, the most common being the banded tricot rayé, and they appear totally indifferent to humans. However, their venom is deadly and contrary to popular belief they can bite places other than the web of skin between the thumb and forefinger.

Navigation
Part of New Caledonia's appeal lies in its vast coral reefs that offer surfing, diving, snorkelling and fishing. Reefs and bommies abound and more often than not they are unmarked. Trusting in navigation aids in places one has not visited before is likely to end unhappily. Charts are reasonably good and there is an English-language cruising guide, but leave new places for sunny days when you can see what is actually there.

Departure
The new chief of Customs was doing his best to accommodate cruising boats when I visited: after clearance in Noumea a boat had another seven days to clear New Caledonian waters, so could explore the coast beyond Noumea including the Loyalty Islands and even reefs such as the Chesterfields prior to final departure. Immigration had less liberal views, so check requirements with both departments before making firm departure plans. Duty-free fuel is available to yachts making their final departure from Noumea itself. While Cooee had waited for a westerly and put in a long leg due east to avoid headwinds on the voyage out from Australia, the return trip was the usual fine downwind run that capped off a wonderful cruise.