Huon Island en route to Australia

Residents of Huon Island: lots of birds!

A sandy island 0.6nm long in New Caledonia’s most northern reef system lies about 100nm NW of the mainland. Its exposed grassy ridge about 20ft above sea level is home to thousands of birds.  “What sea sickness…” says Heidi as a booby landed on our boom just after dropping anchor. We’d had a super fast 2 day 300nm passage to get here and had our fingers crossed the wind would swing further to the east as even the SSE wind had chop wrapping up the open lagoon. Still it was better than at sea. We found the GPS (WGS 84) longitude agreed with the French Chart 5978 but the GPS latitude placed us about 0.35nm north of our actual position in relation to the island.  Some nice big areas of sand to anchor in just near the island’s centre. We had a fly over by a French patrol plane who politely asked over VHF our past and future ports of call etc, so we were glad we’d put the courtesy flag up and had emailed customs.

Brown Booby adult

The wind did swing overnight, so we went ashore and walked the beach around the island amid the thousands of Brown Noddy’s and Brown Boobies. Both of these were in quite a range of breeding stages, but the less numerous Masked Boobies were courting and incubating.  Hermit crabs were doing a good service as clean up crews for the large numbers of dead chicks and when they weren’t eating they hid under whatever minimal cover there was from the debris washed ashore be it coral blocks, wood or coconut shells. The eastern shore was covered in debris with the reef extending beyond. The western side is more or less exposed to open water.  The only Red-footed Booby we saw was the one that roosted on our spreaders doing injustice to our decks but some how missing the French flag.

Turtles also breed here and a plaque asked for help in with a breeding survey. So we diligently dragged a stick around the island drawing a line that we are meant to inspect for turtle tracks the following morning. Unfortunately the wind returned to the south and we were unable to return to our last bit of paradise. By lunch time the 2-3-foot chop and 20kns finally dragged the anchor and we decided it best to put to sea after one re-anchoring attempt.

Species List Huon Island

Brown Noddy 1000’s

Brown Booby 1000’s

Masked Booby 100’s

Lesser Frigatebird  2

Ruddy Turnstone 6-8

Red-tailed Tropicbird 2-3

Sooty Tern 10-12

Black Naped Tern 3-5

Red-footed Booby 1

Masked Booby courtship behaviour



Masked Booby pair

Brown Noddy looking sharp

Our Red-footed Booby friend;
please don't dirty the flag!

Brown Booby chick, still fuzzy

One happy resident biologist

Hermit crabs taking shelter on the beach

Lifou Island; we bid adieu to New Caledonia

Kids fishing at Tribu Drueulu, Lifou Island 

With no significant light pollution from the village (tribu) of Drueulu on Lifou Island and no moon, the display of stars was amazing.  Pulling out the Field Guide to Stars and Planets, we learnt that the dark spot near the Southern Cross was caused by cosmic dust blocking out the brighter Milky Way and is called the Coal Sack.  Armed with that piece of information we’ll be ready for more star gazing on the way to Vanuatu.

Crystal clear water at the anchorage in Lifou

The trip to Lifou had a quiet start as we motor sailed east from Noumea. We’d rather that than pounding into a strong SE trade wind that kicks up a nasty short chop in the lagoon.  In Woodin Canal a breaching humpback displayed for us. It must be one of the first up here from Antarctica this season. Havannah Pass was ebbing slowly when we thought it should be flooding so we were gently flushed out to sea. Some playful dolphins joined us for a while, some log rolling twice around in the air which was quite spectacular. The wind filled with a dousing of rain and we ran overnight up to Lifou. The water is very clear; Heidi started picking out the bottom at 20m on the way into Drueulu.  The anchorage is a mix of sand and hard flat coral with a few bommies and well protected from the SE trades. We paid our respects to the Petit Chiefs son as the Grande and Petit Chiefs were away. The son (a father of 5 and one day will be the Chief) welcomed us to the village and took our small gift to pass on.  All this was done semi-formerly in his round house. Heidi’s French was stretched a little, but it was a pleasant exchange followed by coffee in his house. The village itself was very neat and tidy. The thatched round houses were very common, usually along side another simple building which seemed to be the one lived in. We hitched across the island to Wé, walked around the many roads in the Drueulu area for some good birding, snorkeled off the white sand beaches and limestone cliffs and crags and watched a round house being re-thatched. We were surprised to hear only about 20 yachts a year come through. We added to both fish and bird species and turtles abound – a beautiful place.

Traditional Round House

Re-thatching underway

New Caledonia Species List

Breaching humpback in Canal Woodin

Pacific Black Duck
Tahiti Petrel
Wedge-tailed Shearwater
Wilson’s Storm Petrel
Little Pied Cormorant
Lesser Frigatebird
Red-footed Booby
Little Green (Striated) Heron
White-faced Heron
Pacific Reef Heron
Eastern Osprey
Brown Goshawk
Swamp Harrier
Whistling Kite
Peregrine Falcon
Buff-banded Rail
Purple Swamphen
Pacific Golden Plover
Wandering Tattler
Silver Gull
Black Noddy

Wedge-tailed Shearwater

Great Crested Tern
Sooty Tern
Black-naped Tern
Fairy Tern
Pacific Emerald Dove
Metallic Pigeon
Coven-feathered Dove
Red-bellied Fruit Dove
Spotted Dove
Coconut Lorikeet
Glossy Swiftlet
White-rumped Swiftlet
Sacred Kingfisher
Marred Honeyeater
Grey-eared Honeyeater
New Caledonian Myzomela
Cardinal Myzomela
New Caledonian Friarbird
Fan-tailed Gerygone
White-breasted Woodswallow
South Melanesian Cuckooshrike
Long-tailed Triller
Melanesian Whistler
Rufous Whistler
Grey Fantail
Streaked Fantail
New Caledonian Crow
Yellow-bellied Flyrobin
Pacific Swallow
Silvereye
Green-backed White-eye

White-breasted Woodswallow

Small Lifou White-eye
Red-vented Bulbul
Common Myna
Striated Starling
House Sparrow
Red-throated Parrotfinch
Common Waxbill

Bottlenose Dolphin
Omura’s Whale
Humpback Whale
Dugong

Green Sea Turtle
Loggerhead Turtle
Band Sea Snake

We originally took this whale for a Bryde's. It turns out we were wrong!  There are no extra ridges on its rostum (top of the head) and it has a white lower jaw (it's assymettrical, like a Fin Whale, white on one side and dark on the other). After consulting with experts that know more about whale identification than we do, we've determined that it was an Omura's Whale, which has only been photographed in the wild once before, and not in this area of the world.  This species was only described in 2003.  We were pretty excited when we learned all this!

Omura's Whale in the southern lagoon

Dodging Weather in New Caledonia

We are glad we made use of the first few weeks here, as lately a couple of troughs have passed through forcing us to sit out wind and rain in protected anchorages.

After Île des Pins (70nm SE of Noumea) we spent another two weeks exploring Baie de Prony, where there were lots of protected bays.  If we had not run out of food we would have stayed longer… amazing snorkeling on the entrance reef and at Ilot Casey; great walking in several placest; penal colony ruins; and hot springs that were tepid but relaxing for a soak.  Rivers or streams seemed to run from every valley, so we had a good supply of washing water and with a few other boats around we shared some hospitality.   As we sailed off the anchor one day a few Tasmanians that had chartered a boat offered us some extra milk and bread.  This turned into an amusing sail into fluky winds and food tossing contest.  Only one milk had to be retrieved from the water. 

Returning to our favourite anchorage (Baie des Citrons) near Noumea harbour, we used the easy access to food, water and internet.  The beach has a huge buoyed area for swimming which is very popular from dawn till dusk.  We have also had many swims and made use of the beach showers.  Even though the outside temperature has dropped, the sea water is still about 25C, so it’s very pleasant.

While in Noumea we also visited the Museum of New Caledonia and Tjibaou Cultural Centre.  By good luck, the later coincided with the Pacific Arts Festival; so our day was full of entertainment of both traditional and modern music and dance.  Added to the art, architecture and displays it made for a most interesting day. 

We have sat out the last two troughs in an inlet 10 nm north of Noumea that has many bays to move around as the wind shifts.  Most of the land is private and we were warned that some was used for hunting, but walking the forshore at low tide seems ok.  If it wasn’t we would maybe go a little stir-crazy sitting onboard. The biggest mishap during all this was Stephen inadvertently letting the dinghy drift off in a strong breeze after emptying the water.  Not sure how, but in the few seconds it took to realize the only way to get it back was a swim and then a rapid strip, the distance rapidly increased. Having been warned some non-reef shark species inhabit these bays, it was a quick 100m.

We are now back in Noumea and saw another dugong on our way here this morning!  We are waiting for the right weather to head to Vanuatu.  It will likely be early next week. 

We hope that not many more of these troughs pass as Vanuatu has less all round protected anchorages. 

As the end of this voyage looms on the horizon we set plans in motion for storing the boat and work back in Canada.  We feel like we have slowed down.  There has been more quiet time in the last few weeks to reflect, read and relax.  Is this because we are savouring our last bit of “freedom” or have we reached a saturation point of new places?  Whatever it is, we are happy to soak in life at a slower pace for a while in preparation for busier times ahead.

Noumea and Île des Pins

We’ve been in New Caledonia for over three weeks and the time has flown past.  We have explored the city of Noumea, with its lovely museums and world class aquarium.  We’ve enjoyed our daily dose of bagette and brie and practiced our français.  Our (Heidi’s) struggling high-school language skills are always met with friendly and helpful responses and we’re constantly surprised at how well we manage to communicate.  One evening we shared drinks on a local catamaran and chatted well into the evening.  Translation wasn’t always fast enough for the flow of conversation, so Stephen didn’t catch everything, but it was still a wonderful visit.

Golden Trevally in Noumea Aquarium

We visited a few small island anchorages not far from Noumea, including Îlot Signal and Kouen, where we snorkeled along stunning coral reefs and found the most exciting fish diversity that we’ve seen yet!  Unfortunately our underwater camera has died, this means I need to bump up the effort to record in my sketchbook (another New Year’s resolution with good intentions).  Aside from the amazing fish, we’ve also seen nesting Shearwaters, loads of sea turtles and our first Dugong!  The dugong was too elusive for a photo but we were so excited!

From the Sketchbook: Spiny Chiton

Eventually it was time to venture further away from Noumea and the weather cooperated.  We made a 2-day jump to the SE when the trade winds eased; the first day to Baie de Prony in the south of Grand Terre.  After an hour or so of motoring we worried that we wouldn’t get much sailing in, but then ended up tacking through Canal Woodin with the help of current.  By the end of the day we had a reef in, but the NE breeze meant no seas to contend with, so it was a kickin’ day of sailing.  The second day, when we made of the longer jump down to Île des Pins also ended up a stunning sail in a southerly.

View from Pic N'ga over lagoon

We’ve been here nearly a week.  Hiked up the highest bit of land, Pic N’ga, a couple times.  For those who know Stephen well, we managed a bit of off-trail bush-walking on our second descent.  We’ve also rented bikes and went sight-seeing around the whole island and seen heaps of great endemic bird species in our wanderings.

It’s quite idyllic here really.  The local kids play and swim on the beach after school and had a great laugh helping us launch the dinghy one day.  We have a few Sharksuckers (like a Remora, but bigger) now associated with Narama’s hull.  One hangs out on the starboard side, near the sink drain outlet, the other on port side near the heads outlet (hmmm…) They also seem to like eggshells and cucumber peels, but not coffee grounds.  They even went after the leftovers from a can of chipotle chiles from Mexico that I had in the fridge too long.  If that didn’t put them off, then they might be with us to stay!

From Stephen's Sketchbook: Full moon rise over Ile des Pins