At Ouvea
Our time on Lifou ended pleasantly. The wind was due to increase substantially in a few days, so we decided to head off on the Saturday for Ouvea, about 43NM away (76Km).
Before we left, another Aussie boat arrived. It is on route from the British Virgin Islands to Australia. The couple sailing it flew over there, bought it from a deceased estate, fixed it up and are sailing it home. They have a deadline of end of August because of tax and stamp duty. They stopped (illegally) at Lifou as they were en route from Vanuatu but get extremely sea sick. Lyn was seasick for a record 16 of 22 days at one stage and Nicholas is the same. There situation is not helped by the fact that they are sailing a Beneteau- these are known in the trade as BBBS (Bouncing Beach Balls). We bought them some fresh warm bread and they reciprocated with drinks as we chatted with the sun slowly sinking below the horizon. They had us in stitches with some of their stories of seasickness, Colombian Navy boats and all manner of interesting things. We also had our share of tall but true stories.
Lots of kids were playing on the beach so David became very popular when he handed out balloons to all of them. We also left a gift for the Grande Chef of the area. This is the traditional thing to do.
Saturday morning, we headed off. It was a fast and uneventful trip with us arriving off the Island of Mouli around mid afternoon. The entrance to this giant lagoon (about 50Km * 40Km) is only 100->200M wide due to lots of hidden and treacherous reefs. The electronic charts were inaccurate but the passage in was well marked. We anchored off a 25Km long white sandy beach. It was a little bouncy at anchor due to the strong wind. Ouvea is a long (about 50Km) atoll but is not very high (maximum 41metres) and very narrow (down to 40 metres wide in one place).
The next morning, we went to Church. This was a very colourful affair and the Melanesian/Polynesian singing was fantastic. Everyone was very welcoming. All of these little islands have these magnificent churches which are totally inappropriate for the sub-tropical environment. Every one of them is built in a French Colonial, style and they are nearly all more than 100 years old. Naturally, we were the only white people around.
It does not rain much here so there are fresh water wells every 50 metres behind the beaches. Apparently, there is a desalination plant to supply water in times of really low rainfall.
From what we can see, the people here are poorer than on Mare or Lifou. We are not sure why, because apparently there is more tourism to this atoll. Something else to ponder... The other things that are interesting about Ouvea are the rope factory where they make rope from coconut fibre. There is also a factory where they produce coconut oil and soap from coconuts. This is a fantastic idea because other parts of the Pacific collect Copra but the price is so low it is very uneconomical and there is no market. Here, the people are processing the coconuts to useful end products with good retail sales value. There is also a vanilla plantation which is very successful. It is good to see that these and most of the tourism ventures are owned and operated by local people and not by big multinationals which tend to suck the money out.
Today (Monday) we wanted to rent a car for the day and see all the other bits and pieces of the atoll but it was not to be. On Sunday, we had been for a long walk and found the rental location- an old tin shed by the side of the road but with no markings. Today, we waited there for over an hour and a half until someone turned up. It turns out they only have the one car and it was not available. Rather than hitch a ride up the atoll, we took the yacht up towards the middle of Ouvea, to a place called Fayaoue. We then embarked on another long walk, which was quite interesting. We found a Gite which is supposed to rent cars, but they simply deal with someone "up the road". So, up the road we went, but still no luck, so we gave up.
We had afternoon tea in a delightful little Fare (thatched hut) by the side of the road and overlooking the white beach and huge lagoon. The floor was all seashells. The girl serving was lying in a hammock as we gave our orders and finally she rolled out and cut our thick slices of Gateau and made the Cafe au lait. The other lady there was keeping her company & minding a little boy who got a balloon from Dave's deep pocket. We suspect we were the only customers that day so they were very keenly questioning us on where we are from, what it was like sailing here etc. We had a fun time.
Then, on the way back to the boat, we were met by an old man who insisted we come to his house and sit down and talk. There were several other ment there and (as usual) they spoke not a word of English but spoke their own language and French. They made it clear they did not think much of the French language but were happy enough to use it to communicate with the. They wanted us to stay for dinner, but we politely declined. We did take their photos and promised to mail them copies upon our return to Australia. They also wanted us to take photos ogf the ancient Church next door (it is being renovated) and send them back. This we did and will do. We left them with a calendar of the Northern Beaches. We left a nice Australian cap for the Grande Chef (who lives next door to the old man- however he is in Noumea). Thereupon, the old man declared that HE was the Grande Chef and took possession of the hat for himself! Fair enough- he is there and the Grande Chef is not.
As we came back to the beach, we saw with some alarm a bunch of school kids hurling real aluminium javelins in the direction of our rubber ducky. We found that they had dragged it further away from the throwing area, but even so, some of the kids could hurl their javelins a prodigious distance. We think that our rubber ducky at the end of the throwing area must have lent an extra incentive to their throwing efforts! We took the boat away and escaped before someone put it a superhuman throw.
Tomorrow morning, we are setting off for the East Coast of Grand Terre (the main island). This is about 60NM away and it will be a long trip to make in the daylight hours. We hope to rent a car there and travel a little further up the East (also known as the Kanak) Coast.
Dave & Penny
