Pine island
Canopus 3 on the Blue Water Rally
Jean Michel Coulon
Wed 9 Jul 2008 09:23
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Bonjour from New Caledonia - we are currently
anchored in one of the bays of the Ils des Pins and had the most excellent day
of exploring the island, from the most pristine snorkelling to lunching on the
largest langoustine you've ever seen. This place has the most incredibly
clear waters with soft white sand the color and texture of flour (and
butter). As we drove around the island today (it's probably 25 km in
circumference), we passed a number of amazing white sand beaches that are nearly
completely devoid of people.
The most notable stop was at the natural swimming
hole near the baie d'oro. You basically park the car, follow a sandy
little river out almost to the ocean which opens up into a large open swimming
hole filled with clear ocean water and the best snorkelling ever
(seriously!) The pool is protected from the waves of the ocean by 10-20
meters of land, with a narrow and shallow stretch (1 ft deep) to allow the water
to continually be refreshed and allow all of the fish to enter. The
snorkelling here was indescribable - I could swim here everyday and never get
bored. There were too many types of fish to count and thats not including
the sea urchins, colorful clams and coral of all sorts. There
were territorial little brown fish that would fake charge you if you got too
close to their patch of coral; parrotfish that you coul hear nibbling on the
coral; big white fish that would follow Cecile around; schools and schools of
fish of every color - orange, neon blue, silver, yellow, shimmering blue-green,
reds - that I couldn't even begin to identify. C'etait magnifique.
We followed it up with lunch at a beach restaurant
famous for their lobster. This is not one of the typical touristy places
with big "western" restaurants. It was a small building where they did the
cooking with a number of picnic tables outside on the sand. We had lobster
of two types - (1) langoustine rouge - which is about 12 inches long
and (2) langoustine porcelaine - which was about 12 ft
long (well maybe only 2 ft long). The food and atmosphere
are truly unique to New Caledonia. This is definitely a place to come back
to.
I would be remiss if I didn't mention our
post-lunch lesson in the waterproof-ness of electronic car keys (or lack
thereof) and how to repair one with only the air from the air
conditioning. It's like magic...
All-in-all, this places rocks and we will be sad to
leave. Tomorrow morning we are off to Noumea, the big city.
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