We Made Pigs Of Ourselves...

The Adventures of the Good Ship Equinox
Cate and Chris Galloway
Tue 27 Sep 2011 08:45
And so today we cleared in to New Cal - very efficient process but for the Bio Security implications of bringing in meat from Vanuatu...
 
Melanie the Quarantine Officer boarded the boat and asked Cate "what meat do you have onboard" Having been told by the rally organsers that we had an exemption from the usual requirements, and that beef, chicken and pork products were fine, we had 15kg of meat in the freezer. In her sweet and very french way, Melanie demurred and the morning's game began. Because we were the first boat to be cleared, there then ensued a standoff between the Quarantine Officers and John the rally organiser which went on for much of the morning. we ataully enjoyed Melanie's company (as she was very charming) while we waited for a serious game of phone tag between her and her boss to play out. The final result was that beef was always fine, chicken was OK (phew, we have 4 kg of it) but pork products were not. At John's instigation, Melanie headed off to clear a bunch of other boats while we consumed 1.5 kg of ham and bacon, making pigs of ourselves. She then returned and took off a bag of bacon rind and cleared us in.
 
This afternoon we motored over to an island a couple of miles away and went snorkelling with the Silver Foxes. On our return we saw KILKEA II (David and Marion) motoring into the anchorage. The last time we saw then was six weeks ago in Vanuatu when they decided to head off to Noumea to address some medical concerns that Marion had. Fortunately all is well and we have just enjoyed a lovely session of sundowners with them.
 
Tomorrow we will be off on a tour of Ouvea by bus, which we are looking forward to.
 
Until tomorrow, TTFN. Burp!