I am waiting in Noumea for my Australian visa; I thought that things were moving along but they seem to have come to a standstill. And there is not much I can do except wait. I will probably go out to the islands for a couple of days and clean the bottom of the boat and test my new battens.  The wind here is zero at 0800 but builds up to 20 to 25 knots through the day. So picking up a government mooring (no anchoring to protect the sea bed) will be exciting.  While I amuse myself waiting for my visa the internet connections are rubbish; very frustrating - the 'photos for this post take nearly an hour to load.     

I hire a car and then discover that there is not a hotel room to be had on the island. The schools are on holiday and so I decide to just do day trips coming back to the boat each evening. More driving but cheaper in the long run. It is hard to describe the scenery here. Words like 'stunning' and 'incredible' seem wholly inadequate. The rich red brown soil full of nickel is a colour I have not seen in soil before. The 40 square kilometer artifical lake created for the hydro electric scheme is almost empty at this time of year - a further reminder that I should be moving south before the start of the cyclone season.

The city market is beside the marina and is at its biggest on Saturdays and Sundays. They even bring in an live band to keep everyone entertained from the time the market opens. At 0530. Well, it is 30 minutes after sunrise...