Toketie on the move....almost!

The Toketie crew have 'officially' cleared out of New Caledonia but are sitting in the anchorage watching the weather patterns form over Australia and out into the Tasman Sea! They are a lively bunch, I must say! Highs and Lows, fronts and conversion zones....almost makes you want to pull a 'kiwi' and just go and take yr lickin! But tonight a half dozen or more OCC boats are gathering on 'Szel', a Deerfoot anchored next to us so we must put in a presence! And last night we had the crew of 'Bold Spirit' on board for the dinner they gave us in Fiji.....its so easy to come up with excuses! We have topped up the diesel, the water, the provisions so are running out of excuses...but for that darned weather! To top off the pre-departure anxiety, we are in a strong La Nina year....which is a cold current cycling below the ocean West of S America.....the pundits have declared it will enhance cyclone activity in the S Western Pacific...and guess where we are?
So we hope to cast off soon....its only about 800nm to Bundaberg on the East Australian coast and that is our destination. We think we will park there and travel a bit! Now all we have to do is get there!!! For those out there who pray (Julie:), we'll think of you too!!!

another dive!

five months in the tropics and I can't seem to find a barber....no
worries....Sukanuk to the rescue and Anthea gives me a trim....just
before suiting up with the dive gear again to clean Toketie's bottom
for the very particular Australian quarantine authorities...then over
to Sukanuk to do the same....only to be chased (literally) out of the
water by a shark who was just too interested in me for
comfort.....amazing what adrenaline will do for you.....

a dive

the trip to the top of the mast resulted in the wind transducer
jumping out of my hand (or it could have been an albatross flying by
and clipping it with its wing)....anyway it did not bounce off the
deck but splashed into the chuck at the dock....only 20 ft...no
problem...borrow Derek's dive gear and down I go....got it! Bloody
thing still doesn't work.....

concertina!

a Colin Dipper concertina arrives in the anchorage......

The 'kids' arrive!

all too short....but most enjoyable....

hunting for sharks....and hiking....

leave only footprints....

Isle Signal, New Caledonia

bugs on a branch!

while walking on the beach...what strange sights we see....

Wednesday night race!

Everywhere we go, the racing scene is out in force on Wednesday nights in the summer!  Noumea is no different and we were treated to a spectacle in the anchorage as dozens of boats flew spinnakers on the downwind leg.  The wind then shifted 180 degrees and they flew them home as the sun set.  The French do love their sailing!

There goes the neighborhood!

View of Noumea Harbor!

Busy place!  Freighters, cruise ships, navy vessels, yachties!!

Parc Forestier!

We had a very long hike  yesterday, about an hour and a half, much of it uphill!  But the views were spectacular along the way!  We were looking for a park with some rare birds in it.  Turned out to be a zoo but they are breeding pairs of these endagered Kagu birds so we'll forgive them!  The Kagu only live in New Caledonia and are on the WWF endangered species list. Known as the 'ghost of the forest', they are flightless and normally live in very remote locations.

marine reserves

Lots of these big turtles swimming around in the amazingly clear water!  They are very curious and swim around the boats but dive as soon as you look at them.  The small islands near Noumea are mostly marine reserves so all sealife and birdlife are protected.  It makes for a lot of stuff in the water!  We saw a Dugong, a kind of whale also known as a 'sea cow'.  It feeds on grassy weed and is very friendly.  Lots of fish of course and a few sharks to spice things up!  Weather has been cool (20-25) since we arrived but is warming up now as we move into summer here.  All in all a very comfortable climate and friendly people that speak a weird language that I recognize from my childhood!!

Toketie crew in New Caledonia!

The Toketie crew have been exploring some of New Caledonia for a few weeks now!  Unfortunately the internet service seems very poor here so we don't have very good access.  Culture is interesting, very European flavor, with a mixture of the local indigenous Kanak population.  Noumea is a small city with most of the country's people crammed into and has homeless people down by the waterfront.  We did get out to some of the S anchorages though and on a hike managed to take this picture of Toketie from the top of a hill!

Cruising New Caledonia!

Toketie made it out of the anchorage in Noumea! The city was fine for a week, lots of bagettes and croissants! And the wine is excellent here...full bodied red Beaujolais and Bordeaux at prices even we can afford! But we are now sitting in a remote anchorage at the end of an inlet with our good friends from Sukanuk that we have not seen since NZ. Took a dinghy ride up a shallow river to a small waterfall and supposed 'hot springs' which were not hot but a nice pool anyway. Clouding over and a stationery front to the S will keep us here for a few days and then hopefully do some more exploring.

Arrived New Caledonia safely!

Made it! Not a bad passage overall but the cold beer and hot shower will be very welcome!!

Approaching New Caledonia!

With 110nm to go, Toketie is on her final approach to New Caledonia! The sky is deep blue with a smattering of puffy white cumulus clouds or 'tradewind clouds' as we refer to them. The wind is very gentle from the SE and the seas are kind. One can not ask for much more in an ocean passage! We hope to clear Havannah Pass and enter the main reef early afternoon on Friday (in New Cal). The AIS (Automatic Identification System) we installed paid for itself in the wee hours of this morning as the 'Coral Coast', a very large freighter, was bearing down on us directly ahead on a reciprocal course to ours! Calling the vessel on its MMSI # alerted a crew member who then had a look out the window and confirmed he could see us! The vessel then very kindly altered course to pass us safely.

Smooth Sailing!

After sailing out of the rain and clouds overnight to clear blue skies and sunshine with a gentle tradewind large off the port quarter, we are having some of our best sailing ever! (touching wood)

Underway!

Motored for 24 hours with no wind. Good offing from land, now sailing very slowly using drifter. Clear skies and trough ahead appears to have moved south.

Toketie ready!

Well, after a few very relaxing days in Momi Bay, Fiji, it looks like
tomorrow, Saturday in this part of the world is a good day to go to
sea! We avoided leaving port on Friday the 13th for fear of tempting
fate. Weather looks fairly light ahead but we shall see what it
brings. Managed to connect to Airmail so should be able to provide
brief updates by HAM radio en route.