Having a blast (literally) in the Loyalty Islands and Vanuatu

As happy as two people standing a foot away from a 1,000 foot drop into a live volcano can be!

As loyal readers remember, L'ORIENT pulled into Scarborough, Australia for a what was to be a five month refit in November. After a ton of work and kilo-dollars of expense we left "Oz" about two months late in the season for our four month "test drive" of the new L'ORIENT. Destination: New Caledonia.

Mariners going back hundreds of years have carefully recorded the routes and best times to come and go across the oceans. As we were forced to ignore this because of vendor delays, we've paid for it with rough passages. Generally speaking, 30 knot winds and 10-12 foot seas has been the rule vs. the exception. Not being fond of huge conditions, we've gritted our teeth and trekked on.

After our time in Ile des Pins (isle of Pines, for you French-challenged folks), the Loyalty Islands beckoned. Lifou and Ouvea. The problem with the Loyalty Islands is that during the South Pacific winter (which we were in) it's like the Hotel California - you can check out any time you like........but you can never leave. The prevailing wind is very difficult to overcome when trying to return to Noumea - which you have to do to check out and proceed to your next country. One way in and one way out.

But not impossible. So on we went. Ile de Pins (IDP) to Lifou.......here we come. The problem we've continually been having is speed..........too much of it. IDP to Lifou is 120 miles. About a day in normal sailing speed terms.......5-6 knots. So you plan your departure in order to arrive at mid-day. The sun is high, you can see uncharted hazards like coral heads, etc. 

This calculus is thrown off a bit in unforecasted 30 knot wind. L'ORIENT hurtles along at 8.3 knots, rollicking in the big seas and skating down huge swells...........and once again, we arrive 6 hours early. Entering an anchorage you've never been to in the dark, shining a light to try not to ram anchored boats, etc......it's a bit nerve wracking. 

Looking for signs of civilization

But here we are. Lifou. New Caledonia works like this: white French people are in Noumea in the city and nearby suburbs. Outside of Noumea, it's basically Kanak. And in the outer islands.......it's all Kanak. With traditional houses......traditional life-styles. In the US, a Chief is an NFL player who wears red. In Lifou, the Chief is the actual head of the village. The typical boat is carved out of a tree the same way it's been done for thousands of years. No joke. Kanak architecture hasn't changed either. Cyclone proof thatch huts.

A chief's house; a bit sparse on windows

Museum piece ? Nope- Kanak boat under construction

It has been funny that owing to last year's violence between the French and the Kanaks, we are in the only place on earth where it's better to be an American than French. Kanaks who warily greet us with "Bonjour" get a hearty "Hello" back from us to assure them that we are not French. They immediately smile back and want to know where we are from. We've had no problems with anyone. But land based tourists have largely stopped coming here. We read that New Zealand and Australia have advisories (still) on traveling here. A shame, because it's lovely.

Once again- a beach all to ourselves

This is what I think of when I think "South Pacific"

Lifou is stunning. One of the most beautiful islands we've ever encountered. It's volcanic in origin, so it has some of the same weird topological features that the Lau Group in Fiji had. 

You can't stop the jungle- you can only hope to contain it

But frequent walks here were rewarded by amazing sights......the water color, the vegetation. All unforgettable. A tropical island with remnants of French architecture in the churches.

France's primary South Pacific export; religion

More churches than hospitals or schools

We rented a car and drove around the island. Again - very few tourists. An Intercontinental Hotel that was built but never opened stands empty at one end of the island - a casualty of a one-two punch of COVID and riots. 

No sign of the hand of man anywhere

How's this for a view ?

After returning the rental car we got a ride back to our dinghy but rounding the corner we knew something had changed in the sea conditions and it was not good. We had hands down one of the scariest dinghy rides back to the boat that we have ever experienced and things didn't get better from there. Lorient was rolling so violently that we had to catapult ourselves out of the dinghy on the side of the boat and ran in to the sound of things crashing. It was one of the worst nights of roll we have ever experienced in 15 years on the boat but we still love Lifou.

Your sail could end suddenly if you take your eye off the ball

Ouvea presents a challenge in that it's WNW of Lifou. OK, easy to get there. But now you're pinned against the main island of New Caledonia and to get out, it's a long SE sail directly into the prevailing wind, which in winter is likely to be high. But sailors sail, so hello Ouvea.

Yawn, another perfect beach

Interpreting the colors is the key to not grounding L'ORIENT

Ouvea is also incredibly beautiful and the only atoll in this part of the Pacific. Turquoise water........miles of empty beaches (except for us). And a sparce group of lovely locals. Across our five weeks in the Loyalty Islands we saw exactly three other sailboats. We kept pinching ourselves that a beach in France in August could be this empty.

Not even any footprints

Kanak kids are super curious

Going to a restaurant here for lunch is an interesting experience - first of all "restaurant" is perhaps a bit of a reach. This is a thatch structure on the beach with logs for chairs and wood planks for a table. You generally linger outside the establishment and someone walks out from a home across the street or down the dirt road. We then ask in our primitive French if they are open for lunch. Given that it appeared that no one had had lunch here for weeks we were a bit apprehensive about what we might get as there is no menu. The answer - a lobster burger! A very pleasant surprise and a good opportunity to learn about the place with the help of Google translate. 

This restaurant is OUVERT ! Yippee !

Fine dining with a minimum of frills

Our routine of reading at the beach, hiking, and generally exploring continued. In much of the South Pacific there are places that you are not to go with your boat - "Tabu" areas due to a cultural significance or ownership issues. Unfortunately on Ouvea the only place that protects you slightly from westerly wind is absolutely TABU and in the winter that leads to some uncomfortable seas as you hide out the best you can in less than ideal anchorages. Still though - top 5 beach we have seen sailing. Amazing.

Not much to protect you from the wind

So many beaches, so little time

No tourists, no problems

The French perhaps "over-engineered" this bridge connecting small islets

One thing that is a bit surprising in the Loyalty Islands and throughout New Caledonia are the number of war memorials for islanders who served in both World Wars. It is hard to imagine being told you are taking a boat in 1914 from the South Pacific to fight in a trench in Belgium but if the upside of being part of the French Empire is excellent baguettes I guess the downside is finding yourself part of the ill fated Passchendaele offensive in 1917. While in Noumea we went to a World War II museum that highlighted how the war impacted New Caledonia - from Japanese residents being sent to internment camps in Australia to the million US service members who cycled through the island during the war. 

Some Kanak soldiers never came back; 25% have no known grave

Beachfront final resting place

But now we needed a break, and we got it. Neptune sent us a blast of strong wind out of the North. Our chance to sail SE..........all the way back to IDP. But this sail was to bring a first - we were called via the VHF by the French Coast Guard who saw our position and requested that we alter course to go rescue 10 people in a 20 foot motorboat. Ugh, OK - if you are the closest boat and able to assist you assist. We now are corresponding via WhatsApp to emergency resources in Noumea, the Coast Guard via VHF and trying to radio the adrift boat without success. All we have are coordinates that are eight miles away - no description and no sense of what we are going to really do if we find this boat. We motor along for an hour to the spot and, in fact, see a boat towing another boat but still no radio contact. We report back to all of the authorities and proceed on our way. An hour later they call again and tell us that they gave us the wrong coordinates and that the motorboat has now set off their emergency beacon (that generally means you are contemplating abandoning ship) - well, that's disappointing. Fortunately a different boat was closer and was chosen as the rescue vessel.  We proceeded back sailing - a bit too much wind, an early arrival, but at least we were familiar with IPD now, so no problem on the return. With all this favorable wind and our new battery and solar setup, we're using next to no diesel. It's been strange........never running the engine or generator.

IPD's trees are enormous and everywhere

Not sure why pine trees grow here 

We had left IDP the first time without doing the Pi N'Ga - that is the hike up to the highest point in IDP. The word "hike" always gets Kirstin's attention and I knew that on this return we would be definitely doing it. We ended up doing it twice. The views are spectacular - the path starts out as a hike through the mud but when you leave the forest it is a completely different world. Rocks and steep enough drops that I was paying attention to my footing while stunned with the views. We were sore by the end but lunch at the beachfront restaurant rallied our strength.

Worth the walk

One of the highest points in the area

A bit more scenic than the Jersey Shore of my youth

We couldn't leave New Caledonia without a quick stop in Prony Bay which has a topography quite unlike the Loyalty Islands or IDP. Nickel mining is big business in New Caledonia and brings many people from across the Pacific to the island for work. Prony was a protected anchorage from some threatened strong westerly wind and on our way back to Noumea - it also has a large nickel mine that glows like a mini city at night. Turns out red dirt is not so easy to clean off your boat!

Looks like the Mars Rover took this pic

L'ORIENT second from left. This qualifies as congestion here

The mining operations have left some scars

We spent a bit more time in Noumea knowing that this would be our last opportunity to stock up on French groceries and stuff our faces with baguettes. We even saw live music and went out to dinner at night! Very exciting and quite rare in this part of the Pacific.

Our marina in Noumea

The ubiquitous French mini-cathedral

French cover band featuring an electric violin......they were quite good

The time had come to leave New Caledonia. We have too much to see and too little time before cyclone season. Hope you Frenchies and Kanaks kiss and make up at some point. But on to Vanuatu. This is an independent island nation a bit down on its luck. We stopped here last year on the way to Australia. Two months later they were hit with a monster earthquake.......pancaking part of Port Vila, the main town and killing 15 people. Vanuatu is widely acknowledged as one of the places on earth most prone to natural disaster - they have a fun trifecta to combat: cyclones, earthquakes and multiple volcanos. 

The Port Resolution "Yacht Club" - very fancy!

More strange geo-formations

Alone, as usual

If it grows anywhere, it will grow here

Kirstin had an agenda on this visit. The island of Tanna (a southern island in the Vanuatu chain) has an active volcano. And as our loyal readers remember, Kirstin likes two things a lot. Fireworks and volcanos. So off we went. Destination Tanna. Another 200 mile very brisk sail. We anchored in rolly, rolly Port Resolution. 

Port Resolution had murky water, so no swimming or diving. Why? That's when shark attacks happen. Want some proof? A couple of weeks before we arrive a local spear fisherman retired early (from life) due to an encounter with a great white shark. Nuff said.

Commercial hub of the island

Check in went smoothly, and we signed up for the surprisingly pricey volcano tour ($100 USD a piece, which is a fortune here). Kirstin hurt her back very seriously while we pulled the dinghy up the beach. She blocked out the pain.........being on her way to an active volcano was all she cared about. Which was good because to get there, we sat on wooden benches in the bed of a pickup truck driving 45 minutes up a dirt road that was pocked and gashed by ditches, holes, and erosion. It was jarring. 

This is a person really excited about a volcano

Two hands on two bars was required to not fall out of the truck - note the posh seating

But on we drove. Then we hiked higher still. And got to the top just before sunset and watched the sky change as we peered directly into an active volcano.

Are we sure this is safe ?

I'm having second thoughts

Not pleased with the view

Being afraid of heights, the view was problematic for me. I don't know why falling 1,000 feet down into a pool of lava is scarier than falling 1,000 feet down a regular mountain, but it is. I thought I could handle it, but nobody told us that it erupts every 10 minutes. Boom! Then red blobs of lava coursing through the dark smoke of the eruption. 

Not sure we should be doing this

I feel like the volcano is giving us our final warning to depart (turn down your sound a bit before playing these two short videos).

The rickety wooden "safety" fence just completed the scary scene. It was unforgettable..........I suppose in the way that people who have survived train-wrecks remember their experience. We got some great pictures but they don't do it justice.

One meter behind us is a 1,000 ft sheer drop into lava

And my tougher than nails wife? She saw her volcano, but the back injury and subsequent ride in the pickup truck didn't help. She convalesced in the cockpit on our Bosu ball, nearly immobile for 2 days. She's only recently reported no pain, so we dodged a bullet there.

An active volcano makes your sailing so exciting!

And finally; the losing streak is broken. One skipjack tuna.

So we continue to explore Vanuatu. In four weeks time, we need to be thinking about sailing back to Australia. But there's a lot more to see here. Enjoy the pictures. Vanuatu Part Two is coming soon and we have some crazy stories!!