Month: June 2015

June 14, 2015

I will not push your silly button, over and over again, to get a shower.

I know what comes next:

“When the blue light comes on, push the lever and you’ll get a cookie!”

June 13, 2015

First the bad news: It’s raining again here in Port Moselle (Noumea, New Caledonia). It’s rained a lot this week.

Now the good news: Rainbow!

June 10, 2015 (Noumea, New Caledonia)

I’m sorry but this is probably all you’re going to see of the palmeras (plural for palmier, I think) from the bakery behind McDonald’s.

I am a palmier lover and these are by far, the best I’ve ever had! There’s no way they’ll be around long enough to get the camera out.

-Rich

By the way, the location is on our new Noumea cruising map here. (Or go to the above menu, cruising info and you’ll find it there.)

…..Bonus Food Porn…..

Also on the map mentioned above is an amazing chocolate place called Chocolates Morand. For cruisers that have been to Opua, these are as good, and forgive me, but maybe even better than, Makana Chocolates. Fortunetely, there are enough, even in the small box, that you get to see a picture of more than crumbs.

June 7, 2015

We ended our last cruise around New Caledonia at a little island called Ile Casy in Baie du Prony. Wow. See for yourself.

Easy: there is one mooring at the north end of the island in a bay that seems magically out of any wind. There are a bunch of moorings on the west side of the island if that one is full.

Great Activities: The walks around the island are beautiful, with stunning views and beautiful, secluded beaches.

Secure: There’s a wonderful dog that seems to serve as guide and park ranger. He escorted us all over the island on our walks. If we’d stop for too long, he’d come back to check on us and show us the way. We paid him in chow. Cyndi cooked up three chicken breasts for him the first night. The second night, he got the big package of ham we’d failed to eat while out. This was supplemented with cat treats. We don’t know his name but we called him Brownie.

Most people just stop in Baie du Prony on the way in or out of Noumea but it’s really worth more than that. It’s a magical place. -Rich

June 6, 2015 in Noumea, New Caledonia

Background: For those of you not following our blog closely enough and not prepared for the final exam, we’ll review the HITCF index, or “How’s it Compare to Fiji” index. We introduced it here. A reading of 300 means drop everything and come here at once. A reading below 150 means you might possibly want to stay in Fiji.

In light of our trip out to Ile des Pins, some of the islands in the southern lagoon, and a wonderful visit to a small island in Baie du Prony called Ile Casy, the meter’s mechanism made some adjustments.

My blue arrow is now well above the “come to New Cal” mark. Cyndi’s purple arrow has gone up almost as high as it can go. Being back in the wonderful town of Noumea may push my needle up a bit in the near future.

There’s another index that needs to be taken into account when interperting these readings and that’s the HBAIWFaHISATITS index… “How bored am I with Fiji and have I seen all there is to see.” In the unlikely event that this index has topped out for you, then please add one or even two hundred to the HICTF reading above.

Three Phases

And that brings me to a recent, probably alcohol induced, thought: For me, I seem to have three phases to just about everything in life – especially cruising. First, the exploration phase, then the enjoy what I’ve discovered phase, followed by the I’m bored phase. To keep from getting to that third phase, I think I need a balance of the first two phases.

But this year hasn’t been balanced. We went to Australia and it was go, go, go –  all exploration and no “enjoy what we know” phase like we used to get in the now familiar to us New Zealand.

I think my needle on the above gauge might be a little lower than it should because I really need some “enjoy what you know” phase right now and other than familiar and wonderful Noumea, it’s all exploration in New Caledonia for us.

I don’t know how people do three year (or even shorter) circumnavigations! All exploration. No relaxation. I think if I only had three years to cruise, I’d be happier hanging out someplace like the Sea of Cortez the whole time.

There are people that don’t like to go back to places they’ve been. I can understand the sentiment – I can rarely turn around and go back the way I came, no matter how lost I might become in forging ahead. But I have really loved going back to places we’ve been on this cruise.  We went back to Tonga and that was amazing. We’ve been back to Fiji twice and I think I could do it several more times, and we’ve spent two cyclone seasons in New Zealand, which now feels like a second home. In going back to these places, I get ample “enjoy what I know” and can mix in just enough exploration to keep life interesting.

But hey, that’s just me. I’m sure your milage will vary! -Rich