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This beautiful island is still a French colony, well-off like
most of them, but resentful of control from Paris.
At 3 AM we approached Havannah Pass -  on
the chart it looked like it was about 20' wide, although we knew it was more
like a mile! Fortunately we were following 3 other cruisers and used their
masthead lights as range marks. By mid-morning we were tied up at the
beautiful Port Moselle in Noum�a. A short stroll from the marina is the market
- with fresh baguettes, vegetables, and fish - get there early to get the best
items. Gift and souvenir stands abound. We got to practice our French
again - many vendors ignore English and respond only to well-pronounced French. 
One of the most spectacular architectural wonders is the Tjibou Cultural
Center, a modern structure with overtones of the Canak (indigenous islander)
houses.
We rented a car, and spent 2 days driving the length of the island. We
saw beautiful beaches, cattle stations and ugly scars of open-pit mining.
Several of the peaks are high grade nickel, the major source of wealth
for the island is nickel mining; however restoration and re-forestation seems to
be far in the future.
During our short stay in New Caledonia, we had to delay our trip to the Port
Authority because dock strikers had built barricades that were under attack by
gendarmes using tear gas and concussion grenades when we tried to pass them. On our return from
the trip around the island we were stopped twice - once by nickel miners
blocking the roads with huge mining trucks, and again by the gendarmes as they
defended a bridge to prevent the trucks from entering Noum�a. Viva la
revoluci�n!
This popular resort a day's sail south of Noum�a attracts many cruisers -
some stay for months at a time. We were running late in the hurricane
season and had to give it a miss.
Your choice:
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