Sammy's Birthday - Isle Of Pines
Quartermoon
Mike Share & Sammy Byron
Sat 27 Nov 2010 12:38
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To welcome Sammy to her mid-thirties,
we decided to leave our lovely surroundings of Nouville Plaisance boat yard and
get a fast catamaran down to the Ile des Pins. We were both in desperate need of
a break from QM's mess and even though we love having Al and Orsa onboard daily,
we needed some time alone! One of our major frustrations at life in Noumea is
not being able to wake up to tranquility and jump in crystal clear waters. Yes
reality will be tough but we aren't there yet! With that in mind Ile Des Pins
seemed the perfect getaway as it claims to be "the jewel of the Pacific"; a
pretty bold, if not arrogant statement....
Sammy's birthday started early, 4:15
so we were both in the best of moods after getting to bed after midnight. At
least it wasn't raining as we cycled to the ferry for a 6am departure. 6:45 and
we are still sitting at the dock, awaiting the cafe to open to improve our mood
a little (which never happened ;-(). So finally we were under way and it
was nice to see Noumea becoming more distant and great to be back at sea, if a
bit different to our chosen mode of transport! The seas were horrible; it may be
one of the world's largest lagoons but it certainly isn't protected. The seas
were short and steep with swells from all directions, Sailing would have been
straight into the wind and nasty chop, not a nice way to start your trip to
Oz....
Our mood improved as we demolished
some brie and crackers for breakfast and after a small snooze we arrived 120km
later in the bay of Kuto. There were several yachts anchored near the dock and
it looked stunning, even in the howling wind. Just what we were expecting, the
usual South Pacific white sand beaches, various shades of emerald, blue and
clear water and hardly any sign of civilisation. The island is pretty dramatic
with millions of tall, skinny column pines and quite ruggedly hilly. The
interior isn't that exciting but the coastline is beautiful, very eroded
volcanic cliffs and secluded bays.
  The bus was waiting at the
dock to take us to Le Meridien in Baie d'Oro (Golden Bay I think) and we
were both very glad we'd decided not to cycle across the hills to the hotel! We
arrived in a tropical forest and were escorted along pathways to check in
and then for a tour of the grounds. We were both very impressed with the low
key, natural surroundings, not least by the infinity pool apparently ending in
the sea. Luckily for us we'd been upgraded to a beach bungalow which was quite
extravagant; private deck area and beach, hard wood floors, traditional
furniture, a massive bed and best of all, a huge bath! It only seemed right to
start off with a bottle of champagne on our beach and then (as it wasn't
too sunny) a long, deep bath - the first since Scotland I think!
  The next few days were spent
generally lazing around and enjoying being far far away from all things boats!
Saying that it wasn't long before we borrowed some kayaks and found a back
waterway to La Piscine Naturelle (natural swimming pool) where the sea crashes
over the rocks and has formed a beautiful pool full of fish and coral, with 2
rivers running over white sand around either side of the island into the Baie
d'Oro. Unfortunately the local "tribe" (jungle mafia) had banned kayaking up the
river next to our hotel 10 months ago (probably due to failed extortion) so we
were quite self satisfied to have found a different way there and had a few
envious looks from the people who had had a boring hike to get there. The
kayak trip out was amazing, very shallow crystal clear water on a white sand bed
with beautiful overhanging cliffs to one side and jungle the other. Plus we had
current and wind behind us so we were back out on the sea in no
time.
  We cycled to a large grotto one day
which was impressive. Apart from a thieving Frenchman who took off with our bike
bag. Needless to say I got it back and had an interesting chat with him. That
was enough exercise for one day, so we had a go on a pedalo... It was amusing
for 5 minutes but then we felt like total dorks and retired to the room for
afternoon tea with the world's biggest plate of pastries and tea
;-) Yes we ate the whole lot!
Birthday treats.......
  Anyhow our 5 day trip has now come to
an end all too soon and we are on our way back to Noumea to see what state QM is
in. Hopefully cosmetically back to normal so we can return to our favourite
marina, sleep in our cabin again and attempt to work off the plates of
pastries, duck, eggs, bacon and cheese we have consumed over the last few
days!
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