We arrived in Bundaberg from New Caledonia with no food and a clean boat to clear the strict immigration, although our empty cardboard egg boxes had to be thrown away! We attended events organised by the ‘Down Under Rally’ which helped us understand about sailing and touring Australia on land. At the welcome party we…
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Arriving in southern New Caledonia after leaving Lenakel, Vanuatu 48 hours earlier, we anchored in peaceful Proney Bay, before affronting the noise of the capital Nouméa the next day. Multi-ethnic Nouméa is home to about 63% of the country’s population. Central Nouméa revolves around the Place des Cocotiers with its concerts, street markets, pétanque pitch…
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A 6 day sail from Fiji during which André caught a blue-fin tuna, brought us to Lenakel on Tanna, one of the Vanuatu islands. Before independence in 1980 the country was ruled by both the British and the French. Therefore most people speak both plus their language. There are British and French schools and within…
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Sailing to Savusavu, Vanua Levu, from French Polynesia took us 15, no 16 days, as we crossed the date line! 332 islands covering a vast archipelago, but we had 2.5 months. We found a multicultural population of Melanesian, Polynesian, Chinese, European and about 40% of Indo-Fijan origin. There are many religions; 60% are Christians with…
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Happy to return to French Polynesia, we took a ferry from Tahiti to Moorea to see Sara and Patrick who live in Tahiti but who were there on holiday. A fun reunion! We then flew to Apataki having firstly bought as much fruit and vegetables as our baggage allowance permitted, and spent 2 weeks working…
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The Marquesas lie in northern French Polynesia over 3,000 nautical miles from the Galapagos. As we approached, a solo sailor told us over the radio that due to Covid all sailing boats had to go directly to Tahiti. When sailing we have no internet so were blissfully oblivious of the new world situation. Our 30…
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Completing the paperwork and providing the documents required to sail with your own boat to the Galapagos was no mean task. The 9 day sail turned into 12 through lack of wind but as André caught a tuna we didn’t starve! Around sunset each day red-footed boobies would settle on the solar panel or bow…
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We returned to Panama at the end of January, laden with spare parts and excited to be embarking on the next leg of our travels. Moondance, looking like new after a coat of anti-fouling, was lowered back into the water and preparations for the Canal crossing began. On Saturday 8th February we left Shelter Bay…
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Paddington Bear “from darkest Peru” had not prepared us for the vast expanse of desert covering the north coast for hundreds of miles. 18 hours after leaving Cuenca we arrived in Trujillo on Independance Day. The attractive spacious Plaza de Armas and its surrounding streets boast many colonial churches and buildings with intricate wrought-iron grillwork…
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What a contrast between the heat and 85% humidity of sea-level Panama and the cold dryness of the Andes at the 2,800m of Quito where we landed. We had decided to travel throughout Ecuador and Peru using local buses and staying in B&Bs or small guest houses to be with the locals as much as…
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