[password] forester11
[position] 20 42.225S 166 26.333E
[status]  OUVEA
The huge UNESCO World Heritage listed lagoon with its amazing azure water and 25 km white sand beach is just as beautiful as the postcards depict! We enjoyed a looong walk along this with Jillian and Glen, picked up some nice shells and returned to Felix exhausted!

We had anchored near Mouli and, with 7 others, hired a couple of cars to explore the island. By chance we hired it on the day of a big cycle race around the island, and, as well as seeing them as they passed through the village where we stopped for coffee, we were able to cheer the cyclists on as they crossed the finishing line at the village of St Joseph! The finishing line was adjacent to St Joseph's Church - which had very old stained glass windows that were as beautiful as any we ever saw in Europe. In St Joseph, we joined Nigel and Amanda to visit the chief's widow to seek permission to go to Beautemp-Beaupris (an island 1/2 day's sail away) which she gave every graciously. The traditional gift to present to the chief is a bolt of fabric with a 1000 franc note tucked inside, and Nigel presented several of these on behalf of the fleet.

Our sight seeing included a visit to the port, and to two very deep holes in the limestone that are filled with water and connected to the sea via underground tunnels. The water is almost navy blue, and if you are patient you can see turtles swimming in them. However the highlight of the natural sights was the Grottes d'Hulup - a maze of caves with wonderful stalagmites and stalactites. Lunch at a local restaurant not only gave us a taste of the local prawns, but also an opportunity to experience the local eco-toilet!

The political undertones I spoke of in my last post are quite evident in Ouvea - which is not only notable for its Rainbow Warrior connection (absolutely not mentioned at all!), but also as the heart of the pro-independence movement. We visited the impressive memorial to the 19 Kanaks who died in 1988, and the two pro-independence leaders who were assassinated there the following year.

We don't know, but suspect there was some of that in our abortive attempts to visit the island opposite a protected lagoon. On Friday morning, after the others had left for Grande Terre, Ben and I went looking Felix (yes, really!), who does walking tours ... but the camp ground where he operates was completely deserted. We went back to the Mouli Bridge and had an amazing time - we saw heaps of fish, turtles and schools of rays - up to 40 in a group! A young man with a little boy pointed out the sharks to us, and we got chatting ( as much as you can when neither speaks the other's language!) He told us that his wife came from the village on the island across the Lagoon and that they were celebrating St Raphael's Day. He explained that the morning was the religious part, but "après midi" we should catch the ferry and go to the island for the fete. He said there would be cultural dancing and other festivities ... so we gave up looking for Felix and decided to do that instead. Well ... easier said than done - the ferryman wouldn't take us! He just said "C'est not possible"!!! So despite my best French negotiating skills we had to get off the ferry. We talked to an old man on the road and he said we could go "tomorrow .. just not today" - we never did understand why!!

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