Easo, Lifou, New Caledonia

Wednesday, October 14

Today was another tender day, so after breakfast we got a tender and headed for the dock on Easo. From the talks we'd attended about these islands we knew it was bigger than Mystery Island and we could see that from deck 8 while enjoying breakfast. It was sunny again but with a bit of cloud about, and the water was a magnificent turquoise colour.

Riding in the tender

There was a small market set up selling the usual clothes and souvenirs, along with some local tourist operators offering some tours. These were mainly snorkelling tours at different locations or with the chance to snorkel with rays or turtles. We opted to walk to see the Chapelle Notre Dame des Lourdes, which sat high on a cliff top and offered a great view over the bay and part of the island. This chapel dates back to 1858 when Catholic missionaries first came to Lifou Island.

Chapelle Notre Dame des Lourdes

View from the chapel

 

Our next destination was a short walk to a bay on the other side of the island called Jinek Bay, a great snorkelling spot with lots of coral and a variety of fish to see. It is actually a marine reserve so you had to pay to swim there, but we didn't have any snorkelling gear today so we couldn't enjoy it to the max. Also we spent too much time in the sun yesterday so we wanted to minimise our exposure today. After a good walk around here and observing fish and squid in the clear waters it started to rain, so we took shelter for a while. Noelle befriended a local who couldn't speak much English but she did let us take her picture. The indigenous people here have a kanak heritage so they are quite different to the Samoans and Fijians.

Young local girl at Jinek Bay Marine Reserve

 

We were about to walk to another church and explore more of the island when it started raining again, and with the wind cooling things down we decided to head back to the ship and read in more pleasant surrounds. The fact it was lunchtime added further appeal to return to the ship! Back on the ship we could really appreciate the different shades of blue and green of the water along the sandy beaches, as well as the greens of the trees on the island. Along with many of the usual tropical plants here there were also some pine trees, which added some variety to the landscape on this island.

View of the ship from Easo village

View of the island from the ship

 

We enjoyed a quiet afternoon, and over dinner remarked at how much better we all felt so we must have needed a rest after running around at our last few ports of call! Cruising is so demanding, but we love it!!

 

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