A City Stop and Shop

From Prony, we made our way back to the city of Noumea. We had done a good job of clearing out many lockers and we actually needed some food! Plus we were craving some fresh veggies and fruit. Anchoring off Noumea is a challenge because all the local boat owners seemed to have put moorings in the designated anchoring spot. You must stay within certain boundaries to give the big ships room to maneuver. Our friends on Gypsea Heart had to move and they told us that they watched a tug/pilot boat literally drag another boat along with its anchor out of the zone because nobody was aboard at the time to move it. We decided we needed to do some internet stuff (fix our photo page that was shut down – it should now be up and running – let us know if it isn't) and getting our shopping done would be easier in the marina. Plus a real hot shower sounded mighty nice....so we opted for a few nights of marina time.

We did a whirlwind through the fresh market, patisserie (for baguettes, fresh croissants and pain de chocolat), butcher and grocery store. Michael spent many hours trying to resolve the picture page shutdown (who remembers when you opened a Picasso account???!!) and get some phone calls made. A couple of nice hot showers, beers at happy hour and a pizza night with the Gypsea Hearts made for a good but busy two day stay. We left the marina this morning (Wednesday) and headed out to a small island called "Signal Island (22 degrees 17.62minutes S 166 degrees 17.42 E). There are lot of moorings here and until about an hour ago we were the only boat on them...though there are several small local boats anchored on the beach.

The water is pretty and we've already seen many turtles and large fish swimming around. It is a marine park – so the underwater life amidst the corals should be nice. It is pretty open out here so if the weather holds we'll stay a few nights and do some exploring on the island and in the water. It is very nice to be away from the smell of Noumea and surrounded by pretty water and a white sandy beach.

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