Lord Howe Island - leaving for Elizabeth Reef then New Caledonia

Pete has been extremely busy with mountains of red tape, to do with registering the boat, getting his satellite phone up and running, passing through Australian customs, getting permission to enter New Caledonia - the list is endless!! We have been told that they are very strict in Noumea, extremely bureaucratic. One of the stipulations for ships entering NC waters is that a yellow Q (Quarantine) flag must be prominently displayed. I offered to help with this one aspect, and wrote an email in French and in English to the port authorites. This is the reply I received, v promptly...

Hello Marguerite,

International rules and regulations stipulate that vessels entering in foreign countries must hoist the Q flag as soon as they enter in territorial waters. The only advice I can give you is to buy a Q flag in Lord Howe or :

1. to use something yellow like a T-Shirt

2. yellow material

3. or paint something with yellow paint, I am sure that there is a hardware store that sells yellow paint in Lord Howe, sorry for not being more helpful.

Regards, Corinne

We were highly amused...this did not sound too bureaucratic at all!! I have bought a lovely size 16 Lord Howe Island t-shirt, and we will proudly hang it from the mast as we approach New Caledonia!

You may gather that we haven't left yet... Various reasons, but we are all quite happy to have another LHI day, and we will probably leave mid afternoon, for Elizabeth Reef, out there in the ocean about 100 nautical miles north of here.

We went to dinner at Humpty Mick's, the nearest restaurant to the jetty, and had a cheery meal - it was pasta and pizza night. Sad not to have John with us, and I didn't even say goodbye, was too busy whizzing around the island on my bike... We will miss him.

Everyone had wild sailing stores to tell. Nick told us about a French couple he knew, who settled, more or less, in Tasmania, in the 90s, I think. Jacques and Marie. They decided to sail the world with their two young children, bought a yacht and set off. from France. They had never sailed before, and had no charts or maps. They just went where the wind took them, all around the world, and ended up in Tasmania. On the way they adopted two small children from South America...Nick isn't sure where any of them are now. Jacques and Marie eventually divorced and Jacques is probably having wild adventures with a new, less worn-out wife...

This morning Steve and I left Nick doing busy things with cans of oil, and Pete scratching his head at his satphone, and went for a beautiful ride up some of the roads I hadn't yet explored. It is a gorgeous day, sunny and mild - the first day I haven't had to wear my warmest coat. It is indeed a fabulous island, full of beauty and serenity. Bill lent Pete his ute to do some jobs yesterday, and said, vey sternly, "Make sure you so NOT exceed 30 lilometres per hour!" That is one of the reasons the island is so calm - the only traffic is bikes, or cars cruising very s-l-o-w-l-y.