Sailchute - Noumea - hire car

I forgot to say that when we left Lord Howe Island, we put up the sailchute. No other sail, just this magical, colourful lightweight chute, drifting above us. It stayed up all night, and looked so wonderful against the night sky. At times we could see the stars through the vents. It was almost worth being up at otherwise ghastly hours like 4am, to see the chute drifting lazily above the boat, pulling us along at a very respectable rate of knots.

Steve had never been to a country where they drive on the right hand side of the road. His first venture into the streets of Noumea presented him with a shocking sight – cars coming right at him with nobody in the driver’s seat!

Pete and I spent the day – I think it is Wednesday, although blogspot seemed to think it was Tuesday – wandering around Noumea. I was particularly fascinated by the clothes shops, selling frocks for the local ladies. The younger local girls wear tight modern clothing; at some stage of life, I’m not sure exactly what age, they stop dressing like Britney Spears and start wearing – a brightly coloured tent, with a ruffle or two at hem and sleeve. These voluminous garments come in the most extraordinarily shouty colours. Turquoise! Pink! Yellow! Orange! And sometimes all the colours of the rainbow in the one garment. The young men, who drift around the city, hanging out, dress like Boyz in Da Hood. And a very aimless lot they are too, just hanging out… Or walking down the street in packs, playing ,music, or singing. They are mostly large, and not in the least menacing. Most of them say, “Bonjour, Madame,’ and “Pardon!” when they jostle us off the footpath (they are often walking sideways looking behind them, and present a bit of a roadblock on the streets…

We have hired a car to go touring inland. I imagine that Nick, Steve and Pete will be sitting with their knees up around their ears…it is a very small car.

It is quite chilly and raining… Steve and Pete have taken the boat to a fuel wharf; Nick and I have done the veggie shopping at the nearby market, and now we are about to have a croissant and coffee before setting off in the tiny car.