Day 35 – Iles de Pins, New Caledonia

Getting Crowned

Got the earliest tender to the island.  I got crowned with a head wreath when I arrived at the Kuto landing on Iles de Pins at 8:15 AM.  There was nothing set up by the vendors. I decided to walk to the village of Vao about 6 km. away.  It was a nice leisurely walk to what I thought was the village of Vao. At a sign for the village I found  a closed Post Office.  A few hundred yards later along the road, I found the first sight seeing point on my walking tour. It was the town church.  I saw a rectory, and a college building in the area, but nothing that would indicate that this place was the village. I walked further down the road and found the statue of St. Maurice. It was near the shore, but nothing else around.  Later down the road I came across what looked like a fruit market that also sold sarongs, but nothing of a village. I figured it must be in the area called the Bay of St Joseph. I walked further down the road, followed the signs for the statue and a restaurant.  I found a statue dedicated to St Joseph, but no other buildings. By this time I had walked about 12 Km. in about 3 hrs. The temperature was in the high 80’s or low 90’s.  I thought the village proper was just a little further ahead. I started to walk on when a van with some of the ship tourists came along a stop just ahead of me. 4 people piled out and headed to the shore to take pictures of the bay. I asked the driver where I could find the nearest restaurant. He said back at the village there was a snack bar, but there were no restaurants in the area. Since it was hot, I asked the driver, if he was going back to the village of Vao. He stated that the group would pass by the village on the way back to the ship.  I asked if I could get a ride back. I was willing to pay. He charged me the full tour price ($10.00).

When I got back to the landing, the place was crawling with people and another ship had arrived – the “Amedea”. The Kuto area had numerous vendor’s tents set up to sell souvenirs and soft drinks. I walked around, tried to find stamps from the vendors, but they had been sold out within a hour of the vendors opening at 9:00 AM. I walked towards what looked like a outdoor restaurant. It turned out to be a picnic for the Amedea passengers. I walked no further. There were ruins of the old prison up ahead, but I was tired of walking so I turned around.  I later found out, that there was a restaurant on stilts jut 50 feet past the Amedea crowd that even served beer. I I had headed toward the prison, I would have seen it.  i hung around the beach area for another 30 minutes and headed back to the tender and to the ship.

So, it’s another 2 days of sailing and then Sydney!

Photos in Iles des Pins: