TOP of Noumea

by Andrea: Yesterday we finally made the way to the mountain range Koghi. Dario and Andrea climbed the TOP of Noumea and the second highest mountain in New Caledonia Mount Mone 1075m. Unfortunately when we reached the summit a thunderstorm came over the mountains and we had no view at all. Even worse the descent was getting very slippery and not after a long time we were walking more in a brook. But after all it was quite fun. Due to the bad weather conditions for sailing to Australia we used the time for different activities. We hiked the mount Toro in the south of Noumea. A spot normally used by the paragliders with a good view towards the Ansa Vata bay. For the second time we were invited by the "College J. Mariotti Noumea". Again the children were very enthusiastic especially by the TOPtoTOP game. Sabine, always with patient and a smile, explained all the rules. In the end the students had 5 minutes time to collect rubbish on the school ground. Quite a lot was found and the happy winner got a Victorinox knife; congratulations. We had the opportunity to collect another good example: the windmills of EEC/SUEZ. Thanks to wind energy around Noumea there is 20'000 t of CO2 less in the atmosphere. That is what 7000 cars produce in one year! Here the technical details: calculation, overview One important equipment for sailing is the radar. Unfortunately ours is broken and Dario tried to fix it but the spare from our member and friend Federico in Valdivia did not fit. So we have to wait till we are in Australia. Apart from serious work we could spend time with our friends. The children from the neighbour boat spend an afternoon in our tiny playground room with Salina and Andri enjoys the sunset with Mama on the Pachamama. Jean Marie, his wife Romy and Jean Louis invited us for a Pizza party at Jean Marie and Romy's home. And after a long time nearly four years we had also a nice reunion with our friends from Escapade Claartje and Peter and their lovely two boys. Jean Louis (green shirt) was the chief Pizza baker. Thanks it was absolutely delicious! Another day - another invitation for dinner. Fruity Fruits with Carolyne and Steffan invited us for a RACLETTE! That was a big surprise and we enjoyed it very much. Switzerland was no more that far away... thank you. Today we are preparing everything so that we can leave tomorrow morning towards Australia. Welcome back Annemarie! After a short absence she is joining us again for the next month.

Ile des Pins

Thanks to Hotel Oure (www.oure.com) this report is possible. Thanks to Arnold and Tony, two Swiss arriving on the island 38 years ago, for organizing our TOPtoTOP school visit in the main village Vao. - Dario in action - - TOPtoTOP climate solution contest - One weekend we were invited by our friend Emmanuelle and her two wonderful daughters to camp with the Ouroue tribe in Thio ad the East cost of the big island. After Noumea we stopped on two small islands to fix our stuffing box. Because the weather on the way to Australia was not o.K., we could not continue and went to Ile des Pins to wait for a good weather window for the crossing. The last few days there were one tropical depression after the other passing S of us. Ile de Pins is the paradise itself. We climbed twice the highest TOP, Mount N'ga and organized a clean up. Andri like Salina is a gifted climber and made his first steps on this Southern most island of Melanesia. Now the weather seems to be o.k.. The silence is gone after a big cruiser arrived. We hope to be in Australia in about 10 days. Contact us by phone: 00872 7625 68 933

Contact in Australia

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