Anniversary – Easo, Lifou New Caledonia

Seventeen years ago today I was getting married on side of the caldera by the mayor of Santorini, Greece. Today we're on another tiny island in the South Pacific, more specifically Easo on the French island of New Caledonia. It would be really interesting to know just how miles we’ve travelled in the twenty-two years together, easily in the six figures I suspect.

Lifou island is a commune of France in the Loyalty Islands Province of New Caledonia in the Pacific Ocean. Lifou is made up of Lifou Island, the largest and most heavily populated of the Loyalty Islands, its smaller neighbour Tiga Island, and several uninhabited islets in between these two. All these islands lie among the Loyalty Islands, 190 km (120 mi) to the northeast of New Caledonia's mainland. At 1,146 km2 (442 sq mi), Lifou Island is the largest atoll in the world.

Today was a nice, casual day of walking the island (21 degrees C) and the white sandy beach that was just adjacent to the tender docking area. Deb and I made the walk up to Notre Dame du Lourdes, a small chapel that was built many years ago high up on the escarpment located at the south end of the island. Some of the locals set up a little market near the ship to sell their wares, there was even a small parking lot for cars, but not many however were actually there on the island. A couple of locals had two coconut crabs on leashes, but charged $2 AUS for the photo op. We declined and opted for our $7US magnet for the collection. Knowing that we’re 24 hours into the future, I’d like to tell you all that the Blue Jays have won the ALDS, but sadly I do not have that ability. Go Jays !

Lifou is an island made of fossil coral. Lifou is a makatea (raised coral atoll), an ancient lagoon slowly raised by geological processes. Due to the uplift, Lifou consists of a wide, flat centre surrounded by cliffs which correspond to the ancient reefal cliffs. The coral rock is very porous and as a result, neither Lifou nor any of the other Loyalty Islands have surface water. It does, however, have a large freshwater reservoir which can be accessed through caves. These caves were used in the past when searching for fresh water, and are very important to the island's mythology.

It was a great way to spend our anniversary, on the beach – walking on the sand and dodging the waves. Just a little too much sun yesterday on Mystery Island. My shoulders, and the top of my feet got just a little too much sun while snorkelling the reef I suspect. Note to self – Use sun block !

We pulled out on-time at 5:30 p.m. with a total distance covered so far of 6,434 NM heading to Kuto, Iles des Pins in New Caledonia. We’ve scheduled dinner in the specialty restaurant Pinnacle tomorrow night for the anniversary celebration so it’ll be jumbo shrimp and juicy steak on the agenda.