We are safe and sound in Noumea, we are busy fixing things, our sail is being repaired, Barry did a full day of preventative maintenance of our engine. It was a hose clamp that had failed that caused our problems so he checked all other clamps and found a couple of others that needed attention. Noumea is a first world city with all the trappings, I have heard that other areas are not the same, the French have poured money into the city and there has been lots of money made from the ore that is available in New Caledonia. The indigenous peoples, the Kanaks have been treated very poorly and you see homeless people hanging about the beautiful downtown parks, it rather reminds me of Yellowknife.
We set of to the cultural museum yesterday. It was a wonderful piece of architecture. I haven't got the pictures with me but will upload some at a later date. We bought a pass so will be seeing the botanical gardens, the aquarium and the national museum in the next little while. Barry is getting anxious about the weather so we will probably be off to Oz as soon as there is a good weather window.