{"id":4714,"date":"2016-11-13T07:16:07","date_gmt":"2016-11-13T07:16:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/svtoucan.com\/svtblog\/?p=4714"},"modified":"2017-02-02T04:34:37","modified_gmt":"2017-02-02T04:34:37","slug":"take-a-walk-on-the-wild-side-huon-reef-new-caledonia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/svtoucan.com\/svtblog\/?p=4714","title":{"rendered":"Take A Walk On The Wild Side – Huon Reef, New Caledonia"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"IMG_5436_2\"Although perhaps not as geographically remote as the Tuamotu Archipelago in French Polynesia, this place is about as wild as you can get. Huon Reef is part of D\u2019Entrecasteaux Reefs to the north-west of New Caledonia and is a dedicated marine reserve. We asked permission from the French Department of Environment (email dam-nc@gouv.nc<\/a>) to visit both here and Chesterfield Reef, and all they require in return is for us to fill out some survey forms after our visit \u2013 how easy is that!<\/p>\n

Our two-day passage here was one of the most pleasant we\u2019ve had for a while – beautiful beam reaching in 15-18kts of wind, no more than 1.5m of swell and gorgeous nights under the milky way and a half-moon.<\/p>\n

\"Enjoying
Enjoying another sunset at sea on passage to Huon Reef<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The main problem was slowing the boat down enough to arrive in daylight. Despite our best efforts, we were still approaching the top of the huge reef system an hour or two before dawn. It was my watch, and I admit I was a little anxious about whether our electronic charts would be accurate here, so I made sure to give it a wide berth. When dawn broke it was a great relief (and very strange) to see isolated pinnacles of rock emerging out of the ocean, marking the northern end of the reef.<\/p>\n

\"You
You wouldn’t want to get caught out with your navigation here<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Although it\u2019s a huge reef system, there\u2019s only one long tree-less sand cay here that we\u2019re anchored off – just us and hundreds of nesting seabirds and green turtles. We passed one French catamaran coming out as we were coming in, but now we\u2019re the only humans here, feeling very privileged to be able to have this ecological wonderland all to ourselves. And what a marvel it is. As we came into the anchorage we almost had to push the turtles out of the way in order to drop our anchor. And within half an hour of arriving, the boobies came to test out Motel Toucan. Luckily for us the clientele were obviously too picky and since then they\u2019ve mostly left us alone, except for a visitor on the back step yesterday morning who left the traditional booby \u2018calling card\u2019. Thanks pal.<\/p>\n

\"We
We have this all to ourselves. Magical!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"So
So many turtles…<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"First
First one visitor..<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"And
And then the word spread….<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"And
And this red-footed booby had to check out the back deck, complete with traditional calling card.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The weather has been incredibly settled so it\u2019s almost as if we\u2019re anchored in the biggest, cleanest swimming pool in the world. The water is bombay sapphire gin-clear, we can see our anchor chain snaking away in the sand and watch the turtles gliding past beneath our hulls. And the water temperature is an astonishing 27 degrees Celsius \u2013 going for a dip (a regular occurrence) feels like swimming in turquoise silk.<\/p>\n

\"There's
There’s the anchor chain, 6 metres below us!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Easy
Easy to spot the turtles swimming below the surface<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The only sounds we hear are the booming of the surf on the reef, the plop and splash of the turtles as they surface, breathing like asthmatic old men, and the cries and chatter of the terns and boobies on the shore. Occasionally the tranquility is broken by the antics of mating turtles \u2013 it\u2019s a cumbersome, tricky and arduous business, with much splashing and thrashing. The poor female surfaces every few minutes gasping for air while her mate tenaciously hangs on. And then there\u2019s the process of nesting. Every evening at dusk a handful of female turtles make their way to the beach and begin the long, agonisingly slow haul up the beach to lay their eggs, returning exhausted to the sea at dawn the next morning. I\u2019ve made a note to myself that if I ever start complaining about how tough life is, I should just be thankful I\u2019m not a female turtle!<\/p>\n

\"Turtles
Turtles mating all around us – it’s a cumbersome process<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The
The long slow haul up the beach begins as dusk falls.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ashore, the sand cay is pitted with turtle nests as far as you can see and the seabirds take up the rest of the space. They nest on the grass or in the sand, in their thousands \u2013 the comical white fluffy juvenile boobies waiting patiently for Mum and Dad to return home from their day of work fishing, the other adults guarding their eggs or babies. They\u2019ve had so little contact with humans they have no fear and it\u2019s possible to get very close to them.<\/p>\n

\"Seabirds
Seabirds everywhere, nesting in the tufts of grass or on the sand<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Adult
Adult and juvenile masked boobies<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"It's
It’s hot work guarding the nest, there’s no shelter on this island so the birds have to pant to cool off.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Feed
Feed me, feed me!!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Those
Those awkward juvenile years…<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"And
And some kids always seem to be in trouble..<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"You
You lookin’ at me?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Brown
Brown Booby nesting<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The
The sand cay looks like a minefield with all the turtle nests<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Underneath the water, the environment is just as spectacular. So far we\u2019ve only snorkeled and dived the bommies around the anchorage and whilst the coral isn\u2019t particularly stunning, the amount and variety of fish life definitely is. I\u2019ve never seen so many huge trevally, snapper and sweetlips before \u2013 they must know they\u2019re protected because they tease you by swimming right up to you! The turtles are also completely unfazed by our presence in the water. Often they\u2019ll swim by to check us out, only turning away in disappointment at the last moment when they discover we\u2019re not new turtle playmates.<\/p>\n

\"Diving
Diving with the turtles at Huon<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Who
very inquisitive turtles<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"As
As are the dinner-plate size fish…<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The evenings have been glorious too \u2013 no bugs or mosquitos here, so after dinner we enjoy a quiet glass of wine on the trampoline, marveling at the night sky and the tranquility of this piece of paradise on earth, grateful for the opportunity to be a part of it for a brief moment in time.<\/p>\n

\"Another
Another glorious sunset at Huon Reef<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

They do say all good things must come to an end, and sadly the beauty and tranquility we\u2019d been enjoying was shattered on our second night here \u2013 but that\u2019s a story for the next blog\u2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Although perhaps not as geographically remote as the Tuamotu Archipelago in French Polynesia, this place is about as wild as you can get. Huon Reef is part of D\u2019Entrecasteaux Reefs to the north-west of New Caledonia and is a dedicated marine reserve. We asked permission from the French Department of Environment (email dam-nc@gouv.nc) to visit … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Take A Walk On The Wild Side – Huon Reef, New Caledonia”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Our blog is back up - check out our latest post on stunning Huon Reef!","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4714","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-svtoucan"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6B46t-1e2","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/svtoucan.com\/svtblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4714","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/svtoucan.com\/svtblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/svtoucan.com\/svtblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/svtoucan.com\/svtblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/svtoucan.com\/svtblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4714"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"http:\/\/svtoucan.com\/svtblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4714\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4753,"href":"http:\/\/svtoucan.com\/svtblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4714\/revisions\/4753"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/svtoucan.com\/svtblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4714"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/svtoucan.com\/svtblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4714"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/svtoucan.com\/svtblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4714"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}