Wednesday 3 November Short walk to top of the mountain

Dominating the skyline of Iles des Pines is Pic N'ga, at 262m the highest point on the island and with a clearly marked track from behind the beach.


Before I continue I have to mention the sublime beach. It's a mile long crescent that looks white in the sunlight, feels like walking through warm flour, backed with fir trees and fronted with turquoise waters. Superior to Champagne beach in Vanuatu and on par with Sand Dollar in Bahamas. How spoilt are we to be able to compare beaches of the world?



view of Kuto anchorage



Ready for our assault on the summit of Pic N'ga, sturdy walking shoes, sun protection, water and the camera, we set off for the long hike up the mountain. The heat was bouncing back from the red rock under our feet, hardly a breeze and steep in places it took us an hour to reach the top. There are wonderful views in every direction and the clearest overview of the reef system we hardly see when we sail amongst them. New Cal is turning into a surprising discovery and we wish we had longer to linger in these beautiful islands – perhaps next season. This season and today our choice is to follow an alternative path back to Kuto.



sublime beach

From the top we'd spotted a track along the dragon back ridge leading which seemed to lead to the houses further along the road. A path has to go somewhere. We kept following and following the path up a small hill and down the other side and continuing up again to the navigation light we could see from the anchorage. It was trickier to find the path down from here but we could see a building of stature and concluded if we could get to that there'd be a road. Pushing through the bushes revealed the track and a few minutes later we came out on a water tower built in 1874. A plaque had the date on it. We conclude it was built by the political prisoners France exiled to this island in the late 19th century. Our theory was proved when we found the remains of the prison 100m further down the track. It was open but overgrown and a notice warning of the danger of entering a crumbling building so of course we went in. Images of Papillon came to mind except the book was set on an island off French Guyana. 

Prison

realeased from incarceration

It was a good walk with some hills to test our fitness and we need to do more if we're going to be ready for the long tramps in south island NZ next month. The biggest difference will be temperature. Here is blazing hot, there it will be cool. We heard it is 14c and foggy in Opua. How much of a hurry are we in to head south??