Tuesday 30 October Tour de France

grotto Troisieme

Queen Hortense grotto

stalacmitus Davus

beach carvings at Vao

There's much to see on the Isle of Pines and with good roads it seemed perfect to take the bikes and go exploring. Our first task was to get to the bakery before they sold out. At 10.30am yesterday we bought the last 3 baguettes of the day. Today the early bird, or cyclists caught bread and some fine ham and cheese to make our picnic lunch. We got our supplies and left the bikes locked to the wharf while we popped back to Jackster to make lunch sandwiches pack our water bottles and eat most of one fresh loaf with butter. It's impossible to have one bite and not have to have a second.


saddle sore but not finished yet!



Back on the island we headed out on the north road towards the airport and Gadji. On the way we stopped at Troiseme caves reached by a bumpy dirt track and then a short path through the wood. The path came to a halt with a fallen tree in our way. I turned to tell David who was behind and saw the caves through the trees. What a find – scrambling over rocks to a lower ledge we stood at the entrance to a large limestone grotto, stalactites dripping from the roof, stalagmites reaching up to meet them. Peering into the gloom we saw it went back a long way and throwing a stone revealed water below us. If we'd remembered to bring a torch we might have seen more.

On the road again David cycled to the top of the island and I pushed my bike up the hill. My excuse is I only have top gear as the cable has snapped. It gave me time to survey the coastline below and to smell the floral perfumes. David was kindly waiting for me at the top, lying in the grass verge and snoozing.
Down the other side of the hill was much easier and much faster. Here we came across the second cave site, the Grotto of Queen Hortense. More downhill coasting to a small car park and an entrance hut (closed). It's a limestone cave too but this one is wide open under a cliff with a small stream flowing out of it. Easier to access as well with the road and path and clear walk way into it. By being easier it also seemed less dramatic. We came, saw, took photos and then ate our sandwiches before working our way uphill once more to the main road.
On the handhled GPS we'd clocked 14 miles and it was another 9 miles to complete the circuit to Kuto bay via Vao on the southern coast. Cycling is delightful here; well paved roads with potholes, very few cars and those you do see give us a courteous wide berth, people we passed were always ready with a cheery wave and bonjour. However, it was along this long return road when the saddle soreness began to tell. I was still pushing on, sometimes slowly, in top gear up the rises and blissfully coasting down the ascents. We reached the town of Vao on the south coast and detoured to see the monument on the beach – a salutation to Christianity and the place where missionaries first landed, a cenotaph for the islanders killed in WWII. In the centre is a statue of Christ and he's surrounded by local carvings appealing the the traditional spirits of the island. It's a visually striking monument and a good place to lie on the grass and rest our tender backsides before the last 3 miles home.
At the end of the day, mid afternoon actually, we'd cycled 23 miles up hills and down dales on our small wheeled shopper hopper bikes, notched up two cave systems, viewed the west and east coasts, chatted in pigeon French to local people and had tenderised derrières. The only solution is to keep on with more cycling but perhaps not tomorrow.