Lifou - Loyalty Island

Another tendered port of call beckoned us stubbornly on towards the beach, despite the rainy weather.   After a crazy downpour where standing under a palm tree just didn't cut it, we booked a tour boasting a forest walk and cave viewing.  The language of the island is French, so I had a bit of practice time, although our tour guide gave her presentation in English.  (It's just always nice to know what people are saying to each other, when they think you don't understand their language and talk amongst themselves.)  The boys were very attentive to our guide as she described the traditional uses of the native plants in the forest (medicinal, building materials etc). 

  

 There were a couple of caves in the area . . .

 And we were able to all walk down inside this one, which they had pre-lit with candles.
This was the boys' first time inside a cave, so they learned about stalactites and stalagmites.  And we sang "Frere Jacques" in a 2 part round.   Mostly, Xavier just wanted to use his flashlight to shine all over the ceiling of the cave, unfortunately, he's not so great at keeping the light out of people's eyes . . . argh!

 The next part of the tour included showing us 3 different types of traps that are used by locals to catch coconut crab - and then Dave was chosen to actually hold one of them - a baby to be precise!  Our guide says that he can catch over 100 crabs per week here at these caves (a different set than we walked in, don't freak out!).  Yes, they can climb trees.  Yes, they eat coconuts.  It takes them a long time to crack them open though and sometimes they carry them up a tree to drop them, or join forces collectively with other crabs.  So, our guide opens a few up and leaves them out as "bait" and the crabs swarm them overnight.  Then he can catch them with ease.  They apparently taste quite good! 

We were also treated to displays of traps for catching wild pigs and birds.  He let Jack & Xavier try to catch his fingers as he pretended to be a bird landing on the trap.  They loved that part of course - he even made sound effects!  

There were no towns in walking distance of the port, so we wandered down a small road towards a "lagoon" area that was reported good for snorkeling.  Indeed, you can see how clear the water was and the amounts of beautiful, untouched coral visible.  We didn't have any gear, nor wanted to pay for rentals today, but we used the boys inflatable rings again and some goggles and Dave and I swam around and pushed the boys in their rings for awhile.  There were hardly any waves to deal with and you could see the fish swimming right from the shore!

It is still amazing, even after 2 weeks, that after a lovely day onshore, we get to return to such a fabulous ship in the distance and travel onwards again!

Island traditional dancers gave us a goodbye presentation and then we went to wander up and down the beach in full view of the ship.   Dave was swimming in search for the sea turtles that had been reported found just off the pier, but only saw the tail end of one swimming away from him.  We were the last people back on board the boat that day.  Not because it was sunny or particularly warm, but just because it was worth lingering at such a peaceful place.