A spectacular sunrise over the sea this morning! A couple of doggies in attendance made it even more special.

We drove into the incredibly beautiful town of Hienghene. It’s snuggled in a bay, green, lush and tropical with islands dotted just inland of it. We were lucky to be there on a Tuesday, as the market is on Tuesdays and Fridays, where the local women sell their produce. The market took place under a covered structure in which there were long concrete tables with everything laid out. We looked but didn’t buy. No one encouraged us to buy anything. There was fruit and veg, some breads, dishes I couldn’t recognise nor name, women wearing their brightly coloured baggy cotton dresses, men setting up bbqs along the waterfront and some sitting amongt trees on blankets, a big boom box playing a reggae tune. Jimmy Cliff? Bob Marley? I forget what it was, but it made me want to stay a while and take it in all in, but for some reason, we didn’t feel welcome, just a bit self-conscious and western and sticking out like a sore thumb.

We found a very friendly lady who spoke English in the info Centre, where we got a map of the area! At last some tourist info. She told us about “La Poule” the island shaped like a hen, and “The Sphinx” island, and where to get the best views of them, and about the waterfalls and car ferry. There was nothing to buy in the info centre, apart from some laminated placements which I would have bought, only they weren’t very nice.

Across the road from the info centre was a hotel/restaurant set on the high side. We climbed a wooden staircase to a deck with table settings overlooking the bay. Father and son (owners? Managers?) were banging away and drilling, fixing some of the wooden floorboards. We ordered a coffee which came with a mini croissant. We decided to return here for lunch. It was open for lunch between 11am and 2pm. It seemed like the only eating option.

Leaving there, we began a truly spectacular drive along the coast, stopping on the way for a swim. We parked Francoise on a grassy verge and could see her from the beach. Looking back at the holiday, that was the best (and only proper) swim in the sea.

Then we took a rickety old car ferry to cross the river and view the waterfall, called Cascade de Fou, from the side of the road. We saw an incredible sight from a bridge into the river – a massive sea turtle, all blues and greys, and thousands of fish, some jumping.

We hot-footed back to the restaurant, not wanting to miss out on lunch. We made it just after 1pm and did a very bad job of ordering in French from a young waitress who could not have been older than 13 years old. We ended up with delicious but unusual food. Mine was fish. I later googled that it was parrot fish, with some kind of fritter and spinach. We got our entrée second due to my ordering. It was really tasty croquette style things, crispy and filled with chicken and prawns. It was washed down with a very good cold beer. At this point, it was the best food we had eaten in NC so far.

Back at Koulnoue the weather changed, and drops of rain started falling, so we bunkered in for the evening, eating our spoils of last night’s baguette from the buffet, along with the thin sausages, cheese, etc. The TV only had French channels, except for the BBC which brought news of war in Sudan, and the death of Barry Humphries who had died the day before.

Next up: Day 5 – Beware of sharks and coconuts