Route a Hoaire, Yate, New Caledonia

Last night I’d tried again and failed to get myself on a Canyoning trip, so for plan B I figured on doing another PR track out toward Yate, about 100km from Noumea. The drive was quite interesting, passing the 40 Sq km ‘Lac Yate’ which is the major source of hydro power for the island.

There was an adventure race called ‘Gigawatt’ on today, making the usually quiet road very busy indeed. Again the PR was well signposted, but the last 2km was a deeply rutted orange dirt road. We tried to smash the sump of the rental car, but unfortunately failed. Finding the ‘depart du sentier’ by the Yate Dam, I went on my way.

Yate Dam

Riviere Bleue

The first half of the track was along an old road that sidled precariously above the lower Yate Valley. Beneath the Hydro dam, the river was littered with large boulders and the occasional deep azure pool. Along the way I saw a Pitcher Plant as well as a rather large spider on its web. The Meina wia waterfall was rather impressivel; I stopped and admired it for several minutes.

Don't go swimming in the river...


Chucky on the Route a Hoaire

A curious (and rather large) local

Pitcher Plant

Riviere Bleue

Cascade De Mwiena

Yate Bay

When the Yate Bay and Hydro station came into view, I plonked myself down on a rock to have some lunch. From there, the route followed a short section of single track up towards another 4WD track. Better views of the Bay were gained as I climbed higher, but soon I was mostly enjoying wandering through weird and wonderful sections of scrub. I stopped often to look more closely at some of the curious plants and take photos.

Lac Yate

Lac Yate came into view next, with its many inlets and large numbers of dead bleached trees poking up through the waters. From here, it was a short wander back down to Jeff, who was waiting reading his book in the Car.