9 Apr: Flight to Noumea
An aerobics class had been organised on Bondi Beach this morning,
so Jenny
got up
before
sunrise
(6:13) and
jogged
down to
the beach
to take
part.
It
was a
big
sponsored
event and
free
aerobics
mats
were
handed
out
to
participants.
I hadn't
done a
power yoga
session
for almost
a
year, so
it felt
good to do
some yoga
again,
especially
on
the
sands
of
Bondi
Beach
with
the
sun
rising!
A
perfect
way to
start
the
day.
Our flight to New Caledonia was midday. Upon arrival in
Noumea, we
were met
by Jef
laiden
with
beautiful
necklaces
made of
fresh
flowers.
A really
nice
welcome!
We then
drove to
his home
in
Nouméa,
the girls
were
excited
about
meeting
some F
rench
speaking
friends
at
last
(Pacome
11,
Juliette 9
and
Anatole
5), who
are on
school
holidays
this week.
We spent a
nice
evening
catching
up; it
had
been
years
since we'd
seen
Jef
and
Hélène,
the girls
weren't
even
born...
and
7
years
since
they'd
been
permanently
living in
New
Caledonia.
Time
flies...!
 |
 |
| In the YMA
room,
with
all
our
luggage,
ready
to
leave
Australia...
sniff,
sniff! |
A warm welcome
with
flowers
from
Jef
at
Nouméa |
10 Apr: Good Friday in Noumea
Today we planned our itinerary around New Caledonia, with help
from Jef
and a
local
travel
agent. We
booked a
return
flight to
the
Isle of
Pines,
an
island
off
the
south
coast, a
second
weekend with Jef and Hélène and finally a tour of the main
island.
The
weather
here
is a
drastic
change
from
Australia; the wet
season is
drawing
to
a
close and
there's
quite a lot of rain and not much blue sky or sunshine...
Today
is overcast,
with
sporadic
showers
and
35
knots
of
wind.
François went
down to
the bay
for a couple
of hours
windsurfing
in the
afternoon
whilst
Jef
took me
and the
kids to
the
Tjibaou
Cultural
Centre in
Noumea
where we
saw Kanak
totems and
traditional
Kanak
huts.
François
finished
his
windsurfing
session
with 4
blisters
on his
hands, a
big smile
on
his
face
and a
broken
board...!
Jef had a busy day as he had to taxi his kids to their holiday
activities
and us
around all
day, do
the
shopping
and buy
and
sell a
car.
Hélène is
now the
proud
owner of a
lovely
Mini
Cooper
convertible.
What
class!
11 Apr: Mont Koghi
It poured down with rain all night and it continued to rain
most of
the day...
Welcome to
the
tropics!
This
morning
François
and
Jenny
went
to
the
market
with
Hélène
while Jef
bravely
looked
after
all
the
kids.
We
left
him
preparing
grapefruit
jam and
home-made
fois gras
for
dinner
on
Sunday
-
yum,
yum!
We
stopped
off on the
way to
pick up a
rental
car, a
Twingo,
for a
couple of
days to
make
moving
around a
bit
easier. We
stocked up
on local
produce at
the market
with fresh
prawns,
crabs,
tuna,
fruit and
various
local
salads
with raw
fish. On
the way
back
we
stopped
off for a
browse at
a couple
of pearl
shops; New
Caledonia
trades
prawns for
Tahitian
pearls!
The
jewellery
is
beautiful,
the
choice is
vast and
apparently
less expensive than in French Polynesia due to lower
taxation.
In the afternoon the rain died down a bit, so we decided to
risk a
walk up in
Mont
Koghi. The
walking
track was
muddy and
looked
like a
river
bed
in
places
but
we
courageously
walked up
to the
wooden
refuges
in
the
forest.
Jenny and
Juliette
both
slipped
and fell
on
the way
back down.
We
returned
to the
cars
looking
like
drowned
rats,
soaked
through to
the skin
despite
our
Goretex
jackets.
In
the
evening
Jenny had
an
enormous vivid
bruise...
We had a lovely evening with a super dinner of tuna
sashimi
(with the
tuna
bought on
the
market) and
seaweed,
washed
down with
a
delicious
wine from
Marlborough,
New
Zealand
.
 |
| All the
children
in
the
rain
at
Mont
Koghi
|
12 Apr: Easter Sunday in Noumea
Unfortunately the rain hadn't ceased, so the Easter bunny
couldn't
hide the
eggs in
the
garden!
Instead
the Easter
egg hunt
took
place
inside.
The
children
ran
excitedly
around the
house and
managed
to
find
the
chocolate
in record
time!
We visited the aquarium in Noumea in the morning. It's
a lovely
new building
with nice
tanks and
displays. We
saw
several
Nautiluses,
similar to
the
extinct
anemone;
they live
in the
depths
around New
Caledonia
and
haven't
evolved for
450
million
years!
After lunch we prepared the crabs, prawns and squash for the
evening
dinner
party,
before taking
advantage
of a dry
spell
to visit
the
cannons on
the
headland
and take a
walk on
the
beach
at
Saint
Marie
Bay.
The
tide
was
out
but
shallow
lagoons
remained on the sands,
housing
small
fish,
starfish
and sea
cucumbers.
We
had fun
picking up
and
inspecting
the
starfish,
slimy sea
cucumbers
and even a
dollar sea
urchin; it
was like a
touch tank
in
an
aquarium!
We spent a lovely evening with Jef and
Hélène's friends over
a
gastronomic
dinner.
We didn't
get to bed
until
1:00 in
the
morning though,
and the
alarm is
set for
6:30am...
 |
 |
| On the beach
at
low
tide! |
Gaelle finds a
starfish! |
13 Apr: Isle of Pines
Our prayers had been answered, it was dry this morning! The
views of
the coral
reefs and
islands from
the plane
on our
short
flight
were
stunning.
We
landed on the
Isle of
Pines with
the
sunshine,
although
there were
lots of
clouds in
the sky.
After a
quick
transfer
to our
bungalow,
Nataïwatch,
we headed
to the
beach
with
our
snorkelling
gear. The
beach at
Kanuméra
Bay
is stunnning;
beautiful
fine,
white sand,
lovely
blue
waters
and
a
small
island
at
the end
of the
bay. The
abundant
coral
is
only
metres
from the
shore and
there are
lots of
tropical
fish
in
the
waters.
Paradise!
After lunch and a short siesta we headed off by foot in search of
the old
convict
buildings
a couple
of
kilometres
away. We
saw the
old
water
tower
built in
1874 which
is still
in use
today and
the
prisoner
cells,
surrounded
by 2 metre
high
vegetation!
We felt
like
trepid
explorers making
our way
through
the weeds
to the
cells!
We are struck by the friendliness of the locals on the island.
Every
passing
car slowed
down
considerably
to
overtake
us and
waved
a
friendly
"hello".
At one
point we
were
looking at
our map on
the
roadside
and a car
stopped
and even
reversed
back to
ask if
they
could
be
of
assistance.
On a
regrettable
note
however,
it must be
said that
New
Caledonia,
as a
whole, is
not a
clean country; there's
unfortunately
litter
everywhere
you
look...
Quiteb a
contrast from Australia.
 |
 |
 |
| Kanuméra
Bay |
Kanuméra
Bay |
Homework
session
outside
our
bungalow |
14 Apr: Upi and Oro Bays
Today we were up early (6:30) for an excursion in
a traditional
fishing
boat
called a
pirogue,
through Upi
Bay. We
were first
driven
from
the bungalow
to
Saint
Joseph
Bay,
where
we
hopped
on
the pirogue
(a cross
between a
canoe and
a
catermaran)
for
the one
and a half
hour trip
around
Taré
Island
and
up to
the
northern
corner
of Upi
Bay. The
weather
was
dry
but
heavily
overcast
which
unfortunately
dampened
the bright
blue and
turquoise
colours of
the
waters,
but even
without
sunlight
the
bay
was stunning.
We motored
up the
first half
of the bay
and around
the island
before
hoisting
the sail;
an
acrobatic
manoeuvre
which
nearly
saw François
and Sophie
whisked
off into
the
water
by
the
boom!
We jumped off the pirogue and wadded to shore. We
then
continued
with
a walk
of 3/4
hour
through
the
rainforest
to Oro
Bay
where
we
were
met
with a
beautiful
shallow
straight
of sea,
lined with
fossilised
coral.
After
wadding
across the
straight
in
flip-flops
and a
further
10
minutes
walk
through
the
rainforest,
we came to
what's
called the
Natural
Swimming
Pool. It's
a small
shallow
lagoon
protected
from
the
huge
ocean
waves,
full of
coral and
tropical
fish. The
lagoon's
water is
a
beautiful
rainbow of
blues and
with a
mask and
snorkel the colours
are awesome!
We were
lucky to
have
a few
sunny
spells,
which
added
more intensity
to
the already
beautiful
colours.
We walked around the island to a small local
restaurant, Chez
Régis, to
taste a
local
speciality
called
Bugna
for
lunch.
Bougna
is made
of local
roots
vegetables
(unknown
to us)
cooked
with
coconut
milk,
bananas,
tomatoes
and
chicken
and served
in banana
leaves.
Once back at the bungalow we returned to the beach at
Kanuméra Bay.
We drank a
beer at
the
restaurant
whilst the
girls
finished
their
homework.
All in all
it was a
very
enjoyable day
for the
birthday
boy,
François!
Unfortunately though we couldn't find a birthday cake; shopping
possibilities are extremely limited on the island and the sale
of alcohol is forbidden.
 |
 |
 |
| On the pirogue
at
Upi
Bay |
The pirogue's
sail |
There were
hundreds
of
violinist
crabs
at
Oro
Bay |
 |
 |
 |
| The lagoon at
Oro
Bay
(the
natural
swimming
pool) |
Sophie proudly
holding
a
coconut
we
shelled
at
Oro
Bay |
Bougna lunch
at
Chez
Régis |
15 Apr: The tour of the Isle of Pines
Today we rented a car (at twice the price of a day's rental in
Noumea...)
to drive
around the
island. We
started off
with the
market
in
Vao,
which
was
surprisingly
small; a
few old
ladies
selling
a
handful
of fruit
and
vegetables,
plus some
delicious
banana
fritters.
We bought
a papaya
for lunch
and a
couple of
the
banana
fritters
for the
kids and
set off to
see the
island's
sights:
the
church
in
Vao, a
couple of
statues, a
couple of
limestone
caves
and the
Bay of
Crabs. The
first cave
was called
"Grotte
de
la
Troisième"
and it's
situated
down a
muddy
track
which was
only
accessible
by foot.
The cave
is laden
with
stalactites
and if you
follow a
steep
slippery
path you
come to
an underground
lake.
The
second
cave,
"Grotte
d'Oumagne" has
lots of
lovely
lucious
vegetation
leading up
to it's
large
entrance.
It's also
called Queen
Hortense's cave
as legend
has it
that the
queen
took
shelter
in
the
cave
when
visiting
local
tribes. On
our
travels
we
saw the
giant
edible
snail
called
bulime,
that only
exists
on
the
island
and
a
giant
cricket
(about
20cm
long!).
We then headed back to Oro Bay for a picnic lunch and another
swim in
the
beautiful
lagoon.
Back at
the
bungalow,
Jenny
prepared a
kilo of
New
Caledonian
prawns for
supper
whilst François
helped
the
girls
with
their
homework.
 |
 |
 |
| Saint Maurice
Statue
at
Vao |
A pirogue at
Ouaméo
Bay |
Queen
Hortense's
cave |
16 Apr: Pic N'ga and return to Noumea
We left the bungalow in the morning to do the hike up to Pic
N'ga
(262
m
altitude).
It was
raining
slightly,
so we went equipped with
our
Goretex
jackets,
but we
were lucky
as the weather dried up. The
first half
of the
walk was
along a
muddy
track following a river
and then
we emerged
from the
forest to
continue
up a steep
stony path.
We arrived
at the
wooden
cross on
mount N'ga after
an hour.
The view
from the
top was
spectacular
and well worth the
effort of
the climb.
We could
see 360
degrees,
all around the Isle
of Pines
and its
surrounding
islands.
The sea
was a
beautiful
mix of
blues and
it
contrasted
beautifully with
the golden
sandy
beaches
and
luxuriant
vegetation.
We ate a picnic lunch on Kanuméra beach and then rented a canoe
for an
hour to
explore
the coast
and nearby
islands. As we got into
the canoe,
it started
to rain
quite
heavily -
just our luck! We
paddled to
a sandy
beach on
an island
around the
cape and back. The
water was
much more
transparent
away from
the bay
and there was lots of
coral to
see.
After a quick shower, we caught our flight back to Noumea. Jef
kindly
picked us
up from
the
airport. In the evening, we left the 5
kids at
home with
the
nanny we
went with Jef and Hélène to a
lovely
restaurant
called The
Roof,
built on stilts over the bay of
Anse Vata.
The water
was lit up
and
approaching the restaurant
we spotted
a dolphin!
We enjoyed
a
child-free dinner, eating
specialities
such as
prawns,
fois gras
polée and yellow tuna
tartare,
with
leopard
rays
swimming around us. A lovely
evening!
 |
 |
 |
| Hiking up to
Pic
N'ga |
The wooden
cross
at
Pic
N'ga |
Dining on the
terrace
overlooking
Anse
Vata |
BACK
| 
