Bourail

In November we had our first trip in New Caledonia, driving a couple of hours up north to Bourail. It was a long weekend so we actually met lots of people we knew from Noumea up there, because it's a great place for families with a beach that goes for ages and has good paddling in the calm and good kite surfing in the wind. We stayed at an area called La Roche Percée, where there is a beach with little waves and some lovely walks to nearby bays. We were lucky to see some pretty good sunsets during our stay.

Christmas in the Pacific

As expected, blog posts haven't been as regular as we would like, but yesterday S's work had a Christmas party and we thought some of our friends might like to see Père Noel Pacific style with sunglasses and bare feet!

SUP

So, we have now tried stand up paddling and the verdict is...we like it! So much so that S and J have each bought their own inflatable boards that they take to the beach and pump up. Our favourite beach for it is Kuendu, and here are some more shots from there.

A panorama shot from Y, playing with her grandmother's camera.

 J heading out on the board

Y having a go (with J swimming nearby!)

Trying out yoga...

Ouen Toro

From our bedroom windows we can see Ouen Toro, a hill with really nice views. There are still some guns up there from WWII, apparently it was Australians who installed them. Anyway, here is the view from Ouen Toro. Thanks again to J's mum!

Port Plaisance

We live up a hill, but not right at the top. Here is the view from the other side, I think it's called Port Plaisance.

Ile aux canards

Recently J's mum came to visit and she isn't part of the grandpaparrazzi for nothing. She can always be relied on to take good photos. So now we can share some with you. While she was here we took a little trip to Ile aux canards, the closest island to Noumea, only about 5 minutes away in a taxi boat. We had no idea that such a paradise was waiting there for us! This is how it looks when you arrive.

It is kind of European in that you have to rent a deck chair if you want a place to sit in the shade, but you can bring a picnic if you like, which we did. 

There is a snorkelling trail marked out with signs and you can see the most beautiful tropical fish. It was Y's first time snorkelling and J hadn't done it for a long time, so they just went out a little way, holding hands. Even just a few metres from the shore we saw some lovely coral and brightly coloured fish.

Ilot Maitre

This weekend we finally made it to one of the two islands we can see just off the shore near S's work. Only a 10 minute taxi ride and we were in an island paradise. It actually rained a little on our way over but cleared up pretty nicely pretty quickly, as you can see.

 

One side of the island is popular with kitesurfers, the other has over-water bungalows at a resort.

 

 

 We took a picnic to this beach.

  

And had a little paddle. J even managed to see a turtle while swimming which was quite exciting. We'll be back.