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.

Kuendu beach

Most of May was busy setting up the house (the kids never want to go back to Ducos, the industrial area with all the household goods shops, ever again). And the toe infection still isn't over so unfortunately swimming has been out. But we know where to go when the time comes! This beach is about 15 min drive from our place.

There is a stand-up paddle school there and the water looks pretty still so we think it could be a good place to start.

Our stuff arrived

May was a big month with lots of new things to get used to. Some days it was quite tough but in the middle of May our container arrived, full of LOTS of familiar stuff. In retrospect we probably didn't need such a big one and since we had such a big one we should have filled it with beer and prosecco, but anyway, we were glad to have it. Here it is in Basel outside our old apartment.

And here it is all the way on the other side of the world in Noumea.

There was a lot to unpack

but we were so happy to have the blue couch again and to make our house feel like our home.

A gianormous omelette

We also had our first outing on the island on Sunday (so good having our new car). We went to "la fête de la ville" in the town of Dumbéa. The girls thought it was like a "hot Herbstmesse", with lots of rides and games and fairy floss under a blistering sun. We got our first taste of Tahitian dance ("Fudi wackeln" according to Y and Z) and also delicious local ice cream made with fresh coconut milk and lime. But the biggest event of the day was definitely the making of the gigantic omelette. Above is a picture of the fire they used to cook the omelette.

This was the pan they cooked it in.

It was so big they needed a crane to lift it over the fire.

They whisked the eggs with giant whisks attached to power tools.

And they used boat oars to spread the mix all over the pan. Apparently there were serves for 3000 people. We shared one serve, it had ham and mushrooms in it, and it was pretty good.

Our first sunset

We stayed for our first sunset and even shared a serve of fish and chips on the beach.

Our first swim

On Sunday we had our very first swim at the famous Baie des Citrons (Lemon Bay). (We couldn't before because of a yucky toe infection). It was worth the wait.

We're here

After a crazy few months of planning, packing, purging, purchasing and lots of other activities not starting with p, we're all here...together...in our new home. The photo here is a view of the coconut tree in our new backyard. It has real coconuts on it. We try to make sure we don't stand underneath them, especially when the wind is blowing.