Surfing on the Caillou

A few weeks ago we headed up to La Roche Percee for a weekend of surfing.  Well, Max and I were the support crew - Charlie headed up the surfing.  The spot we went to is about 1.5 hours north of Noumea.  It's one of the few places that's not completely protected by the reef so, when the swell's right, it's a beach break.

We stayed at Nekweta surf camp.  It's a chilled little place run by Manu (and his girlfriend) whose family has lived in New Caledonia for generations.  He's passionate about the environment and has put an enormous amount of energy into raising awareness about the fast-disappearing turtle population (an 80% drop in the number of turtles coming ashore in the past 10 years) and will talk to you about the current threats to our environment.  But he's not all doom and gloom, and the Nekweta surf camp is a beautiful example of a culturally and environmentally sensitive place to stay.  Manu also provided us with a fascinating take on the social situaiton in New Caledonia - he told us stories of taking food up to the villages when people couldn't get into town during the events of late 1980s.  In Bourail there were no shots fired - a stand-off took place with the disputing factions at opposite ends of the bridge.

But aside from that - the surf.  Charles had a great time.  It was big ask for him to get surf-fit in one trip but he loved being out at the reef and did catch some waves.  Max and I got a little frustrated by a rainy weekend but loved exploring our beautiful case (Melanesian style house) and the river behind the beach.  The only really annoying part of the whole weekend was the mosquitos!  I lost count of the number bites I got.  Three weeks later, I still have scabs to remind me the importance of finding some good insect repellant!  Any suggestions?