Finally, eight months after we arrived here, we left the Caillou for ten days of laxing and shopping on the Gold Coast. We have family over there and although I have enjoyed previous visits, the most recent one was one of the best. Why? Because it was cheap, cooler than here and taking a 2 year old to fun parks is absolutely hilarious.
We also giggled at ourselves and our fellow passengers as we checked in. All the bags going onto the plane were curiously soft, light and clearly empty. People head over to the Gold Coast from Noumea just to go shopping. When we were doing the rounds of the shopping malls we were somewhat surprised by the amount of French we heard spoken. Clearly a lot of New Caledonians shop over there...and that might explain the abysmal shopping here. I guess that no matter how hard you try to protect your economy by taxing imports, people will just do the sensible thing and shop elsewhere - even if tickets for air travel are exorbitant. I can assure you that we had to sit on our cases and wrestle with the zips on the way home!
But - aside from all that - the trip was great. We loved Seaworld and Max is still asking for ELMOOO. A few days chilling in Byron Bay were just lovely and I revelled in walking along a pristine beach with waves crashing beside me and a cool sea breeze in my hair.
So now we're home again. It's been an interesting week with our first cyclone warning and a car that wouldn't start when we arrived at the airport at midnight and is still 'en panne'. I have to admit that I'm loving driving the Subaru we're currently renting. This will be the first and the very last Renault we own... vive les Japonais!
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