A ten dollar cappucino...Noumea-style

This has to be the weirdest cappucino I've ever seen. I was served it last week in one of my favorite cafes here. It reminded me know why I basically don't drink coffee here and will be straight off the plane and into a cafe as soon as I get back to NZ.

Yes, it was hot. Yes, that is a straw. Yep, it tasted awful!

The very wonderful CNC

Although Max was pretty confident in the water last summer, that was with the help of his floaties. Given the amount of swimming that goes on here, it was time to get rid of the floaties and make sure that Max learns how to swim for real.

I dithered a bit before booking him into lessons at the Cercle des Nageurs Caledoniens. It seemed expensive - involving us all joining the club so we both Charles and I could swim with Max, but it means we can all go use the wonderful pool(s!) whenever we want and the lessons are fantastic.

Max looks forward to his lessons at the 'beach' every Saturday and has developed quite a soft spot for his lovely teacher (and especially the 'gommette' or sticker he gets at the end). Charles is in charge of Max and has done all the lessons so far. I have been the lady of leisure, enjoying a coffee in the great cafe beside the pool - very relaxed! Polly? Well she relaxes in her car seat and sleep through all the excitement. All in all, it's a great way to spend a Saturday morning!

Greeny fingers

During the winter we got so sick of the uninspiring veges on offer that we decided to plant our own vege patch. In fact, Charlie's dad put most of the seeds in - which has proven interesting as he didn't mark things up so it's a great surprise when a plant starts to fruit and we have to guess what it is.

Max asks every morning if he can come out and water the plants. Hopefully the vege patch might entice him to actually eat some veges...but that might be asking a bit much!

Here are some pics of the tomatoes, lettuce, herbs and our wonderful bananas. Oh - and the two other little things we've managed to grow!

Et voila - notre jolie petite Polly

Here she is. She had a bit of a turbulent entrance into the world but she's perfect and very beautiful. Max loves giving our lovely little New Caledonian/Zealander cuddles.

Good value things to do here

It's expensive in Noumea. Some things are expensive and avoidable - like the NZ$ 20 loaves of imported kiwi bread (I'll admit to caving in a few weeks ago and relishing the having a vogels toast for a week or so) - but you need to buy toilet paper (NZ$18 for 9 decent rolls) and fruit (NZ$12 for a pineapple in the market) and the odd bit of meat (NZ$30 for a good sized non-organic chicken). I seem to blow most of our budget on food...

But!

There are good value things here. Like champagne ($NZ40 a bottle from a small producer) and delicious cheese and yummy bread ($NZ 2 per baguette) - the list goes on. You can also have an introduction to windsurfing with a teacher and board rental for an hour down at Anse Vata beach and it only costs $NZ 20. Or you can head out to Kuendu beach (you can even catch the bus there from Anse Vata) and spend the day on the water slides.

A trip to the market is lots of fun and it's free - although you might be tempted to check out the little cafe and have a yummy fresh orange juice. If you're there in the weekend, you might also be tempted by the homemade sorbets that are sometimes on offer out beside the car park. The coconut ones are delicious and only a few dollars.

Of course - it's free to swim and snorkel and go for a stroll in the warm breeze on the beach. Ok - it's sunny outside and time for me to go and enjoy it. A la plage!

Duck Island

One of my favourite day trips in Noumea is Duck Island. Actually - it's not really a day trip, it's a five minute blat in a speed boat from the beach over there. Somehow it feels a long way from Noumea though. You jump off the boat, splash on to the beach and find yourself a good posi for chillin'. Ahhhhh bliss.

There's a little snack with funky carvings where you can buy a beer and a toasted sandwich if you feel like it - or a more substantial feed. If you want a deck chair with an umbrella you'll need to fork out some cash - I think it's 2000 per day and 3000 for a larger fare - but you can avoid that by bringing your own stuff and parking a bit further around the island. It's very laid back.

The snorkelling's great. It's protected from the wind and there's a nice array of coral. There's also a resident moray eel who I have enjoyed following around on a few occasion and lots of tame fish who will come up to you and just about tap you on the mask to say hey - come over here and check this out!

We went out a few weeks ago with my nephew. He enjoyed going for a snorkel with Charlie and I dipped the bump in the warm sea. The boys also tucked into some food at the snack. A good way to while away some time as we wait for this baby to make her appearance!

Spring is in the air, along with the kites

It's suddenly warmed up here. The evenings are warmer and the beach is getting more and more tempting.

The people who are making the most of the changing seasons though are the kite and wind surfers. At the far end of Anse Vata beach, behind the Meridien is the spot where all the gun kite surfers go. The afternoon winds are strong and it's cool fun to sit and watch them fly. When I feel like a touch of holiday buzz Charlie and I head to the Phare at the Meridien to sip on a yummy drink and watch the kites go.

Charlie did a kite-surf course a few months ago. The aim was to get it done before baby was due but in fact he was stymied by the lack of wind in winter. So he got to have a few goes out at the back of Ilot Maitre - the safest place to learn - with warm, knee deep water. Unfortunately, after too many weekends of waiting for the wind to pick up, he only got half way through his course and probably won't finish. So I don't think we'll be seeing Charlie down with the guns behind the Meridien any time soon. Now we know that it's worth waiting for Spring to learn to fly.

Noumea is one of the best places to world to kite surf. Here's a pic of the sun going down on the kites, with the Phare Amadee in the background.