What's left of the old...

There's not much of the old colonial architecture left in Noumea.  Most of us live in newish, not very attractive (let's say 60s and 70s) houses and apartments.  Not everyone though.

Some little treasures remain, tucked into the valleys of Noumea and in the old part of town, the latin quarter - so named as it used to be a swamp - which had to be crossed to reach the more salubrious houses in Mont Coffyn.  So it was in Paris that you had to cross the Seine to get to the Quartier Latin on the Left Bank.  Hmmm - the link seems a little tenuous to me, but nevertheless the old area is still referred to as the Quartier Latin.

I enjoy a stroll around this little area because it's a mishmash of different styles and shops and the home of some great boulangeries!  I also like to check out some of the lovely old places that have survived here.  There aren't many places like these left in Noumea and I hope those that are left are protected.  They're just gorgeous.

Raining cords at Easter

Well,  I remember Easters in Dunedin when I was growing up being wet, wet, wet.  And here's it's monster wet, wet, wet!   It is the rainy season so it's to be expected, but we have quickly realised that without our no-fail amusement park for Max - the beach - we need to suss out some alternatives...pronto!

We took off this morning to check out the open day at a little farm called 'Le bonheur est dans le pre'  just outside Noumea.  There's a great network of farms, little B&Bs, cafes and restaurants here - that's an extension of the French network 'Bienvenue a la ferme'.  The one we went to today was very cute, with lots of animals to check out, a playground and a little tearoom.  Perfect.  Except for the rain!  We'll be back.  Max made me laugh when he spied a cow from the car and exclaimed 'Pig, pig'.  

Happy Easter everyone, enjoy the holiday and all the good food.  We just tore into a delicious poulet roti - Yum!

Escaping the Caillou

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!

He's Choo!

Max is two.  When we ask him how old he is, he holds two fingers up around his nose and says 'Choo'.  Very sweet.

Because he was two, and becasue we love him lots, he had two cakes - one at creche, and the other (the digger cake) at his digger party.  

For his party we invited some of his friends to a little celebration at Kuendu beach.  Everyone brought diggers to play with and went in for a swim too.  It was a lovely morning.  We even managed to make pass the parcel work with a small group of 2 and 3 year olds!

The lighthouse visitors and their lunch

Phare Amedee (or Amedee lighthouse) is one of the most popular and pushed touristy day trips in Noumea.  We'd been a little bit reticent about going - our imagined images of a screaming, overheated toddler and a crowded boat full of hot, bothered tourists put us off.

We're way too cynical.  We had a fabulous day!  It was hot and Max had one little tantrum - but a quick spin around the island in his mountain buggy (how can this iconic company be going bust?) with a dummy to suck on had him sorted out in no time.  

The lighthouse is a 45 minute boat-ride away.  Max spent the whole trip saying 'bateau' and pointing at each and every part of the boat.  We arrived and were amused by the massive fish that circled and thrashed about as they were fed bread from the wharf.  The water is a breathtaking range of blues and so, so warm.  

Perhaps the most surprising part of the trip was the way the trip's organised.  We have been frustrated and often angered by the lack of customer service and generally non-tourist friendly attitude here.  But this was fabulously well organised.  The team were full of smiles, helpful and the whole day was slick.  We were entertained by tahitian dancing, fire dancers, well fed and wined - with delicious prawns, salads and yummy treats.

Best of all, Max slept for 2 hours in the afternoon.  He was tucked up in his buggy in the shade of a few coconut palms.  The only thing that broke Charlie and my bliss as we swam, read and chilled out was the interesting visit of a friendly tricot raye...a very pretty little sea snake!

Bugs and crawlers

The landscape in New Caledonia looks like Australia - it's red and scrubby.  So cos it looks so much like Australia (and probably broke off from the Ozzy continent) I thought there would be lots of snakes and bugs here.

BUT - there aren't any snakes.  There's a sleepy boa that lives out on the Loyalty Islands but that's it! There are some freaky centipedes and some big spiders but nothing too nasty.  Here's a pic of an impressive spider that we had a good look at on Mare.

Cruisin' in da love boats

At least twice a week we're graced with the presence of an exciting and new cruise boat here in Noumea.  Town fills up with Ozzy tourists - wandering around, loudly testing their high school french and making hilarious exclamations about the high prices.  It's a bit a of a giggle being in town on a cruise day.  The cruisers are easily identifiable by the brightly coloured tags around their neck. We've seen a few looking hot and bothered not far from here - looking for the beach, a bit lost but determined to walk.  Midday lost in the burbs of Noumea isn't the most pleasant experience! Best to head straight to the beach or out to an island I reckon.

The cruise ships are massive and loom over the town like a brand new hotel hitched up to a watering post.  It's great watching them come in first thing in the morning.  They swing by our place and then head into the port for the day.   They leave early in the evening and often go to the Loyalty Islands.  The view from the boat as they head around the bays must be spectacular.  

I've become a bit obsessed with the whole cruise ship thing while we've been here and now I'm trying to find out if we can wangle our way onto a cruiser and head over to Australia on one.  I'd never been even the slightest bit interested before - but now I think that a few days on one would be great fun!