Our vacation in New Caledonia
En français pour nos amisMany may wonder where New Caledonia is and wonder even more how we ended up going there. Well...New Caledonia is a 2 hour flight North East of Brisbane. 8 days sailing from Sydney, and that is how we found our friends. Jean Pierre LeRoux was in need of a crew to take his boat back to New Caledonia 7 yrs ago, we applied and got the job. Immediately we all got a long and helped him replace the engine in this rolled aluminium sailing boat. Once we arrived in Noumea we were welcomed by his friends and that is how we met Gilles, he continued to visit us in Australia through the years whilst we promised to return to New Caledonia, which we did...our friends were unchanged and so was Noumea.
We departed Brisbane on Saturday and embarked on a two hour flight to New Caledonia, it was very nice not to have to endure 24 hours of flight to the northern hemisphere for a change. On arrival Gilles and the children were there to greet us and drove us to Kuendu Resort and helped us check in. Suprisingly our Melanesian hut had a naked lady wandering and they opted for a different hut, I would not have minded that one actually!!
Our home for the week was apartment #9 Cote Mer ( Seaside path ), our outlook was magnificent and we soon began to warm to the temperatures and the Gecko's chatter, they coexisted with us in the thatched roofing and help welcome our stay.
We were soon carted off to a magnificent Christmas eve dinner at Gilles home where we met the Simonet family, George (father), Paulette ( Mother ), Dominique (brother) and his wife Laurence. Grandma Simonet in her nineties was a captivating lady and I'd wished to have had a better French vocabulary to learn more about her fantastic life.
The cuisine we were treated was beyond our wildest imagination, Lobsters, Crabs, Scallops, Oysters, BBQ Venison fillets, Duck liver Pate, Tahitian Salad, roasted Goose stuffed with pork and water chestnuts, the cheese, the salads and the Christmas pudding was more than I could handle in the one sitting and the following day we enjoyed what we did not have room for that evening at Dominique's. At Gilles the children were merry and enjoyed the poolside atmosphere. The hospitality we received was beyond any of our expectations and this continued throughout our whole stay. George introduced Lucilla to the French wines and Lucilla was in her element.
I was thrilled by the family spirit and the welcoming nature, I was thankful they were social natured and the conversation was a mix of French, English and sign language, we all tried our best to communicate and never did I feel we were out of touch. Gilles kindly leant us his new Citroen, CD player, dipping headlights and a steering wheel on the wrong side of the car. Many a local laugh as I headed towards the passengers side to realise I was on the wrong side. I pretended to check the tyres!! We headed back to Kuendu via Australia, it took us a few trips to finally learn the route back home, it was an adventure and we enjoyed getting lost!
Kuendu was fantastic, the service was excellent and they would wait till we left before quickly cleaning and dressing our rooms for the next day. Lucilla's smile as she walked into the hut was glowing, knowing she did not have to do any house work really suited her. We were soon overcome by the temperatures and moved the children from the second floor to the air conditioned main room, the following day Lucilla and I moved in too! One big happy family and a noisy air conditioner did not even effect the leisurely life and golden sunsets. There was a beachside bar and pedal bikes for the children, big children too:) We were soon in holiday mode and enjoyed the tropical way of life.
We were constantly treated to the Simonet hospitality and the week at Kuendu ended quickly, they do say time flies when you are having a good time and this was no exception. After staying a night with Gilles we headed for the Simonet holiday home at Tambia. Didier/Pascal, Gilles' brother inlaw and sister kindly leant us their room as they were heading off to France on a skiing holiday! The Tambia holiday home is a paradise for children young and old, with three fishing boats, two jet skis, a Quad runner, sailing, fishing, eating, drinking, magnificent sunsets.. What more can I say!! Jeane Pierre, Sabine and Mano joined us along with George, Paullete, Christine and the children for New Years eve, I had spotted FIREWORKS in the supermarket and as they are illegal in Australia took the duty of making sure I relived my childhood experience. I nominated Gilles as the Pyrotechnic director and I stood by as artistic director. The children were in there element and so was I. It was a warming experience to have my two dearest NC friends with me for the last day of what could be considered a hard year for me. By now we had truly settled into our holiday spirit and the evening was a great success!
It did rain for 4 days with high winds but the drop in temperature was welcomed. I went fishing in the rain, as only an Aussie would and caught absolutely nothing, not even a bite, smelly Octopus I suppose! Having caught more fish off the beach with Guy and Luke a day earlier Gilles decided to give me a fishing lesson. In no time at all, Gilles had netted a bucket of fresh bait ( Lesson 1 ), headed to a favourite spot ( Lesson 2 ) and started hauling in Rouget (Reds) I caught the biggest one.. "One" being the operative word!! I didn't quite get to learn lesson 3, how to catch 12 more fish than everyone else, but for me coming home with a decent catch was a good enough for me!!
On the second last evening we dined to Lu's lovely Venison casserole enjoyed a truly beautiful sunset and discussed worldly matters our stay was coming to an end and the following day was spent packing up the toys and bedding down the holiday home for the next visit, it truly was paradise.
We returned to Noumea and had a free night to explore the Noumean sites, we returned to our previous dining spot Chez Albans where a great character was open to English or French, we dined in a typical warm French atmosphere portraying an Italian spirit but the food was definitely French. Lu's opted for Atlantic Salmon with Bernaise Sauce and Goose fat fried new potatoes and I opted for the local fish, Vivaneux, the bread, salad and water were by default and it really brought back memories of our first visit to New Caledonia.
The following day was again with Jean Pierre, and he specially took us back to the Yacht club for lunch. And again the cuisine was something a cut above the rest, more Salmon, seafood, pates, cheeses and fine wines to compliment. We enjoyed spending our time again with Jean Pierre, after all we did share 9 days at sea with him. He parted our company with another Lobster for the kids gifts for all the family and the trademark bottle of wine.
That evening it was the Simonet cuisine again with Duck liver and Truffle pate and the now standard Tahitian salad, BBQ venison and fine company. Hearts were warming as we knew the end of our vacation was near, conversations reflecting the 2 weeks and plans for future visits in both directions solidified our friendships as the last day of our holiday approached. The last day of our trip was spent packing and cleaning, and Gilles and Maxim drove us off to the Airport, we had a few drinks and discussed Gilles plans for his New Zealand holiday.
Reflecting over the two weeks I cannot begin to express in words how grateful I am to have had the opportunity to befriend such warm, spirited people. Our holiday would not have been what I've tried to express in this newsletter without their hospitality. If there was one thing that rose above all, it was the warmth of family and relations, the cultural richness, the giving and receiving, (not taking), all the values that were taught to me as a child. It is very difficult to find this kind of relationship in today's Global economic battle amongst people. It is heart warming to know that when we need to be loved as friends we know where to find it.
To all our dearest friends in New Caledonia, we wish to convey my warmest gratitude for their friendship and hospitality, our visit to New Caledonia was everything and more than could be imagined and the only way to thank you is by welcoming you all and giving as much as we received.
Today is the first day of the rest of our lives, as a family we have much more to live for now!
Thank you all
Harry, Lucilla, Guy and Luke.
Bissou, mmmmmmmmwa et mmmmmmmmmwa!!
