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Published: August 7th 2007
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2 blogs in 2 weeks I hear you say!
Well nearly at the end of our 2 weeks here and where has that time gone.
Once we landed in New Caledonia we were greated by Ben, Nathalie and Sam who took us back to Noumea a 50km drive. Once we arrived we were welcome into their apartment where we made ourself at home for the next two weeks. After a couple of days rest we decided to head south to and Island called the Isle of Pines known as 'the closest island to paradise'. We took a catamaran to the island which took 2.5hrs and you could say it was a little bit rough. We camped on the isle of pines at a place called Nataiwatch for 2 nights. While on the Isle of Pines we went to a place called 'Baie de Oro' which has a natural pool that is filled in by the tide. It is a great place for snorkelling the water is so clear and the fish were so tame that you could just swim through them all. Although we did experience some fish which werent so friendly having decided to suck on our legs which was
quite a shock when you didnt know they were there. We also went to Baie de Oro which had the whitest sand and the clearest sea we had ever seen or been in and we made the most of it. Rather than using the boat we decided on the plane which must be the quickest plane ride ever a mere 20 minutes and the quickest safety demonstration you will ever see if you saw it and we are still trying to figure out where the closest exit is.
Over the Easter weekend Ben, Nathalie and of course Sam took us on a Tour of New Caledonia starting with the North. We headed up the East coast first stopping at Bourail where we pitched our tents for the first night. The following day we went across to the East side of the island and headed further up north. Its amazing how different it all looks with the different vegetation it looked so much more tropical. We camped at a place called Hienghene, at a camp site right on the beach! What a view to wake up to in the morning as the sun shone over the sea! After we had settledinto
the campsite we embarked on an Easter Egg hunt with little Sam and we all enjoyed some chocolate bunnies!! The next day we ventured further north, passing through all the tribes as the waved hello to us as we drove along the coast also coming across a popular landmark known as 'the big chicken' a large rock which looked just like a chicken we continued north and acrossed the river, via the most highly technical vessel your likely to see!! Thoughts of the boats in Thailand flooded back as the "driver" started the engine dependant on which direction we were travelling to propel us across the river. Safely across the river we made our way towards a place called Tao, where Sarah and I ventured through the forest and across the rocks as we climbed up towards a beautiful waterfall. We had to shout to each other because the sound of the water rushing down the moutain was so loud!
The next day we decided to travel all the way back to Noumea, nearly a 400 km drive, once we had packed everything away and loaded up the car we drove back across the winding road towards the east coast,
where we stopped in a village called Koné. Ben and Nathalie took us for lunch in a restaurant, that if you didn't know it was one you might not have even ventured in, but perhaps that was this places' secret as the food was gorgeous, and there was plenty of it too! Refuled we then continued our journey south bound towards the comforts of home!
Our tour of the country concluded with a trip to the south of the island, once again the landscape was very different to that of the rest of the island, with all the roads, rocks and soil being a vibrant red colour! We headed to the Blue River national park where we went in search of the Cagou bird (native to New Caledonia, and can't be found anywhere else in the world) and some canivorous plants that feed on flies and other small insects! We made our way through the rainforest in search of the cagou, which Sarah spotted in amongst the under growth, like tourists we snapped away making sure we got plenty of pictures! As we walked along the road to where we would be picked up we were treated to the sight
Our Tent!
You can't complain waking up to that! of 3 together, one which had a bark/call that sounded like it had a 60 a day habit!
The final highlight of our stay was a flight in a small Cessna 4 seater plane, flown by a friend of Bens that took us up over the city of Noumea and out over the coast, giving us a birds eye view of the reef, as well as the many islands off the coast, including one home to a light house and also the local ship wreck, beached high out of the water! The view from the air was simply stunning and gave us a real view of the beautiful colours that makes up the ocean and the reef. The flight was truly amazing and at no point did we realise how small a plane we were really in!
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zoe
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WOOOOO
Oh My God you two are still having an amazing time!!!!!!!!! looks absolutly breath-taking!!!! well miss hodson and mr nick(sorry dont know last name) it is an adventure you are on!!! im so happ y for you teo all about and living it up!!! well just to let you know how planet earth is going....im moving back to cambidge for a year!! gotta really as im saving nothing at the minte so, if i can do this then me and gra can finally get a home of our own!!!! so i will not be here to great you when you land,...but il be here in spirt!!! LOVING THE ARTS AND CRAFTS AT THE MNUTE!! NOT HAHAHHHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! well mr brett hamster hands is still the same....except im shouting at him alot more...hahahah good old me....argh its not the same without ya saz the lass!!!!!! but for heaens sake dont come back its like HELL!!!!! but i know you know better than that!!!! anyway im chatting away!!!! take care sweetie and keep the bogs comming....love ya both zoe xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx