BONJOURE!
Well after a great weekend in New Caledonia it’s back down to earth and work is the daily grind that drums reality into you hear once more.
Wow Noumea… awesome peoples, so friendly.
After a good nights sleep and one of the newest hotels (complete with revolving restaurant) we were up early to make the most of the 2 1/2 days here. I wanted to get that real Island flavor and set of in search of a motor scooter to hire. We discovered the bus from Anse Vata to downtown Numea (4kms) and made out way to the hire company found in “Le Petite Brochure”(…that’s a bit of French). After our short trip on the #1 bus at the cost of 200cfp we took a quick detour for breakfast at an age old institution that has international recognition…Yes I am talking Pancakes Al a Mc Donald’s. Shocking really but I could not find someone who made crepes and croissants early on Saturday morning.
At 500m walk up the road saw us faced with a new problem…we couldn’t hire a scooter as we needed to hire 2 the hire company wouldn’t let us double…Damn! Now I have to drive a car. We hired a Renault “Twingo” which affectionately called “Le Shit” or “Le Crap” and after loosing all sense of direction and running 1 red light in downtown Numea I started to get the hang of driving on the right side of the road.
We decided that we would head for Numeas famous cultural center on the other side of town. According to the map it seamed simple enough, just follow the coast road…. Well that was the plan. A few miles and a couple of roundabouts and a missed turn saw us almost enter a toll road to some obscure mountain road! We stopped at a Shell Petrol station to get our bearings. As we started to drive away this little French man started whistling to us, not sure what I was doing wrong I got out of Le Crap and walked toward him. He beckoned to come to the station, now I thought I was in trouble and he wanted to sell me something. Turns out that he wanted to help us to get to the right direction, he pointed to his laminated card, which read “Are you lost? Would you like me to show you/follow me in my car?. To which he proceeded to drive and got us to where we needed to go…I was amazed! All he wanted in return was for us to sign his guest book!
We enjoyed the Culture Centre, but be warned if you go midday in April…it’s gonna be hot! And if you are not into Architecture, Art or Pacific Culture it’s not for you.
After devouring a couple of chocolate and banana crepes we made our way back through the city to a picturesque little bay just around the corner from out hotel and spent the afternoon just lying in the sun. Elena decided that when in France bathe like the French…TOPLESS! Like a true male I did not object.
I heard a familiar little bell sound, yes an Ice Cream pushcart. I just had to get a Pistachio Cone. We decided to drive up a large hill behind the hotel and watch the sun go down together, such a romantic moment…there is something about just being together that makes me love my wife so much….
In the evening I thought that we would take Le Shit and drive into downtown Numea for dinner…BIG MISTAKE… There is nothing, not a restaurant, bar, nightclub to be seen, Just a lot of locals that were hanging around the local square. The undertone was not one that was pleasant. So after this frustration of driving into town we headed back to the small bay where we swam and found a seafood restaurant. I’m convinced that the waiter was gay, but he knew his trade, the grilled salmon was to die for (and so was the price!). We slunk back to the hotel and crawled into bed.
