Well, our long awaited holiday starts tomorrow and I did wonder whether I should just cancel the flight, launch a boat from our front doorstep and sail to France instead! I feel a bit like Noah must have, building his ark back in the day, since the weather has been crazy today and I must … Continue reading Storm and Tempest…

Day three (le troisième jour) and we were off to the visit Jean - Marie Tjibaou Cultural Centre. Our tour guide was Georges, who was brilliant in the knowledge he shared. The architect of the centre was Renzo Piano, who also designed The Shard skyscraper in London and the Georges Pompidou Centre in Paris.  I visited … Continue reading Un jour manifique…

An early start again for day two (le deuxième jour). Up at 5.30am to head off to the local food markets (le Marché de Nouméa). I love to wander around food markets in whatever country we happen to be in, so getting out of bed early again was 'pas de problème pour moi'. It was … Continue reading Another hard day in beautiful Nouméa. Pauvre Karen….

We arrived in Nouméa save and sound, if not a bit late. Our driver, Manu, who collected us from l'aéroport de Tontouta and, after a 45 minute drive to our hotel 'le Lagon' at Anse Vata, I was in bed by 1am.  Unfortunately for us, our schedule for our first day Nouméa was very full, so … Continue reading Bienvenue à Nouméa…

Just weighed my suitcase and I've achieved a PB. I set myself a test each time we go overseas and try reduce the amount of luggage. Today I've outdone myself- 14kgs. Fantastique!!  Okay, okay. I know I'm only going for 5 days and the weather will be warm (light clothing only required), but I'll allow … Continue reading Countdown to take off…..

Ok. Day two of the blog and only 3 sleeps to go before 'Noumea, here we come'.  No bags packed yet, but I do have money, at least. Today I walked across to the city and organised my South Pacific francs. That process took quite a while, in fact I probably could have printed my … Continue reading Three sleeps to go…

This is my first foray into the world of blogging, so I'm very interested to see how this goes. Nothing ventured, nothing gained I say, so I decided to give it a go! Anyway, as most of you know, I'm off to Noumea this week for 5 days of French immersion. Yep, that's right, no … Continue reading Hi everyone!