Shopping Frenzy!

 

Chilling - island style! 

 

Displaying their wares after a couple of hours of serious shopping. You would think it was a crime to return with money because they have done all they can to be rid of every last franc!  Connor was so proud of his snazzy hat until Paul asked him if he'd converted the asking price and he blithely said "of course, Mr B."  Paul commented that the amount he paid was a heck of a lot for a hat and judging by the look on Connor's face, he thought it was as well. We think he left a zero off the NZ equivalent! He'll be more careful with calculations in future!

 

 

Our next stop was the aquarium. Although some had been with their billet families, it is well worth a second visit. The forms and colours are beautiful and the fish are all easily visible and live in well-replicated environments.

 

 

We had one not feeling too good so those who wanted to come for a swim in the pool came with me back to the hotel and the rest went over to Isle du Canard to snorkel with Paul. They saw some amazing sea life, including a large octopus and two fish the same size as Dylan!

 

We're off to dinner soon and then tidying bags which are an absolute shambles, and then packing to fit everything in!

Looking forward to seeing everyone tomorrow.  Au revoir!

 

A Big Day.....

Wow! Can Monsieur Morand make chocolate!!  What an amazing start to the day - a visit to a French chocolatier! Patrick Morand reputably owns the best chocolate shop in Noumea and he explains his trade so well to the kids. He has studied his art in France, the USA and then settled here to ply his trade. A Cadbury chocolate will never have the same appeal again!  After the session with him, the kids literally fell over each other to get into the shop to start buying - funny to see the changed look on many faces though when they saw prices and did a bit of currency changing!

 

 

We were all given samples of chocolate and fondant to try before we left him and then headed up the street to La Place des Cocotiers  (Coconut Square), where the city museum is located. We had an hour to spare so gave the kids boundaries to shop in and let them loose with their 'buddies'.  They loved it and I can warn you there are some interesting/different/thoughtful(?) gifts coming your way!

 

The city museum has a new display on WW1 and the kids all had an individual running commentary to listen to as they moved around each exhibit. Another section showed the history of nickel mining here in New Caledonia. The country has certainly seen some boom times as well as down times and the economy here still dances to the tune of world wide nickel prices. It always astounds me that so small a country can provide such a huge amount of it to the rest of the world.

 

I had earlier ordered baguettes for everyone from a sandwicherie nearby so collected them and we all ate in the shade of the old band rotunda.

 

It was a hot walk back down toward Port Moselle where the Museum of New Caledonia is situated. We had a really interesting little kanak guy give us a tour of the kanak section of the museum, with an English interpreter helping.  They have an example of a 'case' (kanak house), in there and he explained the significance of  the portals, walls, fire etc.  After later touring the Polynesian and Melanesian sections, it was easy for the kids to see the many similarities to our Maori culture.

 

 

After the tour we were taught how to make kanak jewellery from a native flax-like plant and seeds.  The men remembered me from last year and requested our waiata and haka again!  We performed them, much to their delight and that of nearby staff as well, and then three of them performed a traditional kanak dance for us - a really great sharing of cultures.

 

 

After our arrival  at the hotel, everyone couldn't wait to get down to the pool!  It had been a long and hot day.  Soon though, it was time to herd the girls up to their rooms to 'get ready' for the farewell party. That is always a long drawn out affair for some, requiring numerous changes of clothing and marks of approval from friends! We walked up to the college and had a very enjoyable time with the

families.  Most came up and spoke to us saying what delightful, polite students we had and that they really enjoyed having them stay.

 

It was lights out at 9.30 tonight and all have settled under the threat of sleeping on the floor in either my or Paul's room if they didn't!

 

 

 

One more blog and then you will all have your babies home!

Phare Amedee

Well, we had another stunner today! We were picked up by bus at 8am from the school in brilliant sunshine. The harbour looked pristine and glorious as we slowly pulled out - the only blot on the beautiful landscape being the nickel processing plant in the background belching it's acrid pollution into the air! It is so incredible that they allow this to happen!

Phare Amedee is an island 45 minutes offshore and the lighthouse on it was built in France in the 1800s but it was broken down and shipped over here to be rebuilt and positioned on the Island. Our first activity there was going out on the glass-bottomed boat. This was great as we saw quite a few green turtles swimming around the small reef close to the island. Half an hour later after our return to land, we were off again to the large reef surrounding New Caledonia. It encloses the largest lagoon in the world and a few years ago was made a world heritage site. We saw more turtles and large fish, but by then, the kids were champing at the bit to get into the water themselves!

We had a huge tropical smorgasbord feast first, followed by a cultural concert - more Tahitian than anything else. Some of the kids were called up to learn traditional dance moves and we had some serious hip-swaying going on from our girls!  Paul was called onstage also and held his own with a rendition of some traditional male dance!

The kids love the snorkelling as they saw more turtles and some were swimming alongside them. The snakes were a novelty of course, but by the end of the day, they were more used to them and not shrieking whenever they saw one.

 

 

It has teemed tonight, so once again have fingers and toes crossed for a good day tomorrow.
Au Revoir!

 

 

Sunshine, Yaaay!

  Sorry I couldn't post this last night or this morning because the internet connection was so bad. I've no idea how they cope with it!

Yes, at last we had a typical tropical day here in Nouméa!

The kids spent three hours in classes and then we spent half an hour in Véro’s classroom because she had no classes this morning. We just chatted about how their stay was going and went over again what strategies to use when feeling homesick at their billet’s house. I always enjoy hearing about the list of similarities and differences they’ve noticed over here. They are many and varied.

Mia is amazed at the fact that her host sister can eat whatever thing she wants when she gets home from school – anything from cereal to macarons to pastries! The larder seems stocked with a wide variety of foods………  look out for the expectations Vanessa! 

 

They were so excited by the time we all headed off for our walk to the beach. It’s only 10-12 minutes away but we were all really feeling the heat when we got there. Earlier in the morning, I had called in and ordered a filled baguette for everyone from a sandwicherie nearby, so we collected them and ate those on the beach.

 

A short walk alongside the petanque courts and a Japanese couple having wedding photos at the beach, brought us to the paddleboard providers. Paul was intrigued with their organisation – they must be amazed and impressed when they visit places like this in NZ.  The kids were all donned in life jackets, collected their kayaks and paddle boards and then we gave them their boundary instructions.  They had an absolute ball!  They each had a turn on a paddleboard and in the double kayaks. There may well be a few sore arms tomorrow!

 

When we’d returned all the gear, we walked around to Baie des Citrons for them to swim and jump off the platform situated off the beach a bit. Baie des Citrons is a beautiful, sheltered beach and the sea was like glass around there. They all had a wonderful time frolicking around in the water except moi!  I know from experience, kids cannot be relied on not to splash so I had to be content standing in the shallows counting heads!  Definitely not ideal! I don’t want to have to face the orthopaedic specialist on Monday with a partially dissolved plaster after I’d promised I would be very careful with my arm and keep it in a sling the whole time, even though that feels like I’ve got my arm wrapt in a blanket sometimes!

 

We needed to be back at school by 3.30 for pickup so they reluctantly got out of the water and we headed back to school – 24 very hot, tired kids who I am sure will sleep well tonight!  They are very excited about the trip to the island of Phare Amédée tomorrow. It is always a highlight of our visit, so here’s hoping for another typical sunny day!

Celebrities

The kids said they felt like celebrities today!  We were taken into council chambers when we arrived at city hall, and they sat in the big semi circle in councillors’ seats. Josh was disappointed he couldn’t speak through the microphone at everyone’s place!

 

The newly elected council is obviously as keen to promote and support student cultural exchanges as the last one was.  They had a slideshow about New Caledonia which was informative for us and then gave out caps and bands to us.  We had some French pastries and a drink out in another room before we performed our waiata and haka. Xenon was awesome leading the haka! We were shown La Salle de Marriage where weddings are held and it is a beautiful room. French people aren't permitted to get married just anywhere as we are. They must have a civil ceremony at council in this  wedding ceremony room, and then most go on from there to a church for the second ceremony.

 

We then headed up to Daniel Talon primary school. Here they were treated like celebrities! They played with the kanak kids  but were also followed around by some. One little girl kept holding and stroking Caitlin’s ponytail! I explained that all other hair she’s touched probably feels very different!

Paul and I were received into the school with a traditional welcome whereby we stood on a special mat with one of the senior pupils and were given a gift of traditional cloth, a 100F note and had a flower lei placed on us. Each class then performed songs for us.  The senior classes had all been lent a school tee shirt to wear for the day and were very proud. Other kids had made an effort for the big kiwi visit day and wore their 'best' clothes. One boy was decked out in addidas shirts and All Black top. They are his heroes apparently! Our kids spent time in classrooms in the afternoon doing activities and we headed back to Mariotti about 2.45pm.

 

 

 

It is supposed to be sunny tomorrow so hopefully it will be for our first day in the water. Many kids swam and snorkelled at the weekend though, with some going out to outer islands to do so.  Even though it's still cloudy, it's very warm and muggy. We've had to remind them about drinking from their water bottle throughout the day.

 

 

Au revoir until tomorrow!

 

 

Food, Food and more Food!

The morning was beautiful so we walked down to the end of Anse Vata beach which looked stunning. The sea was still like glass and paddleboarders were making the most of the conditions and all the while packs of road cyclists biked past on their Sunday rides. It was a hive of activity!

We went to Veronique's at 11am for our lunch. We had some of the red snapper her husband had caught yesterday. He showed us his biggest caught at 350 metres!

 

He is a mad keen fisherman and also a great cook. Our lunch consisted of salmon tart for the first course, then the red snapper and herbed potatoes for the second. Third course was salad and a range of beautiful cheeses with baguette and warm seeded bread from the oven and the fourth was the most amazing praline basket of chocolate mousse-filled chouquettes! They are like soft profiteroles.  Lastly was swiss chocolate!

 

                                                     Baked Red Snapper with Ginger sauce

Herbed Potatoes

Praline basket of chouquettes

 

We were greatly in need of some exercise after that eating marathon, so had a big walk through the Parc Forestier which was great. They have a range of native birds in aviaries there so Paul was able to see the symbol of New Caledonia, the Cagou, a flightless bird about the size of a kiwi.

 

We are back to school tomorrow and looking forward to seeing the kids again to see how their weekend went and to give them all the messages left by you.

 

Au revoir until tomorrow!

Le Weekend

We woke to drizzIe this morning, drat it!  We headed out to the enormous hypermarket about 15mins from the city centre instead of going to the markets first as originally planned. . Half of Noumea looked to have the same idea! There were so many people there-just like many NZers do on a wet day! We spent a couple of hours wandering around. These places sell everything from food, clothing, electrical goods, furniture and bedding to games, books and shoes.

Some different island veges

A fav section of the supermarket - le fromage!

                                      A range of saucisson - dried sausage a bit like salami
                                                                

A few locals with their own stands outside the supermarket.

 

The weather had improved by the time we had got back and Paul

had a snorkel. They had cancelled the parade at lunchtime because of the weather unfortunately. It was really still and quite clear late afternoon so it would have been OK. We were looking forward to seeing April-Rose in zumba gear part of the parade!
I rang Arabella to wish her a happy birthday and she sounded happy. Her family was taking her out to a restaurant tonight to celebrate.

                                                         Looking down onto Anse Vata Bay

We had dinner tonight with a friend who teaches at Jean Mariotti College which was nice. Paul thinks he's stacking on weight already with all the eating he's doing!  He's enjoying re-acquainting himself with some of the foods he loved when living in Switzerland though. Tomorrow we are having lunch with Veronique, the French teacher at JMariotti who is in charge of our exchange at this end. There will be others from the school there and it will be a very long, enjoyable feast knowing them. Sunday lunch traditionally involves about 5 courses with plenty of time inbetween for digestion and conversation! Paul may never want to go home....