back home now.
I know it's already been said, but again, thank you Sean for your info, assistance and hospitality - it was a pleasure and added to the enjoyment of the stay in a big way. btw Is there anyone you don't know in Noumea?
P.S. is it possible to buy fresh milk in NewCal? Couldn't find any in the supermarches?
had a great time there and highly recommend a trip, especially if you're a queenslander who doesn't like long flights
Everyone was very friendly and helpful, both the native folk and the froggies
and contrary to popular belief, the French really don't smell much at all
equipment hire is very reasonable. The advertised prices work out to about $22-$25 aus per hour with a max of approx $55 for half a day. We couldn't say how much for a full day as we started sailing from 1pm each time. The centres were nice and gave us a discount which reduced the price a little more, I'm sure thanks to Sean doing some "sweet talkin"
The hire vendors like you to return the gear an hour before sunset, so they can send out a search party in daylight if you don't return
I would recommend booties for sailing till you familiarise yourself with the area. Some areas with nice sandy bottom and areas with reef.
Lots of faaaast sailors there on their slalom gear to put yourselves up against.
Didn't buy anything myself, but windsurfing gear is cheeeeeap to buy over there, cheap, cheap
if you don't live near a windsurfing shop to support, take an empty suitcase to fill up
There are some nice, well stocked windsurfing shops there to kill time in!
You'll be lucky if you find a chinook cup base in Newcal, they have bought the worlds supply of europins
Nice food in the restaurants
Nice clean McDonalds type takeaway places called "Quick"
You can drink the tap water
The local ladies are generally slim, healthy looking, and very easy on the eyes - makes one realise just how unhealthy aus people are
Pricing works out about the same as here in aus, with some things being a little more pricey and a little cheaper
car hire is about $30 per day without insurance for a late model little 4 door
Fuel is about $1.50 per litre. They don't advertise the prices on boards out the front of the station
The island is a lot bigger than I thought. The landscape is quite diverse with some awesome hills, and it seems to require a lot of driving to see the different areas. The Noumea area is not really tropical looking, yet it changes as you head to the centre and northern side of the island which is more tropical . The southern areas we saw were like a mixture of VIC / N.S.W grazing land and central coast WA red soil with sparse bushy scrub and rocky landscape.
Thanks for the nice words about the pics. The camera is a Canon 5d mark 3. It's 30% photographic skill versus 70% knowing how to process them in photoshop. They look pretty bland out of the camera, so don't rush out and buy one of these ones thinking they'll look all colorful
the first bunch cam e out too colourfull becuase my laptop didn't load in it's calibration profile while i was editing them. They shouldn't look quite like that
little reminder of how good it is :
