The Ile des Pins

Two weekends ago (been slow with the blogging!) we had our first trip out the one of the Iles. If Googling photos of New Caledonia, chances are that the beautiful pics with white sand beaches and palms that you get coming back to you will be from one of the Iles.

New Caledonia consists of one large island (Grand-Terre) and several smaller islands within' the reef, notably the Loyalty Islands in the East (Mare, Lifou, and Ouvea) and the Ile des Pins in the South.

The Ile des Pins (Isle of Pines) sits about a 3 hour boat trip from Noumea, and is named after it's towering pine trees. An early rise to catch the boat at 6 am (regretting that last glass of wine the night before!) and we were off for our first weekend at the Iles!

Once the boat neared the Ile the water quickly changed from blue to turquoise and the sun burst through the clouds. Our first views of the island did not dissapoint, nor would they! Too bad we only had 1 night, as the boat runs only Wed, Sat and Sun, and unfortunately we're here in the Pacific to work and not just lie on beaches!

The boat docked around 9 am where we were picked up by a shuttle van that brough us to Gite Relais Kuberka where we spent the night. A Gite is basically just a French holiday house where you can rent fully equiped efficiency units, double units (like we had) or a tent ground. The Gite was great...as was having a French speaking wife! We placed our order in the restaurant, dropped our bags, cleaned up, and were off to explore.


First stop was close to where the boat came ashore, Baie de Kuto...

Trying the Panomama on the cam!

After grabbing some lunch we headed back to the Gite and called a taxi to take us to Baie d'Oro on the other side of the island. Here is located the piscine naturelle or natural aquarium, a great swimming hole embedded in the coral filled with thousands of tropical fish. It's "off-sea" location make it great for snorkelling as there are no waves and zero chance of sharks (susan particularly likes that!).

We kind of got lost trying to find the place out of the cab, and spent over an hour walking around the woods. When we finally made it there we quickly pulled over our gear and hit the water. Still no underwater camera, so you'll have to take my word for it that the snorkelling was great!

Wandering around the wrong paths

Geared up to go!

In front of the Natural aquarium

Back to the Gite for a delicious dinner of chicken (at this point we were still afraid to try the local seafood!) and some relaxation. We slept with towels under the bathroom door, as Susan was a little weary of waking up with our roomie (a large Gecko we spotted in the can) cuddling into her! I have to admit I really didn't want to wake up with him cuddling into me either!

The next morning we hiked around the prison ruins before spending the remainder of the day on the beaches (Kuto and Kanumera). Some swimming, snorkelling, lounging, a great buffet lunch and some beers for me...an awesome weekend in Paradise!

The penal church

A cold one on Kuto!

Kanumera beach