A la plage

The weather has been lovely today with clear skies and a light breeze to keep you cool. We met the kids at school and walked down to Anse Vata beach. After a quick swim we headed over the road so they could check out the local shops and buy gifts and things for themselves.

We were supposed to be wind surfing this morning but the guy was booked up all day so we have booked it for tomorrow afternoon instead. We wandered round the bay to Baie des Citrons which is a little more sheltered and based ourselves across from the swimming pontoon. The kids had a great time swimming back and forth and jumping off the pontoon. They also built some cool sand castles and just generally enjoyed relaxing with each other and taking it easy in the sun.

We had lunch and the kids had ice cream at the beach while we treated ourselves to huge waffles with banana, chocolate sauce and buckets of whipped cream.

The children were collected by their billets with strict instructions to pack everything tonight before they go to bed. It is their last night at their billet's house tonight and in the morning they will be dropped off at Le Pacifique with their suitcases and gear ready for their last 2 nights with us. Lots of them have commented how quickly the week has gone and we're sure they'll enjoy the stay in the hotel with us.

We don't have internet access in our room at Le Pacifique so the next 2 nights' updates will be brief I'm afraid as it's often difficult to access it there. Will do what we can!!

A demain...

PS As predicted Kristy is quite keen to look after the calf!!!

Phare Amedee

What a fabulous day. Very breezy in Noumea when we left and the trip out demonstrated this! Rough ride but the kids treated it like a roller coaster ride and squealed with delight as they stood on the side getting wet as we crashed through waves. The island though was calm and sunny with white sand and clear waters.

The first activity was to climb up the 287 odd steps to the top of the lighthouse. We had a stunning view of the island and its beautiful reef. The kids then went out on the boat again to the reef to feed the big fish and hopefully sharks, and although they were a little elusive Scott is sure he saw a big one swimming under the boat.

Back  on shore and it was time for lunch. Lots of kids tried new foods, Carla now likes prawns (sorry Barbara!) and it was good to see them experimenting. Maggie tried raw fish but wasn't impressed. After lunch we saw the cultural concert and most of the kids hopped up and joined in to learn some moves.

After a short chill on the beach, avoiding the snakes, and in the shop we headed out to snorkel off the glass bottomed boat. Pretty much all the kids got in the water and it was fabulous to see some of them doing this as it was very scary for them looking at the size of the fish swimming under the boat. They were able to hold onto the sides and watch 'Fishy TV' and this was cool until the bread got thrown in then there was a fair amount of screaming at the feeding frenzy!! No-one got back in the boat early though.

Baz and Colleen took the kids for a walk around the island. They had to go clockwise to ensure the kids kept walking and not trip over themselves staring at the topless bather. They saw some giant clams, a snake slithering across the coral and some puffy coral stuff (no idea what that was). Meanwhile back with the bags I'm trying to decide how I would rescue Cameron's bag from the rather large snake that took a shine to it. Luckily it went off it quite quickly so I was saved the trauma.

There was just time to catch some coconut tree climbing and sarong tying before heading back to the boat for Noumea. Colleen especially enjoys these lumpy trips on the boat, the clinging on is just for effect - trust me. When we returned to the port the billet families were waiting and the kids headed off happily back with them. We will meet them at school again in the morning ready for a day at the beach.

A demain and enjoy your evening by the fire. Where's that suncream gone...

It's hard being on a tropical island

Note the French splodge at the top of the path (Colleen)

Amazing what you find in shells

The man from Atlantis strikes again

Shark bait

Literally playing with fire

VIPs

This morning we headed off in the bus for Hotel de Ville (City Hall) with our billets and 3 teachers from Jean Mariotti. It's all very grand and they take our sister school relationship with Jean Mariotti very seriously. We were greeted by a contingent of beautiful women who looked like they'd stepped straight out of a magazine along with the NZ ambassador, the Noumea deputy mayor, the deputy mayor for sister cities and the vice recteur who is in charge of education in New Caledonia and all for the very important brigade from Taupo Intermediate school. There was a raft of speeches mostly in French but a very nice one from the NZ ambassador in English who told the kids how very lucky they were to have this opportunity and that the future for positive overseas relationships lies in their hands.

We had a breakfast of baguette and croissants (well at least the kids did cos they scoffed the lot) then there were lots of official photos to mark the occasion. The kids' waiata and haka was well received and we've promised the mayor's PA to sing pokarekare ana when their mayor and counsellors visit Taupo in November. She said it made the hairs on her arms stand up.

A quick visit to the city museum followed then we headed off to Daniel Talon primary school. As usual we had a huge welcome with their classes singing songs and we responded with our items. The kids ate in the specially decorated canteen then spent time mingling with the kids outside, experiencing what it's like to be treated like stars; some of them looked like the Pied Piper with a string of little kanak kids trailing after them. They then were divided into groups and went to various activities including football, origami, art and circus tricks. Baz and Colleen were immediate experts at spinning the plate however I couldn't do it at all even with extra help!!

The whole school turned out to wave us off and we returned to Jean Mariotti to wait for the billets and a briefing about tomorrow. They know our visit to Phare Amedee will be one of the highlights of our trip so are pretty excited.

A demain...

PS Cameron says hi to Room 19

Jean Mariotti

A stunning Noumea day today with clear skies and blazing sun ( sorry but it's true). We met up with the kids at 7.15 ready to start school at 7.30. Lots of hugs and excited catching up and so great to see such positive students enjoying their various experiences. We heard all about what they'd eaten and what they had done over the weekend. We can safely say that the highlight for Scott was seeing 3 topless bathers at the beach!

The kids took part in various lessons including science, english, PE, french and maths. I'm pretty sure they'll appreciate the interaction and enthusiasm they receive in their own classrooms at home as well as their lovely bright classrooms.

We all had lunch again in the canteen; they were old hands at it today bouncing up to the counter with their trays. After eating we gathered outside for a chat about tomorrow's trip to city hall. There was still 40 minutes of lunchtime left, in other years the kids have been happy sitting and just talking with us but this time they couldn't wait to take off with their billets and chat to other students. We almost felt superfluous! Great to see how comfortable they seem to be in general. A couple of kids have wanted a chat over the phone with us at night on occasions but that's been no trouble and they sometimes just need to touch base with familiar people. We're proud of the way they are handling being with their billet families.

This afternoon lessons continued and the children headed off back to their billet homes. The wind has picked up tonight and we were quite in awe watching the crazy wind and kite surfers in the bay as they whizzed up and down at great speed. The weather is supposed to stay clear this week so our trip out to the lighthouse (Phare Amedee) should be fabulous.

A bientot,

Sophie, Colleen and Baz

aren't they lovely...

crab army - don't worry, they're dead - or are they??

Baz wondered if his budget would stretch to this??

I think it's 21.5 degrees

Sunday

Bonjour tout le monde!
It was overcast today but still 23deg at four this afternoon. We headed to the markets again first thing this morning  looking for trinkets for all those lucky family members back home!  Quite a few of the kids were there as well and were all enjoying themselves and having a good time.
The Principal of Daniel Talon school had invited us to her house for lunch today, so  for dinner tonight we are having a cup of coffee! What a marathon effort - the lunch took four hours covering five courses in true french style! It was beautiful!  Baz is loving his introduction to the french way of life!  We also met Dominique's dog, which was almost a horse and I could quite easily have entered the Melbourne Cup riding it!
On the way out to her house we passed a settlement of  shanty houses that some Kanaks live in. They are just put together using  old pieces of scrounged timber, plastic and corrugated iron.. These ones were in the swampy area next to a small river so must have been extremely damp and unhealthy. Our kids will see some of them on the way out to Daniel Talon school on Tuesday morning. It's always an eye-opener for our kids to see the reality of home for some kids in another culture who are far less fortunate than themselves.

I'm sure everyone will be in bed early tonight as they need to be at school bright-eyed and bushy tailed by 7.30 in the morning.  We will be able to tell you of their weekend exploits tomorrow night when we update you.

Au revoir!

Collen, Sophie and Baz

The principal of Daneil Talon school and her horse/dog

The FA World cup

Some of the constructed shanty houses

Market day

Today dawned cloudy and rain progressed during the day. It's supposed to be clear again tomorrow. The temperature is certainly cooler but warm enough for shorts and T-shirts.

The children have been out and about today doing their various activities.We went to the market to have a look at all the local produce. We met up with Scott, Jess and Nicola this morning with their families and they had also seen Matilda but we missed her. They are so excited to see us around town and were enjoying having a little shop and a look around.

Near the city port there is a gastronomie salon (food fair) being held this weekend so we headed off to sample some local fayre. The smells of the food cooking were mouth watering and we enjoyed trying to translate the various advertising signs.

We enjoyed introducing Baz to French couture and he took a fancy to a very elaborate shirt although again the price tag put paid to that.

We had an enjoyable meal with some of the English language teachers at Monsieur Vallon's house last night. His father was born in Algeria so we sampled cous cous and a favourite dish of his from his homeland and of course to end the inevitable chocolate dessert!

A demain...

The rental car

don't you just wish we could bring it back!

some very fancy veggie carving

First day in Noumea

Bonjour encore!

Woke up to clear blue skies and a beautiful sunrise. We got to the school nice and early and waited until all the children arrived. They were very excited to be together and we were proud of the way they looked amongst the none uniform brigade. We were given a welcome by Madame Mesoir (the principal of Jean Mariotti who wears the most beautiful ropes of black pearls probably the cost of a house deposit), the Deputy Mayor and the Mayor's PA. The children then had breakfast with their billets in the school canteen.

They then headed off to class with their billets, some to PE and some to English class. We met again at lunch where they were treated to the Noumean school lunchtime experience in the extremely busy and noisy canteen. They go to the counter with their trays and are given a hot lunch which is the norm here. We had a very interesting meeting with a very, very large (the technology teacher, Baz, said it looked to be 12cm long, far more precise than me!) katydid. have a look at the pics.

After that we headed to Anse Vata to take a tour on Le Petit Train. This gives the kids a great idea of how the city looks and the commentary provided tells them all about it. We managed to grab a quick ice cream in the Place de Cocotiers during the tour too. I've never seen so many photos being taken. They loved waving and calling 'bonjour' to anyone and everyone we passed and were waved and greeted back enthusiastically by the locals.

After this we walked back up to school and had time for a quick catch up before meeting up with the billets. They shared some of the new words they've learnt and some of the experiences had already. Some of them were surprised at how welcoming the families have been as some of the billets have given up their bedrooms and wardrobes(!!) so they can be comfortable. The kids will now spend the weekend with their billet families and it certainly sounds like they will be doing a variety of activities including camping, windsurfing, snorkelling and shopping of course! I also know some of them are meeting up at a friend's birthday party and others are just getting together.

They all want everyone at home to know that they were bathed in sunshine and heat today and they all realised the importance of drinking lots and wearing hats.

Bonsoir!

The view from the top of the city

Arriving at school

How big? 12 cm?? Freaky anyway!

Lunch

Le Petit Train

Quick foot dip in the heat

Safe arrival

Bonsoir tout le monde!!

We have a great group of kids with us who coped with the trip over really well; even those who'd not flown before. The weather was warm with a slight breeze when we arrived and we welcomed that heat when we got off the plane and stepped onto French soil.

We have a bunch of honest kids too who said they had put twigs on their canvas host gift which led us through the suspect area in customs! But once examples were unpacked we were waved through, obviously not a huge security threat but good for the kids to see how the process works.

Much excitement as we drove into the city although the noise quietened somewhat the closer we got to the hotel. The families all looked lovely and welcomed our kids warmly.

We will meet them early in the morning for our welcome at Jean Mariotti school. They'll have lunch in the canteen then we're off to have a look at the city which will be good for the start of their visit.

A demain!
Mdms Westerman et Sandham, et Monsieur Haydon