“…If you ever want to travel to New Caledonia, drop me a line. I will send you the contact details of my great friend Hnawish who owns the Motel Chez Rachel at the Baie de Chateaubriand. We will guarantee you the best rates and friendliest service on all the island…”

Kanaky is the indigenous name given to the  group of islands we know as New Caledonia. Its people, the Kanaks, are very friendly and welcoming – they listen to reggae, smoke a wee bit of local parsley and basically live at a very different pace. Letty and I took some timeout to relax and immerse ourselves in its natural beauty.

Kanaky has some, if not the most beautiful beaches on the planet. This is Luengoni Beach – La plage de Luengoni

I had previously traveled to Kanaky in 2004 so I knew what to expect, and I took this opportunity to show my wife some places I had enjoyed with my Swiss friends Tonton Ruppen and Papa Cristobal.

We saw cook pines (a tree endemic to New Caledonia) as we descended into “La Baie des Tortues”(Bourail)- they welcomed us in all their majestic splendour.

La Baie des Tortues – Turtle Bay in New Caledonia, near Bourail

We snorkelled in the natural coral pool at “L’Ile des Pins” and saw Nemo, Dory and a bunch of their friends.

The natural swimming pool with its beautiful clown fish and coral on Isle of Pines. Kanaky number one

We were blinded by the white sands at Luengoni and Peng beaches.

Peng Beach on Lifou Island – Kanaky

Luengoni Beach Kanaky has to be the most beautiful beach I have ever seen. Trip Advisor’s top 10 beaches of 2014 makes me laugh.

We saw our friend Paul fishing every day at the Baie de Chateaubriand.

Chateaubriand Bay on Lifou Island – Kanaky number one

And we had a great time with great friends…

Paella on Lifou island by Fred – Kanaky

If  you ever want to travel to New Caledonia, drop me a line. I will send you the contact details of my great friend Hnawish who owns the Motel Chez Rachel at the Baie de Chateaubriand. We will guarantee you the best rates and friendliest service on all the island.

Guy fishing at L’Anse Vata beach

Le Méridien – Nouméa

Hi there! Nice underwear :)

Turtle Bay – Bourail New Caledonia

Majestic pines

Columnar pines – Cook pines in the bay of turtles

Arrival at Lifou airport

chainsaw sculpture

Master craftsman

Sculptures made from sandalwood – smells lovely

Hnawish giving me a coco demo

Local pea

Local vanilla is said to be the world’s best

Fred and his professional aluminium fishing boat

Where do you want to go today?

View from the top of the Jokin cliffs

Baie de Jokin

Letty and Vine

Baie de Jinek

Main road – peak hour traffic

Traditional hut meets western technology

Michel and Myriam – such a cutie

Nice parsley!

Kanaky parsley for pizzas

Creeping figs

Luengoni and its famous small island – Heaven on earth

Yep, that’s right! – Le paradis sur terre – Kanaky

Look over there! Kanaky’s Luengoni beach

Coconut on the beach – white sand

Every time I’ve been to this paradise, it was empty.

Too bright

Paul, Hnawish and yours truly

Here begins where you want everything else to end – SO RESPECT!!

Plage de Peng

Paul – fishing guru

Nice bream

xox – <3

snorkely-doo-dah

Yes that’s right!

House on a volcanic rock

Night shot

Another night shot

Hnawish showing his fishing cane trick

Unwelcome visitor – one HUGE tropical snail

Home made rain water collection

Mito and Hnawish

La paella de Lifou – chef cuissetau Fred

Hnawish celebrating with a Havana

Kanaky parsley

Pawpaw

Bougna is the traditional dish

It is made from root plants such as sweet potatoe, taro (dalo), Ignam and coconut milk and shredded coco flesh

Leak

Local produce is seasonal. Oranges are imported from Australia – yes, these are tomatoes

Pumpkin

Banana sucker

Spring onion

Local parsley

It has a nice texture and fragrance. Yummy on Papa Gomez pizzas…

Cesar – the dog

Wawa

Centre commercial Le Korail

Na and Teddy

Hnawish and Letty at Lifou aerodrome

View from the Betico 2.

Isle of pines

Pacific Pearl cruise ship at docked at Isle of Pines

Kanumera Bay

Natural coral pool – Isle of Pines

Piscine naturelle de corail – Ile des Pins

Ile des Pins

Ile des Pins

Ile des Pins

Ile des Pins

La pirogue

A hard man to crack, he never smiles…

Sandals match the colour of the water!

It seems Jean-Rock hasn’t smiled since 2004

Our pirogue commander – Jean-Rock

Smooth sailing in Baie D’Upi

Bay of Upi – “Pirogue” trip

Get the coco

La grotte de la reine Hortense – Isle des Pins

Rainforest floor

Just floating about…

Isle des Pins

The convent – Isle of Pines

More gettin’ the coco

Gadji Bay – Isle of Pines

Baie de Gadji

View from the top

Kuto bay – Isle of Pines

Say “Kanaky!!!”

Le Méridien – Isle of Pines

Mont Dore

Mont Dore and Nouméa

Nouméa in the distance

Panoramic view of Yaté lake

Letty striking a pose…

La riviere bleue – The blue river

La terre rouge du lac de Yaté

Reggae band Yii Kea

Yii Kea au centre culturel de Tjibaou

La grande case

Yohann and Lala

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