Marmites du Diable (Devil's Cauldrons)

A scenic and relatively easy hike along a river of crystal clear water to a set of swimming holes.
Click picture to see a photo album.  The geotrack is here.

A lovely Sunday morning and Paul and I got out on the path relatively early.  Our hike today was along the north branch of the Dumbea river; we'd crossed and hiked much of the south branch several times in the past so it was time to "branch" out.

The hike is mostly flat, gaining barely 100m of altitude and the round trip to the Marmites is 12 km.  We saw more people, including two large groups of at least 20 people, on this hike than on all our other hikes combined.  Folks were "hiking" in flip flops and carrying coolers.  The highlight for most are the Marmites, or Pots (Cauldrons) which are deep swimming holes at certain stages of the river.  The river seems to flow through a canyon in several places.  At one spot, pictured above, there's a jumping off spot about 10-12 m above the water.

Paul and I went another km or so past the deep pools and found a more rewarding stretch of smaller pools, where the water is almost impossibly clear.  We enjoyed a swim, alternately in the rain and sun, then had a picnic lunch and set on our way back.  Of course, we placed a geocache to mark the outing.  A highly recommended hike, and one great for kids or those not fond of uphill hiking.

Ruisseau des Kaoris hike with Ildiko

The sign on THIS side of the crossing to the thermal springs.  Click pic for photo album. 
Geotrack of 10 km round trip hike is here.

On a sunny mid week work holiday, Ildiko and I set off on a pleasant hike.  Iris was having a playdate with a friend so it was just the two of us.  The drive to the hike spot is nearly two hours and is about 20 minutes past the turnoff to the old abandoned slave labor camp of Prony.  The hike starts at about 150 m of altitude and descends early on to be a flight hike for most of the time. However, it is slippery red mud on the way down - but we maintained our balance.  To get to the hot springs, you have to eventually cross a fairly wide river delta (which can be a lot wider after heavy rains). We considered our options and finally decided to cross the river rather than retreat out to the bay (as Jim G and I did back in February after a heavy rain storm).  No option but to wade in and deal with wet shoes/socks from then onwards.

Upon arrival at the hot springs, we found some trustafarians had set up camp obviously having been there awhile already but were polite enough to retreat for a spell so we could enjoy the warm pool.  the pool was not warm and, in fact, was a bit cool but having come this far, we had to take the plunge.  A nice lunch was had and we turned our sights upon the return and made it back a bit quicker than we had come.  This hike likely spells the end of hikes in the southern part of New Caledonia for awhile as we've done most of the listed hikes.  

Piste du Mont Poudehoume

Distance: 13.0 km.  Elevation low/high/total: 18/609/763 m.
Difficulty: 5.5/10.  Scenic: 6.5/10

Paul and I set out for a relatively easy Mother's Day hike out behind Dumbea
13 km hike over 5 hours, about 750 m elevation gain.  Click pic for album, geotracks are here: gpx, kml

Well, the hiking daughter has left for other adventures, yet I hike on.  I got my friend, and frequent hiking partner, Paul to join me on a Mother's Day jaunt up a mountain ridge behind the village of Dumbea, where he lives.

What he advertised as a quick three hour jaunt .... he didn't even pack a lunch ... turned into a 5+ hour good workout.  I kinda sensed this would be somewhat more involved than he opined, so fortunately we were able to enjoy a fine lunch of cheeses, ham and local veggies mid route.

The last half of the hike tied into the end of the GR1 (Stage 7), which we had completed a month ago with Kincso, at the tail end of Category 1 Tropical Cyclone Solo.  Conditions could not have been more different this time.  Blue skies, moderate temperatures, and not-so-slippery paths were the operating norms today.  We placed one final geocache to commemorate the end of the GR1 (linked here)  and now plan on something a bit more challenging next weekend.