Éoliennes de Plum, revisited

Distance: 8.6 km.  Elevation low/high/total: 6/434/504 m.

Difficulty:6.8/10.  Scenic: 8.3/10

A return trip for me, new for Paul and Kincso (on her last hike before returning for year two at Berkeley).  Gerard the unexpected giraffe was refound  Pics linked above and the gpx track is here.

Kincso leaves shortly for her sophomore year at Berkeley but we felt we hadn't done quite enough hikes during the three month time she spent in New Caledonia between school years.  So the three hiking amigos geared up for one last climb, to a relatively nearby place that I had previously visited and where I found an "unexpected giraffe".  High above the village of Plum is a plateau where some 20 wind turbines (éoliennes en français) supply a good part of Plum's energy needs.  The climb is a bit challenging, more because it's directly into the sun (in the morning), usually windless, there's no water source and half the terrain is slippery red dirt.  But we made it fine and then started looking for my old friend Gérard.  To my dismay he was not in his usual perch .... but then we found him lying on the ground, two broken legs and looking very weather worn.  We pieced him back together, fancied him up for some photos and returned him to his sentient post.  Best of luck for your sophomore year, Miss K!

Plateau de Dogny

Distance: 15.2 km.  Elevation low/high/total: 116/1002/1170 m.

Difficulty: 8.5/10.  Scenic: 10/10

Paul has been trying to get me on this hike for years.  Why did I wait so long?  Pics linked above and the gpx track is here.

Best hike in New Caledonia.  Obviously, I haven't done every hike in this country but I can't imagine there's a hike with a better payoff than this one.  The hike itself is tough but fair.  We (well ... I) added an extra 1 hr/2 km side track to it that we didn't need to do ... and it went through private property apparently as we had to crawl under a barbed wire fence at one pint ... but the 4 hour journey to the top is never technically difficult and proceeds through a shady forest the entire way.  You suddenly burst out of the forest right at the plateau and the view literally took my breath away.  You feel as though you are on top of the world .... New Caledonia's part of the world, at least.  There is a 6 km loop hike that we didn't have time to complete, but we did do the section of it that leads to a view point  where you can see the north coast of Grand Terre.  the plateau itself is stunning ... rolling hills that almost appear to be farmland ... the trail seems to be cut into brush and dug into the soil a bit.  Next trip I'll plan on camping overnight.  On a moonless, cloud free night the star show must be without equal.  First hike we've rated as 10/10 for either Difficulty or Beauty.

Up and Over Mt. Dore

Distance: 10.4 km.  Elevation low/high/total: 49/731/823 m.

Difficulty:6.8/10.  Scenic: 8.6/10

On a bright Sunday morning, MIss K and hiked up and over nearby Mt. Dore.  Album is linked to pic above and the gpx track is here.

Mt. Dore is impressive as seen from our kitchen door.  It looks tall.  And it's not that far away.  I convinced Miss K to come hike with me, only a bit differently from how I'd hiked it before.  We got Ildiko to come along to give us a ride to the north side of the mountain after we dropped my Land Rover at the south side.  This allowed us to walk up the slowly elevating mining trail to the peak.  The descent on the south side is quite steep (I'd hiked up and down that way in the past) and utilizes a lot of steps cut into the side of the mountain as well as rubber mats placed along much of the trail as a means of dealing with walking on the always slippery red mud.  We picked a lovely day and the views over Noumea and the ocean were stunning.