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.