Mt. Mou and the WWII plane wreck

Distance: 8.5 km.  Elevation low/high/total: 219/1185/1150 m.
Difficulty: 9.2/10.  Scenic: 8.8/10

The remains of the Dauntless SBD-3 (Tail 918) - click pic for album
Geotrack for the difficult hike is here

My friend Paul told me about this hike some months ago, and I finally convinced him to motivate a hike.  So, Paul, myself and Kincso, and Simon Nichol (SPC colleague) and his son Django hit the road by 8 AM to start the hike.  Make no mistake, this is a doozy of a hike.  It is straight uphill, through dry forest, red dirt desert, wet rainforest, etc. for 3.5 hours. If you do this hike, take a lot of water.  Take even more than a lot.  The history of this plane crash can be read here.  Sadly, there is less and less of the wreck remaining each year as bounty hunters strip away parts.  Paul has been here six or seven times over the past 15 years and attests to the plane's further destruction.  All in all, an exhausting hike that takes one through several different climes, highly recommended for the masochistic sporties out there.  We placed a geocache at the site, linked here.

The Dumbea dams, 2nd visit

Distance: 10.0 km.  Elevation low/high/total: 187/466/546 m.
Difficulty: 5.5/10.  Scenic: 7.0/10

A return trip, this time with Paul J's two kids - click pic for album

Not a new geotrack, but the track from first visit

My friend, Paul Judd from SPC, had his two kids in from out of town and that was reason enough for a hike.  Four plus months ago, when my wife and daughters arrived, we took them on this same hike - in a jetlagged state.  Kincso was game to go again, so off we went.  This time, we took no dogs and spent much of the time swimming as the waters have filled the river compared to four months ago, and greatly warmed up.  The length of river was absolutely packed with folks but there were very few as far upstream as we hiked.  A nice, easy, excellent summer hike.

Maa Bay Point

Distance: 7.4 km.  Elevation low/high/total: 0/22/50 m.
Difficulty: 2.5/10.  Scenic: 8.5/10

The treat at the end of a 3.7 km hike - click pic for album
the geotrack is here

We wanted to return to this area to check out the beach at the end of the road.  The Boat on the Beach and the isolated beaches on the northwest part of the peninsula were great but this area seemed irresistible.  We made the mistake of only wearing flip flops and the hike was a bit more difficult than expected given that the "road" was really an overgrown path.  But the end result was spectacular - odd that there are several no-longer-used-structures indicating that this was once a popular community resort area.  We also placed a geocache here.

Timbea - La Foa - Baie des Tortues - Plage de Poe

Distance: NA Elevation low/high/total: NA

Difficulty: 1.0/10  Scenic: 9.5/10

Tempting the Undertoad at Baie des Tortues - click pic for weekend album
The beaches we visited are shown on the geotrack

This weekend was a busy one.  First, an end of year xmas party for SPC fisheries folks was hosted by John Hampton out at his place at Timbea.  Then we headed to La Foa, ostensibly for our first camping trip but due to failing light, we ended up back at Hotel Banu.  The next day we met up with the family of a new Hungarian friend of Ikdiko's and checked out the semi-dangerous beach at Baie des Tortues and then took them to our favorite beach - Plage de Poe.  Good times!

Maa Bay and a kayak trip to Ilot aux Canards

30 november 2014

Based on a good tip we found a tranquil beach to ourselves - click pic for album
geotrack of the trip to Maa Bay is here

My birthday this time and I had some good intel on a great beach not far from Noumea.  Turns out that on the OTHER side of the peninsula from The Boat on the Beach, there is a long set of beaches that require a short hike to reach.  That little 15 minute hike means WAY fewer people than the hordes we encountered on the Gadji Bay side of the peninsula.  The west side is known as Maa Bay and the pics will show what a fabulous stretch of almost deserted beaches are to be found.  And we didn't even make it half way down the peninsula (that's for next time).  This weekend was also the first time that Miss K and I rented some kayaks out front our our home and paddled over to Ilot aux Canards.  Given the strong winds, it was more of a workout than expected.  One of my favorite birthdays ever.

Return to Prony

Distance: 5.0 km.  Elevation low/high/total: 0/41/100 m.
Difficulty: 1.4/10.  Scenic: 6/10

We returned to the former prisoner labor camp to fulfill a couple of missions, click pic for album
the geotrack for the short hike is  here

We return to the odd old prisoner/labor camp of Prony for a couple of reasons.  First, Miss K and I wanted to scope out - and walk - the very beginning of GR1 as it's likely our real trek will start just a bit further along than the true starting point.  Secondly, we wanted to place a geocache at stage 1 as we plan to place a cache at every stage.  And finally, our first visit was rather sudden and unplanned and we wanted to check it out a bit more thoroughly.  The full (sad) story of the Village Historique de Prony can be read in English at the helpful NC tourist web site.

Phare Amedee

Distance: NA  Elevation low/high/total: NA

Difficulty: 1.0/10.  Scenic: 8/10

The only Top 25 Tripadvisor destination outside Oz/NZ in the S. Pacific - click pic for album
No geotrack, but here's the Wikipedia page describing the lighthouse (Phare)

One of the most popular day trips outside of Noumea is a visit to the Amedee lighthouse some 24 km south of Noumea.  The entire outing is generally managed through a tour company and, I must admit, it's pretty well done.  A 45 minute boat ride, a gorgeous island with snorkeling, several optional activities, an all you can eat buffet.  Low key, but well run, and all things considered not TOO expensive, at least by NC standards.  Well, if you don't count the expense we incurred from my going snorkeling with my fancy (but not waterproof) cell phone in my swimming shorts.