Who's Taking the Photos?

Most of the photos on this blog are brought to you by the talented, young Sophie-Alix Kilcoyne. A photographer from the age of 3 or 4 ...

Taxi Boat, Anyone?

Speaking of Ile aux Canards (Duck Island), there are a couple of ways you can get to this little ilot: (1) you can swim the 800 metres or (2) you can take a taxi boat.

Photo by Sophie-Alix Kilcoyne, 2005.

So What Does a South Pacific Island Look Like?

We soon found out, our first weekend, walking around. Lodged in a hotel for ten days, waiting for our villa to be liberated (we were very lucky to have our new lodgings already sorted out), we took a little time out on our first weekend in Nouméa to visit the surrounds. Not 10 minutes away was the famous Anse Vata, Nouméa's long white beaches ... and Ile aux Canards ... just across the water ...

Photo by Sophie-Alix Kilcoyne, 2005.

I Can't Help Feeling ...

... like I've just walked into Rodgers & Hammerstein's 1949 award-winning musical, "South Pacific". Far from the beautiful Mary Martin, I am newly wed "To a Wonderful Guy", who also happens to be a military man. Seduced by the sway of palm trees, turquoise seas and constant blue skies, I am nearly wooed by the abject romance of our surroundings. But something niggles at me ... would it be the underlying tension of race relations? In 2005? On a small French island?

To be continued ...
(And for more on "South Pacific", see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Pacific_(musical))

The Adventure Begins

We've landed. The realisation of a near-on three-year dream to live on a desert island, here we are: Laurent, Sophie and I a couple of short days after our landing at midnight on 15 August 2005.

Where are we? New Caledonia, a French territory (island) about the size of New Jersey. Pull out a map. Look for Australia. Look east of Brisbane. Yep, that's us. About 10 hours ahead of France, 16 hours ahead of New York and 19 hours ahead of California. Talk about being on the leading edge.

Want to know more about New Caledonia? Check out the very helpful CIA World Factbook page on NC: http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/nc.html In any case, you'll be reading all about New Caledonia in the coming months ...