Travel is Good for Everyone

Photo by Laurent Guiader, 2006.

We recently spent a week in Australia and I have to say, it was a boon! Five-month-old Pablo took his first aeroplane ride and two and a half hours later he was in a whole new country. He loved it! We totally broke with his usual schedule of playtime, nap, walk along the sea, lunch, nap, playtime, massage, walk, bath, bedtime. He found himself up and out in a major city (Sydney and then Melbourne and then Sydney again) visiting sharks and seals in the Sydney Aquarium, shopping with Big Sister Sophie, off to see Little Penguins (in the wild) in Phillip Island, visiting with koalas and wallabies at the Taronga Zoo and listening to the story of the 14-year trek towards the completion of the Sydney Opera House. The proud owner of half a dozen new baby books in English, a passport with Australian stamps and baby clothes for six months from now, Pablo is totally outfitted for his next big trip ... to the Loyalty Islands in December.

How Quickly Views Change

A storm blew in on Monday while I was on the phone with Paris. Luckily Sophie was around to document it from our balcony. I watched in amazement as it flew out as quickly as it blew in. One would have thought it was the apocalypse, but no, just a quick reminder that even chaos can be beautiful.

Speaking of beautiful, happy birthday, Stevie!!

Photo by Sophie-Alix Kilcoyne, 2006.

We've Got the Blues

Photo by Laurent Guiader, 2006.

Last week we left New Caledonia for a short jaunt two and a half hours away to big, strapping Australia (more on this to follow). One of the best things about leaving our little island was, believe it or not, coming back. We got to see what we look like for the first time. (When we landed here just over a year ago, it was 22.30 and very, very dark.) Above, a shot of our island and her blues. Actually, this is one wee part of her - not the whole island! Click on the photo to get a better view ...

I couldn't help thinking, seeing this, what person would not love this, not want to see this or visit this? What kind of person would say no? And for all of you out there who have not yet been to New Caledonia, what's keeping you? :)

Whalewatching in New Caledonia

In early September we went on a real South Pacific adventure - whalewatching in the Baie de Prony. The whalewatching season here spans two months, from mid-July to mid-September when the whales come down to warmer waters to mate, give birth and/or feed their young. It takes them three months to get here, in which time they lose 10 tonnes. But it seems well worth the trip as they return every year and are protected in the Baie de Prony's nature reserve. We were lucky enough to see several of them - the humpbacks - as they played and a mother sought a secluded place to nurse her newborn. Our catamaran tossed and turned with the waves, and we eventually left them in peace (thank goodness - as I was as sick as sick can be!). But as we left to tour the bay, our skipper told us that three males had recently come closer into the bay. What with the building of a nickel mine and the hammering under the sea on the bay, the whales have been responding to what sounds like their calls and are venturing closer and closer. One wonders what the final effect the mine will have on the whales and their adoptive habitat.