Miners Exodus

The beach looked beautiful this morning with the water like glass.  I went for a walk around the bays and met up with Bill having an early morning swim at Baie des Citrons.  There were dozens of locals out walking, jogging and running so the pathway was like a highway!  It's a bit like the Lion's walk in Taupo really, and of course the view just as stunning as ours on a cracker day. Cycling is a major sport in France and is very popular here as well. At the weekends there are always a number of single cyclists but many packs of riders are on the road as well.

It was a quiet day for us with Bill and Baz having a paddleboard later in the morning and then in the afternoon we went around to Port Moselle and looked at all the boats in the marina.

       Bill surveying his foreshore and seabed - he said he didn't realise his rights extended to Noumea!

                                                                          Port Moselle

Apparently about 80% of the population here in Noumea own a boat and there was a huge range of them berthed there. Many are ocean-going vessels and some are obviously visiting with registrations from many other places, particularly Australia.

The marina is next to a large parking area which is used for the markets and for the commercial area not far away. As I said earlier in the blog, there has been a massive strike on by nickel miners. They had moved their trucks off the road they were blocking the day before we arrived, but had parked dozens of them in this car park, using up a large percentage of it.  We heard another version of why they were striking last night. It's all very political and even the locals say no-one truly knows what's going on, but they thought that the government here was stopping smaller Australian mining companies from selling second-grade nickel to Korea and China saying that it should be kept and used in New Caledonia. The govt obviously doesn't like the fact that they are getting a higher price off shore than they can get here. There was an absolute cacophony of sounds as the procession of trucks all slowly pulled out of the carpark with their horns blasting on their way out of town.

I hear the weather wasn't too flash in Taupo today - hope tomorrow is better.

Au revoir from the Tropics!

Sun-filled Saturday

We have had a more relaxed day today, as I'm sure the kids have, not needing to be at school by 7.15am. Bill and I went to the markets this morning which is a favourite past-time whenever I am here. They are held by the sea at Port Moselle and on a beautiful sunny day like today, it was a treat. There is always a busy atmosphere as Saturday attracts many more people than during the week. Live music plays and the stalls are all so bright and colourful, selling everything from clothing, jewellery, and local artefacts to a wide range of strange veges and fruit and an even bigger range of fresh fish.
This is the first year that I haven't bumped into any of our kids as it is always a point of call for the host families. I'm sure most would have been there at some stage this morning.

                                                                 Saturday markets

                                                                          Taro and ??

                                                     A smorgasbord of seafood delights!

Last night Madame Lisnic and Monsieur Pare, the Principal and Deputy Principal from Jean Mariotti, took Bill and I out to a Tahitian dinner and concert. It was great as the food was nearly all seafood. Bill was in his element!
He wasn't invited up to dance so all was good!

I've had no phone calls so all must be well with the families.  Veronique was going to ring a couple of her girls this afternoon to say they had to leave their tablets alone and not spend so much time on them!  We both want the kids talking and doing things together.
So for now, au revoir from the Tropics!

Classes and Snorkeling Friday 28th

The kids all turned up in their uniforms today ready for a taste of french classes.  The response is the same each year - they find their classes very staid and unmotivating, especially not being able to understand much, but it is still a valuable experience for them though, as they can compare the way their teachers and our teachers interact with the class and also the different style of teaching here, i.e teacher at the front, students working invidually in their exercise books and using text books for most subjects. Group work and shared activities aren't common in the french system.

They were so ready for the beach when they came out at 11.30!  We walked down to Anse Vata beach and caught the water taxi across to Duck Island for our snorkelling. The wind was up so the sea was choppy by then. The taxi ride was exciting with squeals of delight as we pounded across to the island. Their families had provided them with lunch so we ate on the beach and then a bit later they snorkelled. Of course they were excited at all the fish they saw, along with the different coloured corals and they all thoroughly enjoyed the expedition.

On our return to Anse Vata, we walked back up to school to meet the billets. The families have all sorts of activities planned for them for the weekend so I'm sure they will be full of stories on Monday morning.

                                                                       Water taxi base

                                                                     We're off!

                                                                    Loving the bumps!

                                                                        Into the water

                                                                      Our ride to the island

                                             Leaving Isle du Canard (Duck Island) behind

The Principal, Deputy Principal and some of the staff at Jean Mariotti, have invited Bill and I out tonight to a Tahitian dinner and cultural concert. They remember Bill's efforts at Tahitian dancing when they all came out with their students last year and we had a beautiful Tahitian dance performance by one of their students at our assembly. Taupo Intermediate boys thought all their Christmases had come at once!  She was a very popular girl for the rest of the visit!  She invited Bill to the stage to join her dancing. Of course he did so, but I'm not sure about him displaying his talent onstage with professional dancers during a concert at the Ramada Hotel!! I might be embarrassed but I know the teachers will love it and he'll relish it!!
I will have my camera at the ready.......

Have a good weekend everyone. Au revoir!  Your kids are all doing us proud.

A continuation......

I had to stop writing earlier this evening as we went down to meet a group of Noumean teacher trainees who came out to NZ a few weeks ago and spent time in our classrooms.  They are eager to return to NZ and teach!

As I was saying earlier, the Museum was very informative and our kids learnt about the early settlement of Noumea..

We caught the bus back to Jean Mariotti where we went straight into the canteen and had our lunch. On the menu today was plain macaroni to accompany chicken casserole and also large steamed pork dumplings. There was the ever-present baguette and then yoghurt to follow. Definitely an enjoyable meal!

The kids couldn't get over that once lunch had been eaten, there was nothing to do but wander around a small concreted area and talk.  There are no fields of soft grass and no confidence course or volleyball courts! Taupo Intermediate is still looking pretty good from this end!

                                                          Lining up outside the classroom

                                                     Rebecca looks somewhat different...

                                             Lining up for ice-cream in Place des Cocotiers

We had an orienteering exercise after lunch with the PE teacher who is coming out to NZ in October. Two of our kids were paired up with two of theirs and they had to communicate and speak to each other in their second language for a while before the exercise began. We rushed back up the hill to the school at 2pm to catch the awaiting Tchou Tchou train.

                                                           Lunchtime french style

The grounds at Jean Mariotti

                                                                 Orienteering groups

                                                                       
                                                   Posing during a stop on out train ride

                                                                            Orienteering                

Cannon from the Australian Infantry during WW2

 Our Tchou Tchou train ride around the city at 2pm was also great.  There is a running commentary given by an able polish woman  the ride. All points of interest are noted and  given a very informative explanation. Beautiful views were seen from various vantage points above the city.

Grafftiti Central!

                                                             

                                                                Sights around the city

It's school for the morning tomorrow where they will have classes ranging from Chemistry to French to Shakespearean Drama!  We're looking forward to the observations!

Au revoir!

Classrooms and Sights of the City

It was a bit cloudy when we headed up to the school this morning at 7am but within half an hour, it was beautiful. The kids were looking for shade every time we ventured outside to wait for the next activity or class!

Madame Perraud, my counterpart here, took our kids into  her classroom and explained the french education system to them.  Their eyes grew wider and wider as the timetable for their age group was displayed and then the workload explained!! On top of all that, kids their age spend at least an hour each night but often 2 hours on their homework!  They now have a healthy respect for their life in little old NZ at Taupo Intermediate!

                                                                     Listening intently

The Library for a school of 860 students!

The following tour of the school was also an eye-opener for them.  They are very bare compared to our classrooms and the library amazingly small with few books compared to ours.

The bus collected us at 9.30 for another trip into the central city to visit the Museum of Noumea. This was interesting and explained how Noumea was a penal colony originally and how Asian people were brought in to work with the kanaks on the planations and in the mines in the 1800s. Vietnamese came along with Japanese but the Vienamese now make up a certain percentage of the population. Their country was a Protectorate of France in those days and French is still spoken in Vietnam, a signal of their past link to France

What a stunning day to wake up to this morning! The sea was like glass and the sky an almost irridescent blue. By the time we got to school at 7.10am it was warm already. There were a few waiting by then and we listened as we were told about their meals the night before and what they had done in the evening. Mark was intrigued with the metal shutters that get rolled down electronically over the outside of the windows at night.
We went straight into the canteen where we shared a Welcome Breakfast with our billets.  It differed from what we normally have, because many shops and supermarkets aren't re-stocked yet after the strike over the last two weeks. So........ there were no croissants, pain aux chocolats or palmiers but nobody was complaining about what was presented!

The Principal of Jean Mariotti, Madame Lisnic, welcoming us. (It's not very often I find another adult shorter than me! I love standing next to her! ). To her right is Madame Perraud, who will be bringing students out for us to host in October. To her left is the Vice-Principal Monsieur Pare.

Sausages and bacon - with baguette of course.

New Friends

                                                                     

An impressive array!

                                                                   

                                                  What is that?  Should I try it?

                                                                     All good.

After breakfast the bus picked us up and we went in to the Melanesian Museum. There is a varied display of arefacts here - most being of kanak origin, but also some from other areas of the Pacific. There are many similarities to be seen between Melanesian and Polynesian cultures.
A man from Lifou, in the Loyalty Islands, then greeted us and taught us a traditional dance from his Island. The kids learnt this quickly and understood how the dance told a story. He showed the kids how to merge his dance with our waiata and haka, so after a couple of practices, it all became a great presentation!

The sharing of our traditional dances and songs was great. He is  a little guy but a very lithe and supple professional dancer and I started doing this activity at the Museum three years ago. He loves seeing the haka and hearing our Maori waiata. We finished with He Honore and Bill explained to him that it is a Maori hymn and we always finish special occasions with it and he bowed to us and said he was honoured.  We are lucky to participate in an activity such as this and it adds another dimension to our 'cultural exchange'.

             Men are the only tribe members who can blow the conch shell so our boys were shown how to do so.  Thomas was the man of the moment and the only one out of all of them, including Bill, who could blow it making the correct sound!

When finished, we had half an hour to spare before we were collected again so there was time to walk over the road to the marina and the bordering markets - not nearly as big and noisy as it is on a Saturday but the kids were delighted to relieve themselves of some cash as the jewellery stalls were all open!  You have some stunning collections on their way!

Back at school the kids were met by their billets and most went home at 11.30am. School is closed but some do sports on Wednesday afternoons so they still eat lunch in the canteen and then go off to their various sports activities.

The wind has come up this afternoon and on the exposed Anse Vata beach where we have our apartment, there is an amazing display of windsurfers and kitesurfers plying their skills.
Maybe we will be windsurfing instead of paddleboarding tomorrow........