We really enjoyed this trip. New Caledonia was very pretty. Ile des Pins stands out as especially beautiful. We didn’t feel like we had seen everything there was to see since we only made it to one of the three Loyalty Islands. We have heard that Ouvea has a beautiful 16 mile long beach. Also related to the Loyalty Islands, we didn’t get to present our gifts to the chief, although we enjoyed presenting them to his wife. We were disappointed that we didn’t learn more about the indigenous culture. On a more personal note it this trip included my first time overnight sail during which I had responsibility for a “watch”. It went fine (other than being exhausted the next day) and now that I have successfully done it, it opens up new sailing opportunities for us.
Here is a map of our New Caledonia trip.
New Zealand is also a beautiful country. It has beachs, snow capped mountains, green plains, and lots of sheep. Culturally it seems like a politically reasonable, environmentaly concious country. We loved living in the camper. It was cozy, convenient, and flexible. It allowed us to adjust our schedule based on the weather or if we heard about some cool place to go. It was convenient and allowed us to pull over and have lunch or make a cup of coffee. And it certainly was cozy, we called it our cocoon when we had all the curtains pulled. We feel like there is a lot more to see in New Zealand and that you can’t really begin to see all there is to see in 3 ½ weeks, so we might need to go back. The highlights of our New Zealand trip were
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- Hiking on Fox Glacier
- Cruising Doubtful Sound
- Exploring an active volcano on White Island
- Seeing Cathedral Cove and Hehai beach
Here are maps of our trip.
