Went to Poe today. Serious 20-25+ knots off shore wind. We were told that this was the first day of surfable swell that made it past the outer reef here in months, but unfortunately the wind killed a lot of it. These guys were having a blast from the sound of it, and got occasional nice tubes
The beach at Poe is very similar to Kilcunda in Victoria, but with coarse sand
Wow nice pics Haircut, the tourism bureau is gong to hire you !!!
That spot is La Roche Percée, Poe is the flat water beach further down the road.
Right u r sir
Went to Poe too after it, but was nearly dark when we got there.
On the way to Chute De La Madeleine today
For 400 fracs you not only see waterfalls but you also get to see local wildlife mating
That's a bloody classic Haircut. I assume your lens was much bigger than his too.
Great shots, just as well your,re not into video.
Can't wait to get over there in a few months, hopefully mating season will be over by then.
little reminder of how good it is :
first part is filmed on third island (ilot goeland) and second part on second island (ilot maitre)
Great shots Haircut, I was going to ask you (before the locals mating shot !) what camera you were using ? The colors are great.
Enjoy the rest of the holidays !
I'll let Haircut answer that one, I know he got a 20% discount at naish center (by knowing me 
) and a great deal at sp8ce too.
) and a great deal at sp8ce too.
Hi Victor, no booking required, just turn up at the beach and choose your gear depending on conditions.
Still need Haircut to confirm what sort of mate rate he got....
Thanks Sean for your answers to this forum...greatly appreciated.
Regards Sean B (Victor B)
I think sp8ce (laurent) did an even better deal for Haircut (something around 50 $ for 3 or 4 hours on a week day)
That's maybe because they were two of them and the missus is pretty (and speaks french) !!!
back home now.
I know it's already been said, but again, thank you Sean for your info, assistance and hospitality - it was a pleasure and added to the enjoyment of the stay in a big way. btw Is there anyone you don't know in Noumea?
P.S. is it possible to buy fresh milk in NewCal? Couldn't find any in the supermarches?
had a great time there and highly recommend a trip, especially if you're a queenslander who doesn't like long flights 
Everyone was very friendly and helpful, both the native folk and the froggies and contrary to popular belief, the French really don't smell much at all
equipment hire is very reasonable. The advertised prices work out to about $22-$25 aus per hour with a max of approx $55 for half a day. We couldn't say how much for a full day as we started sailing from 1pm each time. The centres were nice and gave us a discount which reduced the price a little more, I'm sure thanks to Sean doing some "sweet talkin"
The hire vendors like you to return the gear an hour before sunset, so they can send out a search party in daylight if you don't return
I would recommend booties for sailing till you familiarise yourself with the area. Some areas with nice sandy bottom and areas with reef.
Lots of faaaast sailors there on their slalom gear to put yourselves up against.
Didn't buy anything myself, but windsurfing gear is cheeeeeap to buy over there, cheap, cheap 
if you don't live near a windsurfing shop to support, take an empty suitcase to fill up
There are some nice, well stocked windsurfing shops there to kill time in!
You'll be lucky if you find a chinook cup base in Newcal, they have bought the worlds supply of europins
Nice food in the restaurants
Nice clean McDonalds type takeaway places called "Quick"
You can drink the tap water
The local ladies are generally slim, healthy looking, and very easy on the eyes - makes one realise just how unhealthy aus people are
Pricing works out about the same as here in aus, with some things being a little more pricey and a little cheaper
car hire is about $30 per day without insurance for a late model little 4 door
Fuel is about $1.50 per litre. They don't advertise the prices on boards out the front of the station
The island is a lot bigger than I thought. The landscape is quite diverse with some awesome hills, and it seems to require a lot of driving to see the different areas. The Noumea area is not really tropical looking, yet it changes as you head to the centre and northern side of the island which is more tropical . The southern areas we saw were like a mixture of VIC / N.S.W grazing land and central coast WA red soil with sparse bushy scrub and rocky landscape.
Thanks for the nice words about the pics. The camera is a Canon 5d mark 3. It's 30% photographic skill versus 70% knowing how to process them in photoshop. They look pretty bland out of the camera, so don't rush out and buy one of these ones thinking they'll look all colorful the first bunch cam e out too colourfull becuase my laptop didn't load in it's calibration profile while i was editing them. They shouldn't look quite like that
Sounds great, I am off to new cal first week of august... cant wait... hopefully there is still some wind... if not lots of diving to do.
The cold has kicked in ( I had to put on a long sleeve tee shirt after sailing) but the wind is still here.
Had a blast this arvo with my 5.7 saber, went to Ilot maitre to practice my speed runs...
water is still warm.
Geez Filthy, you really picked the worst period (not that you could know...)
We were all taken by surprise yesterday when the city council closed the beach til october !!!!
Drove to anse vata to check it out this morning :
crap !!!!
Was talking to the rental guys who are asking the city to cover their loss... seems though that it could be for a shorter period than expected (announcing the worst first..)
The second spot (magenta) is going to be crowded very soon.....
awww wtf... any other spot you can hire windsurf gear if its windy? (near noumea).
Mainly we plan on diving and such... but that still such balls big time.
Sorry Filthy, Anse vata is the only rental place, I don't think the rental guys would bother moving to the other spot (Magenta) as it only operates at high tide and you still risk loosing your fin...
Diving will still be awesome, plenty of choices for that, a bit frisky though....
don't have any connections with diving centers, here's a link to one of the most popular.
www.facebook.com/amedee.diving
You may want to go whale watching too we're full in the season.
My mate who I am staying with has the diving sorted. I looked at the water temp and its like 22-24 degC... thats like perth summer water temps.
I have a decent wetsuit for diving so I should be ok. Hopefully we will see whales when we head out for diving. The girls (who dont dive) may be interested in whale watching, I will let them know.
Ahh well, if I miss out on a windsurf thats fine - i am not really going for that anyway, just throught it would be cool if I got the opportunity, give that my mate lives right on the Anse Vata beach area. I have not been windsurfing in ages and am started to get the itch.
I am told that hammerheads are out in abundance somewhere over there (schooling maybe - like you see in the photos)... that would be a cool thing too see.
Thanks for all the info, possibly see you round while I am over there (if its windy i might come down for a look).
Yep hammerheards are out !!
I might be windsurfing during the week at anse vata; I 'll shower with bleach afterwards.....
Hope you have fun !!!
