Sporting Fun
Today was a fun day for the kids but they will be tired tonight. The day dawned cloudy but warm and we walked down to Parc Brunelet 5 minutes away. This time the orienteering was a race so it was all on for our competitive kids. They were paired up with their billets and ran all over the big park finding their cones. Joanne and her partner won so they were very chuffed with themselves.
The park is named after a guy who was a great conservationist in Noumea. It has been planted with a variety of endemic tree species and is all fully fenced so that hoodlums etc can't race their cars around it. Dogs must be on a lead but there are no rules (anywhere!) about picking up your dog's excrement! They just stand there while the dog does his business then walk off! There is a corner within the park that is fenced off again, where the dogs can be let off the lead and run freely. This morning there was a large group in there running, barking and chasing together while their owners chatted and smoked. (Smoking is still very common here)
There are many varieties of palm trees represented.
We had a picnic lunch provided by the school - a baguette filled with ham and salad, a chocolate (of course chocolate!) donut, a piece of cheese and a clementine. ( I had thought they were mandarins the other day in the canteen). The french kids walked back to school for their lunch in the canteen and we stayed on for another hour playing games together on the grass.
We then walked back to school to meet the bus that took us to the Centre d'Activities Nautiques. It is a fabulous facility used by schools and organisations for team building etc. It belongs to the council and The South Province wanted all kids in the region to be able to learn and experience a range of water sports. Our kids had 3 rotations. They paddled a traditional polynesian canoe just like a waka ama called a Va'a, paddled kayaks out in the bay and played kayak polo in the purpose-built pool area. At the end of the afternoon, arms were definitely feeling it, especially from the Va'a as the paddles are longer and you have to grip the top and really dig into the water. It was choppy out in the bay making it even harder for them and a couple didn't like how close they were to the water out there!
The kids are going to do a range of things this weekend if it stays fine so fingers crossed it does.
Bill and Baz are being taken out fishing by a friend here and I've been offered a trip down south in a large catamaran to go whale watching which is very popular at this time of year and quite a spectacle apparently. We shall see.................
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