822 days

On January 17th 2012 I will have spent eight hundred and twenty-two days in New Caledonia. Well not really since I went back twice to Melbourne and once to Belgium… So about two years, give or take.

It’s been … an experience, to say the least. I worked as freelance for the first time, I learned to sail, sort of, well I can steer. Oh okay I can’t really sail, I can hold my course anyways. So, I sailed, I fished, I dived, I discovered the largest lagoon on the planet, but most of all I met a great bunch of friends. Some of which will remain friends for life.

I also found out about a part of history I never knew about, I learned how three communities live together, more or less. I can’t say Noumea is my favorite city on Earth but the North Province surely won my heart. I have loved the Melanesian people in their villages.

So in October 2009, I arrived in Noumea with absolutely no idea what I was doing here, why I came or how I would make it work. Five months later, after a few sleepless nights and a much thinner wallet, my “carte de sejour” was granted. At last I could work, earn a living, build myself up again. I can only thank my partner at the time for her connections, if it wasn’t for her, I would not have met the people I worked with.
A few weeks later, another client, then another and another.
Two years later, I am now able to finance my project : Melbourne to Brussels by four wheel drive.

Well that’s a story for later.

PS : this is my first post. I will dwell on the past couple of years later on. Stay tuned.