About 750 miles east of Australia lies a group of beautiful islands. This South Pacific Island chain, of a dozen or so
Islands, is a French territory called New Caledonia. The largest of these islands is Grande Terre, where there is an international airport near a popular tourist town called Noumea.
We are in Australia on a one year visa but we are restricted to stays not to exceed 90 days. We had already completed three house sits in Meadowie, Morpeth and Sydney. We knew we would have to leave the country to reset our visas before our next sit, 9 weeks in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales started, so we began looking for somewhere close that we could go for a quick turnaround, (unfortunately, a round trip cruise with stops in New Zealand did not meet the legal requirements).
When Tom & Yawen, our great friends from San Diego who now live in Sydney, suggested New Caledonia it sounded like a good idea. When they told us that they could join us on the trip, it became a no brainer. George and Tom worked together closely at Nextivity, and we have been fast friends ever since.
We wrapped up our house sit in Sydney and headed for the airport. After a 3-hour flight, we arrived at the airport, where we took a shuttle bus for another 45 minutes to Noumea. It was late evening when we finally arrived. Tom and Ya met us with a much-appreciated club sandwich and a cold beer.
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Over the next few days, we explored the town of Noumea, took long walks along the coast and browsed the local tourist
shops. Typically, we would have stolen Tom away for some scuba diving, but due to recent bull shark attacks in the local waters there was no ocean swimming allowed.
Our evenings started with sunset cocktails and amazing views, followed by some of 
the most extraordinary French food (and wine) we have ever had. We enjoyed one unforgettable restaurant after another.
All too soon it was time for our last hotel breakfast buffet and a ride back to the airport. What would otherwise have been a boring ride was made amazing by the limo driver that Tom & Ya organized. This gentleman has been driving for years and regaled us with stories of the “who’s who” of passengers he had driven around the south of France before moving to Noumea. On top of that he was a singer and played us his studio recorded version of “My Way”. It would have made Frank Sinatra jealous!
Driving down the ocean road after yet another amazing adventure, this time in the South Pacific, the words to the song really rang true:
I’ve lived a life that’s full,
I’ve traveled each and every highway.
And more, much more:
I did it my way.
couple of hours on Sunday. Nathan works at the local 
Arthur is a big boy, as one local commented this morning he has been “feedin’ in a healthy paddock”. This is just one of many colorful turns of phrases we have heard. One chap outside of the small grocery store commented about the wind, which was “strong enough to blow a dog off his chain”. Another person commented that she did not remember how many it was, but she was “still on her hands”; which we later learned means that it was less than 10, as she could still count them on her fingers.
town. ANZAC stands for Australian, New Zealand, Army Corps. It was quite a big event for the little town of Morpeth. Arthur had a great time resting on the sidewalk out in front of the pub, where many folks in colorful attire and a chest full of ribbons stopped to give a head scratch or belly rub.
Arnott family. 
us was included in the cooking class. We elected to take the class in Hoi Ann to see a bit more of the surrounding area. 40 minutes, and some beautiful scenery later, we arrived at one of the local markets. Jolie met us and guided us through the markets, explaining how to pick the various fruits, vegetables, herbs and meats that we would use in out cooking class later. Once loaded up with our raw materials we left the markets and stopped for a coffee before we started cooking. This was great, as it allowed us some time to meet the other folks that were in taking the class. In total there were only 6 of us in the class that day, a perfect sized group.
hostel and the cooking school. Were greeted by three young ladies, each more delightful than the last. These three under, Jolie’s careful tutelage served us delicious orange tea and then helped us prepare three amazing local dishes. Despite the fact that Matt & Bonnie are the real cooks in the group, we all were encouraged to get involved in the food prep. Of course, there was a lot of laughter, fun and singing (the girls have beautiful voices) throughout the perpetration.
With the aid of some flash cards, the girls taught how to properly pronounce the names of each one of the dishes. The also taught us how to make very clever garnishes including rosed made from tomato skins and flowers made from red hot chilis.
It’s been a little over two months since we arrived in Vietnam. We are settling in and really enjoy it. When we first arrived in Da Nang, we stayed at the 
wandered around the big city for a couple of days, and then took the overnight train (about 14 hours) to Da Nang.
Alas, this also means that many of the functions of the city that were previously driven by a robust tax structure, such as street cleaning and sidewalk maintenance have fallen a bit behind. But even in the two short months that we have been here, we can see the signs of the end of the harsh “winter of covid”, new shops, restaurants and shops are beginning to open. A few more tourist are in the streets and in the hotels, and clean-up projects are more frequently seen.
here. They are among the kindest, happiest, and most hospitable people we have encountered anywhere in the world. People you pass on the street, always seem to have a big smile and a big Xin Chao (shin chow) which means hello. With few exceptions, they are not trying to sell you something or ask for money, they are just genuinely friendly folks!
house full of friends. We are really looking forward to showing off Da Nang to more friends who are coming to visits in the coming months.
until he is awake and up. Thus, they have us trained to get up and feed them promptly in the morning.
we love cruising through the Carlsplatz Market. A collection of specialty stalls including bread shops, cheese mongers, butchers and flower shops. Once we decide on an evening meal, we are off foraging.
New Orleans, this area has a quiet peaceful personality during the day and a completely different frenetic energy at night.
the local breweries. The tour involved walking around old town, stopping at several different breweries, and trying their beers, while learning more about beer in Germany. We learned that each region makes it’s own stlye of beer and that there are very strict regulations about what ingredients can be added to beer made here. This is limited to malted grain, hops, yeast, and water. No other ingredients and additives are allowed. We also learned about a special style of beer which is fermented with yeast that works from the bottom of the vessel up (as opposed to most which consume the sugar from the top down). These bottom fermented beers are called Altbier (“alt” beer) and have a distinctive taste.
from sweltering Madrid to the much more temperate climate of the mountains in La Alberca. The program coordinator Cristina, an American transplant who now lives in Spain, guided us onto the bus and let us know what to expect for the day.
Each day started around 9:00am with a buffet breakfast where tables sat four (always had two Anglos and two students). Immediately after breakfast there we activities aimed at boosting the student’s vocabulary and general comfort with English.
program, so we decided to take advantage of it and visit Madrid. The first thing we had to do was find housing. Lately we have found air B&B to be too expensive for short stays (by the time you add in the cleaning fee, a hotel is often cheaper), but since we were going to be there for several days it worked out OK. We found a small studio in the Atocha area that was central to just about everything we wanted to walk to.
We knew nothing about Madrid, but lucky for us, an old friend Jose Daza lives there and he was happy to show us around. Madrid in the summertime is very hot, and for this reason we met a little later in the evening for our walking tour of the city with Jose. What a tour it was, we started at 7:00pm, walked for more than 5 miles and ended up at home around midnight, lucky for us the tour included tapas and cocktails!
in Madrid. The most famous of course is Real Madrid. There are also many beautiful fountains around the city. Each of the major teams has a particular fountain where they gather to celebrate wins. As you can imagine this involves a lot of music, dancing, drinking and a more than occasional dip in the fountain.
The original official cathedral, still stands, but has been replaced with a larger, much grander structure. “I guess God needed more room”, our friend told us.
middle of the day, which is good since they eat the evening meal so late. We did not sit down to eat until 10:00, for Spain this is quite normal. It also makes sense since lunch is typically served at 3:00pm, after which is a “mid-day” siesta. This worked out well for us since it was really hot in Madrid while we were there, with temps in the 90’s (that’s the high 30’s for those of you keeping up in Celsius)
small café for some morning tapas and a glass of Sangria. The last time we enjoyed Sangria 
delivered to the table. The large ice cubes in the glass were then misted with Gin, a generous serving of red (sweet) vermouth was added and finally topped off with two small dashes of Compari. The drink was as delicious as it was beautiful, we were very impressed.
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Christiane prepared a three-course dinner for us that would impress any gourmet chef.
We found we had much in common with Eve and Tom, the couple we sat for. Like us, they sold their home and possessions in California and set off for international adventure. In their case, this meant purchasing and renovating a delightful home set into the hillside of Cordes with an amazing view. Together with their dog and cat (Mocha and Ella), these two really seem to be enjoying their retirement in France.
We spent just over a month in the “city that never sleeps”. Despite rumors to the contrary, we found Now Yorkers to the exceptionally friendly (that is except for a couple of UBER drivers). The city has a vibrancy that is infectious, and you can feel it walk through any of the diverse neighborhoods. Definitely a walking town, by the way, we found that we averaged 4 or 5 miles per day…
Lucky for us, several family members were able to come and visit. We spent time with George’s mom and niece (B.J. and Sydney), did a pub crawl with Bonnie’s cousin Marcia and her partner Cheryle and ate amazing food with George’s sister Martye and her partner Bryan.
about 15% cheaper than the ones on times square, we tested this theory and found it to be true. We went on an exhaustive search for the best cannoli in Little Italy and were introduced to amazing other pastries like the bamboloni (a crème filled Italian doughnut).
South Africa and sailed 
in Las Vegas and San Diego (many thanks for Van and 
