Come to our paradise and help us in the garden and building in Dumbea, New Caledonia

My stay with Bea and Laurent and Ella was amazing, they all made me feel very welcome. At times it was challenging because I spoke little French but they all made an effort to speak English with me. I really enjoyed the work and learnt so much from Laurent about permaculture and building. They took us on their boat which was super cool! thank you… read more again for everything.
Sherea

I stayed just over three weeks with Béa, Laurent, and Ella, and had a very rewarding experience! I love that they not only opened their home to us (me and two other workawayers I became friends with there), but invited us to share life together - often over very impressive meals prepared by Ella! Ella and Béa have inspired me to try and bake more… read more so I can make cakes as well as they do ;) I very much enjoyed the discussions we would have at the table while eating, it made my stay even more meaningful to feel part of the family. I also appreciated how they would offer to take us workawayers out if they were going somewhere, for example, to the nearby river, or to the market close to Nouméa. The only thing that could've enhanced my experience was having more variety in the type of work, as we spent most the time weeding. However, I understand that this was because of the timing of my stay - the family had just come back from holiday - and that during other times in the year, work varies. I also expected to work alongside the family but it was nice getting to know the other workawayers while we worked together.

One thing to keep in mind is that buses in Nouméa are infrequent, so you have to check the timetable (on the website 'carsud') in advance. The bus stop is less than 15 mins walk from the house, and the bus takes about 40 mins to get to the city center.

Overall, I would highly recommend this stay for those looking for a break from your ordinary routines. I learnt more than just about gardening and permaculture (which were both very interesting as Laurent's very passionate and willing to answer any questions); living a bit further from the city, with beautiful landscapes surrounding us, was a refreshing change from the city life I had gotten used to.

Definetely the best experience I have had so far! I have learnt a lot of things, not only when we were working, but during the sharing moments. Béa, Laurent and Ella, you made my journey in New Caledonia unforgettable! Big hugs to you!!!

Quel séjour extraordinaire ! Deux semaines tres riches d'échanges et de partage. Béa, Laurent et Ella ouvrent… read more leur maison en grand pour nous accueillir. Les projets sont nombreux, le travail n'est donc pas repetitif et on voit plein de domaines différents. Le projet de permaculture est très instructif. Si j'avais un conseil à te donner toi le futur workaway en Nouvelle Calédonie, tu t'arranges pour faire au moins une semaine dans cette famille au top et tu n'hésites pas à tout de suite expliquer ce que tu sais faire, il y a tellement de projets qu'ils sauront faire bon usage de tes expériences et connaissances.

Un grand grand merci à vous trois de m'avoir accueilli avec autant de bienveillance et de m'avoir fait découvrir votre vie et votre île ! On se reverra à n'en pas douter :)

Béa et Laurent sont très sympas et accueillants. Ils nous ont ouvert leur univers et fait partager leurs connaissances. Ce fut un mois riche et intéressant, on ne s' ennuie pas avec eux!
Merci pour nous avoir reçus et fait confiance, et merci à Ella pour ses délicieux desserts! Bonne continuation dans vos mille et un projets ...

This is one of the most beautiful experiences of my life therefore I stayed much longer than expected.This family is awesome, I really enjoyed the discussions we had, the activites we shared. They are kindness embodied and are always ready to help. I feel grown up from this meeting, I will never thank you enough ! Feel free to give them help, you… read more will not regret it !

Laurent remains as you are, you are an inspiration to me for many things,
Beatrice, it's the same for you, always taking care of everyone, people like that are precious,
Ella, little sister, you are a beautiful person, with all the good and positive energy that emanates from you, I do not worry about your future, you will have the perfect life that suits you !
Leo, we had less opportunity to get to know each other, I hope that your trip to New Zealand goes as you wish and that you break out !
Same for you Diane, I hope everything is going well for you.

Big kisses to the whole family !

Such a amazing experience our stay with this family!!!!!we appreciate them very very much and now we are fulled of happiness!!

the tasks were very interesting. we planted a lot f vegetables and flowers, painted the host's(Laurent) boat( this boat is great) , cleaned the house and so on. every task was discovering for us.
now my sister started to… read more plant a few vegetables in Japan because she got good inspiration!! i will also do that after my coming back to Japan!

and i love this house! it is very peaceful. you can see a lot of nature, mountains, beautiful sunrise from the garden. you can read book and have your time after helping there everyday.

and weekend they took us to a boat trip with their friends. we were snorkeling, eating, drinking and singing together! so you know, we were feeling we were like a part of the family! they are so welcoming!!

and food!!! food with them was also amazing! we were served every meals and eat together! and super delicious! and we enjoyed Sushi party at home together!
we highly recommend to help to them and discover new projects!

thank you very much Laurent for teaching us a lot of new things! i will send you pictures of vegetables when they got bigger!
thank you very much Bea for your kind heart! we learned a lot from you!
thank you very much Leo for telling me about interesting story of Sharks! and thank you for your great foods!
thank you very much Ella for your lovely smile! we love your smile and sweet heart! and amazing foods!

本当に素晴らしい経験ができました。
3週間共に生活した今、感謝の言葉しかありません。心からありがとうございます！

仕事の内容は、野菜や花の種植え、大きなボートの塗装や修理、家の掃除など、とても興味深い内容でした。どうやったら野菜が強く早く育つのか、どんな水をあげたらいいのか、こう植え替えると空気が入って植物にとっていいんだよ、などたくさんの事を教えてもらいました。ホストのローラントさんからあまりにいい情報を教えてもらうことが多く、先に帰国した姉は自家菜園を始めてしまったほど！ただの雑用ではない仕事の内容なので、たくさんの発見をしながらプロジェクトに関われると思います！＾＾

家は、中庭がとても素敵なお家で、高い場所に位置しているので山、自然、朝日が一望できます。朝仕事の前に中庭でヨガやストレッチをするのが、私のお気に入りの日課でした。
食事も野菜たっぷりで、ソースなどもすべて自家製。すごくヘルシーな料理ばかりで、毎食一緒に食べられます。私たち最後の日には、私たち日本人姉妹で寿司パーティーをオーガナイズしたり、一緒に楽しい時間も過ごせました。

週末は船で無人島に連れて行ってくれたり、フリータイムも退屈することはありませんでした。とってもウェルカムな家族で、本当の家族のように迎え入れてくれることに、本当に感謝、感謝の連続でした！
本当に素敵な時間をありがとうございます！！

ニューカレドニアは、日本人にとって観光が有名ですが、ローカルの生活でこの地を感じるのが本当に気持ちいいです。発見の多い仕事をしながら、ニューカレドニアをローカルの目線で開拓してみるのを心からおススメします。

Sara & Mariya

My 3-week stay with the family was a wonderful, wholesome experience; I felt welcomed into the family home immediately and it was easy to become fully immersed in the work at hand. The home is situated on a beautiful, quiet hill and work begun shortly after sunrise & the waking of the birds.
I thoroughly enjoyed the work, under the instruction of… read more Leo & Laurent - the guys made their ambitions for their land & the individual projects within its development, clear - it was varied, and at times physically challenging, and enthralling to be working outdoors everyday; able too to observe the progress of our efforts.
The work is hot and pretty dirty at times (especially when hauling hay/straw) but it was great to be so physically active; if you want to feel yourself (& your body) really applying to work, then this Workaway is a good pick for you! The family are very attentive to their Workawayer's needs and always ensured a ready supply of fresh juices, ice-cold water & cakes!
I loved working with the plants - especially with the vegetables - to see how the land was coming together and the project starting to nurture itself, it was a really joyful experience. There were many, many other tasks to undertake throughout the day & over the course of my stay - with an open-minded approach, Laurent is seeking creative solutions and enables you to work autonomously as part of the team effort.

I enjoyed taking exploratory walks from the home around the quiet neighbourhood & into the surrounding area or taking the bus from the main road into Noumea. As work starts early, to avoid the heat of the day, most days provided many hours of free time to chill or explore.
There is only one shop in the village, so I would recommend to other Workawayers to be aware of this relative isolation and ensure to be organised about what you want to do with your days and stay. The family are very generous to be transparent about their plans to try to tie in with yours, and are happy to take you with them when they head into the city, for example.

I most loved spending time with the family - and am grateful for their patience with my awful French & for teaching me so much! - sharing laughter, language and good discussion. The food was always wonderful, varied and inventive - I felt very well looked after - and meals together always enjoyable. Ella's baking skills are to die for, watch out if you've a sweet tooth!! We enjoyed darts competitions & other games but also had plenty of space to just relax on your own. It was also great fun to go out on the boat to the local islands and enjoy various evening walks along the seafront.

I highly recommend a stay with this family...and I shall certainly be eagerly keeping tabs on the progress of the projects...and I can't thank you enough for such a beautiful and hugely enjoyable experience!

We just stayed 10 days with them but it was really great! We learned about permaculture and so many things else. The house was perfectly located in the Dumbea mountains and this place is so peaceful.. you have the river not so far and Noumea is just at 20 min by car. The work was very interesting and diversify; I really enjoyed to plant the… read more vegetable and creat the permaculture mound. Now we know how to manage this for our futur garden in few years :D The house, entirely made by Léo and Laurent, was really cute and we felt at home. The food was amazing: healthy food, cooked very well and diversified. We aslo had handmade dessert ALL THE TIME! Paradise! :D

The family is a non common one: really welcoming (as part of the family, really), independant each one from the others (we think that their children are really mature), and with a vision of life really interesting: Laurent is a passionate (you can discuss politic, agriculture, food etc) and we learn so many things thanks to him!! Loick is now learning Japanese for 3 month now ^^ and we are reading so many books that you have adviced to us. And I have try an access bar session thanks to you Béa (it was really relaxing and I will do it again for sure)!
So we can say that our experience with this family and their life project changed our present life (and for sure our futur life with all these readings)! I am really gratefull for this days spent together and for this experience. We would have loved to spend more time with you and on your boat (but it was broken at that time), but we will come back to New Caledonia (to be teachers in some schools as you adviced to us!) and visit you again to see the evolution of your garden and to have more discussion with you.

Thanks again Laurent, Béa, Léo (for your help in the garden) and Ella (thanks for the dessert and some delicious meals!). It was our first workaway experience but not the least!

Loick and Sandrine

Our experience at Laurent and Bea's family was great. They made us feel welcome and part of the family, especially at Christmas Eve, we cannot thanks them enough to invite us for this really special event! The work is really diversify and interesting mostly taking care of their permaculture garden. It was really interesting to learn about… read more permaculture techniques and fields work in general.
They take really good care of us, their children are so sweet and they are always making healthy food and really good desserts (special thanks to their daughter Ella).
The workaway description they made is accurate, don't hesitate to spend sometime with them you will learn a lot and share good time within a nice family.
Encore merci à vous tous, en espérant vous revoir très bientôt !
Lydia et Gratianne

I had great five weeks living and working with this family! From the very beginning I felt like part of the family, very welcome. The work varies, e.g. preparing the ground for planting, planting and watering, collecting wood etc. Usually it's rather hard work (like this your fitness for the day is done as well ;)), but there are also easier jobs… read more to do. I liked it very much being outside and working with soil and plants all day! I also appreciated the good meals and accomodation and the being together with talking and laughing together.
In the freetime the family took me to the river to swim, to the sailing yacht to sail around the lagoon, visiting small islands and to a short trip with camping at the beach of Poe. Although the house is a bit further from Nouméa and the buses not very practical, you can come around with the family or organising yourself to visit the country in your freetime. I highly recommend staying at this family!

Thank you very much for everything, I enjoyed it very much staying with you!

Amazing experience in Dúmbea with this family. I've felt at home from the very first moment. I highly recommend to come to New Caledonia to whoever feels interested.

The house is really nice with beautiful views, you'll be provide with excellent healthy and good meals, internet connection, room...
25 hours a week working, you can manage them as… read more you please to suit your free time as well. I've enjoyed permaculture although sometimes can get bit hard because of the heat; to work and get your hands dirty planting and doing other related stuff is something healthy! Reconnect hehe
I've spend two unforgivable occasions on a boat, one sailing with Laurent, Bea, Ela and Leo. Thanks!! it was amazing!! The other one with Leo and his friends... we were eating fresh fish the whole weekend!!! Special thanks to Leo, you'll be always welcome to Barcelona (and the rest of the family too hehe)
Really good times with other workawayers as well. Interesting chats, sharp sense of humor.

Let me say it again, thanks Leo, Ela, Laurent and Bea for this experience.

Beto