Hiking Netcha Trail
A couple of friends and I hiked the Sentier De Netcha (Netcha Trail) down in Yate. It's about an hour and a half drive south of Noumea, New Caledonia. The roads are good enough for a small car to make the journey. The scenery changes dramatically and is quite beautiful on the second half of the drive. There's plenty of free parking at the base site where the trail begins and ends. You can hike to the Chute De La Madeleine (Madeleine Falls) from here too.
The Netcha Trail is a loop that follows the peaks of the mountains situated on the opposite side of the road from the base site. It's a 9 km hike with a gradual elevation of about 550 m. On the South Province website and app it's considered as a "difficult" hike but my friend spoke to them and apparently they'll be changing the status to "average" difficulty. It took us 4 hours to do the loop and we stopped a number of times to takes photos, rest and eat.
Now, there's no shade nor water up there so be prepared. Take plenty of water and something to eat or snack on along the way. And never forget your hat and sunscreen. Even if it's cloudy. Trust me, I'm talking from experience. It's the number one mistake people make. They think just because it's cloudy and there's a nice breeze they won't get sunburned. Well think again. You may not feel it on the hike but once back home, you'll regret it.
So the hike takes you along the ridge line of the mountains and, as you can see, the views are just stunning. The wide expands of the plains, scattered lakes and the river, photo opportunities are endless. I would love to see what it's like here during sunrise or sunset. Oh and you can actually camp at the base site if you want to take a couple of days or more to visit the area. Anyway, I highly recommend hiking the Sentier De Netcha (Netcha Trail). I'll definitely return.
