Photo shows the typical red and white striped balise (sign) of the French GR.

We rarely sit still for long and as we have decided to stay in New Caledonia until May, basically for the cyclone season, this has given us the chance to do some short and longer treks. We started first with the 830 metre Mont Dore near to Noumea and then we climbed Mont Mou to a similar height and Pic Nga in Isle de Pins. We then decided that the multi day GR NC 1 (Grand Randonee or "Great Walk"), covering more than 70 km, just fitted in nicely with our hiking intentions. Even though we have been to New Caledonia a few times before, we have kept mainly to the coast, (with one memorable exception ** see below) so have stuck to short walks only.

We thought that the most difficult part would be getting to the start of the walk and getting back at the end. Both proved to be far easier than the actual walk in the end.

We hopped off the Yate bus at the entrance to the Riviere Bleue provincial park and walked 2.5 km with loaded packs to cover the 4 to 5 day hike.

We always carry a tent, even if shelters or huts are available enroute, just in case they are full. The first night we camped at the park entrance station. We were allowed to camp anywhere, so the first night was spent near the refuge (hut), so we had access to water and loos. We had a nice night with a loud dawn chorus reminding us to get up early to avoid the summer heat. We couldn't pay our $2 park fee until the office opened at 7 am, which was 2 hours after dawn.

Once on the way, the 1st obstacle was a 500 m. hill over 5 km, which took us to the park's main car park. This is where all visitors must leave their cars and either walk, cycle or take the shuttle minibus to various places in the park. It was a bit of a hot slog but quite doable and we were happy to gulp down a few litres of spring water at the bottom. We crossed Riviere Blanche and took the old mining road up over another hill into the Riviere Bleue valley. That's where our next camping spot was for the night.



Riviere Blanche from a maquis covered hill top

We were quite alone, apart from the cagou, an endemic, almost flightless bird with no known similarities to any other bird except a species in Central America! Cagous are NC's national emblem. They are endangered, but predator control in the park has seen a growth in numbers.



One of 3 cagou (kagu) seen near Riviere Bleue, a bird the size of a large chicken. It behaves like a weka, but looks like nothing we have ever seen before!

The river water temperature was just right for a cool dip, so that's what we did.



Camp on the bank of Riviere Bleue

The next day after being awaken by the dawn chorus we packed up and walked to the end of the unsealed road into the dense rainforest where ancient kaori (same genus as the NZ kauri and others on various Pacific islands) could be found in abundance. One (le kaori geant) has its own track and info. and is estimated to be around 1,000 years old. Quite a specimen, about half the size of Tane Mahuta in Northland, NZ.



Le Kaori Geant near Riviere Bleue, probably the largest surviving kauri in New Cal.

Trouble with the track started brewing once we left the unsealed road and were greeted by what one would call a series of jagged stepping stones which we had to guide our feet around. We were wondering what had happened to the "great walk". This continued for a couple of hours until we headed on to the river crossing, which fortunately was only knee deep due to lack of rain.



The Riviere Bleue looking mellow near Pont Germain

Corne du Diable Deuxieme (The Second Horn of the Devil!) is totally dangerous and untenable in heavy rain. After sitting by the river for a while after walking for at least 8 hours, Geoff nipped up the track to see if he could find the park refuge (hut). He found it within 5 minutes, so we filled our 5 litre water container and decided to use our rather thin camping mats on the hard wooden floor in the hut as there were no soft camping spots. As well as a fire extinguisher it had a mountain radio installation powered by solar panels. Guess the lack of mobile reception accounts for this.



Geoff examining the small A frame refuge perched on a ridge above the sometimes dangerous Corne du Diable 2 river crossing


Despite the fact the walk has a spread of small maps and leaflets, sometimes it's best to ignore them. The third day was arduous to say the least. It was comprised of rocks that somehow need to be negotiated, tree roots and steps that were made from blocks of wood and rocks to stop erosion. To add to that was an upward climb from 400m to nearly 1,200m, not forgetting the downs and ups in between. In the maquis areas we saw quite a lot of pitcher plants. New Cal. only has one species of this carnivorous plant that originates from Borneo.



Nepenthes - a pitcher plant (carnivorous), common in the maquis

The ruggedness of the terrain meant we could barely make 1 km an hour. Fortunately, there were plenty of streams along the way, which we needed in the humidity, even though we were under cover in the rainforest for much of the time. We didn't reach the Mine de Soleil refuge at almost 1,200m until more or less dusk and found a nice soft, spongy grassy area to pitch our tent. It was also cool and misty.



Comfy campsite by the 1150m Mine de Soleil refuge. The name comes from a nearby 19th century nickel mine.

We were worrying that night about the standard of the track back to sea level the next day, so we were up at the dawn chorus to tackle the track below us. There were a fair number of rocks to negotiate in the rainforest, but once out of it, it was fairly well contoured down to the bottom of the first valley, which was a drop of 500m. We had to slog it up again to 750 m before finally dropping into the dammed Dumbea Valley - the water source for Noumea.



The Dumbea River downstream of the barrage and end of the GR NC1

The scenery was nice, but the rocks were too hot to even touch! Vehicles aren't allowed up to the barrage, but we saw a few cyclists and walkers with dogs making their way up to the dam to view its alarmingly low level. There had been no real rain for days, probably weeks. We camped in a free campsite near the locked gate.

After being woken by the dawn chorus, the final half day of 8 km took us through the small horticultural and lifestyle area of the Dumbea Valley. Quite a pleasant area with plenty of trees for birds. Just a couple of km from the bus stop and 5 km or so from our start that morning a young woman stopped and asked us if we wanted a lift. We accepted and she knew we had come from the other end of the trail as she had not only done the walk herself, but has also done a lot of tramping in the South Island of NZ.

It was strange how we started communicating in our somewhat garbled French and her similar English, but after a few minutes she was speaking English almost fluently. Lucky her!!! We always try our French first, but we are most surprised how much people want to show off their English, whether they are in an Asian run store, a bus driver, or a local Kanak at a bus stop.

We just got to Noumea on time to rush to the local Casino supermarket to buy some wine, cheese and baguettes and board the bus for the one hour ride to the tun off to Port Ouenghi Marina. We staggered off the bus and within minutes of walking a local guy stopped and offered us a lift. Port Ouenghi is a lifestyle settlement, 60 km from Noumea. Virtually every home has a fence and a pack of hounds, some of which wag their tails and others who definitely do not!

We guessed the man who picked us up was intrigued about what 2 old people covered in red mud and dust carrying overly heavy backpacks were doing in his neighbourhood. Anyway, amidst smiles, he soon found out. Saraoni was just fine and as we had left the fridge on there was ice cold water in it as a result of solar energy.

After a few days rest and catching up on our backlog of writing tasks we intend on spending 10 days criss crossing the island by cycle.



** Rather fuzzy photos taken of our first "great walk" in New Cal. in 1978. It was the first tramp that we had done together. Typical of that time, we had picked somewhere that had no info. about it. We crossed over from the Tanghene to the Ouaieme river valleys without a map, food or common sense, getting lost, climbing down a huge waterfall and getting very hungry. The area (Mt Panie near Hienghene in the NE of Grande Terre) is now out of bounds because of kauri dieback disease, a fungal disease that is also crippling NZ's well known kauri stands.