Bonjour Nouvelle-Caledonie
06 October 2011 | Ile des Pins, New Caledonia
Lucie
De retour en langue francaise!...Vive la baguette et le fromage. We have been in New Cal for 2 weeks already. Wow, what a change! This small island is surrounded by a lagoon and makes it easy to find a spot to anchor. New Caledonia's lagoon has been listed as a World Heritage Site since 2008. We missed the protective anchorages of French Polynesia's lagoons and here we have another chance to pleasure them. The biggest difference though is the industrialization of this country. New Cal holds a quarter of the world's nickel. In Noumea, you would think that you are in a European city. The shops are trendy, modern and expensive. Like French Polynesia, New Caledonia is under the umbrella of France for support in education, health, social security and employment. Vive la France! 35% of the population are ex-pats, so the European influence is much greater then in neighbouring countries. Out of Noumea though the Kanaks and their culture reign. Like in Fiji and Vanuatu, a small present is "required" when visiting a new village. In Fiji, kava was mandatory. In Vanuatu, anything would be appreciated and in New Cal, a piece of clothing is usually the custom. After a few days in Noumea, checking in and dealing with all formalities, we decided to take advantage in a change of the southeast tradewind to make our way down to Ile des Pins, south of the lagoon. Ile des Pins is said to be the most beautiful island is the South Pacific so we had to check it out. On our way here, we stopped at Ile Ouen, baie de Ouara. We took a mooring as it is very deep right up to shore. We spotted a lookout from the anchorage and decided to venture to the village and asked the chief permission to walk up to the lookout. After meeting chief Olivier and presenting him with a token, we were welcomed to continue our trek up the mountain. The lookout had recently been built by the government as a whale watching platform. It was a beautiful view of the south lagoon right up to ile des Pins, unfortunately no whales in sight. We got lucky when we had sailed by, a few days prior and had seen 3 humpback whales. We only spent one night at Ouara and then continued south. We arrived at Kanumera after catching a mahi and a yellowfin. We kept the tuna, gave a couple of pieces to fellow boaters and the mahi, we traded to a local shop for a sarong and a book of the island. Kanumera and Kuto bays are truly beautiful. Fine white sandy beaches back with araucaria pines and coconuts palms. With over 2000 passengers, the cruise ships come to Kuto bay twice weekly and then the beaches become a zoo. On one of these days, we hiked up to Pic Nga and had a great view of the whole island. We also rode our bikes to Vao, the main village of the island. Ile des Pins is certainly a great spot and we will continue to explore it for a few more days.