Catholic missionaries, in the form of French Marists, came to the Ile des Pins in 1848. Earlier Protestant arrivals (1841) were either eaten or fled the island. Continue reading “Notre-Dame-de-l’Assomption – Built By Ungodly Convicts”
Vao War Memorial – Morts Pour La France
During World War I 2,145 New Caledonian men served in Europe on French and Turkish fronts. Of these 1,005 were Kanaks – indigenous (Melanesian) islanders. 600 New Caledonians, including 382 Kanaks, died overseas in the service of the French colonial administration, many in the Aisne, France in July-August 1918. Continue reading “Vao War Memorial – Morts Pour La France”
A Quiet Alternative To Kuto Bay
While I rate Maurice Bay as a must visit for its statue of Christ (dedicated to St Maurice) which is surrounded by a most stunning palisade of carved totem poles, the beach here is one of many beautiful beaches on the Ile des Pins and worthy a look in its own right. Continue reading “A Quiet Alternative To Kuto Bay”
Christianity Combines With Tribal Traditions
Visiting this statue (with its amazing palisade of carved totem poles) was, without doubt, the highlight of my short cruise to New Caledonia. Set against turquoise waters in the bay and a gorgeous sky it is one of the most beautiful sights I have seen anywhere in the world. Continue reading “Christianity Combines With Tribal Traditions”
More Than Sand, Sun And Sea
The Ile des Pins, Nourea, is rightly famous for its spectacular bays, reefs and beaches and to access two of the best of these, Kuto Beach and Kanumera Bay, the visitor arriving by ferry from Noumea or on a cruise ship, as I did, need do no more than walk a few hundred metres either side of where you come ashore. Continue reading “More Than Sand, Sun And Sea”
A Warm Island Welcome
Stepping ashore, from our cruise ship tender, onto the Ile des Pins everyone was given a lei – a woven flower headdress, in our case, not dissimilar to the green ones worn in some of the attached pictures though interwoven with flowers. The gifting of a lei is an island way of greeting guests – a sign of recognition and friendship. Continue reading “A Warm Island Welcome”
Getting to the Ile des Pins and Getting Around
For me, the Ile des Pins was a stop on a short South Pacific cruise. A number of operators offer cruises from Australia which stop at the Ile des Pins and this is the way the majority of international visitors get to and from the island. That said, the island is also a popular weekend retreat for Noumeans, Noumea, the capital of New Caledonia, being a short flight or boat ride from the Ile des Pins. Continue reading “Getting to the Ile des Pins and Getting Around”
No Hurries, No Worries
Paraphrasing Henry Neville’s 1668 book, ‘The Isle of Pines’, swinging sex, free love and unadulterated naughtiness was rife on an island in the South Pacific around 400 hundred years before the first two of these terms were coined by Californian hippies in the 1960s. And, perhaps even more amazingly, it was the famously inhibited and prudish English that brought these things to the Isle of Pines. I invented the third term. Continue reading “No Hurries, No Worries”
The Rambling Wombat 