"I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel's sake. The great affair is to move." RLS
There are several limestone caves on the Ile des Pins. The best known and most accessible one is the Cave or Grotto of Queen Hortense, set in verdant tropical rainforest and abounding with stalactites, lianas, banyan roots, ferns and (harmless) bats. Continue reading “An Unexpected French Speaking Queen”
During his second voyage in 1774, Captain Cook visited New Caledonia. Jacques Brosse, in his book, Great Voyages of Exploration, 1983, wrote:
“To the south of New Caledonia, he discovered a small island remarkable for its high conifers, which were so crowded together that from a distance they looked like basalt columns. The species belonged to the genus Araucaria, then unknown. These Auracaria columnaris, which measured as high as 70 meters, looked like giant pines, and Cook therefore called the place the Isle of Pines.” Continue reading “Pirogues And Pancakes At The Bay”
Not being able to get into the Notre-Dame de l’Assomption church, due to preparations for a funeral being underway, I had a little time to have a look around the grounds of the adjacent St Joseph’s College. It was there I came across a commemorative monument recognising 116 years of Marist Brothers’ service to education on the Ile des Pins, through their operation of St Joseph’s, which opened here in 1877. Continue reading “St Joseph’s – Remembering The Marist Connection”
On the Ile des Pins primary and lower level secondary schooling is available. Students must move to Noumea to finish their secondary schooling and go to university. Many go overseas for the later – most to France or Australia/New Zealand. Continue reading “Art In The Pacific”
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”
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”
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”
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”
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”
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”
The Rambling Wombat 