Journal Entry - July 31, 2008 - Road Trip South

Author: Pam
It is truly a treat when we meet local people who want to show us their home. Michel and Viviane invited us to spend the day with them exploring the southern part of New Caledonia. They picked us up at 0830 as promised and we headed off to see the part of the country where red, blue and green meet.

Our first stop was on the shore of a lake where the red dirt met the blue water and sky with green dotting the background. The color of the soil is a very rich red, due to the rich mineral content. I found it interesting that the most prevalent car color is white, but they all ended up covered in thick red dust. Next we stopped to look at the dam that controls the height of the lake and to have morning tea. Viviane brought a thermos of coffee and some cookies. It offered us an opportunity to share a classic visually impaired moment, when both Scott and Viviane reached for their cookie and ended up with the rocks that were holding down the table cloth within seconds of one another. The rocks were about the same size as the cookies, but definitely would not have tasted as good. We all had a good giggle and when we headed back to the car, Viviane warned us there was a big cookie in the path. The cookie warning continued throughout the day and will now forever be part of our hiking terminology. Cookies have been added to koala's breakfast which is now the warning for low branches, borrowed from the Guide Dog trainers in Sydney. It is definitely more fun to avoid (or trip over) cookies and koala's breakfast, than rocks and branches.

Once back in the car we headed for the village of Yate. On the way we stopped in a small village where we saw the grave of a missionary in the shape of a boat by the edge of the sea. He was from France and when he died they wanted to send him home so they buried him by the sea in his own boat.

The church nearby was lovely, but we couldn't go in because there was a funeral in progress for one of the members of the tribe. As we walked by we heard the traditional Polynesian singing we have heard in churches throughout the South Pacific. Michel introduced us to one of the local woman who gave us permission to have a look at the preserved traditional hut that was just down the road from the church, which is no longer occupied.

Scott was sitting in the front with Michel and they chatted away about New Caledonia and the US. Michel had a habit of turning his head to look at Scott, I think he thought this helped him understand his English better, but it did not work for Viviane. One of the phrases she learned in English was "keep your eyes on the road", which she must have said to Michel twenty times or more throughout the day.

Our next stop was at Gite St. Gabriel a Gite and restaurant in Yate for lunch. Michel and Viviane had called ahead and made a reservation as well as ordered a traditional lunch. The well manicured grounds of the Gite overlooked the ocean through beautiful palm trees. There were very basic cabins that were for rent by the night. The price range depended on how many people and whether you wanted dinner and breakfast included.

After our walk we settled in for our surprise lunch. We were served a salad and the basket of bread that seems to be present at all meals. The main course arrived and Viviane told us it was a traditional New Caledonian style of cooking called "bougnia". It can be any kind of meat or fish wrapped in greens and cooked. To make it even more "local" Michel had ordered fish, which was a reef fish called Dawa. When we were given a plate for the bones, I thought oh no Scott is definitely wishing they had ordered chicken. But, he never ceases to amaze me. He tucked in and cleaned his plate of all of the fish, greens and veggies (potatoes, squash and pumpkin) cooked in coconut milk. I liked the fish (the greens didn't work for me) and the veggies, though I found them a bit rich. For dessert they served a lovely fruit cup and everyone had espresso except for me. It was a culinary experience and very sweet of Michel and Viviane to make it happen. We were the only customers in the restaurant and I don't think any of the cabins were rented out that day.

After lunch we wound our way along the coast to our next surprise. As we hiked a short distance from the car Michel was explaining that he knows the US has lots of things that are big and this isn't quite as big and about that time a beautiful waterfall was cascading in front of us. It is the Goro Falls and they are the biggest in New Caledonia. They were beautiful and I was quite impressed.

Next we found ourselves in the middle of newly constructed dirt roads with no signs. Things had apparently changed since the last time Michel and Viviane had been this way. After choosing to go right and finding out we should have gone left from a construction worker, it only took turning around one more time and two more construction workers to get us headed in the right direction. Michel had hoped to show us the Nickel factory, but that road was no longer accessible. It truly just looked like hills of red dirt to me, I was amazed Michel could even end up on the wrong road, much less the right one.

We stopped at a lookout over Baie de Prony, a very popular and cyclone safe anchorage. We were jealous of the eight yachts anchored as Starship sat in yet another marina waiting for her new dodger. Once back in the car we wound our way down the hill and stopped to walk through a local village. There were about ten homes that are second homes rented by retired factory workers, the lease is for 99 years. They were very basic with no electricity or running water, however there was a creek alongside the road. They were surrounded by lush trees and a well manicured "road" wound its way among them. One of the houses had an anchor in front and Popeye painted on the side of the house. Popeye (although he is the sailorman) seemed very random. There was a lovely banyan tree with a giant root span. Scott's favorite site was the old prison wall, we of course have pictures of him behind bars.

The last box to check for our tour was to see a Niaouli Tree, we wanted to see the tree that the bottle of Niaouli essence Michel and Viviane had given us came from. Viviane had been reminding Michel all day to keep a lookout and just before dark he spotted one along side the road. We all climbed out and Michel plucked a branch. It has small green leaves and small white flowers. When you pinch the leaf the smell is very similar to eucalyptus. We climbed back in the car with the branch, the leaves can be dried and boiled later.

We pulled into the Port Moselle Marina parking lot at 1800 feeling as though our New Caledonia horizon had been broadened. We had been feeling sad we were stuck in the marina, we were grateful for the opportunity to see the countryside, especially with people as warm and friendly as Michel and Viviane. They left with promises to stop by the following Monday to bring us copies of the pictures they took. Any excuse to see them would be lovely.