160 km north of Noumea, Bourail is my maternal family's birthplace. I am a 5th generation New Caledonian. Let me give some background intimately linked to the island history.
New Caledonia was France's prison overseas starting in 1864 (11 years after becoming a French colony). All kinds of prisoners were shipped there (prisons in France were overcrowded) including political prisoners during the Second Empire under Napoleon III.
Back in 1888, my great-great-grand-father came along from France with his wife and kids. He was a prison warden. His son, my great-grand-father, Georges-Émile, established himself in Bourail and founded a family. My maternal grand-father, Lucien Émile, was born there in 1915. He had an incredible life between Senegal (Africa), France and New Caledonia. We are blessed that he wrote his story in a book and gave a copy to his daughters and grand-kids.
Bourail church now and then
I was a teenager when I got the book and the handwriting was so bad that I could not read through it. When I was 20, I took a gap year in New Caledonia (where I was born and lived my first 8 years) and I offered my grand-father to type the book on the computer. So he deciphered the words I could not read and I would learn about his life, asking all the questions coming to mind. After we were done with this endeavor, I asked him to drive to Bourail with him so he could show me all the places he was talking about in the book. That's what we did and that was just awesome! I felt like he transmitted his love for the town as if I were seeing it through his eyes.
Painting of my great-grand-mother's childhood house on a hill near Bourail (from my grand-father's book) and picture of the same house in 2020
Back to 2020, the 4 of us are 'stuck' here with the COVID19 so we took advantage to visit the island, which has so much to offer!
It was unthinkable not to go to Bourail with Salah and the girls to tell them my grand-father's stories and show them the places he lived and loved. My aunt lent me her book (mine is in a box in France) and we could see the pictures from back then and compare with today's reality. The girls loved it and I hope they will be able to come back with their own kids and do the same.
My great-grand-father's building (shop on ground floor and house on 1st floor) in the 1920s
We spent 3 days in Bourail, sleeping in a kanak tribe 15 km outside the city. Our room was actually a re-used shipping container with 2 double beds, a dresser and a table. Pretty rustic with toilets and shower outside, but only cold water. And these days, night temperatures get pretty low especially in the mountains where we were staying.
Our humble house for 2 nights
Salah did the coutume - offering a piece of fabric with a bill to our hosts - to get the authorization to stay on their land. It is a kanak tradition that needs to be done whenever going to a tribe. I had witnessed it but never experienced it firsthand and it was a first for Salah too.
The family we were staying with was very welcoming. Their sons took us to the forest the next day to see coffee, cocoa, mango trees but also turmeric plants, fern trees and all kinds of local tree essences. We hiked barefoot like our guides and it was an incredible feeling to be connected to the ground. The girls were wearing their shoes and did great at hiking, they have not lost the habit.
Our hosts
Hiking in the mountains
Top: Fern trees, Bottom: cocoa trees and kanak sculpture
Breathtaking view at the top
In the afternoon, we took another hike in a river bed on rocks and pebbles which was highly uncomfortable for our westerners' feet. Lana was tired from the morning's hike and was struggling with walking on unleveled ground so our guide carried her throughout the whole hike. He made it look so easy! Naema walked the whole thing though, that was pretty impressive! She took a quick bath at the waterfall and we were amazed at the petroglyphs (signs carved on rock) at the top of the waterfall that our guide showed us. However, we quickly headed back before the sunset, at 5:15 pm these days.
Hiking to the waterfall and petroglyphs, a piece of cake for some and a piece of art for others! 😃
On our last day, we stopped at the famous Gentleman (bonhomme), a rock formation on another beach with grey sand. A pass (gap in the barrier reef) is located right across from the beach which is famous for bodysurfing (and shark watching sometimes). The girls played in the waves.
The Gentleman and the Pierced Rock beach
Playing on the beach
Then, we went to Poé beach with magnificent lagoon colors and located only 2 km from the reef. From the beach, we can hear the waves crashing on the reef, it's pretty amazing.
The lagoon
The lagoon a second time because it is just awesome
Just outside of Bourail, we went to the ANZAC (Australia and New Zealand Army Corps) cemetery, where 242 WW2 soldiers from NZ and Fiji are buried.
History Bubble: New Caledonia was a huge rear command base for the allied forces between 1942 and 1944. Most of the 18,000 New Zealand soldiers belonging to the ANZAC were actually stationed or located in Bourail. So, naturally, the region has a military cemetery with graves mostly of people from countries affected by the conflict.
Peaceful ANZAC cemetery
This concluded our trip in Bourail. On the way back, we stopped at a local distillery to get niaouli essential oils, an endemic tree cousin of the tea tree and eucalyptus. The oil soothes mosquito bites, we have been using it in Georgia for 4 years! So we renewed our stock.
Coralie
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