We arrived in New Caledonia on March 14, 2020 and after a 4-week lockdown, life resumed on April 20 with masks and social distancing (although people, including us, are letting their guard down now given that there has been no new cases since April 4).
Our trip has changed. We were supposed to head to French Polynesia on March 28, and South America on April 5 but nothing happened nor will happen. We are enjoying being in New Caledonia, my homeland, to spend time with family and visit the island until we can fly back to France directly. For now, kids are not allowed at the nursing home where my Mom stays so I go visit her alone but that should change soon.
We are sharing our first outtings in and around Noumea.
Tjibaou center, around the kanak folk culture (kanaks are NC's indigenous people)
Named after Jean-Marie Tjibaou, pro-independence kanak leader and signatory of the Matignon's accords (June 26, 1988) putting an end to the turmoiled 1984-88 years called ''events'' that filled the island with instability and violence. He was killed on May 5, 1989 by an independence radical.
For those interested, Salah put together a repository of documentaries on the history of New Caledonia, Tjibaou center construction (French only)
Renzo Piano, the architect of the center, inspired himself from the traditional huts
Traditional huts
Traditional arts
The center is blending in the nature
Mont Dore and Plum spring water
Mont Dore in the background
With an altitude of 825m, Mont Dore is the highest mountain visible from Noumea, 20 km away. We drove around its base and stopped at the beach. We had brought empty bottles to fill them up with spring water at the fountain in Plum. As a kid, I used to go there on week-ends with my parents.
Blue river provincial park, Great South
45 km southeast of Noumea lies the provincial park with typical red dirt composed of ferronickel. The park features various ecosystems like mining land (shrubs), and rainforest (giant trees like the houp and kaori). Mining (chrome, copper) and forestry went on in the 20th century but are no longer pursued.
Top: 30-m houp, Bottom: 1,000 year-old kaori and fern trees
The construction of Yaté dam in 1958 modified the landscape including with the emergence of an artificial lake, used as a reservoir. We enjoyed the view of the drowned forest, dead trees scattered around the lake: imperishable oaks still standing.
The park is also home to kagus, endemic birds feeding on bugs and worms. They can't fly therefore were threatened and are now a protected species (like kiwi birds in NZ). Access to that remote part of the park is done by shuttle only since the Pérignon bridge was badly hit during 2003's hurricane Erica, hence kagus are roaming freely. We encountered a few on the road and in the forest.
We had a picnic on the river and the girls braved the water temperature to take a dip. Salah and I were morally supportive 😉
In some areas, the water is incredibly blue (from the copper ore), it's easy to understand where the river got its name from...
Divine sunsets on the closest island to paradise...
Coralie
Yorumlar