We've just returned from Ile des Pins. In a word, it is paradise. I have never in my life seen a place so stunning, so breathtaking. I've seen white sands, yes. Blue skies, yes. But the particular combination of these, along with the simplicity of a life sans technology, people and credit cards made me reflect on how little one really needs to be happy and prosper. 
Boxing Day started early. We boarded our pirogue (an out-board rigger) along with nine other tourists and Alexandre (pictured left) around 8.00. It was hard to believe that such a simple structure would sail us up a bay safely. Here, you toss safety to the wind. No lifejackets, no water, no contact with the mainland. Luck had it that we ran aboard a reef about a half an hour in to our journey and all the menfolk had to get off and push. Then our little lawnmower motor drowned out. No worries. After about a half hour of advice from nearly every passenger and elbow grease on the part of our captain (he told me he was going to be giving this up soon - he'd been doing this for years, and it was time to move over to leave room for the younger folk to take on the job), we were off once again. After two and a half hours of drifting and motoring along, enjoying the calm and the blues of the lagoon and the sky, we landed around 10.30 further up the island. Off we went for a 45-minute walk through the forest. Merci, capitaine !
Photo by Laurent Guiader, 2005.
Photo by Laurent Guiader, 2005. 
We arrived at the piscine naturelle (near the Baie d'Oro), pictured right, around 15.00 and immediately put on our snorkeling gear. Time to get in the pool! Laurent had brought some leftover baguette and once in the pool we set to feeding the fish.
Ever imagined what it must be like to swim in an aquarium? This was it. Again, just as at the Baie de Kunamera, the fish were aplenty - and absolutely stunning. We even saw clownfish, of "Nemo" fame.
Photo by Sophie-Alix Kilcoyne, 2005.
Christmas day was exceptional for us. We spent it outside, for starters, on the beautiful Baie de Kunamera (best snorkeling on the island) and the Baie de Kuto (famous for its long silky-white beaches). We snorkeled around the rocher pictured above (sacred to the Kunies, so no climbing) and were surprised not only by the variety of beautiful tropical fish, but their varying sizes and multitude (see photo below)! A number of them swam with us and when we stopped to marvel at them, they swam around our waists and between our legs. The coral was also extremely colourful, and some of it fluorescent (a first for me to see outside of an aquarium). After a picnic lunch on the beach, we wandered over to the Baie de Kuto where we refreshed ourselves with a swim, and a nap under the trees. We found time, too, to build castles in the sand. Far from the tradition of long Christmas dinners and foie gras and Christmas crackers around long tables with cherished family, we thought of absent friends and family and looked forward to speaking with them all again soon.
Photo by Laurent Guiader, 2005.
Picture-perfect, we had never expected to see such a range and multitude of tropical fish in New Caledonia, but indeed we did on Christmas day - in the Baie de Kunamera on Ile des Pins. Our first outing in the morning was more successful than our early afternoon outing, but we were truly spoiled by the company of our angel fish (and other) underwater friends on both trips. Mind you, we simply walked into the water and swam around the bay's sacred rock - no boats were necessary to take us out into a reef. How easy, and thoroughly amazing, at once.
Make no mistake - this is not a picnic. The sun set on Christmas day and the Kunies came out to play "boules", and as pictured here, the women to play bingo. When we asked why there were so few locals out on Christmas day, we were told by our Kunie driver that they were all at home, resting and recuperating, still somewhat inebriated, having started drinking just after midnight mass. By the time the sun set, the locals came out again to liven up island life.
Even Ile des Pins donned her prettiest Christmas colours - as captured here by Sophie, at the end of our first Christmas in the South Pacific. Photo by Sophie-Alix Kilcoyne, 2005.
We boarded a high-speed catamaran (otherwise known as the Betico) at 6:45 in the morning and by 9.15 we had arrived on Ile des Pins. Though we had heard that the island was beautiful, we didn't expect anything quite so stunning. Walking in off the dock, we saw an entire school of fish in the transparent waters.
Our rental car was waiting for us and off we went to the only village on the island, Vao. Vao has a small tourist office, a local market, a bank (no ATMs), two tiny grocery stores (and I mean tiny - you can buy a tin of tuna and some long-life milk in the off chance you've just run out), a town hall, a beautiful mission church (built in 1860), an elementary school, a high school and 1800 inhabitants - pretty much the entirety of the island's population.
After a walk around the tourist office and the market (a collection of Kunie - local - women seated offering up their yams and watermelon for sale), we walked down to the Baie de St Maurice, which was where the first Catholic ceremony was said to have taken place on the island. There we found a statue of St Maurice surrounded by tree trunks carved in the form of totems - snakes, birds, turtles and human faces (as pictured above). Ah - a great mix of Catholic religion and local customs and beliefs.
Lastly, a visit to the church up the road touched us all as the locals hung long fresh garlands from the rafters and the women added bougainvilla (and other pink and red flowers) to render the garlands ever more festive for the Christmas eve mass.
Photo by Laurent Guiader, 2005.
Leaving Vao, we drove up and across the island (quickly done as the island stretches 14 km by 17 km and there only one or two main roads) to find a simple (and welcome) lunch on the Baie d'Oro.
Following our first day's tour of Ile des Pins, we checked in at our little hotel, where we found a bungalow waiting for us. Sophie and Laurent (and even I!) could not resist a dip in the pool to cool off. We'd been told that the island's most beautiful sunsets would be found here, and we were far from disappointed. A stroll along the beach was the perfect end to a perfect day ...
Photo by Laurent Guiader, 2005. 
We are off to Ile des Pins (Isle of Pines) for Christmas. It is a tiny, idyllic island famous for its turquoise waters and scuba diving. It's been called the "most beautiful island on the planet". See http://www.isle-of-pines.com/welcome.html for a few photos and more. We'll take a boat to the island (a couple of hours), rent a car, tour the island and check in for a fabulous Christmas eve dinner at our little hotel on the northern-west coast (Hôtel Kodjeue).
On Boxing Day, we'll take a "pirogue" up through the lagoons (see the pirogue in the photo left for an idea of what I am talking about), walk a little through the island's famous pines (for which the island was named by James Cook) and spend an afternoon at a natural "piscine". Otherwise, we'll be enjoying the white sands and the relaxed pace of a tiny, tiny island. Pictures and tales to follow upon our return ...
See the largest sailboat at the top of this photo? Trace your finger inland to the northern coast of this little peninsula. That's where we live ... on the Baie de l'Orphelinat in Nouméa. Our location explains the ocean views and fabulous sunsets posted at times on this blog. Both Sophie's school and Laurent's place of work are also pictured in this photo. Laurent is in the red-roofed buildings and Sophie is just across the street from Laurent.
Back in November we booked our first real dinner out in a restaurant in New Caledonia - in celebration of my birthday. We dressed up and went to a fabulous restaurant ("Le Roof", pitched at the end of a long dock, overlooking the lagoon), which made a dramatic change from our usual style of shorts and flip-flops and fresh shrimp and rice at home in the garden. It was divine to sit at a table with fancy silver and more than one glass, sip virgin margaritas, and later be served cheesecake with a framboise couli. The sound of the sea lapping underneath the dock was the icing on the cake.
Photo by Laurent Guiader, 2005.
Photo by Laurent Guiader, 2005.
New Caledonia has three discernible populations (of a total of 230 789 inhabitants):
- The Kanak (or Kanaky), which are the country's indigenous peoples. As of 2005, the Kanak community represents 42.5% of the population. They are officially known as Melanesians.
- The Caldoche, which are the whites who have lived in New Caledonia for several generations. The Caldoche usually refer to themselves simply as "calédoniens" and may be either white (mostly French or German) or white with a mixture of Asian, Melanesian or Polynesian ancestry. Caldoche culture is said to have many similarities with Australian and Afrikaner culture.
- The Métros or Métropolitains, which are the newcomers who have immigrated from metropolitan France.
I have been thinking a lot about these three very separate groups this last week as I interact primarily with the Kanaks and the Métros and have had occasion to be involved in heated conversations about the driving forces in each population. I hope to address some of the tensions between the populations in the coming months - as I come to understand them - on this blog ...
As a start, I visited the Centre Culturel Tijbaou today - see http://www.adck.nc/ - and got my first primer on some of the most important customs and traditions in the Kanak culture. More to follow!
Photo by Laurent Guiader, 2005.
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