Long Drive Up to Hienghene

Photo by Laurent Guiader, 2006.

Hienghene is located up on the northeast side of New Caledonia. We were told it would take approximately 5.5 hours to drive the 400 kms or so, so off we went at 7.30 early one Saturday morning. As we had yet to visit the north, we were all rather excited. I had been hesitant until now as I had had "not good roads through mountains" experiences here in New Caledonia and did not fancy a long car ride in such conditions, pregnant or with a baby. However, we were pleasantly surprised! The roads were fine all the way up to Koné and then only an hour through mountains (and then another hour along the coast to Hienghene). My goodness, though! What a view through the mountains. Green, green everywhere. Plunging cliffs and river streams. It reminded me of photos I had seen of the Amazon. Why had we waited so long to see such beauty? Well ... the drive ended up taking 7 hours! And when we returned the following Monday, the drive took 8 hours (with a few breaks). Egads. We've decided we'll fly the next time!