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!

What Culinary Delights Follow Shark?

Photo by Laurent Guiader, 2006.

Some of you may recall mention of our tasting shark unbeknownst to us whilst on this fair island. By us, I mean Sophie. And the guilty party was Laurent. A few weekends ago, we ventured a bit further. While on Ile des Pins, we decided to partake of the lovely dish buried in the ground above: bougna. Bougna is one of the Kanaks' traditional feast dishes. It generally contains taro, yam, sweet potato, banana and either pieces of chicken, fish, crab or lobster. All of this is wrapped in banana leaves and buried to cook in the ground under hot coals. Above, our Kanak friends are uncovering the meal we later ate, below.

Photo by Laurent Guiader, 2006.

Palm-Pruning Time in Nouméa

Every year at this time of year, workers from the local gardening company stop by. Not unlike the chimney sweeps in Paris, they offer a regular and much-needed service. Only rather than descending chimneys, they climb coconut palms. Right, a photo of one such fellow just in front of our terrace. He climbed the palm with the help of a ladder (I've seen them shimmy up without a ladder, but this one was a tricky one), pulled a machete out of his pocket and started hacking away. Down went the browning palm fronds and all of the coconuts. Why in heaven's name, you ask. Because during the hurricane season, the last thing you want is speeding wayward coconuts.

Photo by Julie Harris, 2006.

Earth from Above by Yann Arthus-Bertrand

Yann Arthus-Bertrand, an internationally renowned French photographer, was in Nouméa last week for the opening of his "Earth from Above" (or "La Terre vue du Ciel") exhibition on the Place des Cocotiers. Since the beginning of the "Earth from Above" aerial photography project, over 500 000 photos have been taken in some 100 countries.

Some of you may be familiar with the image used for the Nouméa exhibition - and for the cover of the exhibition's collection of photographs. It shows a heart on the earth. This photo was taken in New Caledonia.

You may have seen Yann's aerial photography before - if not, take a look at his comprehensive site at www.yannarthusbertrand.org. Available in English, French and Spanish, the site contains links to his photos, information about his work and his commitment to raising awareness about sustainable development and our changing planet, e-cards, free wallpaper and news about upcoming exhibitions. (His "Earth from Above" exhibit is also currently on in Melbourne and the Netherlands; it just finished in Plymouth and Prague.)

Many of us were very happy to have Yann visit Nouméa. Laurent and I went to his book signing and later took in the exhibition. Sophie later said that one day she hopes to have enough money to be able to buy one of his original photographs. Me, too!