Was / is very pretty. Out of 600odd pics tho, there are but a films role worth sharing
ops: :P I spent two weeks out there, I feel very well refreshed thank you :P
Just for you nerds, I took a Pentax k10d, Super Takumar 28mm f3.5, 50mm 1.4 and a 138mm f3.5. I ended up using the 28mm most of the time :P If I was going again, I'd just take the 28. Honest!
Firstly, the capital Noumea now the major shipping port was pretty dirty. Once down the west coast side of the city (where all the resorts where) it was clean enough, but full of tourists! Who likes tourists? Having said that, to eat and drink, that's kinda the place you'd want to head..
We stayed in more of less the CBD, to give you an idea of how "Western Sydney" it felt at times, this was the building next to our hotel.
No idea what it used to be, completely abandoned and boarded up for some reason. Next to that was the Air Calin (major flight operator) headquarters. That sort of vibe was pretty honest to how the CBD felt at times. Having said that we never felt uncomfortable during the day. But at night time, coupled with an acute awareness of my lack of French, you really felt a little bit like you should have just stayed in the motel.
First stop on the west coast was Bourail
The cars represented where our hotel was. This was taken out on the rocks at the end of the bay looking back in. The same showing the rocks and the moon :P
The presence of the mountains where to be a common theme across the Island. After looking at it, it's no accident Cook named it after his mate in Scotland. To early sailors they must have just thought, great.... sif I'd want to farm that.
Bourail has some lovely protected beaches with rare turtles laying.
You could swim out there if you wanted to have a look, rocks lay the whole way and the tide was never out far enough to walk or swim comfortably honestly. Folks still did in effort to piss of the turtles tho :S
What I can't show you tho is the glorious noise the birds would make at morning and night. The place was overflowing with birds (no mammal predators). The trees were well littered but also well high away from my short 138mm lens. A pigeon posed for the camera a bit later on tho.
And given Pigeons are hardly tropical nor interesting, it's lovely coat was in pale significance next to every thing else on the Island. So, if a pigeon can be that glorious, you'll just have to imagine the splendor in that everything else was! :P
Heading across the mountain from Bourail to Houailou, things were equally as lovely.
These kinds of vista's carried us the width of the island. The drive from west to east about 100kms, took about 2 hours. The roads were speed limited at 110, with a quality of which I felt no safer traveling over 80. They were godly twisty tho!
The island is a complete mountain range which was to become much clearer by the time we got to the east side. If you have a fetish for hurting rental cars, come over here and you will be giddy with joy! Quality of the tarmac varied, but the mountain passes were a hoot!
It's probably a good point here to interject with how much I loved this "tourist yellow" Peugeot 107 / Cit C1 / Toyota Aygo we rented!
The model is purposefully standing over the front nose to hide how hideously ugly it is. Peugeot put this stupid big grill on the front whilst Cit and Toyota have the idea with a small bumper allowing the wheel in each corner proportions to be fully admired.
Given the terrain, I was in heaven with a little thing! Someone mentioned the other day the adage that going faster on a small bike is more fun then going faster on a big bike. It seems to resonate with the feelings toward this little thing too!
For all you Ozzies who haven't seen this ugly fsking thing. It's a Daihatsu Charade. It weights 800odd has a Daihastu sourced 3cyl 1L multipoint injected 12v DOHC 10.5:1 compression, (1KR-FE) aluminum engine block, and even had a timing chain, not belt. They say with all belts pumps etc the engine weights little over 60kg. It makes 50odd kw at 6000rpm, and 90odd Nm at 3600.
The gearing is very tall initially. In 3rd you can do 130km/h (proven
) at 3k in 5th you are doing 110ish. And that's the magic really. Above 3k in any gear the dam thing went anywhere.
The trim was modest, it was comfortable enough for me 6 and a bit foot, the rear doors where handy for luggage, I'd probably want a 2dr tho.
These engines are the basis in Japan for their formula 1000. They pinch 130kw out of them in racing trim, god knows how long they would last. Having said that, There a supercharger kits in the UK which put out similar power for these things, hahaah Anyway. It was a total hoot pointing this thing around the mountain. I'd buy one today if they sold them down here.
Traveling across the Island is where you really saw the poorer inhabitants. The land looked near impossible to farm yet when ever there was a flat square surface, (very very rarely) there were bananas, yams, or coffee growing on them. When ever you came to a town there was a fire going, usually near the school, This was naturally to piss of the mosquitoes as Dengue fever is still carried over there. Having said that mozzies and other flying insects where really few and far between. I can only assume the birds are doing a proper job. Also. No flies! Awesome stuff :P
We stayed on the east coast for 5 days hoping to climb Mount Panie but it rained enough to keep the path closed. The South Pacific Ocean carried quick winds north and carried wonderful cloud formations.
There were small islands like that covered in tall pines scattered all up the east coast. But again it was the views of the striking mountain ranges that dominated the tropical coast.
The telegraph poles in the middle give some perspective to the scale. There was maybe 100m in width in which to live on between the ocean and the steep mountain ranges on the entire east coast. It was just mental. The road naturally followed it around and was breath taking.
That's a car ferry crossing the river Ouaieme.
Looking out to the coast chunks of land like this lay covered in foliage.
The east coast was just stunning, I'd go there again and be braver trekking through the jungle me things.
The people up there were just lovely. My partner Sim was as white as sand which all the children were very excited to see.
Everyone waves to everyone, you spent most your time with one hand on the wheel and your fingers up in peace to everything that you pass. The north east again was our favorite part of the Island.
Legitimate red sunsets. Insane.
We continued to travel north following the road back over to the mountain to the east side of Koumac. We were now in the prime agricultural area of the country, Gone were tribal huts and ppl waving at you to make way for massive Hilux Utes, Deer, and skinny looking Cows. The Europeans where rude whilst the indigenous Kanac continued to be lovely. There was nothing pretty there, It was a sailing port and rural center. Don't go here. You would be forgiven in thinking you were in Australia tho.
Driving back on the boring east coast the roads were well kept, with now about 1000m of land before the mountains rose. The major export being a Nickel mine lives up here, removing local villages and cutting the heads of some of the mountains.
Isle De Pine was the last place we stayed before coming home. The island is home to native pine trees which early colonizers used to built mast's out of. White cliche sand, coconuts everywhere, the island held about 5 resorts with most of the folks we ran into being tourists. As far as ideas of marketed paradise goes, this must be where those images come from.
I was taken back with the canopy's tho
Thick beautiful jungle filled again with so many birds!
We stayed in a hut which was was lovely. These traditional styled properties where nearly exclusive on the island. Plenty comfortable!
There was also an old French prison on the island, 1870's with ruins left to wonder.
It was creepy, and you felt like a proper tomb raider. The island has decided it would just use it as another floor and grow all over and through it. Proper ruins, God knows why the French wanted a prison in the middle of the ocean. Oh wait...
The cliche' sun set of the place again was yellow and reds with Pines dominating the landscape
The whole island smelt like a petrol station car freshener. You got used to it at the end :P it wasn't off putting but you most certainly noticed it when getting of the plane.
It was a good trip. My girlfriend didn't kill me, and we managed to share the space ok. :P To be honest tho, forget the rest and head straight to Hienghene on the north east coast! BAM!
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