The New Zealand Military cemetery in Bourail

Bourail is about 1.5 hours drive north of Noumea.  It's a very sleepy little town with a good surf break only about 10 minutes from it. 

It's also where the New Zealand war cemetery is, the final resting place of more than 200 kiwi soldiers who fought and lost their lives during the second world war.  There was a large contingent of Kiwis who were stationed in Bourail and they fought up in Bougainville, Guadalcanal and other areas in the north Pacific. 

The cemetery is beautifully kept, with gorgeous lawns surrounded by well-established trees.  The whole area is nested into the foothills around Bourail and it's a very tranquil place.  The gardener who carefully maintains the cemetery has worked there for more than 30 years and his passion is clear in the spotless gardens.

 It's easy to forget just how far south the fighting came in WWII.  There were no battles in New Caledonia but those in the Solomons were clearly pretty horrific and the Solomons really aren't that far from here.

The kiwis in Bourail seemed to have made the most of the lovely beach at La Roche Perce.  There was an area known as the 'kiwi club' where off-duty service people could come and chill out over some well-earned brewskies.  


The kiwis weren't the only service-men here.  There were also Australians and 20,000 Americans.  The Americans had a large base here and the infrastructure they built during the war is still used every day.  They built the international airport out at Tontouta, sorted out the roads in and out of Noumea and today the suburbs of Noumea retain the names given to them during the war - such as Motorpool.  The American hospital even remains, as the polyclinic which is now a small hospital, (mainly maternity) beside the beach.

Breaking many eggs to make a massive omelette

This year Noumea had something very similar to an Easter show. The show is on every year around April 24 and it's out in Dumbea, a suburb of Noumea that has a beautiful river running through it and is surrounded by gorgeous hills.

The beautiful hills above Dumbea  

I'm always surprised by the height and majesty of New Caledonia's mountains.  There's so much more here than just pretty beaches!

So, on Easter Sunday we took Max and his best mate Murphy out to check out the rides.  They loved it.  We also loved the massive omelette making session that we walked straight into!

This is the stove which was moved across to the fire when it was time to cook the eggs

The omelette-making happens every year and is apparently a polynesian tradition - a nod to the fact that Dumbea has a twin-city in French Polynesia. The eggs are cooked on an enormous polynesian-style fire and when I say enormous, I mean HUGE.  


So many eggs are cooked up that they use drills to mix the mixture and huge teams of people to break all those eggs.  The chefs are all done up in fancy chefs hats and the whole thing is taken pretty seriously!  We even noticed that each batch of mixture was tasted and seasoned very carefully.


The best part is that everyone gets to taste it.  The omelette makers walked through the crowd handing out nice big plates of omelette with good crunchy baguette.

The Polynesian influence meant there was awesome drumming, stone-throwing, coconut tasting and lots of good-looking Polynesian men showing off their tattoos.  Max got to have a cuddle with one nice young man...it's a shame his sister was less than willing.


Here I am with the final product.  It was great.


One extra thought - when I got home there was an article on NZ Herald about the exorbitant price of the Easter show in Auckland. By way of comparison - yes, life is pretty pricey here but this show was a good value way to spend a morning.  Less than $NZ3 to get in, less than $NZ6 per ride and the omelette...well that was free!  And who says there's no such thing as a free lunch.

Ouvea

Ouvea's a quiet place.  The airport's small, the island's small, but it has a big history that makes it one of New Caledonia's quiet gems.


Most tourists (like us), go to Ouvea for it's stunning beaches and untouched feel.  The local Kanaks live 'en tribu' in small villages that are well kept, with round 'Cases' - thatched huts with woven walls.  Each village does seem to have at least one good solid concrete house too which must be pretty reassuring during a cyclone!  


There's a handful of shops, one petrol station and one big long road that follows the beach along the island's length (40km).  I think most people have a pretty much subsistence lifestyle - living off the abundant fish in the lagoon, lots of coconut, with a base of imported rice.  People don't seem to have much but it seems that there's enough and no one looks hungry or as if they're living in terrible poverty.  I found it somewhat humbling.  I spent the first night grumbling because it was very hot, our ''case had no fan and Polly wouldn't sleep and got ravaged by mosquitos.  But the next day we explored and were thoroughly wooed by the island's beauty.


But I said that Ouvea's a quiet place - and it is.  It's almost like the people and the very strong soul of the island itself are all still licking their wounds after the 1988 Ouvea Massacre.  Nineteen Kanaks were killed in a cave in the north of the island during a stand-off between the French gendarmes and the nationalist freedom-fighting Kanaks. The memorial we visited is chilling as you can see brothers and Dads and sons on the list of the dead - whole families destroyed.  This happened less than 30 years ago, so of course the wounds still weep.


I got the sense that there's a bit of a division between those who want tourism, and the money it can bring; and those who want to preserve the island's traditional lifestyle.  I understand both sides. I don't think I've ever been somewhere that has such stunning scenery and so little infrastructure.  There's one fancy hotel but it's pretty discrete and a bit rundown.  There are no buildings higher than two stories.  We ate our dinners at snacks and were told what was available (fish and rice) and the owner was weaving the walls as we ate.


You need a car to explore and you have to have a bit of patience.  No one will tell you if the place you're staying in isn't serving dinner that night - you must ask.  There are no signs telling you where touristy sports are - for example, to see the 'Trou Bleu' where turtles come in to chill out you have to know to turn left off the road beside the metal pole (with no sign on it!).  If you haven't come with food and don't have a car you'll have to hitch or walk a good 5+ kms from your accommodation to get to a place that will probably only be open from 8am - 12pm and 3pm-6pm.


Despite all this, it's simply stunning.  A divine place that I wouldn't hesitate to revisit.  I would love to understand it better.  It has so many layers of culture and history that I would just love to unpeel.  To do that, I suspect you have to work hard to create some confidence and you'd be rewarded enormously.


Look at these blues.  Look at the sea.  Look at 40kms of pure white unspoiled beach.  I will be dreaming of it often.

Ouano Surf Camp and four years old!

We've been past Ouano Surf Camp before but we'd never spent the night there.  Which is a bit silly given that it's only slightly over an hour from Noumea.

What a spot! We are so glad we decided to spend Max's fourth birthday there.
There are well-equipped bungalows with clean bathrooms and air-con, wickedly funky safari tents, and a big campsite that's right on the beach.  Oh - and a pool that looks right out over the water.  There's also a restaurant that does good pizza and you can catch a taxi boat out to surf on the reef. Nice.

It's great value too.  A bungalow is CFP8000 (about $NZ100) and it has a double and two single beds with a view straight out to sea. Actually, you can lie in bed with the doors right open and look over the tips of your toes, to the beach.  For that level of beach view, it's a steal by Noumea standards!

 We came armed to the teeth with insect repellant, coils, long trousers and every other trick known to man to avoid the beastly mosquitos but in fact we got lucky and they really weren't too bad.  We were able to sit outside and watch the sun go down.  We ate our dinner outside - caught some 'squitos but it was fine.

And look at the sunset...

Reflections on Cyclone Vania

With Cyclone Yasi roaring its way towards North Queensland's coast, it seems like the right time to be grateful that our little cyclone was just a baby.  A bit of wind, a lot of rain and some time without power.  In comparison with Yasi - it was bit like someone blowing a pesky mosquito off their arm.


Vania took a long time to cross over Noumea.  It actually did a big circle just north of us and we were in the eye for about 2 hours.  It was so very quiet and our whole house slept - so nice!  We lost power early and realised just how important the radio is.  We listened to the updates every hour or so and giggled at the wonderful presenters and the fabulous feeling of community as people called up to provide updates on what was going on in their quartier.


And then the coup d'ouest came (big westerlies) and the storm was over.  All of Noumea left their houses to clean up the mess, which wasn't too bad, and go swimming in the rare waves at the Baie des Citrons.

A few blown down trees, some slips from the rain and boats on rocks.  Not too bad at all.  Finger crossed that's all we get during the cyclone season - we just need to get to the end of April!

A morning at Ilot Maitre

We took the kids and Max's best mate Murphy out to Ilot Maitre this morning.  The winds were predicted to pick up in the afternoon so we went out on the early (8am) boat to the enjoy the morning calm.


It'a about half an hour in the big Escapade Ilot Maitre boat.  The boys loved sitting up in the  big chairs and peering out the windows to watch the bubbles as the boat plowed its way over to the Ilot. 

 

We've been out to the Ilot a few times.  There's a pretty little snack (with very slow service) and even a well-equipped playground.  You can set up under the trees and just stretch out on the sand to soak up some rays and enjoy the gorgeously clear water.  It's a reserve so there are lots of fish and turtles.  I've also seen rays and even a cunning little octopus hiding in the rocks.


The island is known for it's sea snakes but I didn't see any today.  Normally they curl up under the wharf and sunbathe on the rocks.  It's always a bit of a buzz to have one of their little heads popping up beside you when you're snorkeling.

The boys had a gorgeous morning, playing with their new friend Allan and jumping around Polly.  They had lovely pruney fingers by the time we'd finally got out of the water.


Next time we'll be more organised and bring over a pram so Polly can sleep and we'll spend the whole day.  It's stunning!

Vania - continued

10.30am and she's really blowing.  


We're still only on orange alert and it sounds like the cyclone is losing intensity.  I'd hate to see a category 5 storm - this one's already very impressive.


We're all inside, the wind sounds like it's about to take the roof off but we feel very safe.  Luckily the power's still on so we're keeping the kids amused with dvds.


The trees outside are getting well and truly buffetted but so far all looks pretty good outside.  No flooding and only a bit of debris around.  We'll be hanging on for the next 12 hours!