Cameron's New Caledonia Page

Our most recent sailing trip was to Nouvelle Caledonie this year (2002). We rented a 39' Kirie Feeling for one week.

The hardened crew of salty sea dogs. Sean is taking the photo... presumably after a few drinks.

Nouvelle Caledonie was stunning. First was the surprise of finding a totally different French-speaking culture on a Pacific island less than two hours flight from home (!) Then was the sheer beauty of the islands, especially Isle de Pins where we spent most of our time. The place was virtually deserted so we often had huge sweeping bays all to ourselves.


Marvelling at the sheer majesty of sea cucumbers.	A nice quiet bay surrounded by pines.	Helen performing her captain's duty of testing for sharks.

Isle de Pins delivered the goods. It had fabulous beaches and bays, interesting vegetation on shore and some weirdo small sculpted islands off shore. We had a welcoming committee of dolphins, and the night time sea life was a hoot with the boat attracting amongst other things sucker fish, cuttlefish and groups of small sharks that fed on the smaller fish seeking refuge underneath. Things got a little hairy when a "shy but deadly" sea snake took an interest in the boat and looked like it wanted to get on board. It then dropped to the floor of the bay and sat there for a while before swimming off. Odd.


Sean eats a traditional Aussie breakfast of boiled egg topped with peanut paste, nutella and vegemite. I look on with interest to see if the traditional Aussie response of gagging and retching would follow. It didn't.	Christy and Amanda return triumphant with a much-needed box of matches.

Sailing was very good with calm water and constant predictable winds. A couple of times we arrived at our destination hours earlier than expected, due mostly to favourable conditions but also perhaps to our improving skill as a crew. The trip was definitely at a more relaxed pace than our previous sailing adventure, and that's the way to do it.

The islands are surrounded by reef. The guy from the yacht charter company was quite blasé about the danger, but we learnt to treat the reef with great respect after a couple of close encounters. Either the charter guy wanted us to write off the boat for insurance purposes or he was totally insane. Christy made good friends with the GPS system and hydrographic charts as we navigated through a maze of coral back to the main island.

Returning to civilisation was a shock to the system as always, but the remarkable Tjibaou Cultural Centre in Noumea was worth it, almost warranting the short trip to Nouvelle Caledonie in itself. Modelled on traditional hut designs, it integrates beautifully with the forested promontory on which it sits. The somewhat unfinished look gives it a natural feel and apparently signifies the gap still to be bridged between the old and new cultures that share the island. A competition to design the centre was held a few years ago, attracting entries from several countries. Thank god the current design was chosen - some of the other entries have to be seen to be believed.

However, my fondest memory of the trip is celebrating my 36th birthday on a yacht in New Caledonia, being spoilt by a crew of half-naked women. I've had worse birthdays.