Baguettes and beaches

By NICK SQUIRES*

Happily for the visitor in search of a balmy sub-tropical paradise, New Caledonia looks nothing like its Northern Hemisphere namesake.

Where Scotland has slate-grey skies, dark brooding lochs and windswept moors, New Caledonia boasts turquoise lagoons, powdery white beaches and unlimited sunshine.

It's hard to see just what Captain James Cook was thinking when he named the island as he sailed past in 1774. No doubt he was using the same logic with which the east coast of Australia was named New South Wales, and an island outpost of Papua New Guinea was dubbed New Ireland, despite bearing no likeness whatsoever to the Emerald Isle.

While it was the British who named New Caledonia, it was the French who claimed it. Alarmed by the presence of Australian whalers and sandalwood traders, Napoleon III annexed the island in 1864.

Nearly a century-and-a-half later, New Caledonia remains a French colony with a distinct Gallic flavour, no more so than in the capital, Noumea.

Sited on a hilly peninsula, the city juts out into the limpid blue waters of the world's largest lagoon, which surrounds the whole of the main island, or Grand Terre.

Old men play petanque in sun-drenched squares, while Renaults and Citroens zip past under the watchful eye of gendarmes in crisp blue uniforms.

The tricolour flutters above statues of French colonial administrators in the Place des Cocotiers - Coconut Palm Square. Street names are unmistakably French: Rue De La Somme, Avenue General de Gaulle, Rue Victor Hugo.

But there's more to New Caledonia than Noumea, and a couple of trips out of the capital will reap rich rewards.

Nearly 500km-long, and lying 2000km north of New Zealand, the country is a melting pot of races: from the indigenous Kanak people, who make up about 40 per cent of the population, to the "metros", families from metropolitan France.

There is also a small group of whites known as the Caldoches, the descendants of early settlers and convicts who were sent from France to New Caledonia in the 19th century, in the same way that Britain sent its criminal flotsam to Australia.

Add to that the descendants of Japanese, Indonesian and Pacific Islanders who flocked to New Caledonia to work in the country's profitable nickel mines, and you have a heady cultural mix which is evident everywhere.

In the bays and lagoons of the spectacular Loyalty Islands, sparkling white yachts sit side by side with traditional pirogues, or dugout canoes.

Catholic churches rise up against a backdrop of lush jungle. In country towns, grizzled Kanak farmers clutch a machete in one hand and a freshly baked baguette in the other.

For an insight into Kanak heritage, head to the award-winning Tjibaou Cultural Centre, which overlooks mangrove-lined creeks on the outskirts of Noumea.

Designed by the Italian architect Renzo Piano and unveiled in 1998, the centre consists of 10 extraordinary metal and timber structures which represent traditional Kanak villages. Nestling in a jumble of pine trees and luxuriant bougainvillea, they look like half-eaten Easter eggs or giant silver tiaras.

Inside there's an array of sculptures, masks and traditional weapons, including a ceremonial axe decorated with human hair and flying fox fur, and displays explaining the importance of traditional rites and rituals to today's islanders.

"Even though most Kanaks are Catholics, we still believe in totems and spirits," said Gladys Kaoua, one of the centre's guides. "Life revolves around the clan and each clan has a different totem."

While eastern New Caledonia is dominated by Kanak towns and villages, the west of the island is much drier, covered in scrub, savanna and paperbark trees - it could almost be Outback Australia.

It is inhabited mostly by the Caldoches, who live a distinctly outback lifestyle, running large cattle properties, mustering on horseback with the help of blue heeler dogs, and wearing akubra hats to ward off the sun.

Although French-speaking, they use many English words, referring to rivers as "creeks" rather than the standard French "riviere", for instance. Just as Australians refer to the bush, the Caldoches talk of "la brousse".

"The Caldoches are New Caledonia's cowboys," said Sabine Milella, from the nearby town of La Foa, established as a penal settlement in the 1870s.

"It is rare, though, for anyone round here to admit to being descended from a convict. People are still embarrassed about their history."

The best way to get to know the region is to stay on one of the many farms offering accommodation.

La Petite Ferme, a modest 54ha property at the end of a corrugated dirt road, is run by Jean-Louis and Annick Bouvier, who raise Limousin cattle and half a dozen ostriches.

"We have rodeos just like they have in the Outback," said Jean-Louis, as he tucked into an enormous lunchtime feast of pate, duck casserole and banana tart, washed down with a fine bottle of Bordeaux. "And we talk of 'le stockyard' and 'le stockman'."

The countryside teems with game, including boar, rusa deer introduced from Indonesia, and wild turkeys - all of which provide sport for Marcel Carnel, a Caldoche man who is the president of the local hunting association.

He spends most weekends creeping through the bone-dry undergrowth dressed in camouflage fatigues, hunting animals with a custom-made bow and arrow.

"Hunting with a gun is too easy. Using a bow and arrow makes you more equal with the animals, it makes you humble," he whispers, as a herd of skittish deer bound up a distant hillside and a male turkey calls in the valley below. "Pour moi, la chasse est la vie - hunting is life."

The jewel in New Caledonia's crown - and a far cry from the dusty hillsides and Caldoche towns of the west - is Ile des Pins, or the Isle of Pines, which was also named by the peripatetic Captain Cook.

Off the southern tip of the mainland, the island is a 20-minute flight from Noumea. Known as Kunie by the local Kanaks, it consists of stunning white beaches, turquoise lagoons and a small number of discreet resorts.

It is hard to believe that this, too, was once a penal colony, a dumping ground for 4000 political prisoners transported for their involvement in the Paris Commune uprising of 1871.

One of the island's many treasures is La Piscine, a natural swimming hole surrounded by coconut palms and the island's distinctive araucaria pine trees.

The perfect place for snorkelling, it is home to a huge variety of sea life, from comical clown fish to sinister-looking moray eels.

This natural aquarium is a 20-minute walk from Le Meridien, New Caledonia's most expensive hotel, a collection of 29 timber cabins hidden beneath giant banyan trees beside the breathtakingly beautiful Baie d'Oro.

For a true Robinson Crusoe moment, take the 1km path through the tangled forest to the shores of Baie d'Upi, a similarly stunning lagoon with not a soul in sight.

The Meridien, like the rest of the country, does not come cheap - New Caledonia is one of the most expensive destinations in the South Pacific - but a holiday becomes more affordable if you book an all-in package or stay in a self-catering apartment and eat in once in a while.

It's a sacrifice made worthwhile by the beauty of the place.

As the Meridien's Nicholas Jarousseau says, relaxing on the terrace in the shade of a coconut tree, "It's the closest place to Paradise you'll ever find".

Case notes:


Getting there:


A three-night break at Le Pacifique Hotel, close to Anse Vata beach in Noumea, costs $759 a person, including return air fares Auckland-Noumea, airport transfers and a room with an ocean view. A seven-night package costs $1159 a person. Offers valid until December 20, and Jan 6 to March 31, 2003.

A seven-night package at the newly built Casa Del Sole apartments in Baie de Citrons, Noumea, costs $1279 a person, including return airfares and airport transfers. Having your own apartment gives you the option of self-catering. Offer valid until December 20, and Jan 6 to March 31, 2003.

Contact: Go Pacific Holidays, ph: (09) 914 4700

Casa del Sole has a kids-stay-free offer: a seven-night package in a two-bedroom apartment costs $1349 an adult, and two children can stay free. Each family is given a camera, a breakfast starter pack, a family pass on Le Petit Train (see below) and free watersports at the nearby Plages Loisirs.

Offer valid Feb 20 to March 30, 2003.

Contact: Talpacific Holidays, ph: (09) 914 8728.

Farmstay

Le Petite Ferme, La Foa. Annick and Jean-Louis Bouvier. Ph: (+687) 44 34 05.

Getting around:


Noumea has a good bus service, and kids will enjoy Le Petit Train, a mini trolley train which runs on the roads, taking in the main attractions, including the town centre, the Tjibaou Cultural Centre and the aquarium.

If you are venturing further afield, it's best to hire a car. Mencar Rentals, Noumea, ph: (+687) 27 61 25. * Email mencar@canl.nc


Shopping:


There's a harbourside market each Thursday evening from 6pm to 9.30pm at Anse Vata, one of Noumea's most popular beaches. Stalls offer items such as handicrafts and wooden carvings.

You may want to try some of the local firewater, niaouli, a fiery liqueur made from the niaouli tree, which is found in the west of the island.

For more information, contact New Caledonia Tourism's office in Auckland, ph: (09) 585 0257

* Nick Squires was hosted by New Caledonia Tourism.