16 May 2011:

I treated Jérôme to dinner for hosting and taking care of me. It's a simple but wholesome affair. Priced at 1900 Pacific Francs (about $21 USD), Jérôme tells me this is about as cheap as it gets here!

Rough notes:

http://mandarinmanmarktravelnotes.blogspot.com/2012/04/2011-nz-to-sf-day-3.html

16 May 2011:

While waiting for dinner, I tried out my new camera under low light conditions. Taken at night while it was very dark, I was surprised this photo made it look like day! The spots in the sky are stars. I'm pretty excited, as I expect some great photos to come out of this four and a half month trip!

Rough notes:

http://mandarinmanmarktravelnotes.blogspot.com/2012/04/2011-nz-to-sf-day-3.html

16 May 2011:

Another picture of Kanak graves. We (or at least I) were trying to stay inconspicuous when taking these photos, as the beliefs in sacredness is very strong among the Kanak. I was told that a Japanese tourist was killed a few years ago for standing on a sacred area, but the circumstances surrounding the death is still a mystery. Not sure if this is true or not, but offending less people is probably a good idea.

Rough notes:

http://mandarinmanmarktravelnotes.blogspot.com/2012/04/2011-nz-to-sf-day-3.html

16 May 2011:

Some Kanak graves. The off-centre round cutout at the top of the grave seems pretty common, and graves seem to be wrapped with clothes and Kanaky flags pretty often.

Rough notes:

http://mandarinmanmarktravelnotes.blogspot.com/2012/04/2011-nz-to-sf-day-3.html

16 May 2011:

A cool medical building? Reminds me of computer games set on tropical islands for some reason.

Rough notes:

http://mandarinmanmarktravelnotes.blogspot.com/2012/04/2011-nz-to-sf-day-3.html

16 May 2011:

The Kanaky flag is flown quite frequently in New Caledonia - it's the flag associated with the natives - the Kanak - and a strong independence movement. Ouvéa is seen as one of the more rebellious areas of NC, and was the scene of a famous hostage incident in 1998 that resulted in over 20 deaths. You can read about the incident here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ouv%C3%A9a_cave_hostage_taking

Rough notes:

http://mandarinmanmarktravelnotes.blogspot.com/2012/04/2011-nz-to-sf-day-3.html

16 May 2011:

Another fine example of a church. Quite a nice setting too, with tropical foliage behind it and the beach and lagoon just across the road.

Rough notes:

http://mandarinmanmarktravelnotes.blogspot.com/2012/04/2011-nz-to-sf-day-3.html

May 16 2011:

We walked along the road and beach to try to find the aquatic sports centre. There were lots of cool-looking churches.

Rough notes:

http://mandarinmanmarktravelnotes.blogspot.com/2012/04/2011-nz-to-sf-day-3.html

16 May 2011:

Another view of the lagoon. You can see how the (very thin) island curls around the lagoon in the distance.

Rough notes:

http://mandarinmanmarktravelnotes.blogspot.com/2012/04/2011-nz-to-sf-day-3.html

16 May 2011:

Close-up of a piece of coral on the beach.

Rough notes:

http://mandarinmanmarktravelnotes.blogspot.com/2012/04/2011-nz-to-sf-day-3.html

16 May 2011:

There were quite a few shells around in some areas of the beach. Nothing too spectacular, but I always like looking at the shells at beaches.

Rough notes:

http://mandarinmanmarktravelnotes.blogspot.com/2012/04/2011-nz-to-sf-day-3.html

16 May 2011:

Looking straight into the lagoon. A very peaceful sight.

Rough notes:

http://mandarinmanmarktravelnotes.blogspot.com/2012/04/2011-nz-to-sf-day-3.html

16 May 2011:

First view of the famous lagoon. Sadly, we didn't get a sunny day while we were there. On well, I'll have to imagine what it looks like here during good weather.

Rough notes:

http://mandarinmanmarktravelnotes.blogspot.com/2012/04/2011-nz-to-sf-day-3.html

16 May 2011:

Jérôme and I having lunch after arriving at where we're camping by hitchhiking from the airport.

Rough notes:

http://mandarinmanmarktravelnotes.blogspot.com/2012/04/2011-nz-to-sf-day-3.html

16 May 2011:

View of Nouméa from the plane. Ouvéa, our destination, is a coral atoll partially surrounding a large lagoon. I've officially decided that Fayaoué replaces Ouarzazate as the most exotic-sounding place I've flown into, and found it amusing that Fayaoué sounds like "far away," especially in non-rhotic accents (England, NZ, Aus, ...).

Rough notes:

http://mandarinmanmarktravelnotes.blogspot.com/2012/04/2011-nz-to-sf-day-3.html

May 16, 2011:

Heading off to Ouvéa, know as "l'île la plus proche du paradis." There was insufficient parking at the airport, so we parked on the curb (and got a ticket). There was also a bizzare situation of running up to the office to grab our tickets as they won't check us in without paper tickets even though they had all of our info. In the end, the plane was late anyway, due to "island time."

Rough notes:

http://mandarinmanmarktravelnotes.blogspot.com/2012/04/2011-nz-to-sf-day-3.html

16 May 2011:

The guesthouse we camped next to. You can see our tent set up next to the wall, since it was very windy. We chose to camp, as everything in NC is very expensive, easily the most expensive place I've visited. Jérôme tells me that although comparable, things here seem more expensive than even French Polynesia!

Rough notes:

http://mandarinmanmarktravelnotes.blogspot.com/2012/04/2011-nz-to-sf-day-3.html