17 May 2011:

Dinner. Once again, simple, but hearty. I developed a love for Melanesian and Polynesian food after visiting these places.

Rough notes:
http://mandarinmanmarktravelnotes.blogspot.com/2012/04/2011-nz-to-sf-day-4.html

17 May 2011:

A dog came over and settled at my feet. A was careful not to kick sand in its nose while eating and hanging out there.

Rough notes:
http://mandarinmanmarktravelnotes.blogspot.com/2012/04/2011-nz-to-sf-day-4.html

17 May 2011:

The meal area of the guesthouse / campground. It was surprisingly cold, and very windy - rain would sometimes blow in over the top of the woven leaf walls. The dogs (and cats) sure know how to find a comfortable place to rest out of the rain.

Rough notes:
http://mandarinmanmarktravelnotes.blogspot.com/2012/04/2011-nz-to-sf-day-4.html

17 May 2011:

Made a quick snorkelling stop at the south tip of Mouli. Supposedly one of the better snorkelling spots here, it was pretty disappointing, and the current was much too strong. Perhaps we didn't find the correct spot.

Rough notes:
http://mandarinmanmarktravelnotes.blogspot.com/2012/04/2011-nz-to-sf-day-4.html

17 May 2011:

View of the small sandbars extending off the islands. I can only imagine how beautiful this place must be when it's sunny and warm. Even when the colours are muted by the clouds, it's still stunning.

Rough notes:
http://mandarinmanmarktravelnotes.blogspot.com/2012/04/2011-nz-to-sf-day-4.html

17 May 2011:

View of the bridge to Mouli. When snorkelling, we had to be careful not to stray to the other side, as the other side is supposedly sacred.

Rough notes:
http://mandarinmanmarktravelnotes.blogspot.com/2012/04/2011-nz-to-sf-day-4.html

17 May 2011:

More views of the stretch of water separating Mouli island with Ouvéa. We went for a short snorkel there, and was surprised to find some larger fish around. The visibility was also quite good. The patch of dark in the lower part of the photo? Turns out those are tiny fish clustered around the shore.

Rough notes:
http://mandarinmanmarktravelnotes.blogspot.com/2012/04/2011-nz-to-sf-day-4.html

17 May 2011:

A nice couple working on the new large-scale mining project at Koné offered to give us a lift. We headed down to Mouli island, and stopped at the bridge to look at what is the bluest waters I've ever seen.

Rough notes:
http://mandarinmanmarktravelnotes.blogspot.com/2012/04/2011-nz-to-sf-day-4.html

17 May 2011:

There were turtles in this water hole as well, and some baby turtles too!

Rough notes:
http://mandarinmanmarktravelnotes.blogspot.com/2012/04/2011-nz-to-sf-day-4.html

17 May 2011:

A view of the second water hole, with the mysterious buildings perched on the side.

Rough notes:
http://mandarinmanmarktravelnotes.blogspot.com/2012/04/2011-nz-to-sf-day-4.html

17 May 2011:

As usual, the beach is not that far away, just a few steps through a short trail from where we parked is the beach. You can see the small motus, or islets, that curl around the lagoon in the distance.

Rough notes:
http://mandarinmanmarktravelnotes.blogspot.com/2012/04/2011-nz-to-sf-day-4.html

17 May 2011:

Stopping at a second water hole, we came across some strange, seemingly abandoned buildings that seem to be in good condition. Perhaps these are used as tribal gîtes, or guesthouses during high season? There were also two friendly dogs there that bounded towards us and seemed sad to see us leave.

Rough notes:
http://mandarinmanmarktravelnotes.blogspot.com/2012/04/2011-nz-to-sf-day-4.html

17 May 2011:

On the way back from the walking tour, we stopped at a water hole, where we could watch turtles! The pounding ocean was about a hundred or two metres away, through someone's fields.

Rough notes:
http://mandarinmanmarktravelnotes.blogspot.com/2012/04/2011-nz-to-sf-day-4.html

17 May 2011:

A view towards the inlet of the bay. Some cool cliffs. I was asked to do an interview right after I came out of the water. Combined with being caught by surprise and their pretty good but slightly awkward English and leaving me with too much time to answer, I'm pretty sure I came off as a douche. I hope they are good at editing if my shirtless interview ever makes it in their documentary and on to French screens!

Rough notes:

http://mandarinmanmarktravelnotes.blogspot.com/2012/04/2011-nz-to-sf-day-4.html

17 May 2011:

A bay where we had a rest and a snorkel. The water was a bit murky, so there wasn't anything too exciting to see. I think I may have snorkelled into an interview at some point.

Rough notes:

http://mandarinmanmarktravelnotes.blogspot.com/2012/04/2011-nz-to-sf-day-4.html

17 May 2011:

The camera crew busy interviewing the tour guide, while we take photos. Very agile and fast phantom crabs were in the area. Sometimes they'd confuse our feet for a place to hide, and run full speed at our feet and settle in beside them if we didn't run away.

Rough notes:

http://mandarinmanmarktravelnotes.blogspot.com/2012/04/2011-nz-to-sf-day-4.html

17 May 2011:

We reached the end of the main island after wading through an inlet leading to Tai Tapu, a sheltered lagoon/bay where baby sharks breed. we saw at leash one small leopard shark wriggling across our path over the shallow protective sand barrier.

Rough notes:

http://mandarinmanmarktravelnotes.blogspot.com/2012/04/2011-nz-to-sf-day-4.html

17 May 2011:

Here's a picture of me with crazy hair - it was very windy, and I was overdue for a haircut.

Rough notes:

http://mandarinmanmarktravelnotes.blogspot.com/2012/04/2011-nz-to-sf-day-4.html

17 May 2011:

There was a lot of dried, smooth windswept driftwood on the beach. Apparently it is illegal to remove them, or something like that. Our guide kept saying that this would make great furniture and art.

Rough notes:

http://mandarinmanmarktravelbriefs.blogspot.com/

17 May 2011:

View to the other side of the island curling across the eastern part of the lagoon. The western part of the lagoon is surrounded by small islets. Just outside the perimeter is a mini-reef, kind of like a smaller version of the main lagoon.

Rough notes:

http://mandarinmanmarktravelnotes.blogspot.com/2012/04/2011-nz-to-sf-day-4.html

17 May 2011:

View of the large sandy area (low tide?) around the lagoon.

Rough notes:

http://mandarinmanmarktravelnotes.blogspot.com/2012/04/2011-nz-to-sf-day-4.html

17 May 2011:

Our walking tour introduced us to the uses of plants on the island, and took us along the beach. There were stories of how erosion and rubbish has affected the island. I struggled to understand what was being said, as the tour was in French. The camera crew staying at the same place we were staying at is hard at work! They are making a documentary about the newly-declared UNESCO world heritage site: Lagoons of New Caledonia.

Rough notes:

http://mandarinmanmarktravelnotes.blogspot.com/2012/04/2011-nz-to-sf-day-4.html

17 May 2011:

After finding a ride in the back of an old van, we arrived at our meeting spot, a church on the north end of St, Joseph. Interestingly, Ouvéa is the only one of the Loyalty Islands (and NC for that matter) that is Polynesian. The rest of the islands are Melanesian. This tiny island supports two distinct communities, each believing in a different branch of Christianity. One community speaks Iaai, and the other, Fagauvea. There are only about 1500 Iaai speakers in the world.

Rough notes:

http://mandarinmanmarktravelnotes.blogspot.com/2012/04/2011-nz-to-sf-day-4.html

17 May 2011:

Memorial for the some of the hostage-takers killed during the 1988 hostage incident. Found it interesting that memorials to rebels were quite common and tolerated in New Caledonia.

Rough notes:

http://mandarinmanmarktravelnotes.blogspot.com/2012/04/2011-nz-to-sf-day-4.html

17 May 2011:

We booked a walking tour of the northern part of the island, and decided to hitchhike there. More views of churches while waiting for cars on the main road.

Rough notes:

http://mandarinmanmarktravelnotes.blogspot.com/2012/04/2011-nz-to-sf-day-4.html