New Caledonia

Day 06 - Parc Zoologique et Forestier, Pacific Dawn

2009-03-05T17:16:00.004-05:00

Today was a more relaxing day, but still an enjoyable one. First off is a visit to Le Park Zoologique et Forestier to absorb a bit of the nature featured in New Caledonia. The island's biodiversity is considered one of the most important in the world and has a very high level of endemism, boasting many unique plants, insects, reptiles and birds.

Wikipedia - Biodiverity of New Caledonia

Throughout this journey to la Nouvelle-Calédonie I have been carrying my camera with me everywhere I go. Today was no exception, however I did make a decision: Sometimes the camera creates a barrier between real live experiences and doesn't allow me to enjoy them quite how I would without the apparatus to my eye. Now, while I am in love with photography and everything it does for me, I decided today to enjoy the walk without a camera, for the most part.

The following photograph I think sums up the experience. This Peafowl (a male is the peacock) was the first time I took out the camera, since mother was trying to photograph it with her P&S camera. Maybe my telephoto might yield a better result.. I thought while trying to avoid the standard photo of this cliché, but I think it's a nice result. Mom this one's for you.

-The Pacific Dawn-
This was the first large boat to come to port. The size is rather immense, and it definitely conquered the horizon. The panorama represents a view from the apartment's balcony - click for a larger view.

We went to an Italian restaurant tonight. This restaurant holds no comparison to that of Day 10 (See Day 10!). I ordered a meal that didn't necessarily fit my tastes, but one that instead reminded me of someone I had left at home and whom I missed. Sometimes I tend toward certain activities that don't necessarily lend themselves to my desires, but more to my memories - in this case a meal that Ralph would have loved. I ordered the mushroom maccaroni, but unfortunately the taste wasn't exactly fantastic for me.

Father was home from work tonight. He works at Goro Nickel, a mine located in the south of the island where the desert-like red soil surrounds everything. His working schedule was perfect, four days on, four off, which allowed for very nice adventurous excursions while he was home. The acid plant here might be one of the largest in the world, producing 4500 tons per day - this is his specialty and the reason he's come to this side of the world for two years. What he explained over dinner while I tried to keep eating my mediocre meal was that this type of project offers him some interesting dynamics, challenges, processes, and perspectives which he can experience and integrate at various levels to develop, with his team, one of the most important industries of New Caledonia - nickel mining.

Here's a quick photograph of the port at night.

Enjoy!

Brent Gervais
brentgervais.com

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Day 05 - Abandoned Prison

2009-02-14T08:53:00.007-05:00

As you've surely noticed my photographs may not suit the typical definition of 'travel photography.' The photographs featured here, however, represent my experiences in travel, my view of the events I encountered, and my perspective on those experiences. Many of these photographs, while perhaps a little darker in nature (such as those above), still represent something about my travels - be it the history of that area (Fort Tereka, Musée du Bagne), the aesthetic blanket over a situation (Club Med) or otherwise. Don't you worry, I also try to include the more natural greenery and such somewhere in between since, well, New Caledonia has some magnificent landscapes and scenery. Most importantly, I want you to enjoy every single photograph here! So please keep that in mind at all times, thank you.

- Musée du Bagne -
Wikipédia nous informe qu'une bagne est un établissement pénitentiaire dédié aux travaux forcés. Environ 40 000 prisonniers de la France sont envoyé, où alors déporté, en Nouvelle-Calédonie entre les années 1864 et 1898. Plusieurs entre eux, avec le comportement juste, s'espèrent être libérés, souvent avec des récompenses tels qu'un coin de terre. Ces événements sont importants pour le développement de la Nouvelle-Calédonie comme pays civilisé, alors que les bagnards y construisent les routes, les ponts, et autre infrastructures importantes au progrès de l'île.

Cet édifice était au temps la boulangerie pour les prisons, et y est maintenant le musée qui représente les prisons de la région. (Voir Day 15.)

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Wikipedia informs that 'une bagne' is a prison dedicated to forced labour. About 40,000 prisoners from metropolitan France are sent, or in fact deported to New Caledonia between 1864 and 1898. Many of them, through desirable conduct, would have hopes of being liberated to the island, often with a piece of land in their name. These historic events are important for New Caledonia's development as a civilized colony, since the prisoners constructed many of the first roads, bridges, and other infrastructure important to the progress of the island.

This building was actually the prisons' bakery at the time, and is now the museum that represents the many prisons of the region. (See Day 15.)

I have to mention two other things. First, this morning I was treated to a pancake breakfast which was fantastic.. and home-made! Really makes me miss my mother's cooking, naturally.

Second, I ventured off near sundown to take a few photographs of Port Moselle. I photographed a few scenes, and then was approached by a nice old french man wondering first about my camera bag, then about my equipment and laptop, etc. The man lived on one of the boats in the port, had just purchased a camera and was seeking advice on other gear. As it turns out we chatted about many topics, including the opinion of the French and les Kanak of eachother, the upcoming independence election, marine communication systems, along with tidbits of his life story. He was an interesting man and while the conversation made me miss the final light of the day, it was still a good connection to make. Unfortunately a portrait in the near-darkness wouldn't have done him justice, and though I took his boat address (G4) he unfortunately left for France a few days later. I'm a little sad I didn't get a portrait of this man, but life is that way. For now, here are the photographs I took that sundown.

Enjoy!

Brent Gervais
brentgervais.com

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Day 04 - Guava and Fort Tereka

2009-02-08T07:07:00.004-05:00

First off, I ate the strangest thing - An orange, that was green! A little odd, but with very good rewards for my tastelings, and a perfect treat after a morning at the local market. There I was treated to a coconut, but a different kind of coconut: The top was sliced off by a woman with a machete, then two colour-striped straws were inserted into the small hole. This coconut was unripe, the juices inside were quite tasty once I got to spend some time with it. A really different type of juice, but I would definitely have it again.

I had the chance to spend a little time alone today, which was really great. It's nice to get away sometimes. I really enjoy the time with my mother, but sometimes it's nice to experience things on your own, to be dependent on no-one, to make all your own decisions. I decided to spend that hour at the beach in Anse Vata, watching people play with the wind, sand roll up and down the beach, and water flow as it must. I searched for a few bits of beach glass for a certain someone, but there wasn't much of it breeding here (more soon, see Day 13!).

We stopped at Le Méridien, the nice restaurant in the resort next to Club Med. and had a bite to eat. First off was a glass of guava juice. How could I pass the offer when Lucia raves about the fruit! I promise you it was very tasty, so good choice. My main course was a dish of mahi mahi, with green peppercorn sauce and some tasty rice. Absolutely delicious I must say, and so much so that I forgot to take a photograph to share! We had the best view in the restaurant, like every other table: Watching the kite surfing by the beach-side. Really a great moment.

Fort Tereka was an interesting venture. The first interesting bit was definitely the car ride to arrive - a winding uphill battle with the KIA! Many sites of this nature aren't accessorized with signage, but mother knew the way.. Once arrived, the view was quite impressive, nearly as much as Mount Crumpit! Atop the mountain were three canons (or four, apparently) abandoned by the US military in the second great war. The US protected the island and used it to access the war in the pacific; The locals praise the Americans for having safeguarded the grounds. Just behind the one canon was a storage tunnel and a tunnel-passage dug into the mountain, which was dark and quite interesting. Perfect 50mm/1.8 territory.

We headed to kendoo beach afterward, setup the lounging chairs and our drinks and enjoyed the scenery. It was the first time I complained about feeling a little cold. After a little time of watching the locals and admiring the hills, we headed home to enjoy a delicious shrimp stir fry we cooked with the little guys we gathered from the market. It was a good day..

Enjoy!

Brent Gervais
brentgervais.com

[Tomorrow we're leaving on a four-day trek in the north, so no blog entries for a little while... but don't fret, they'll surely return!]

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Day 03 - Club Med.

2009-02-06T08:04:00.006-05:00

Abandoned places have always been something I love. Photographically, these areas are surely always unique, always intriguing and nearly always rewarding. Nearly. Any opportunity I have to photograph an abandoned area I take, with caution: Some are deserted and forgotten, while others are recently abandoned, and others even guarded - as I discovered today.

Club Med., of what I understand, is a large chain of worldwide tourism hotels, but the club med of Nouméa is abandoned, and has been since 2001. According to clubmedplanet.com, the public aswell as businesses wanted club med out for years and when protesters became violent, club med had to relocate guests and businesses out of the building for safety. the lease ended that year and club med was closed with little warning.

Article from AsiaPlus News:
Club Med To Close Resort In New Caledonia

An entire hotel.. abandoned? Surely this is something I had to explore. 'Ralph would love this!' I thought to myself, and it could possibly be an experience as good as the abandoned prison we visited late last year. The next day I ventured out to the site, only to learn that it is patrolled, fenced off, and nearly inaccessible. I figured as much with it being build on one of the busiest beaches around, and neighboring a luxurious resort - one still doing business. I could only get photographs from beyond the fenced area but some are still intriguing I believe, and the experience didn't occur without adventure of some sorts:

As we walked on the beach to see the front of club med we, and especially I, got somehow surrounded par un group de kanak (indigenous people). That was fine until the one guy spotted my camera 'hey monsieur pas'd photos svp, hey PAS'D PHOTO!' he roughly yelled at me as he and several others from his group walked to me. They didn't seem too friendly. I quickly attempted to convince them that I didn't take any photographs, and kept on course walking with an assertive pace. They continued their game of soccer(ERR football!), and I continued toward the abandoned site.. This incident has made me very weary of the locals, and I regret that.

Aside from the club med experience, this morning we walked to the market which closes at 11h30. We were too late, but decided to visited a contemporary art gallery, aswell as an outdated magazine shop. I say that because, well, it's outdated - most of the publications are imported from France, and as with anything that comes into the island, it arrives when it arrives.

Food today was good. I discovered, and ate a 'croc madame', which is like a grilled cheese but with the cheese on top of the sandwich instead of inside. Actually, that's a 'croc monsieur.' Add an over-easy egg on top and you've got une madame. Some versions also feature bacon hidden in there somewhere. Very tasty. Mother also cooked the one food I said I wanted while I was staying with them - le pâté chinois as we call it, a dish similar to shepherd's pie. Delicious, thanks mom!

That's just about all for today, along with this port-side sunset.

Enjoy.

Brent Gervais
brentgervais.com

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Day 02 - New to New Cal.

2009-02-05T07:50:00.007-05:00

Today, officially, was my arrival date [remember this is a backlog..]. 9am, the day started as I got off the Air New Zealand plane into +29 degree weather. Felt like a dream, but only because at this point in the travels my jello-like, viscous thought patterns can't exactly tell the difference between what's actually happening and a dream. Everything happens is slow-motion for now, but I'm slow-motion excited to be here!

Mother and father managed to get free parking somehow, and I managed to get the ink from my leaking pen blotched all over both myself and the customs forms aswell. I'm sure the guard will appreciate that one.. Reminder: don't carry pens on an airplane, especially the inky type. then again they didn't supply pens to fill out the forms..

The drive 'home' is about an hour from the airport, through some of the most winding highways I've ever seen. Of course that wont be anything compared to the coming experience in Yaté, but that's for another blog post. A short, drowsy tour of the apartment and I unloaded all of my things into the bedroom that would hold me for the next month. I then got lost on the way back to the kitchen - my mind was certainly not in the mood for puzzles. My parents began to make a little food, and tidy up the kitchen. I offered to help of course, but very, very quickly realized that in this state of mind I was much more of a burden than anything. I could have really used a helmet to keep me safe that day.

Next was a quick tour of the city. The best option for me was to keep busy and hopefully stay awake all day to adjust my internal clock. We traveled around a few sights-seeing locations to get a broad sense of what this part of the island looks like.

To get a good view, we traveled to the higher mountains in the KIA that was allotted to my father from the company. I wondered why he drove such a large SUV, but the road systems in the south would soon explain it all.

My father likes assigning quasi-famous mountain names to small, insignificant heaps of rock as point of reference. Mount Crumpit then, was our next stop. One of the best views in town! - if you can find your way through the confusingly winding roadways to get there. The panorama above was taken from the top of 'Mount Crumpit' (click for larger version). We didn't see any green, odd looking, frowning fellows though.

Kite surfing is a perfect mindless activity - to watch that is. The person portrayed in the photograph is a professional of sort, we believe, and he has a strict schedule. He is always at the same point, Côte Blanche, every single day at 15h.

Here are a few quick facts that I learned the first day.

1. mining is very rich here, nickel in particular, and is the reason my father lives here for the next two years.

2. there are two main mining companies/projects - Goro, where my father operates, and SLN. As you will see, SLN seems to be of the non-environmentally conscious mindset, yet they operate from within the main downtown core of Nouméa. The smoke and dust billowing from their chimneys is reminiscent of the Sudbury operation twenty years ago. Fine black dust can be found on every balcony in the city.

3. traffic hour begins at something absurd like 5.30am.

4. height standards here are certainly Ralph-compatible, with annoyingly low countertops, towel racks, and sinks. I'm getting a little tired of bending over to accomplish anything, mais c'est la vie!

Finally, we walked the sea-shore, I collected a blister or two from my new sandals, and caught the sunset.

Enjoy!

Brent Gervais
brentgervais.com

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Day 01 - Flight Plan

2009-02-04T09:16:00.005-05:00

The flight schedule to arrive in New Caledonia from Ottawa, Canada was an interesting one. The schedule was planned as: Ottawa > Toronto > San Francisco > Auckland > Nouméa. As it turns out, there was a mix-up in Ottawa and hence I couldn't catch the flight from T.O. to San Fran. So, a flight across the country to Vancouver was added in there so that I could catch my original flight from San Fran to Auckland - the major 13 hour flight.

Here's a link to a few notes I took along the way. (ok, maybe they're many):
Day01 - Flight Notes

Enjoy!
(thanks goes to Aaron for lending me the point&shoot for the trip, and for these quick shots)

Brent Gervais
brentgervais.com

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La Rivière Dumbea

2009-02-02T11:06:00.002-05:00

The photographs presented here will be a slight backlog of reality, but nonetheless here's a tiny sample from today of what you can expect throughout this excursion.

Please, enjoy.

Brent Gervais
brentgervais.com

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Bienvenue à la Nouvelle-Calédonie

2009-02-02T07:44:00.002-05:00

Welcome to a blog dedicated to my time in New Caledonia.

For a bit of background to answer a few of your questions, please see the wiki!:
Wikipedia - New Caledonia

After a 32 hour constant flying schedule, Nouméa, New Caledonia's capital, finally arrived. I am here to see my parents, and to enjoy a priceless personal experience in a country as far as I can be from my own. During the coming weeks (about 4) this blog will be populated with all of the adventures I encounter, but in the photographic point-of-view of my perspective. Please, I hope you enjoy what you find here, and feel free to ask any questions if you're interested!

Note: RSS is your friend.
Learn it, use it, love it.
(you can find the feed at the bottom of the page)

simply put: RSS from our friends at the BBC
the oprah way: RSS - The Oprah Way

I would like to dedicate the coming words in this blog to the one person I wish I could share every single one of these experiences with (aside from Little Man..). Miss you!

Please everyone, enjoy at your own leisure.

Brent Gervais
brentgervais.com