Bon Voyage IV - Isle of Pines, New Caledonia

The third island we arrived upon was another New Caledonia island- this was one was named "Isle of Pines". As the name suggests, this island was covered with lovely pine trees. Isle of Pines provided a very interesting scenic view to behold, very beautiful in it's unique way. Our cruise ship was unable to reach the wharf as to pay respect to the island, so we took the small emergency boats in order to disembark onto the island.

On board there were many off-shore activities that passengers could sign up for such as tours, snorkelling and scuba diving. Around 15 of us had decided we register to go snorkelling in Isle of Pines. Those of us who signed up to go were all ushered onto a bus where we were given a brief bus tour of the island. We learnt that the first Westerner who discovered this island was Captain James Cook on his second voyage to New Zealand. It was interesting that we, Australians, have that in common with the people of Isle of Pines. However, Cook never came on shore to the island but he saw smoke and assumed it was inhabited.

The bus could not take us all the way to where we were to go snorkelling so we had to make the rest of the way on foot. The snorkelling experience was sensational, the fish we saw underwater and their vibrant colours. There were many different species of fish and none of them seem perturbed by our presence and our spying on them. We spent many hours watching them in wonder and excitement. Unfortunately for me, this was where I had my whole body sunburnt and I was red and peeling all-over. (Sadly, no one owned any waterproof cameras so no photos could have been taken of the marine life that we saw.)

After snorkelling, we were all ravenous and bought some hot dogs, chicken and kebabs with coconut juice from the local stalls that were under the shade of trees. Satiated, we spent the rest of our time by the beach. Like Lifou, Isle of Pines also had soft white sand but it was unlike any other I had ever felt. When it was dampen by the clear blue waters, it felt like soft clay.

I loved this beach very much and would call it my favourite beach to date (only I’ve forgotten the name of it). We all thoroughly enjoyed relaxing on the sand and playing in the beautiful waters, wishing that this journey would never come to an end.