In 1774, explorer James Cook was the first European to sight and name a large island in the South Pacific which he called New Caledonia because it reminded him of Scotland. Today the country’s three main islands and multiple small ones are a territory of France and all islanders are French citizens.
We visited Maré and Lifou islands in New Caledonia. These unspoilt places have few visitors so there is nothing artificial or touristy about the Kanak people or their islands.
Eni beach on Maré Island
We visited the small village of Eni on Maré Island. The people welcomed us with a traditional greeting song and a feast.
The islanders grow much of their own food and use traditional food preparation techniques including the bougna (pronounced boon-ya). Fish or meat and yams, sweet potatoes, or plantains are combined with coconut milk and wrapped together in banana leaves. Tied in a bundle with coconut fibres, the packet is then buried under hot stones to cook. The results are delicious.
Bougna
In addition to tasting bougna we were also served wonderful fresh fruit including passion fruit, watermelon, oranges, and the best pineapple I have ever had.
The Kanak people live in small villages and simple homes. There are few insects and little need for window glass or doors.
Seen all over the islands, traditional thatched houses are still used, mostly for important people like visiting family or the chief.
Eni Village church
The sea around the islands is pristine and the fish and coral are amazing.
Jokin Bay on Lifou Island
The snorkeling at Jinek Bay on Lifou was fantastic.
Giant clam
Puffer fish
The people of Lifou, the second island we visited, have been cultivating vanilla, which grows wild on the island, since the 1990s. The dried and aged seedpod of an orchid, vanilla is not a native plant but was introduced by a missionary from South America in 1860. Cultivating vanilla is laborious and time-consuming and takes more than a year from flowering to the final product. It does however, bring a good price and is a valuable source of income to the island.
Green vanilla pods
The children of New Caledonia are completely at home in the sea and love to play there.
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