Wednesday 31 October; Doueoulou, Lifou, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia South Pacific Ocean 20 55.45S  167 05.75E 

Today’s Blog by David (Time zone GMT+11.00; UTC +11.00)

I had built up the Loyalty Islands as an essential destination: clear water, excellent snorkelling, miles and miles of uninterrupted white sand beaches.  The Scuba diving is said to be excellent. However, whilst the marine environment has lived up to  expectations:

….the shore side has disappointed.

You may recall we commented on many other French territories in the South Pacific to the effect that, whether out of a sense of reparation for the damage they did with their nuclear testing programme or simply because they are ‘jolly good chaps’,  the French has invested heavily in the infrastructure in the Marquesas, Tuamotos and Society Islands. They have a number of civil servants exported from France that oversee the major services and the military presence coupled with the Gendarmerie has instilled a sense of order in the community. In those countries, you could sense that the locals had  pride in their environment and it was kept tidy and litter free. The towns had water and electricity and tarmac roads abound – a far cry from the Galapagos and Fiji where things were more laissez faire, unkempt and littered.    

With New Caledonia  France has a positive trade balance. Rich in mineral resources, mainly Nickel, the economy is booming; their primary trading partners are France and New Zealand. There is evidence of the same inward investment in the infrastructure. Most buildings provided by government in Tahiti had blue roofs and so they appear to do here. For example, a recent  investment in sanitary facilities at the town market in Chepenehe, Lifou:

The local population are pleasant enough. They  have houses made of bricks and mortar (and television – both terrestrial and satellite) but keep in touch with their history by building a traditional hut in the garden as a summer house:

What is lacking here though is that sense of pride. There is litter everywhere you look. And today, quite possibly the first time since we left St Lucia,  we came across some youths that would not look out of place in the more run down parts of Brooklyn. There had in fact been a wedding here yesterday (we arrived in the evening to find everyone dressed in bright red) and the party went on into the night.  The hard core were still at it this morning. However, the guy who decided to relieve me of my brand new Tilley Hat was suffering the effects of absorbing some substance I have never found in a beer tin!

Anyway – all good things must come to an end and so it is that we must leave the Loyalty Islands to return toward Noumea. Richard leaves us next Tuesday and we need to provision and wait for the weather window that takes us on to New Zealand.

Early to bed tonight – 3.30AM start!