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In the Pacific Ocean near the Tropic of Capricorn, there is a place called "New Caledonia". Since there is the word "new", some people will associate it with colonization or the Age of Discovery. Yes, the origin of the name, as you can imagine, is indeed related to the Age of Discovery, in 1774, the Englishman Cook became the first European to arrive on this narrow island, and named it New Caledonia, and Caledonia is the ancient name of Scotland, from 1841, French missionaries came to the island to preach, and by 1957, it officially became an overseas territory of France.
New Caledonia was first known about New Caledonia during the sensational 46-day Pacific Rim cruise itinerary a few years ago, and it was then that I learned about this small island country that had to be found with a magnifying glass on the map.
This trip to the South Pacific, in other words, is a vacation to the back garden of the French, and it is said that less than 1,000 Chinese tourists have come here, and this is also an early tasting trip. So pack your bags and set off to see what makes this small island nation on the Tropic of Cancer unique!
Vignette
Before departure, just in time for the annual diving exhibition in Beijing, because there is too little information on the Internet, such an island country, I think the most senior island control - diving gods must have gone to the place where they have checked, hurry up and take advantage of the diving exhibition to gather gods, to ask for information and learn from experience. Outcome...... The first actions that are very uniform are: take out your mobile phone, open the map, and say: where is this place you said~~~
The country is so small that it can only appear if you have to zoom in infinitely with the zoom key on the electronic map; On a paper map, it should be necessary to use a magnifying glass to find this small dot.
In fact, its location is well described, the east coast of Australia, the northwest of New Zealand; Sandwiched between Australia and New Zealand.
Advance notice
Turn into a mermaid in Matsushima's natural pool
The seaside of Matsushima is so beautiful that I didn't look at it, but I was deeply attracted by this forest
Sunset dinner on the top of the mountain, waiting to watch the sunset, waiting for the handsome farmer to make us dinner, take beautiful photos first
This is the handsome farmer, here he is called "rich second generation", why please see the following article~
It has the largest lagoon in the world, this dive is a bit fun, is it a bit like a canyon?
Tropical rainforests are abundant here
Noumea at sunset, cruise ships in the Pacific Ocean leave port
It only takes 40 minutes for the capital Noumea to fly to Songdo, and when the plane is about to land, the captain acts as a tour guide and picks up the radio: Wake up! Now we are flying over the *** bay, (sorry, I didn't remember the name), open your eyes and see, wow! It's so beautiful~
Queen's Cave, the view is not in the cave, but in the story in the cave, a story about the chief's daughter
Noumea is a great place for kitesurfing, and umbrellas of all colors fly in the air when the wind blows
Mountaintop sunset dinner hosted by local rich second generation
I woke up early the next morning and went to breakfast to admire the Sheraton Hotel we were staying in. The small houses resemble the traditional buildings of the local aborigines, and the resort is too large, in addition to booking a battery car transfer by phone, there are also "shared bicycles". The suspended ceiling in the lobby combines elements of local indigenous kanak architecture, and the straw whale knows that I have come to the South Pacific.
There are shared bicycles everywhere in the hotel, and this little orange car is more flexible than calling to book a battery car transfer to the front desk
After a sunny breakfast, head straight to snorkeling in a glass boat. The captain of the glass ship has long been waiting for us on board, compared to the maritime activities in Southeast Asia, the Europeans run the sea project will be more rigorous, you can not wear shoes on board, you must first store your shoes on the shore, and then board barefoot. New Kaji is best known for its lagoon, and this lagoon in Buai, one of the UNESCO World Natural Heritage Sites, is home to a wide variety of corals and marine species. At the bottom of the glass boat, watch the coral overgrown and all kinds of small fish pass through it, even if you can't swim, you can feast on the underwater world. In such a shallow place, I can see so many corals so closely, and as a diver, it can be said that it is one of the few places. This coral is very shallow and not suitable for snorkeling, so it is not allowed to go into the water at this time, after seeing this coral, the captain will take us to the snorkeling place. The water temperature in the morning is a little cold, so be brave enough before entering the water, jump directly into the sea, and bow your head, and the coral is thick. While admiring the beautiful scenery, he suddenly came back to his senses, 1,2,3,4... Hey! It's like we've lost someone!!! Only then did I remember that there was another baby who woke up late and was dropped on the beach by us. But by this time we were already on our way back and could only come back to see our photos.
Came to the back garden of France, that French cuisine must be indispensable, but the general focus is on dinner, today's lunch is just a foreshadowing, but lunch has been eaten for nearly 2 hours, but you can still go back to sleep in the afternoon, and then wait for the evening trip, the French chassis, feel that time is amplified, everything does not seem to take long, but the proportion of the day seems to be very long.
Lunch finally ended just before 3 o'clock, they all went back to their rooms to sleep, and I took my dear boyfriend, a tripod, and turned on selfie mode.
After the leisurely lunch break, we were about to depart for dinner at the home of a beautiful and promising young talent who had been waiting for us in the hotel lobby for a long time. Seeing that I was only wearing a dress, I kindly reminded me to go back to that coat because it was cold in the mountains. What the? Isn't it a guest? Why wear a thick coat? Still going up the mountain? Do all the local tycoons live in the mountains?! Then you will be surprised, the place where we are about to leave to watch the sunset is the private land of this little brother, who will cook for us the traditional meals of the local family in his large open-air kitchen.
Riding on the four-wheel drive off-road vehicle with super horsepower of the little brother, I drove directly to the top of the mountain, just like riding a roller coaster, there is no asphalt road here, and the road is all dirt and grass on the mountain, which is very exciting. Come to the top of the mountain, don't panic, all you can see is the little brother's house, and the scenery here is unique. Under the setting sun, the various tributaries of the inland river gather at the estuary, reflecting the orange-red light of the sea river, slowly flowing into the sea, the sun sinks into the mountains little by little, the night is approaching, the little brother picks up firewood, raises a bonfire, sits around the bonfire eating sausages and drinking red wine, watching the stars rise, the Milky Way crosses the ridge, and night falls. The meal has been laid out on the wooden table in the pavilion, and the strong smell of barbecued meat has long caused drooling. Although the container is not so luxurious, it is very warm, just like the bridge in the movie, after praying, everyone uses a big spoon to divide the food on the plate into their own plate, and share the food under the brilliant starry sky, really like a happy family.
The bonfire must have the smell of pine, don't look at the rich second generation, farmers, local large landowners, such small details will not be ignored.
The "rich second generation" farmer who built a fire for us to prepare dinner was also very good-looking, and he had always heard his story before he went. I feel like I'm about to become an Internet celebrity~
After sunset, it was so cold that I put on my sweater, and when I set off I said I brought a sweater, some people were still laughing at me, which came in handy. Don't underestimate the island, the climate is changeable! At this time, autumn clothes and autumn pants on the ship are actually possible.
It's time for dinner! Try the little brother's craftsmanship ~ Only shot two appetizers, because the dishes are getting more and more delicious, if you don't move faster, it may not be there, think about it or don't shoot, eat it first ~
This meal should be considered a home-cooked meal for the locals, and at this time I want to say that it is full of mother's taste, oh no! It should be the taste of a love dinner full of little brothers, hahahahaha~
The little brother dropped us back at the hotel, and the next day we were about to go on two different roads, and one of the groups still had to go to the little brother's house, which also had a ranch for hiking and horseback riding. But I chose another team, to go diving, to say goodbye to this young local talent.
Diving in the South Pacific
I got up early in the morning to go to breakfast, and the agreement was that at 7:30 in the morning, a car would pick us up to the dive shop, and at 7 o'clock we would go to the restaurant for breakfast, just in time for the hotel to take official pictures, and the meal has not yet opened. Finally, when it was time to start the meal, we finished breakfast like a windswept cloud, and arrived at 7:30 on time, but we didn't even see the shadow of the car. Friends who travel with you, there have been a lot of waves on the islands of the South Pacific, and I summarize very calmly, which is very South Pacific style. We went back to the restaurant to drink coffee and waited, and finally the front desk helped us contact the dive shop, and the dive shop people drove directly to pick us up, and when we came back, we realized that it was the car arranged by the hotel that forgot us in the morning...
Compared to diving in Southeast Asia, diving on this French island belongs to the European system, and there are some differences in service and equipment. After receiving your own equipment, you will have to support yourself without the little gangsters of Southeast Asia to move to the ship. When you're all set, head off! Equip yourself on the ship, the dive guide is only responsible for giving you directions, but there is no meticulous help you check the equipment like the dive guide in Southeast Asia, and even bring an extra set of mask flippers In the past, if you do not choose the equipment or do not bring a mask on the shore, then there is really no extra for you after going to sea. Fortunately, the equipment was rechecked before sailing. "Oh!!! wait！ wait! wait! A baby who forgot the mask on the shore exclaimed, fortunately, the boat just started the engine, hurried ashore to get it, at this time I was silently counting my equipment, if I didn't bring any accessories, then I could really only be exposed to the sun in the Pacific Ocean, a lonely boat.
The first time I saw the real version of the DIN port, Southeast Asia is a YORK port, and the installation is indeed more convenient than the YORK port, but it is still the first time to install the DIN port, the hand is a little raw, or to help the submarine. PS: If you want to come from the domestic back adjuster, don't bring it with you from the YORK port.
The water temperature here is about 23 °C, and you will almost freeze to death if you don't wear wet clothes, and there is a flow, plus the equipment fins of the dive shop are particularly difficult to use, and this dive is thrillingly crossed. The place of boarding was an estuary, and the boat went to the first dive site for a long, long time, and the color of the sea slowly changed from the color of unexplainable blue to Tiffany blue. The first dive site arrived, and in this turquoise water, the first dive in the South Pacific began. In addition to a variety of small fish and shrimp, the most interesting thing is the various peculiar seabed terrain, followed by the dive guide through the narrow submarine canyon, such a landform is the first time. At this time, something happened again, the little partner who was with him, because he overestimated his figure, the wet suit took one size smaller than his actual figure, and it was not good to be tightened by the wet suit, and the whole person was about to suffocate, after getting on the boat, 3 people helped him peel off the wet clothes that were tight on his body, so that he who was wet clothes on the second potential ship had a shadow. As soon as the second dive went, there were sharks cruising around, there were many turtles in the reef, the second dive was much more comfortable than the first dive, there was almost no flow, all the way to be a seabed tourist, leisurely ended the slightly embarrassed first dive trip in the South Pacific.
Hurried back to the hotel, another team of hiking friends had already finished lunch at the ranch, we didn't like to eat because of the lunch box prepared by the hotel, went back to the room to continue instant noodles, fortunately the witty friends bought several bowls of instant noodles from Japan, at that time I laughed at us for going on vacation, why do we have to bring instant noodles. Now I can only say that I am too young and inexperienced, and ginger is still old and spicy. Instant noodles are a sacred relic of travel, it is simply a famous saying! Because we were leaving from Buai back to the capital Noumea in the afternoon, we came back a little late from diving, eating, bathing, packing our bags, and doing it all in one go. Load your car and get ready to leave for the capital.
A day in the capital Noumea
At sunset in the evening, I returned to the capital and went to eat first. To say that in European countries, men and women are equal, I really believe this. The driver who came to Buyi to pick us up is a very strong European woman, our large and small suitcases, not to mention moving on the trunk, the speed is really fast and fast, special efficiency, if in the country, come to such an efficient female driver service, it is estimated that it will be popular again, right? After making an appointment with an Internet celebrity restaurant in Noumea, the driver dropped us off, stopped directly in the middle of the road, and before we could react to get the camera, a foot of oil poured directly into Noumea's rush hour convoy. Since you don't have a chance to get a camera, let's eat well, Buddhist lineage. Our luggage arrived at the hotel one step ahead of us with the magical female driver.
Although I am not an alcoholic, but when I go to a place, I always like to taste the local beer, Manta Beer is the local beer here, I thought it was a bottle, but I didn't expect it to be a glass with the Manta logo, refreshing and slightly bitter
At the Le Meridien Hotel in the capital Noumea, I also gave a bottle of red wine, and soaked in the bath while drinking red wine and eating macarons, which was a perfect night.
A magical island - Matsushima
Matsushima is one of the most beautiful outlying islands in New Kasukashi, and the reason why it is called Matsushima is probably because there are many conifer pine trees on the island. But this seems unscientific, how can a place with a tropical maritime climate have coniferous trees that grow to protect against the cold? I haven't found a definitive statement yet, but it may be the same as Palau's Golden Jellyfish Lake that formed as a relic of the earth's crustal changes and environmental changes.
We flew to this magical island, but what was even more amazing was that after getting off the plane, we were informed that none of our luggage on the flight had been loaded onto the plane, which meant that our luggage was still in Noumea!!!
When we learned this information, not only did we have countless black lines floating above our heads, but even the Matsushima tour guide who came to pick us up at the airport was surprised. This situation is also the first time they encountered, fortunately the coordination was very fast, and they temporarily decided to change the itinerary, because the original arrangement, after arriving in Songdo directly went to the natural pool snorkeling, but the luggage did not arrive, did not change clothes, so in time to swim around the island with no technical content the next day. And our luggage is about to arrive at our hotel on an afternoon flight from the capital. Therefore, it is again highly recommended that when you go to Matsushima, you first put your swimsuit under your clothes and bring some necessary items with you, so that after arriving in Matsushima, you don't have to be afraid even if your luggage is delayed.
It takes only a few tens of minutes to get from Noumea to Songdo, departs in the morning and arrives at the hotel before noon. As soon as I arrived at the hotel, I was warmly invited to participate in a cooking show, which is a delicacy that can only be found in Matsudo. In the French meal, snails must be indispensable, and there is a special snail on Songdo Island, which is more delicious than the snails in the ordinary French meal. Snails who have eaten so much French food really don't know how snails are made, and on the beautiful seaside, the handsome chef is going to perform for us. Just looking at these prepared ingredients, it is already saliva left. When he turned on the fire and stir-fried the garlic paste until fragrant, the aroma had awakened the sleeping stomach, and he couldn't wait to taste it. Two French snail recipes, one is a cold meal and the other is garlic-flavored, and we all think that garlic is delicious, so that when we ordered our own food, we added two more plates of garlic-flavored snails. But it felt so wasteful, we later put the finished snail shell neatly back on the plate, and later found out in the gift shop that the snail shell sold for more than 100 yuan as a souvenir!
I was assigned to a villa with a shallow beach down the stairs, but if you walk inside the hotel, it's super far from the reception, but it's very close to the beach. The whole hotel is probably fanned around this beach, and the front desk is in the center, and the balcony of all villas is the closest.
The chef knew that we were tourists from China, and specially prepared a special menu for us, from the appetizer to the main course, it was a surprise and surprise for us, and also saw a foreigner's understanding of Chinese cuisine. The appetizer starts with a bowl of noodles, the staple dish is fried fish with rice, the amount of dishes is too large, he may not know that noodles and rice, both are staple foods in China.
Great South of New Crateria
This is the last day in Xinka, the plane is in the early morning of the next day, the last day, the capital is already almost shopping, there is actually nothing special to buy and buy here, and the option of going shopping can also be passed. Great South, haven't heard of it, then go here!
Many people know about New Caledonia because they have seen political reports on the news, and in addition to politics, they have heard about it more often through a rare metal mineral, that is, nickel ore. Danan is not only a place rich in industrial minerals, but also has tropical rainforests, mountain lakes, thousands of shades, and the sea contains all kinds of blue. If there is one color that shines out in the Great South.
The weather was good, and the gentleman who came to pick us up this time was the gentleman who took us on a tour of Noumea last time, and he was also an entrepreneur like us, who had a car and partnered with a friend to do a tourist reception service. Every time I get on and off the car, a gentleman comes to open the door, and his car chassis is very high, and he specially prepared a small stool to pad the feet, so that even if we get on and off in a skirt, it will not be very strange, to talk about service, we still need to learn from people. The first stop is directly to the top of the mountain, the Great South can be said to be a good place for outdoor sports, hiking, ATV, mountain rappelling, camping seems to be any place here, you can play. Today's top of the mountain is super windy, and this is a good viewing spot where you can see the whole city, and the coastline trend of the south of New Kasa can be seen here. Originally, the guide planned that we would spread the picnic cloth here, make us coffee and drink tea on the top of the mountain, and have a picnic on the top of the mountain, but today's wind is too big, even the big people are a little unstable, can only find another place, but there is no need to worry about no place, the scenery here is always there, stop at any time is beautiful, as long as there is a place with little wind, the wild coffee station, you can set up at any time.
Since we came to the Great South, where there are mines, we must not go to see what the mine is full of gold, and down the mountain road, we came to a former nickel mining factory, but it is now an abandoned site. A few small houses sporadically, standing there alone, it is interesting that the door of the house has been scratched with various cartoon patterns, and I don't know if it was the workers who were bored at that time, they drew it casually during the break, or if someone came to make decorations later. There are no people or tourists here, and when you walk inside, you will reach the beach, where someone is holding the boat and the car together, which should be the appearance of taking the boat home after going out to sea. Compared with the islands in Southeast Asia, it is inevitable that it looks a little desolate, and suddenly there is a sad feeling of "The Old Man and the Sea".
In fact, the view of the mine is also very good, because at the foot of the mountain, it is blocked by the dense forest, there is no wind at all, and the warm sunlight comes out of the gap in the dense forest. The guide is also a mechanism, directly open the door of the rear compartment, sit in the car and start making coffee and tea for us, dead wood and big stones are the seats of our café, the sky is a big tree; It is the roof of our café. If you want to have a cup of coffee in the French open-air café, it is more expensive than indoors, and in Xinca, our café, is free!
Since we came to the territory of the French and did not drink a fine red wine, what a pity, for the last dinner, we went to a very retro and cowboy bar in Noumea, to taste red wine, or to the last wine class where there was both good food and drink, and more importantly, knowledge. Three different types of red wine, from dry white to dry red, each wine with a cold meal, that big glass of wine, don't really drink it, because the first dry white is very delicious, drink a few more sips, the quilt is at the bottom, the teacher came over to add some, and then drank dizzy, but also blame me for the poor amount of alcohol, anyway, among the three wines, one dry white and two dry red My favorite is dry white. At this time, it can really be said that I am full of wine in Xinka, and there is still time to take advantage of the feeling of dizziness and sleep when I go back to the hotel. Then it was time to leave for the airport and end a trip to New Caledonia, which only 1 per cent of Singaporeans had visited.