Noumea, NC Lundi 23 du Mars
There are a couple of things not going well for me right now:
the weather: did I mention that this is cyclone season? When it rains, it really comes down, flooding roads and causing mountains to slid down.
French: why is this language so hard for anglophones? Why is a word like art completely unintelligible between the English speaking and French speaking? If I had a dollar for every time someone screwed up their face in pain listening to me talk, this trip would be almost affordable!
cost: wow, third world accommodations for US prices! cool!
tourists not welcome: so it seems the country isn't really set up for welcoming tourists. Streets are not marked, roads are blocked and deviation signs blown down, and wouldn't it be better if you just moved along now; white girl on a bike. Are you some kind of alien life form?
Yet, for some strange reason I am having fun! The mosquitoes annihilate me- so what? I get drenched in rain and almost blown off the mountain- oh well! I spend more time taking rides from friendly French tourists than actually riding and yet still I am unfazed. This kind of place makes me have to interact; I have to ask questions about where the road goes, when the bus leaves, where the next camping ground is. Nothing is instinctual and I cant just skip down to the tourist office for the right brochure. And I have to do it in french, in the rain, in a swarm of mosquitoes in blinding heat.
What I will tell you is that I took the 5 hour bus ride to Koumac and my arrival at the bus station was entertainment for generations to come. Nobody said anything or looked directly, Kanaks are much to shy for that, but I could feel the line of heads turn to watch me try and figure out how to get on the bus. A nice French guy gave me some tips, which involved: you wont find a beach and you will be the only tourist for miles. hmmm. I started to get a shaky feeling looking at the long empty roads and very teeny tiny villages.
I did find a pretty nice campground on the first night, and I was the only one, but the worst part was when I set up the tent it started raining inside the tent. This was really strange because it was blinding hot outside. Everything was soaked and I could not figure out why except that i t had to be the mosquito powder I put on EVERYTHING in preparation. You see, it doesn't help to prepare.
I ran into the night to try and find the owner to please let me have a bungalow for over a hundred dollars a night. But I had TV and AC and it was worth it. Even if I did feel a little strange handing over an assortment of green and blue money and said pick one because I couldn't understand how much it was. Which is another good point, don't do this in front of the ATM. Idiot!
The ride into the bush was a little unnerving. Imagine absolutely no signs of human existence for 20 miles except for passing cars. Then it started raining- hard. I wanted to try and find a ride, but neither a bus was coming; and I couldn't camp and amid a horde of laughing girls in front of the market, I had to go over the pass. I was really scared. I was tired, too, and my brain was screaming turn back! turn back! but i had to go on, and it was over before too long. I have never been so happy to see the ocean in my life.
On the other side was a collection of small villages and road side stands of small sculptures and honesty boxes. It was fun to wave at people which is the custom on the east coast. At last I found a nice bungalow, albeit as far from the main house as possible; through puddles and mud up to my knees. The rain was thundering on the roof so hard I had nightmares of hurricanes. At night, a mouse jumped on me in toilet. I didn't sleep well
but i met a nice french couple to have dinner and breakfast with and they gave me a ride to the next town. I gave up and got a room in the only real hotel on the east coast and again spent a ton to be comfortable. oh well
I had planned to catch the bus back to noumea since rain isn't fun and it didn't seem like such a great place to be cycling around and there was NO beach, but the bus passed me in the road. Luckily a nice French couple who lived in Noumea gave me a ride, bought me lunch and gave me a bed for the night, including lots of tips about what to do and where etc. This morning I got back to the hostel in Noumea and thought I had missed the ferry to Lifou, but got on the cargo ship tonight! so I leave tonight at 7 pm and arrive at 2 pm tomorrow and the weather shows lots of rain, but I will at least be somewhere prettier with a white sand beach and friendly people. The real NC they say, and as long as I can get back and not stuck in a hurricane, I will be happy.
There is so much more to say about the people and place but to be honest I haven't really gotten to speak with the real kanaks as the white and black is separate but I hope so in Lifou. wish me luck!
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