The native people of New Caledonia are called ‘Kanaks’. Our next stop was at Saint Maurice Bay, where we saw traditional Kanak wood carvings that were placed around a religious memorial that was established to commemorate the arrival of the first Marist Brothers on the island in 1861. The bay was very picturesque and I loved the flowers that grew near this site.
Next we saw some old convict ruins that once held both French and Arab prisoners, who has been transported there from France and were forced to build their prison from local stone. If I remember the guide’s talk correctly, some prisoners were even marched to a guillotine. So the English were not the only ones who used one of their colonies as a penal settlement!
Finally we stopped at a beautiful white-sanded beach, at the back of which was a blue lagoon. It had been very hot and humid, so we were very glad to be able to step into some shade and find a place where we could buy a drink and use the bathroom.
A couple of years later, I visited this lovely tropical island again on a different cruise, so in my next post I will tell you about that experience, so you can have a fuller picture of the Isle of Pines.
The memorial and surrounds at Saint Maurice Bay
The bay from where you can see our ship anchored offshore
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