Bike-it! New Caledonia
- photos, video and trip notes - welcome to Bruce's New Caledonia tour photos and movies gallery. The pics and SWF Flash video give you a glimpse of the action from my bicycling tours in Nouvelle Caledonie since two thousand and two. Click on any photo to fill the screen, and hit the back button when done. For the movies, a right mouse click gives you control. Please contact me if you would like to use one of the photos as a digital image for non-commercial use.

Shortcut to tours >> 2002; 2005; 2007; 2008; 2010; 2012; 2013; 2014; 2015; 2016; 2017 

2015 Notes: No cycling this year - as recovering from an op earlier in the year. So instead it's lots of fishing and a little bit of tourism. Form Tontouta it was straight up to the north, stopping briefly at Kone to change from bus to a lift with Eitiene, a local and fellow fly-fisher. So once we had established ourselves at Relais de Poingam we went off to various nearby spots. On day two i hooked a monster bonefish - but this fish was going to be caught that easily. After a power-packed but all too brief struggle and a few hundred metes of line lost, the fish broke of on coral. This ended up being the closest chance of good bonefish in the three weeks sojourn in the north. A week of hammock resting and wind and rain occupied the second week. A second bout of fishing had us camping at a small island from which daily expeditions were made. Like many days before and trips before this the wind just blew and blew. Eventually there were some breaks in the weather and calm sea fog we managed to land some great fish-including some trevally (carangue). But this trip also had some cultural delights like being at the islands when a Kanak wedding happened. Over 300 locals from the Tanlo and Tiabet tribu attended. There was also a Kanak festival with traditional dancing at Poum witnessed by my ever faithful travelling companion Beach Pig - who had front row position!

2015 Notes: No cycling this year - as recovering from an op earlier in the year. So instead it's lots of fishing and a little bit of tourism. Form Tontouta it was straight up to the north, stopping briefly at Kone to change from bus to a lift with Eitiene, a local and fellow fly-fisher. So once we had established ourselves at Relais de Poingam we went off to various nearby spots. On day two i hooked a monster bonefish - but this fish was going to be caught that easily. After a power-packed but all too brief struggle and a few hundred metes of line lost, the fish broke of on coral. This ended up being the closest chance of good bonefish in the three weeks sojourn in the north. A week of hammock resting and wind and rain occupied the second week. A second bout of fishing had us camping at a small island from which daily expeditions were made. Like many days before and trips before this the wind just blew and blew. Eventually there were some breaks in the weather and calm sea fog we managed to land some great fish-including some trevally (carangue). But this trip also had some cultural delights like being at the islands when a Kanak wedding happened. Over 300 locals from the Tanlo and Tiabet tribu attended. There was also a Kanak festival with traditional dancing at Poum witnessed by my ever faithful travelling companion Beach Pig - who had front row position!

2015 Notes: No cycling this year - as recovering from an op earlier in the year. So instead it's lots of fishing and a little bit of tourism. Form Tontouta it was straight up to the north, stopping briefly at Kone to change from bus to a lift with Eitiene, a local and fellow fly-fisher. So once we had established ourselves at Relais de Poingam we went off to various nearby spots. On day two i hooked a monster bonefish - but this fish was going to be caught that easily. After a power-packed but all too brief struggle and a few hundred metes of line lost, the fish broke of on coral. This ended up being the closest chance of good bonefish in the three weeks sojourn in the north. A week of hammock resting and wind and rain occupied the second week. A second bout of fishing had us camping at a small island from which daily expeditions were made. Like many days before and trips before this the wind just blew and blew. Eventually there were some breaks in the weather and calm sea fog we managed to land some great fish-including some trevally (carangue). But this trip also had some cultural delights like being at the islands when a Kanak wedding happened. Over 300 locals from the Tanlo and Tiabet tribu attended. There was also a Kanak festival with traditional dancing at Poum witnessed by my ever faithful travelling companion Beach Pig - who had front row position!

2014 Notes: A shorter amount of riding this time - exploring a mountain trail that winds its way from Bourail, to the foothills at Farino, via Katrikoin - all without having to ride the main highway RT1! Katrikoin is a small Kanak Tribu nestled in a valley near the source of the Boghen River. Like the previous rides, its amazing to see the relatively good condition higher altitude trails covered in a neatly cropped grass sward, rather than rutted tracks you would see back home due to the 4WD traffic. No doubt the deer are the mowers in this case. After this riding adventure was on the bus again up to the north for more fishing, But rain and wind thwarted almost any attempt to get out there and do some fly casting. Oh well some good times in the north. Then the last few days went on the Fare Amedee snorkelling trip. A great day, and amazed to see the hosts pet dog ???? out in the water and following us around.
I went on the trip with ???? tours - well recommended!

2013 Notes: This time there' a crowd: myself we worked well as a te.

2012 Notes: This time there' a crowd: myself (aka Bike Bruce), Liz and Kerrie from NSW and Ed from NZ. We tried out a great scenic and traffic-free route from out first night stay at Farino, down to Nekweta surf camp that avoided much of the main highway, RT1. There was a goodly amount of last minute plans for accommodation and thus the day-to-day destinations, but most of the changes worked out better for us in the end. In late July / early August it was cooler than I had anticipated, as other trips were later in the year. But great for riding! We sorted out a great system of sharing the shopping and cash between us and besides it was fun to meet the locals and see their communities as they would. I was keen to try a new route over the main range from Hienghene. It required using bits of track not used for a long while, and a fair bit of hill climbing. The mountain crossing was a hoot - 23 river crossings, mostly no more than shin deep and views of rows of mountains stretching into the distance, The pickup from the airports, transits and rendezvous at Voh and looking after us in Noumea was very capably handled by Sebastien at Nautilus Tours, so will definitely use them again. All in all a great experience, we worked well as a team, and had a great riding adventure. You can also follow the daily diary on Crazy Guy on a Bike put up mainly by Ed.

2010 Notes: This year a chance to explore giant ferns at Parc les Grande Fourgeres and the Farino locale. The lure of the nth sees me and the trusty alloy steed (an Iron Horse) on a bus from Bourail to Koumac. But firstly a stop at the New Zealand war cemetery as my uncle, a Vietnam vet and a Kiwi, had passed away that week. Then bonefishing, relaxing and kayaking at Boat Pass and meeting new Kanak friends, On return to Noumea blown away by the colour, culture and spectacle of the Melanesian festival at the Centre Culturel Jean-Marie Tjibaou

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2008 Notes: A different route up the east coast this time round -after an abortive attempt to ride nth from Tontouta into an approaching rain, next day headed over the mountains to camp just north of Thio, then to Ponerihouen via Houailou using an interesting flat coastal and river-hugging route. Then it was up and over the high point of Mt Auopinie Reserve before descending to the West coast, a brief stay with Pierre in Kone, then bus to Koumac, and a further testing 75km hilly ride to the ultimate Nth at Gite Poingam at Boat Pass and bonefishing!

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2007 Notes: This year I was kindly invited by New Caledonia Tourism South to attend their annual tourism "famil" -so why not stay a little longer? December cycle touring in tropical New Caledonia is a sweaty task and with all the gear avoiding a heat stroke is a real challenge! Hiring, and reequipping a low-end VTC (velo toute terrain) bike I went on a difficult but very rewarding 5-day 285km tour to the south east and Parc Riviere Bleue (and cagou spotting), the coast at Yate, then back via Prony and past the massive Goro Nickel mine. There was also the traditional bone fishing tour to the very north, and festival and Christmas lead-up in back in Noumea, before the return flight to Sydney Christmas Day

2005 Notes: The year of island hopping! Bought a four ticket air pass so flew to two of the four Loyalty Islands: Lifou and Ouvea. On Lifou rode from the airport straight up to the north of the island - staying at home stay and snorkelling in the clearest and most vibrant and colourful waters. Then down to the main village of We to stay with a French couple who were working at the hospital. Did a fab days ride to the south for lunch (see the AC article). On Ouvea had the luxury of staying with a lovely Kanak family, plenty of fishing at Baie de Requin (Bay of Sharks), so dodged plenty of sharks, and managed to see some exceptionally rare green parrots (Parrouche vert) in their natural habit. Back on Grande Terre had enough energy (just) to do a 120km two day mountain range hop from Kala Gomen to Hienghene and down to Thio for a return flight back to Noumea. See the route map and profile. Boy, back to Sydney to relax!

2002 Notes: Why did I start going to New Caledonia? Bonefish. Being a keen slat water flyfisher and this being one of the three big ones (permit and tarpon the other two) for flats flyfishing I decided to have my own adventure. So of course my Iron Horse goes as well and I board Aircalin bound for New Caledonia and after a brief sortie in Nuomea, embarked on a 3 week quest to a bone. My 5 piece rod safely tucked into its own custom-built holder I toured around, caught buses, tripped to the Isles de Pins, kayaked and yaketty yacked, and overall had a fab time. After creating the right Karma, I finally caught my fish on the last day up north. I made some great friends, pedalled a diverse and sometimes challenging landscape and vowed to return.