http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noum%C3%A9a
New Caledonia - "New Scotland" - is the collective name for an island group of French-speaking Polynesia. After Fiji, I had not expected to be very impressed but Noumea changed my mind - quite pleasantly.
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| Welcome to Noumea |
We
had booked back-to-back tours through the ship. The morning tour, in a
bus, started well enough with a Dutch and English-speaking Rastafarian
tour guide who talked too much but as we had frequent stops, we could
avoid him.
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| We drove high above the city for some spectacular views |
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| A very public obituary but I could never find out who he was |
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| The Little Engine That Could - actually a powerful motor, pulling open cars full of tourists |
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| The clouds only lasted about 10 minutes at a time and it did not rain |
The on to the aquarium - my favorite!!
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| Guam Gobis |
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| A scallop not on the dinner table |
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| Coral - New Caledonia has the 2nd largest coral reef in the world. On the Great Barrier Reef is larger. |
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| An octopus, climbing the wall |
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| Spiny lobsters |
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| "up close and personal" |
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| An aptly-named razor fish |
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| A sea snake |
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| Shark and co. |
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| One of the most perfect creatures ever to evolve |
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| The tail is used to stun prey, a recent discovery |
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The Nautilus
Nautilus macromphalus, the bellybutton nautilus, is a species of nautilus native to the waters off New Caledonia, the Loyalty Islands, and northeastern Australia. The shell of this species lacks a callus, leaving the umbilicus
exposed, in which the inner coils of the shell are visible. This
opening constitutes about 15% of the shell diameter at its widest point.
Like all Nautilus species, N. macromphalus usually
lives at depths of several hundred metres. During the night, however,
they rise to much shallower waters (2 to 20 m depth) to feed.
The tentacles of this species are long and thin, having raised ridges which help provide grip when catching prey. N. macromphalus
is the smallest species of nautilus. The shell is usually up to around
16 cm in diameter, although the largest specimen ever recorded measured
180 mm.[1] |
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The tour in the afternoon took us to the Parc Provincial de la Rivière Bleue. It was an afternoon of hiking amidst (unfortunately) caged birds, although the cages were spacious, free birds and some of the most beautiful flowers and plants in the world.
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| Frank, fluent in German, French and English - one of the best tour guides in the world! |
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| Earth's first flowering plant |
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| The kagu or cagou (Rhynochetos jubatus) is a crested, long-legged, and bluish-grey bird endemic to the dense mountain forests of New Caledonia. It is the only surviving member of the genus Rhynochetos and the family Rhynochetidae, although a second species has been described from the fossil record. Measuring 55 cm (22 in) in length, it has pale grey plumage
and bright red legs. Its 'nasal corns' are a unique feature not shared
with any other bird. Almost flightless, it spends its time on or near
the ground, where it hunts its invertebrate prey, and builds a nest of sticks on the forest floor. Both parents share incubation of a single egg, as well as rearing the chick. It has proved vulnerable to introduced predators, and is threatened with extinction. |
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| The plant was about 5 feet / 160 cm tall. |
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| Huge stands of bamboo, each stalk thicker than my arm |
The
Lady Amherst's pheasant (
Chrysolophus amherstiae) is a
bird of the order
Galliformes and the family
Phasianidae.
These are native to south western
China and
Burma, but have been introduced elsewhere, and have established a self-supporting, but now declining, feral population in
England, the stronghold of which is now in
Bedfordshire.
The adult male is 100–120 cm in length, its tail accounting for 80 cm
of the total length. It is unmistakable with its black and silver head,
long grey tail and rump, and red, blue, white and yellow body
plumage. The "cape" can be raised in display.
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| All graffiti should be this beautiful and interesting |
