The Coral Isles – day four

Lifou, another of the many islands which make up the French territory of New Caledonia.
The first thing to really catch my eye here was the abundance of butterflies. Seriously, the air was full with them!
While Cath and Max stayed on the beach, I decided to go for a walk to see what photographic opportunities I might discover. I walked about a mile to the church which we’d been able to see from the ship. As I was approaching said church, a couple (who were heading back to the beach) said “You HAVE to visit the cave.”
They gave me directions on which natives to talk to, in order to pay my entrance into the cave, but with the added affirmation that it was definitely worth it.
Thankfully, we had thought to bring with us some little walkie talkies which have a range of 3km.
I buzzed Cath, told her about the cave, and that her and Max should walk up and meet me.
Once they arrived, we paid the locals the entrance fee and headed down a path through the bush. Every 50 metres or so, there was another local pointing you on, making sure you didn’t get lost.
Next thing, we’re pointed down this ravine into what could only be described (no matter how cheezy it may sound) as a “secret valley”.
“Secret” in the sense that the only way to get into it was to climb through this narrow (and steep) ravine.
Then, it was more steep descent over tree roots and sharp rocks until we entered another narrow ravine (so narrow, I had to take my backpack off and carry it).
Thankfully, there was another local handy, this guy carrying a torch and pointing it at the floor as each person passed through the tightest part of the passage.
Once we got to the cave, we had probably descended about 50 metres vertically from the original bush path we’d been on.
The cave wasn’t huge; the floor probably measured 5 metres by 8 metres.
However, the main attraction here was the freshwater pool which locals and tourists alike were swimming in.
I don’t know what it’s like where you live, but we were all brought up on the notion that you never jump into a pool of water you can’t see clearly, and about whose depth and submerged nasties you know nothing about.
So, it was with great trepidation that we entertained the idea of jumping into this pool on faith (and the encouraging calls of other tourists from the ship).
Everyone (including the natives) were saying that the water was beautiful and refreshing, and that it was very deep and clear of rocks, as long as you jumped out far enough to clear the rocks at the edge.
Right.
OK then.
Another local shone a torch across the water, so you could see that it did indeed look ok. The water was very clear, and you could see the beams of light disappearing into the depths.
It was around this time, as I’m trying to gauge whether or not to take the ‘leap of faith’, that another tourist (who was drying himself off after his dip) said that he had dived down as deep as he could and had not been able to see the bottom, and that he freaked himself out on the way back up, because he wasn’t sure if he’d left himself enough oxygen to make it back to the surface.
‘Fair enough’, I thought. Must be pretty deep.
So, on that basis, I took a running jump and splashed into the water.
It was absolutely gorgeous!
The water was fresh, in both senses of the word (1. free of salt. 2. cool, invigorating)!
Cath and Max also hopped in and had a swim.
It was lovely.
To add to the prehistoric-other-worldy nature of the place, there were vines hanging down into the cave from the secret valley above, and the local kids were running, jumping, catching the vines, swinging out over the water, and letting go just inches before colliding head first into the rock wall that angled across the cave over the pool.
We spent perhaps 20 minutes frolicking about in the water, cooling off from the Pacific heat and humidity, knowing that by the time we had climbed the 200-odd steps back up to the bush path, we were probably going to be ready for another dip.
After I got out of the pool, I set up the tripod, set the camera on manual everything, and did a couple of 30 second exposures while manually firing my flash unit on 1/64 power at various parts of the cave.
While I nailed the exposure, the absence of any light meant that my best attempts at manual focus were totally disastrous. A shame really, as the site was one of which I’d have loved to have captured some good images.
If I remember to do so, I’ll post the images anyway.

Take me to: <- Day three | Day five ->