Mare Island is the second-largest of what were formerly the Loyalty Islands, an overseas territory of France. Some people only speak French, but with tourism being a major business here, they know bits and pieces of other languages.
Mare is dotted with stunning natural rock pools, and generally the water is so clear (turquoise colored!) that the entire bay looks like a swimming pool. The ship offered a shuttle bus to Yejele Beach, a stunning beach about 20 minutes from Tadine, supposedly great for swimming. We didn’t go there, and later heard from other passengers that they had to stay out of the water and sunbathe only, as the water was filled with blue bottle jellyfish. A few passengers got stung! The traditional food here is Kanak bougna, a feast of taro, sweet potatoes, bananas, and chicken or fish wrapped in banana leaves and cooked in coconut cream!
We are not sure what the name of the flower in the first photo is, but it was everywhere and had such pretty and unusual colors. Following that are some photos of the bay and ocean along the village of Tadine. The final three photos are typical houses, all situated on dirt roads off of the main paved road, and surrounded all around by coconut trees.
