About 1km north of Pouébo, on the coast side of the main road, is a carefully tended, touching memorial to 10 local Kanak men who were guillotined by the French on 18 May 1868. They have very obviously not been forgotten, nearly 150 years on.


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1. Pouébo Catholic Church

0.7 MILES

Inside Pouébo’s Catholic church there’s a marble mausoleum where the remains of Bishop Douarre, who set up New Caledonia’s first Catholic mission, are…

2. Balade Church

4.98 MILES

The stained-glass windows in this cute little church tell the story from the first Catholic mass. In 1853 France officially laid claim to New Caledonia at…

3. Kanak Monument

5.18 MILES

Directly below Balade Church, this monument, a large Kanak flag, was unveiled on 24 September 2011, 158 years to the day after France took possession of…

4. Mahamat Beach

6.19 MILES

Captain James Cook became the first European to discover New Caledonia in 1774, on his second voyage. He landed at Mahamat Beach, and it was on climbing…

5. Monument de Balade

6.86 MILES

This impressive monument was unveiled in 1913 to great fanfare to mark 60 years of French possession of New Caledonia. It has since been left to virtually…

6. Église Ste Jeanne d’Arc

22.65 MILES

Located near the roundabout, eye-catching Église Ste Jeanne d’Arc was constructed in 1950 out of a WWII aircraft hangar.