Jeffrey E.F. Friedl's Blog, page 21

Lazy New-Year Break and Reflections on Last Year’s Cycling

It's been a mostly-lazy New Year break for me, just hanging out at home with the family,
working here and there on my Lightroom plugins,
from time to time updating roads I cycle a lot at OpenStreeMap.org with much more
accurate road data than they currently have, and some general vegetating.

I did get to bookmark the change of year with
a last bicycle ride in 2015 up into the mountains
north of Kyoto on the last day of the year. There was even a bit of snow. Brrrr. Then on January 2nd, I did a
lazy ride to the Kuuya-taki waterfall
with Alain, a French friend visiting from near Tokyo.

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 26mm — 1/125 sec, f/1.9, ISO 2000 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Exiting the Waterfall

at the Kuuya-taki waterfall (空也滝), Kyoto Japan

When we arrived at the waterfall (which has appeared on my blog many times, such as “Cooling Down at the Kuuya-taki Waterfall”), a small group of what
looked like members of a college karate club were taking turns going into the freezing water, similar to when I visited here last March.

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 35mm — 1/80 sec, f/2.3, ISO 1000 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Alain is a talented photographer, but was here for a bike ride so didn't have his real camera. He put the place on his
“must return to” list.

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 35mm — 1/80 sec, f/2.3, ISO 1000 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Candles

The return trip can go over or through a mountain.
We went over it on the way,
and though my time was not particularly special, it was the fastest properly-recorded for the short
but steep segment. Strava lists my time as the 11th fasted, but it turns out that those listed above had
either gone through the tunnel directly underneath, or had not made the full trip up to the pass.

Strava's segment matching has to be necessarily fuzzy to allow for the necessarily-fuzzy results one gets from consumer GPS
units, and so it's not surprising that some efforts get assigned to a segment in error, but Strava gives the user no control over
fixing these kind of Strava errors. It'd be nice if they allowed the user to remove a segment from the day's ride, and to allow
other users to flag the incorrect-application of a segment to a ride. Sigh.

On the way back, we did take the tunnel. The beginning from this side is fairly well lit and wide and boxy...

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/125 sec, f/1.7, ISO 1600 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Entering the Tunnel

... but it gets dark and narrow and creepy...

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 75mm — 1/20 sec, f/2.8, ISO 3200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

It's Actually Darker than This

I wanted to process it so that it reflected reality, but when I did it was mostly just
black with a vague spot or two of light, so I settled on the rendition above, which is somewhere
between reality and this overly-bright rendition
from March.

My cycling one-year anniversary is coming up later this month, so that'll be a time for me to reflect on
the past year. But never to pass up a chance to be a data geek, I compiled my 2015 stats...

Total distance: 5,756km (3,577 miles)

Total elevation gain: 86,810m (284,810 feet) this is actual gain, not Strava's voodoo gain

Longest ride: 228km (142mi)

Longest week: 486km (302mi) (rides of
228km,
115km,
and 143km)

Most elevation gain in one day: 3,356m (11,010ft)

Fastest speed: 76.7 kph (47.7 mph) at this location on this ride.

Longest non-stop ride: a 125km (78mi) section within this 203km ride during which the wheels never stopped.

My Eddington number at the start of the year: N/A

My Eddington number at the end of the year: 37 meaning that I had 37 rides of at lest 37 miles

Crashes: 0

Times I fell due to being clipped in: 2

Flat tires: 5 at least

Weekly distance over the year:

I'm certainly looking forward to 2016 as my first full year of cycling, though it's getting
off to a slow start.

Cycling with Kentaro Kataoka on His First “Real” Ride

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 34mm — 1/125 sec, f/2.3, ISO 500 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Kentaro Kataoka

out of focus and “artsy”, but doing some real cycling

The other day I went on a ride with Kentaro Kataoka (“Ken-chan”), who has been a friend for a long time. He's a sports-massage masseur with his own clinic.

He's been on my blog a number of times
over the years, such as when he graduated from massage school
four years ago, giving a friend an impromptu massage last year,
or just seeing the sights with me (here and
here).

He does a lot of running (street and mountain), but is new to cycling, having just bought his first “real” road bike. We went on our first ride together the other day.

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/125 sec, f/3.2, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Michael and Manseki Joking Around

I don't know what they were doing, but their smiles were infectious








Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/125 sec, f/2.5, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Ken-chan Shows Up

wearing his mountain-running clothes, along with real cycling shoes









Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/125 sec, f/2.2, ISO 1000 —
map & image data — nearby photos

In the Mountains

We got our first taste of a hill with
a short climb that
on my best day I did in 58 seconds. He didn't really know what to expect other than “a short climb that
takes a minute or two”, and just took off, and
he did it in 68 seconds without much effort. I was stunned... that was faster than my 2nd-fastest time,
which was the 72 seconds that I did trying to keep up with him.

He's new to cycling, but his fitness level is very high.

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/125 sec, f/2.2, ISO 400 —
map & image data — nearby photos








Panasonic LX100 at an effective 28mm — 1/80 sec, f/2.1, ISO 250 —
map & image data — nearby photos

At The Foot of Mochikoshi Pass

photo by Manseki Kanemitsu

The eastern climb up to Mochikoshi Pass is
1.1km at an average of 9%, but the first half is much more steep than the second half. It's absolutely brutal if you try to go fast.

I wasn't thinking to actually ascend it with Ken-chan, but I wanted to show him the initial super-steep section. He seemed to handle it just fine, so we decided to make the full climb to the top. He made it in about six minutes with
little apparent effort. (His time registered longer because he paused to let a truck go by, but had he stuck with me,
he would have easily had my time. I knew the road and knew I'd get to the top before the truck got there, so I didn't waste
20 seconds pulling over to wait for him to pass.)

He's in such great physical shape that all he needs is some experience learning about cycling technique,
and he'll quickly become one of the top riders around.

On the way home we stopped by NORU for coffee and cake...

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/60 sec, f/1.7, ISO 1250 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Refilling the Gas Tank

at NORU








Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/60 sec, f/2, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Size Comparison

a cyclist from Shiga compares her bike to mine

It was a short, rainy ride but it was great to show Ken-chan some of the mountains
that I've learned to love this past year. Can't wait to do it again.

Surprises With New Caledonia Traffic Signs

On my recent trip to New Caledonia, I did a fair amount of driving. As someone with limited driving experience outside of North America and Japan, some of the street signs were not intuitive,
such as this bicycle-related sign that I presented as A New Caledonia No-Bikes-Allowed “What am I?” Quiz:

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/320 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Contradiction?

To someone used to driving in North America or Japan, the sign above clearly and unambiguously means “No Bicycles Allowed”,
because anything with a diagonal red slash through it means “No  whatever  Allowed”.

no cars allowed?

Along those lines, the sign at right would clearly mean “no cars allowed”, but in New Caledonia I'd see this sign at each
expressway off ramp, a spot where a “no cars allowed” sign would be jarring to say the least. The first time I noticed it, it was
at an exit that I was thinking to take, but upon seeing the sign I quickly changed my mind... “No Cars Allowed”!

Once the initial shock wore off, I realized that it must mean “End of Cars-Only Road”,
and so in New Caledonia (and likely Europe as well), a red slash means
“End of  whatever  Restriction”.

So, a superficial answer to my quiz question is “End of Bicycle Lane”.

Still, that leaves the question of why the sign appears in a spot where the lane clearly doesn't end. The path that continues from that point was quite new, so I just assumed that they'd not yet removed
the sign from when it really was the end, perhaps due to a classic government-worker “not my job” issue.

However, as answers came in to the quiz, I had to re-evaluate my idea of what “Bicycle Lane” meant.

I had assumed that it was a restriction on what can travel in the lane (bicycles only), so the sign was a restriction
against cars, pedestrians, etc. But then I realized that it could be the other way... it could be a restriction against bicycles,
that they must travel in this lane and may not travel on the road.

Or perhaps it's both.

So further research brought me to this page
on the site for French cycling-related organization, and it seems that a circular blue-background white-bicycle sign means
“bicycles (and only bicycles) must use this path”,
while a square version means “bicycles (and only bicycles) may use this path”.

bicycles must use path

bicycles may use path

In retrospect, this makes some sense. While driving in the middle of nowhere on a road with a bicycle path,
every time we came to a short narrow bridge, there'd be an “end of bicycle path” sign at the start of the bridge,
and a “bicycle path” sign a car length later at the end of the bridge. It seemed to me to be an excessively verbose
level of detail for a road that might get a few cars an hour, but if it's releasing the cyclist from an obligation
so that they can cross the bridge, well, I guess it makes sense. Somewhat.

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 52mm — 1/2500 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

A Roundabout

with an “end of bicycle path” sign upon entrance, and in the background a “start of bicycle path” sign upon exit

taken while cycling at 18 kph (11 mph)








Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/320 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Just Reminders, I Suppose

taken while cycling at 21 kph (13 mph)









Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/1000 sec, f/7.1, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Green Areas for Emphasis

taken while cycling at 23 kph (14 mph)

The first sign that surprised me was the stop sign, which looked like an American stop sign:

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Arrêtez!

taken while cycling at 18 kph (11 mph)

Being a country with French as the national language, I somehow thought that the stop sign would,
you know, be in French, such as “Arrêt”. It's been more than 25 years since I last drove in Quebec,
but I seem to recall their stop signs being “Arrêt”.

Then I found this page
that talks about how “Stop” is actually a proper French word (stop signs in France use “Stop”), and that because some areas
of French-speaking Canada are so anti-English that they don't want even the possible misunderstanding that their “Stop” might be
the English “Stop” instead of the French “Stop”, so they use improper French (“Arrêt”, which in proper French is
apparently is more of a “bus stop” kind of “stop”).

No matter what's written on it, the red octagon speaks for itself across much of the world, so even if it said,
for example, 「止まれ」instead of 「STOP」, most folks would understand. Then I started to think about Japanese signs,
and I realized how opaque the must be to newcomers.

Here's a Japanese stop sign:

Here's a New Caledonia “warning, speed-bump ahead” sign:

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 35mm — 1/250 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Speed Bump Ahead

I was very disappointed to find that the trees and hammock were not standard, but stuck on this particular
sign by some happy, mischievous soul:

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 52mm — 1/160 sec, f/9, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Modified








Panasonic LX100 at an effective 70mm — 1/2000 sec, f/5, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Alert!

“risk of flooding 300m ahead”, I suppose

The signs above makes complete sense, but I'd often see the “!” sign alone, without any indication of what was
being alerted. It felt a bit silly. I eventually realized that it could only mean “Ken Thompson Nearby”.

In context, speed limit signs are pretty obvious no matter how they're presented. In New Caledonia, they're numbers (kilometers per hour) within circles:

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/400 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Suburban Nouméa

not suburban Socal

taken while cycling at 37 kph (23 mph)

As I rode through this neighborhood, I realized that except for the street signs and the color of the road paint, this picture
looks like it could have been taken in Southern California.

As I write this blog post, I realize that I was speeding. Oops.

Now, let's look at this photo from downtown...

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/800 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

No Left Turn

taken while cycling at 16 kph (10 mph)

... and compare to this photo of a traffic circle....

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/1600 sec, f/7.1, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Right Turn Only

taken while cycling at 21 kph (13 mph)

Both turn-restriction signs made intuitive sense to me, but again in thinking about Japan, I realized how different it is. When it comes to turn restrictions, Japan doesn't have signs that indicate what you can't do
(there are no official “NO LEFT TURN” signs in Japan, for example), but only what you can do.

Japanese
“No Left Turn”
sign

So of the pair above, the “Right Turn Only” would be the same in Japan, but the “No Left Turn”
sign would instead be presented as a “Straight and Right Only”, as illustrated at right.

I've been driving in Japan on and off for more than 25 years, and this still gets me. I learned to drive in America, so it's
ingrained at the neuron level to look for “No Left Turn” signs if I'm thinking to turn left, and not at all ingrained to look for
some other turn-restriction sign to see whether it happens to include the “left” that I want to do. It's still very unintuitive to
me.

(One exception to what I said above about Japan's “only what you can do” turn-restriction signs are “No U-Turn” signs, which
are the same in Japan as probably everywhere on earth.)

Anyway, that's about it for now for my musing on street signs. I'll end with this photo from the previous post,
a warning on approach to a traffic circle. It's my favorite New Caledonia street sign:

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 38mm — 1/800 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

“YOU DO NOT HAVE PRIORITY”

No comment about who does, except that we know for sure that it's absolutely not you

Actually, one more street-sign thing: in Japan there's one particular street sign that I think is by far the most common,
perhaps by an order of magnitude beyond the next-most-common sign. What is it?

To be clear, I don't actually have any statistics to back up what I think the answer is, but if you've spent much time in Japan,
the moment I tell you my idea, you'll say “Ah, yes, indeed.”    Probably.

Superficial Thoughts on New Caledonia After a Week’s Visit

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 75mm — 1/200 sec, f/6.3, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Typical Sunset

Two stand-up paddle boarders (lower left) on calm waters

Nouméa, New Caledonia
Desktop-Background Versions

1280×800  ·  1680×1050  ·  1920×1200  ·  2560×1600  ·  2880×1800

We had a family vacation to New Caledonia last week. When my wife suggested it, I had to look it up because I had no idea
where it was. Here it is:

New Caledonia

ニューカレドニア

The capital, Nouméa, at 22 degrees south latitude, was just starting to enter its summer.

It's a bit more well known in Japan due to a well-known travelogue,
「天国にいちばん近い島」 (“The Island Closest to Heaven”), published in 1966. The book was also made into a movie.

Minimal research before I left told me it's a French Republic with, like so many islands in the Pacific,
a marginalized indigenous population.

The language is of course French. (The indigenous population, where it still exists, have their own languages,
but I didn't come across them on my trip.).

I'm really bad at human languages. I can pick up a new computer language just by walking near a reference
book, but my brain is not wired for human languages. I've formally studied English, Spanish, German,
and French, but I can speak only English and Japanese.

The extent of my French study was a single semester in college 30 years ago, but it served me incredibly well. My mastery of
the most-important 0.000052% of the language actually proved useful in about half of my spoken and written encounters. At a minimum, I could apologize for not speaking French (“Je suis désolé, je ne parle pas français.”), and let them know that I
spoke Japanese and English. Some English was always available in the touristy areas, but outside them I had to fall back on my
French, or just hand gestures and a smile. I never ran into anyone that spoke Japanese, except Japanese.

I quickly learned that my American credit card was not the type they normally handled. It seems that
they're set up for some kind of electronic chip that's read when the card is inserted an inch into a
slot on the cash register, rather than a magnetic strip that must be swiped. But the hand gesture for “credit card swipe”
turned out to be universal, usually garnering a brief look of surprise at the archaic technology,
followed by a “let me see whether I still know how to do this” attempt to make the transaction.

The currency is the French Pacific Franc (XPF). There are about 110 XPF to the US dollar, but because it's such a minor
currency one must pay a huge premium to convert (from dollars, yen, euro, etc.). About the best place to exchange money in Japan
are the banks at the airport, and if you exchange, say, dollars for yen and then turn right around and exchange back, you'll end
up with about 6% less... that's the cost of doing the exchange. In the case of XPF, you'll end up with 30% less.

Anyway, for rough practical purposes, I kept in mind that one XPF is about one US cent.

For no apparent reason, the main international airport is an inconvenient hour's drive through nothingness from the city. The one direct flight
from Osaka Kansai each week arrives late in the evening (10pm), so I prearranged transportation for the five of us (Me, Anthony,
Fumie, and Fumie's folks). An email exchange with Smith Voyage and we were confirmed
for Manu to meet us. Manu was fantastic in all respects, and I highly recommend him for your Nouméa travel needs.

The cost for the shuttle for the five of us was about $100, on par with the cost of the shuttle that brought us from Kyoto to
the airport. New Caledonia is said to be an expensive place, but that's only because it is expensive, both for
visitors and for the locals. To visit New Caledonia, you must be mentally prepared to hemorrhage money at all times.
Almost any manufactured product you encounter (cars, cups, shoes, nails, clothes, toiletries, windows, etc. etc. etc.) must
be brought from somewhere by boat or plane. One Japanese resident I talked to said that his car in New Caledonia cost
twice the price of the same car in Japan.

New Caledonia has a land area about the same as the US state of New Jersey, and from what I could tell, is mostly uninhabited
mountains. The main city, Nouméa, does not feel crowded.

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/400 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

From Our Hotel

looking toward other tourist hotels









Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/800 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

From Our Hotel

looking toward the back, away from the beach

probably a nicer part of town for the locals








Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/60 sec, f/4, ISO 3200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

From Our Hotel

looking out toward the ocean










Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/100 sec, f/1.7, ISO 3200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

In Our Hotel

The “Living Room” part, at the Hilton Nouméa

Our hotel, the Hilton Nouméa, a contradiction to my preconceived ideas of what to expect from a large US hotel chain. On the plus side, because it's a “Residence” category, it was spacious, with three separate bedrooms, a normal-sized kitchen, a clothing
washing machine, two sets of showers and toilets, a huge living room, and a nice veranda. On the minus size, there were very few
services, such as a mini shop near the lobby in which to buy late-night snacks. (And I suppose the cockroach was a minus as well,
though they allowed us to move rooms after the first night.)

The hotel did not, however, contradict my idea that large US hotel chains are ridiculously expensive. Normally things work out
much more smoothly with our travels if my wife makes the plans and I don't see how much it costs (I'm a tightwad, so if I see
the cost, it's difficult for me to enjoy), but I unfortunately got a glimpse of the hotel bill. I tried to block it out.

But in the end, the space and convenience was worth it for our week-long stay. Four adults and one teenager made for a
dynamically-changing mix of activities and schedules, and so with three separate bedrooms and two sets of showers/toilets, we
didn't always have to be in each other's hair. We could retreat to a bedroom for quiet relax time as needed. In retrospect, I have to admit that had I made cheaper plans, we would have been stressed the whole time, negating the whole purpose of the trip.

Power in New Caledonia is 220v. All the electronics we brought were for charging things (laptops, phones, cameras), and all
could handle 100v〜240v as is, so we didn't need any kind of power converters.

In preparing for the trip I'd packed a 6-port USB charging hub
recommended by a friend (thanks Jason!) to handle things like our phones, and a normal five-outlet extension cord
into which to plugin it in, as well as plugging in our computers and other chargers.

New Caledonia uses “type C” plugs, so we
would need a simple converter to handle the plug shape. But I figured that a high-end international
hotel chain like Hilton would have multi-type power outlets, or, at least, US/Japan-style outlets. They didn't.

So, I'm glad that on a just-in-case whim, I bought a plug-shape converter at the airport in Osaka just before jumping
onto the plane. Six dollars well spent.

(It turns out that you could get a plug-shape converter from the hotel's front desk if you asked, but seeing how they
just rummaged around in a box for one, I don't think it's something I would rely on.)

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 75mm — 1/320 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Water Taxi

heading out to one of the islands

Food is expensive, whether cooking it yourself or going to a restaurant.

Baguettes are a basic staple, and it's common to see people walking down the street
with one tucked under their arm, one in their hand being eaten, and a drink in the other hand.

Toward the end of the trip I realized that I didn't have a photo of this quaint “baguette culture”, so I
made a quick snapshot as I was walking by someone getting back into their car at the market.
It didn't come out well, but perhaps illustrates the point anyway:

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/125 sec, f/7.1, ISO 250 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Give Us This Day Our Daily Baguettes









iPhone 6 Plus + iPhone 6 Plus back camera 4.15mm f/2.2 at an effective 29mm — 1/60 sec, f/2.2, ISO 32 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Delivery Truck

outside a small market near the hotel










Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/125 sec, f/2.2, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Modern Supermarket

Casino Johnston Supermarket

We visited a couple of supermarkets, including a big modern one far away from the tourist areas,
where one needed French (and hand signals) to get by. They were just as big and nice as one would
find in Japan or The States, but as I said before, the prices were very high.

Other than restaurants, most businesses closed by 7:30, including supermarkets and convenience-store-like markets.
Vending machines are also essentially non-existent (I noticed only two during the entire trip, one at the airport and one
at the hotel), so one must plan their food well or be caught without anything to eat. We first arrived at our hotel around
midnight and were sort of stuck for food and drink except for the pathetic little vending machine in the lobby.

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 75mm — 1/4000 sec, f/8, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Morning Walk

that's a person near center frame, at mid-tide

Many businesses are closed for an extended lunch (e.g. noon to 1:30 or 2:00).
Walking around on the first day to visit car-rental and bicycle-rental shops, having left
the hotel around noon, I found them all closed.

Making the same rounds again later in the afternoon, I ended up renting a car from the Budget office not far from the Hilton. I got a car that could fit five easily for about US$80/day, which seemed to me to be one of the only reasonable prices that I ran
into all trip. As a bonus, the car I was given was brand new; I was its first renter.

Almost all cars in New Caledonia are standard (manual) transmission. I don't know why. A Japanese resident I talked to seemed
confident in his understanding that European car makers simply didn't have good automatic-transmission technology, so it had never
taken off here. That seems ridiculous to me, but I don't know.

In any case, the car I rented was a manual transmission. My parents made sure I learned to drive with a manual because
it's a good skill to have (thanks Mom and Dad), and for this I was thankful when settling in behind the wheel at the car-rental
place.

As I slowly pulled out from the parking space and down a steep bank to the narrow exit onto the street, a truck started to pull in. And so I found myself driving a manual transmission for the first time in a decade, facing down but needing to back up,
with little margin for movement or error. Baptism by fire. It was the comical scene you might be imagining, replete
with stalls and revving engines, haphazard clutch work, and much embarrassment.

To top it off, after I could finally get to the exit, I turned on my wipers instead of the turn signal.

But it's a bit like riding a bike, and I quickly got the hang of it again. Driving in New Caledonia is mostly a pleasure, and
driving a manual-transmission car with a beefy engine is its own pleasure as well.

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/250 sec, f/7.1, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Tiny Traffic Circle

though I prefer the Australian parlance, “roundabout”

There are relatively few traffic lights, with intersections usually controlled by traffic circles or “yield” signs instead of
“stop” signs. Traffic circles are much more efficient; if traffic is light, you almost never have to stop. And even when
traffic was rush-hour heavy, or when I was on a bicycle, I never ran into issues where I felt traffic was rude or dangerous. It was wonderful.

Basically, it works the way it's supposed to work. It would never work in Kyoto because Kyoto drivers
are much too selfish... it's common to see Kyoto city buses run red lights! Sigh.

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 38mm — 1/800 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

“YOU DO NOT HAVE PRIORITY”

No comment about who does, except that we know for sure that it's absolutely not you

I just love that sign. I'll write more about New Caledonia road signs in a different post.

Directional signage can be spotty at times. For example, you can drive right by the airport without
noticing if you don't notice the one sign that tells you where to turn (a normal traffic-circle sign,
with one of the minor arrows leading off to the side marked “airport”).

To find my way around, whether by car, bicycle, or foot, I relied on the
Galileo Offline Maps app on my phone. Prior to the trip I downloaded
the vector map for New Caledonia, which turned out to be excellent. Since it's on the phone after the initial
download, I could use it while my phone was in airplane mode for the duration of the trip. I didn't want to pay
steep data-roaming charges, and with this app didn't need to. It was absolutely invaluable.

I could also keep a track of our movements, then refer to the track later if I needed to retrace the path,
or use the trace as my path back home. I can't overstate how useful this $4 app is.
(I also use it while cycling in Japan, where I'm often deep in the mountains with no cell coverage.)

One non-pleasure part of driving in the rural parts of New Caledonia is that if you're unlucky, you get stuck
behind someone driving at half the safe/legal speed limit, just because, and there's little you can do about it.

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 37mm — 1/250 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Rare Straightaway

In some really mountain-curvy rural areas, I sometimes found that the posted speed limit was well faster than I felt safe to drive,
but mostly one could easily do the 110kph (70mph) speed limit common on the nicer rural roads. A long drive like this could
be quite pleasant, but sometimes you'd come across someone doing half the posted speed limit and not giving the slightest care
to the long line of cars piling up behind them. There were plenty of places to pull aside to let other traffic go, but few
places to pass safely (especially at night where you couldn't see ahead in the pitch dark), so it was extremely frustrating. You were limited both by the speed of the slowpoke causing the problem, and by how daring each person in front of you was
in choosing when to try to pass.

One day, stuck behind a big construction truck for the better part of an hour, I imagine it was sport for the driver to watch
the car immediately behind jockeying for a good view, hoping for a chance to pass. If/when they did, it started all over again
with the next person in line, nonstop, for their entire drive. I imagine that for this selfish asshole, a good head-on collision
would have made their day.

I asked about it to a local New Caledonian who drives a lot. He said that that's how it is in New Caledonia... they don't care
about other drivers and would never pull over to let someone pass. I just can't comprehend this kind of selfishness.

One kind of flip side of this is that they apparently don't feel too bad about tailgating. I was happy to let folks go by
if they wanted to go faster than I wanted, but when I wasn't able to find a place to move over, I'd sometimes be tailgated
quite strongly.

This was the only kind of inconsideration I ran into on my trip. There was a lot of graffiti everywhere, which illustrates that
there are a lot of remarkably-selfish people (or a few that are remarkably active), but in person, people were universally
friendly.

Once you're out of the city, there are almost no services. Driving around in the south part of the island, we
went for hours without seeing a sign of human civilization except for the road itself, and the occasional deserted
national-park type place. For hours of driving, no houses, no farms, no stores, no businesses, no industry, no
nothing.

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

A Whole Lot of Nothing

beautiful, quiet, serene nothing

If you look carefully you can see a few power-line towers, and the far ridgeline at right has some wind turbines,
but otherwise there's no indication of human presence. The same scene in Japan would be festooned with
power lines and dam construction and any number of other visual-noise elements.

Sometimes, even, no bridges:

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 62mm — 1/125 sec, f/2.8, ISO 640 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Ford

not a fjord, mind you








Panasonic LX100 at an effective 67mm — 1/160 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Chute de la Madeleine

this would translate as “Madeleine Falls”, I guess.
Desktop-Background Versions

1280×800  ·  1680×1050  ·  1920×1200  ·  2560×1600  ·  2880×1800

The falls above were in a provincial park that seemed, other than us, devoid of humans.
There was a parking lot and nicely-manicured trails, with signs and steps and information boards
(in French that we could not read), but no people. We wandered about the place freely.

For tourists, though, New Caledonia is known for its marine sports...

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 54mm — 1/5000 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Kite Surfers Aplenty

Some days the wind was dead calm, and other days it was briskly strong, and on those days the kite surfers
were out in force, with dozens visible at any one time.

The water is very clear.

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/320 sec, f/13, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Anthony and I About to Head Out for a Spin

at Îlot Maître (メトル島)

photo by Fumie Friedl

The 1200cc jet ski was fun and responsive, and we were flying over the water at more than 60kph (40mph). The guide said that it can go faster, so perhaps we were limited because it was a bit choppy out where we could let loose.

In Japan one needs a special license to drive these, but here you needed only money. I let Anthony drive for a while,
and we had great fun.

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 75mm — 1/6400 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Fumie and Anthony









Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/2000 sec, f/8, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Private Island

Green Island
Desktop-Background Versions

1280×800  ·  1680×1050  ·  1920×1200  ·  2560×1600  ·  2880×1800

One day we took a tour to an uninhabited island to snorkel and explore the coral. When we asked how
popular the tour was, the guide said that there are up to 90 people on the tour at one time, which I imagine
would fill the small beach and the surf, destroying the whole “deserted island” ambiance that was the whole point
in the first place.

Our timing was good; on the day we went, we were the only five customers, so we had everything to ourselves. It was the
following week that the huge influx would start, the guide said. We're glad Anthony's school got out for the New Year break a bit
earlier than most other schools.

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 52mm — 1/2000 sec, f/7.1, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Quality Time

I'm fairly sun-averse, with skin that sublimates from “beached-whale white” directly to “the Colonel's Extra Crispy”
burnt, so I generally keep covered up when I'm out. But with liberal amounts
of sunscreen I thought I'd be safe from getting burnt.

So, on this trip I learned the difference between “SPF” and “how long does it last”. I had super-high SPF
lotion, but I neglected to reapply often enough. It seems that regardless of
the SPF, the protective properties break down in the sun at the same pace, so regardless of the SPF, one must reapply every two
hours or so. I ended up with some mild sunburn on my back and shoulders. Doh! Lesson learned.

Being a bit sun-averse was one reason that I didn't really explore the beach directly outside the
hotel, until the last day. I really regret that, because just a few seconds
out into the water and there were all kinds of thick puffy colorful starfish, sea cucumbers, and other assorted marine life that
was super fun to explore with just goggles. Had I known I would have gone out
with Anthony every day.

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 37mm — 1/1250 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Dedicated Bike Lane

The country seems to be very cycling friendly, aside from the lack of places to get food and water away from the city. I'd see lots of cyclists each day, from the early morning until dusk.

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 43mm — 1/3200 sec, f/16, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Early-Morning View

6am on my one bike ride in New Caledonia

Helmets are not compulsory, but it was quite rare to see someone without one. For
my one bike ride I spent $25 to rent a bicycle,
and another $10 to rent a helmet.

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 75mm — 1/125 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Hilly Nouméa

Nouméa can be quite hilly, with many short but really steep (10% ~ 15%) slopes.

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/200 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

A Less-Affluent Area

still hilly, still pleasant

Because I didn't know the city at all, my sort of random cycling trip brought me through
what turned out to be less affluent areas.

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/125 sec, f/5, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Making Do With What He Has

Regardless of where I went I never felt unsafe, or that a run-down area was “seedy”, but I also didn't feel comfortable leaving
the bicycle unattended, as I had no lock. (Actually, the rental place gave me a lock for it, but neglected
to give me the key.) So in one particularly un-affluent area I was happy to find a market that was surrounded by a high
fence, almost like a prison. I could put the bicycle inside the fence by the door of the market and feel that it was
relatively safe while I bought some water inside.

While I was there, the little boy seen above took interest in my “real cyclist” look, and
returned to his bike with vigor. He tore around the parking lot and streets at breakneck speed. He could slow himself only Flintstones style, as his bike had no brakes and his feet no shoes. He was a natural.

As I prepared to leave, he stood aside and watched everything. Then as I started to pull away, I bid him an “au revoir”, which he politely bid back. I regret that I didn't buy some candy
or something for him.

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Quieter Part of the City








Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/1000 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Busier Part of the City

There's the thought that island cultures like this tend to take things more slowly, and this was evident in the stores being
closed for a couple of hours mid day, or the occasional super slow person on the roads.

It was also evident at the airport when we left. We arrived almost three hours before our flight, but the line to check in
was already long and it moved very, very, very slowly. Really, super duper slowly.

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/60 sec, f/2, ISO 500 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Still Waiting

Tontouta International Airport

At the pace it took us to get checked in, the folks still waiting in the photo (seen from a walkway above as we passed from
security to the gate) would still need a couple of hours to be checked in. There wasn't that long before the flight so I don't
know how they did it, but we ended up reaching Japan on time, so in the end all was well.

A Hint For the Bicycle-Sign “What am I?” Quiz

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 38mm — 1/250 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Hint

wider view of the traffic sign in question, in Nouméa, New Caledonia

A lot of creative answers have come in on my bicycle-sign “What am I?” quiz,
but “creative” doesn't always mean “correct”, so I thought I'd post a wider view of the scene, in case it might help
answer the question “what does the sign mean?”

A New Caledonia No-Bikes-Allowed “What am I?” Quiz

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 46mm — 1/200 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

What Do I Mean?

クイズ：このニューカレドニアの交通標識はどういう意味でしょうか？

road sign in Nouméa, New Caledonia

Driving around during our vacation in New Caledonia, I came across a
number of road signs whose meaning was not intuitive to me, including the one above. I thought it might make a good “What am I?” quiz.

The sign obviously doesn't mean “No Bicycles Allowed” or I wouldn't be posting it here.... unless, of course, I'm doing the
whole reverse-psychology thing to fake you out. But then again, I may well be doing the whole reverse-reverse-psychology
thing to fake you into thinking I'm trying to fake you out.

Frankly, I'm so confused now that I don't even know. Anyway, what do you think the sign means?

As is usual with these quizzes, I'll hold all guesses privately until I publish the answer in a day or three.

A Bit of Cycling in Nouméa, New Caledonia

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/400 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Kilometer #59 Rest Stop

of this 76km ride

I found a place to rent a bicycle here in Nouméa, New Caledonia. It turns out that they
had only junk mountain bikes. Paid 40% extra to get a helmet. Went out this morning for most
of the AM, and ended up riding about 76km (47mi)
all around hilly Nouméa. It really made me appreciate my bike.

To be continued...

Returning from Lunch, New-Caledonia Style

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/1600 sec, f/7.1, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Returning from Lunch

sitting on the bow of the boat with Anthony

returning from Green Island, Bourail, New Caledonia

taken while being King of the World at 13 kph (8 mph)

Note to self: coral is hard and in a scraping situation vs. your knee, you will lose. Avoid when possible.

Deep Into New Caledonia’s South Province

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/800 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Not the “New Caledonia” One Normally Finds

in the tourist books

Deep in the South Province interior.

We took a drive away from tourist areas of Nouméa, deep into the unpopulated interior.
Having looked at the map of the area, I'd been thinking to rent a bicycle and ride there,
but I wasn't able to find one to rent. Instead, we all took a drive there today, and I'm
glad I didn't try to ride there unprepared. We went hours and hours without the slightest
sign of civilization other than the road. No stores, no gas stations, no houses, no farms, no
commerce or human presence of any kind except the occasional Provincial nature area (devoid of
people, vending machines, etc.). It was eerie.

Not until we made a loop all the way around and approached Nouméa again did we start to find
a human presence.

On a bicycle, I couldn't have carried enough water for the trip, so I'm glad I didn't try. I also appreciate all the more the abundance of drink vending machines in Japan.

In the photo above, there seems to be a particularly bright area in the dirt around the shadow
of my head. The dirt seemed to be particularly reflective, so it's reflecting the sun (which is directly
behind my head from the vantage of that area of the photo) back into the camera.

Oddly, when I turned around, the dirt, which appears reddish-brown when facing away from the sun,
appears almost perfectly black when facing the sun. I'd never seen anything quite like it...
as we passed, it morphed from black to the rich rust color seen above.

The area is apparently known for its nickle mines of yesteryear. It was beautiful and it's hard to
imagine why it's not home to a thriving population, except to imagine that the economy of the nation simply
can't support enough people to have bothered spilling over from the coasts into this area.

With proper planning, I'd love to ride some of the roads we drove today. Some of the mountain hills
were brutal, such as this one. Maybe next time.

Visiting New Caledonia

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/125 sec, f/13, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

My Hotel

is not quite in this league

Maître Island, Nouméa, New Caledonia

ニューカレドニア、ヌーメア市,メトル島
Desktop-Background Versions

1280×800  ·  1680×1050  ·  1920×1200  ·  2560×1600  ·  2880×1800

Sadly, we're at the Hilton on the mainland, with the worst in-room WiFi I've seen since.... well, since I last stayed at a major American hotel chain.