The southern part of New Caledonia's island of Grande Terre is a vast wilderness where you can walk all day without seeing anyone else, no structures, no villages, just old mining and logging roads from the late 1800's. The Riviere du Carenage is one of 5 rivers that flows into the Baie du Carenage on the northern extension of the big Baie du Prony. Nobody lives on any of the watersheds of any of the rivers. So the water is crystal clear, cool, perfect for cooling dips when trekking through this lovely wilderness area.

This particular part of the upper reaches of the Riviere du Carenage is strewn with giganic boulders. Most of them are sedimentary rocks, formed when the island was submerged millions of years ago. But some of the boulders are almost pure iron, like the one I am standing on or the spherical one next to it. I like to think these huge iron boulders came from meteors. They are scattered here and there in this area amidst the sedimentary rocks and sometimes surround large crater-shaped lakes.