New Caledonia

Seven hundred miles east of the Australian coast lies the French island possession of New Caledonia. The capital Noumea, is a pleasant tropical town with modern shops and Parisian street cafes, native markets and wide beaches. The island is rich in high-grade nickel ore, and in the mountains inland from Noumea the ore is mined and conveyed in an aerial conveyor to smelting works on the coast, where the nickel is extracted and exported. From the series “Pacific on parade”.