The famous game where the numbers drawn are to be compared with the numbers on the cards you have bought. A bingo exists on the port in Noumea and many people go there to spend all their pay, beware of addictions! Informal bingos are often organized in the neighborhoods and tribes. A good atmosphere prevails.

The essential Kanak dish! Bananas, tubers (taro, yam, manioc) and meat or fish are wrapped in banana leaves with coconut milk, all put in a hole dug in the ground or sand. The techniques differ according to the region. If the bougna is prepared in a pot or with gas, it is called bougna marmite.

The cagou is none other than the emblem of the island. This bird with blue plumage has not been spoiled by nature: clumsy, stocky, unable to fly ... you will not find it anywhere else! Its survival is now threatened. Its population counts only a few thousand specimens. Try to catch a glimpse of one at the Blue River Park!

This term designates the white population, even mixed, that has been established for several generations on the Pebble. Descendants of the first convicts or the first settlers, they are always ready for "a shot" at hunting or fishing. Today, the term "Caledonian" is preferred, although "Caldoche" is still used.

This is the traditional Kanak habitat. The hut is the manifestation of a Melanesian culture that has survived the centuries and the social relationships within the clan. Each region has its own construction technique. Its singularity lies first of all in its entrance: an adult cannot cross it without bending down.

One of the gastronomic pleasures of New Caledonia is jam! Breakfasts in the gites or with your family will be the occasion for you to discover delicious home-made jams, for example banana, papaya, coconut, lemon, sweet potato, guava, soursop... Don't hesitate to bring some back to France as a souvenir!

Coral is a marine animal and not a plant. It lives in symbiosis with algae and constitutes itself its calcareous skeleton. A coral reef of 1,600 km surrounds almost the entirety of New Caledonia. This formidable rampart protects a lagoon of 24,000 km², a heavenly universe that can be observed by PMT or scuba diving.

This term is difficult to define and yet is one of the central elements of Kanak life and identity: custom is a concept used to designate tradition and propriety. We often say "to make custom". This offering is for example composed of a piece of cloth and a banknote or a packet of tobacco.

Comes from the Italian lagone which means "big lake". It is the stretch of water closed off by the coral reef. Be careful, we don't say: "I want a room with a view of the sea", but: "I want a room with a view of the lagoon"! And not just any lagoon, since it is the largest in the world! Enjoy it, it's sublime!

Which island is the closest to paradise? Two islands claim this title: Ouvéa, with its sublime sandy beach of Mouli, or the Isle of Pines, with its bay of Oro? But let's give credit where credit is due, The island closest to paradise is a best-seller by Katsura Morimura published in the 1960's in Japan and it was about... Ouvéa!

A word that is incomprehensible to non-Caledonians, but used at every turn by the inhabitants of the Pebble. Tata simply means "goodbye" in Kanak. Tata bisou is a variant. In the same way, being on familiar terms is common in New Caledonia. It must be reciprocal and does not represent an untimely familiarity.

Small amphibious marine snake which is no less endowed with a deadly venom. But he never bit a human, his jaw does not open enough! Be careful, it digests in the plants of the sea shore, do not step on it. Caledonians have a lot of affection for him and we can see a lot of them at the Amedee lighthouse in particular.