In New Caledonia, you will likely arive at Noum, the French territory's capital.
The international airport of La Tontouta is about 30 kilometers to the west of Nouméa, which in turn is located on the south coast, about 50 kilometers from the eastern tip of the island (being French, distances are metric there).
All 43 conifer species on the island are endemic.
Of particular interest are Araucaria nemorosa, A. rulei, Neocallitropsis pancheri, and Parasitaxus ustus, the only known parasitic gymnosperm.
Port Boisé, at the south-eastern tip of the island, is the location of the only known population of Araucaria nemorosa. On the way there, check out the water falls at the Chutes de la Madeleine.
Several small populations of Neocallitropsis pancheri occur on mountains in the Parc Rivière Bleue -- a mountainous area only about 15 km to the north of Nouméa.
In Nouméa, a nice souvenir to buy would be the perfumed resin of Neocallitropsis pancheri.
But whatever you do, don't forget to bring back cones or seeds !!!

For further information, you may consult the on-line yellow pages for NC.
Another useful web site is the Photos de Nouvelle-Caledonie.
PS. you will need vaccination against dengue fever, which is mosquito-transmitted on the island.
PPS. FYI, I have never had the pleasure of visiting, but a colleague has lived there for a few years...

I hope Jaro does not take offense to my tweaking of his suggestions, but given my prior visits to New Caledonia, I hope I am not out of line to submit the following:

La Tontouta is the only international airport in the territory, and it is almost an hour northwest of Noumea, as, despite the seemingly short distance, only a small portion of the road was 4-lane motorway as of my last visit (the rest was one lane paved in each direction). Alas, this is a common situation in NC, so you have to factor in a good deal more driving time than the apparent distances might suggest.

By car, you will likely be able to actually see many of the 46 species of gymnosperms existing in the country (all but one are supposed to indeed be endemic). However, I would be greatly surprised if you actually got to see a live plant of Parasitaxus ustus. Although it is reasonably well-distributed throughout the country, in my experience it is sited in seriously remote and inaccessible areas. Only people in the know can lead you to the assorted locations where it grows. Unlike other conifers, including far more rare species, which you might see growing in arboreta or planted displays (a small but lovely one can be found at the IRD headquarters at Anse Vata district in Noumea), to my knowledge, no one has yet successfully propagated or transplanted and grown this species in a horticultural setting, so you are unlikely to find it even in a garden.

Port Boisé is indeed near the only known locality where Araucaria nemorosa grows in the wild. The species, however, does not grow at Port Boisé itself, but rather just before the road descends from the plateau down to sea level to the Gite Kanua at Port Boisé. Although one can certainly reach the spot via the Chutes de la Madeleine, that would be a considerably less direct route over roads which are confusingly marked (and often unpaved) on the local map. A more easy-to-follow route (and faster, despite seemingly being a bit more circuitous), is to go directly to the southeast coast via the main road to Yate, through to, and continuting past, Goro, to where the road turns inland upwards into the plateau (for a view of what you'd see behind you as you climb to the plateau on that road, see

www.garystutler.com/Pages/Works/LeColDeGoro.html

www.garystutler.com/Pages/NCgal01.html

Once you turn inland, you will reach a clearly marked crossroads pointing the way to Port Boisé. Shortly before that cross-roads, you will cross a small river. Look closely at the near bank of the river before crossing. You will see Retrophyllum minor and Podocarpus novaecaledoniae. Throughout the plateau region of the South (also known as the Plaine des Lacs), Dacrydium araucarioides is exceedingly well represented. At the higher elevations you will see interestingly shaped Agathis ovata dotting the area.

Despite not being the most direct route to see A. nemorosa, the Chutes de la Madeleine is well worth a visit, not just because of the beautiful waterfall, but because of the astonishing diversity of conifers and other flora, which you are unlikely to see anywhere else. In fact, this preserve is probably the only place where you will be able to actually see Neocallitropsis pancheri and Dacrydium guillauminii. Downstream from the main viewing area (and across the river itself) you can see some pretty huge Araucaria muelleri (although they might be rulei . . . a bit tough to see from that distance, and they are not readily accessible by foot).

Although it is absolutely true that there is one or two tiny populations of montane N. pancheri, I am informed that they are located in the Montaigne des Sources preserve (which is closed under lock and key to incidental human access), and in one other highly protected and very remote area which mere mortals are seldom given the chance to even approach. Trust me: If you want to see N. pancheri outside of an arboretum or garden, you must visit the Chutes de la Madeleine preserve, not just for the beautiful waterfall, but for the amazing flora (both gymnosperm and angiosperm).

(By the way, although in the old days, N. pancheri was indeed exploited for its perfumed resin and other qualities, the tree is today so exceedingly rare and protected, that it would genuinely amaze me if resin could actually be purchased nowadays for something as trivial as a tourist souvenir. I can't say it's impossible, but I have never seen it offered for sale in NC or anywhere, and I would be thrilled to find out where I can get some during my next visit, if you do indeed locate a source of something like this).

By the way, although the Parc Rivière Bleue is open to the public and well worth visiting because of the visitor centre and the extensive plantation of numerous endemic conifers, virtually all of the most interesting wild areas of the park have been closed to incidental traffic as of a few months ago. This is because a hurricane (cyclone in that part of the world) damaged a crucial bridge, rendering it unsafe for traffic, and cutting off the heart of the park from the main highway. It is possible that repairs have been done since my last visit, but from my conversations with friends, it seems that the money simply wasn't there. I hope that this is not the case, as the forested heart of this park is magnificent, simply chock full of amazing flora: Giant Agathis lanceolata, huge Dacrycarpus viellardii, Acmopyle, Libocedrus, Falcatifolium, and the list goes on. But the visitor centre is itself very well done and worth the visit, even if the heart of the park is closed.

If you want to see some nice specimens of very rare (and hard to get to gymnosperms), you should take the time to visit the IRD's small garden (interior atrium), Parc Rivière Bleue's conifer plantation, and the Parc Forestier on top of Montravel in the heart of Noumea. The latter is a glorified zoo, but it also has several huge Agathis and Araucaria (and perhaps now other genera as well --- they were working on it not long ago).

As for collecting seed or plant material, I wouldn't recommend it. Americans are not viewed with the highest esteem at the moment around the world. Although you may well have the odds in your favor and leave the country after successfully violating their rules about collecting and exporting germplasm, if you do get caught, not only would you personally get into some deep do-do with the gendarmerie, but you would intensify the official hostility against Americans who are working hard to establish official contacts for scientific purposes with the responsible Caledonian agencies.

Enjoy your stay in NC.

Aside from Norfolk Island Pines planted in various areas in Sydney (as well as Bunya-Bunyas in more open spaces), Sydney itself is not exactly a conifer mecca endemically.

It does have one enormous attraction: Royal Sydney Botanical Gardens (RSBG) next to the famous Opera House. The gardens are simply huge with a substantial display of Southern Hemisphere flora, including the gymnosperms of the region. As you walk from the Opera House look to your right and you'll see Agathis and Araucarias (there was talk of putting in a New Caledonian section about 5 minutes down the coast walk from the Opera House, but I don't know if anything came of that . . . but just in case keep your eyes peeled to the right). Behind the centrally situated restaurant there are Araucarias and Agathis of very substantial size (those things hanging from the trees in the area are huge fruit bats). If you continue going southeast (uphill) towards the freeway and the Domain, you'll get to the cage where the Wollemia was planted a bit over a decade ago (dunno if it's still in a cage, now that the species is in worldwide distribution). It's next to the building that used to house the herbarium, but is now classrooms and educational displays. In the circle of plantings around the Wollemia, you will find a number of other amazing conifers (Dacrydiums and other Podocarps, and other cool stuff). Go downhill again, along the garden wall, and you should get to a lawn planted thickly with Araucarias (and Agathis?, can't recall) from all over the world (including New Caledonia and Papua New Guinea). In addition to all I describe here, the garden has many, many accessions of rare and interesting conifers, but unless you have access to an accessions list (the information centre may be able to help), you will never know where to look, and you will be lucky to stumble upon them. They are scattered throughout the gardens in seemingly unrelated plantings. But most of the trees that one finds are doing beautifully, and are a joy to see (especially if one never gets to see them in the wild). In fact, even if you do have the good fortune to see them in the wild, these plantings show off the trees' natural beauty in all their undamaged glory, whereas, in the wild, many of these cool trees look quite flea-bitten and deformed, from decades/centuries of cyclone branch-breaking, insect nibblings, fires, and such.

One other place to visit, is the RSBG's satellite garden at Mount Tomah in the Blue Mountains, which is in a cooler climate. It is quite a long trip to get to the Blue Mountains from Downtown Sydney, however, even though it is in Sydney's back yard. Of local endemic conifer interest is Microstrobos fitzgeraldii. It's supposed to grow in the spray of waterfalls in that area, and is restricted to an extremely small range. I have never seen it in its natural habitat, so I cannot direct you to the locations in question. However, if you ask around at RSBG, and express an interest, they might be able to refer you.

Enjoy Sydney.

My apologies -- I wasn't aware about "their rules about collecting and exporting germplasm."
That's quite a contrast to Australia's global distribution campaign with the Wollemi Pine -- are the French intent on making sure that New Caledonian endemic gymnosperms become extict ?!? (noting in particular the recent hurricane damage cited by davevallejo above)
Maybe someone should take a cue from General deGaule's famous line "vive le Quebec libre" here in Canada decades ago, and go to Nouméa to declare "vive les gymnospermes libres" :O)

PS. love the impressionist paintings !

Hi Jaro,

They aren't very different - the Australians won't allow you to go to the Wollemia stands and collect your own, either. I'd suspect that collecting in New Caledonia is permitted, provided you buy the necessary permits first. How one would get them, and how much they would cost, I don't know.

The problem is that collecting permits tend work on the principle that they expect you will be making $100m profit by patenting valuable drugs that you find in the plants; they're not really designed around people who only want to grow one or two plants out of botanical curiosity or as ornamental plants in gardens.

Resin

Hi Jaro and Resin,

This thread risks entering into a political polemic --- something which, I am informed, is verbotten in GW. Suffice it to say that the public policy establishing highly restrictive collection and exportation regulations (a policy that has become very common internationally --- cf IUCN lists and such) is not rationally devised to perpetuate the survival of the "protected" species. On the surface, it prevents the insane depredations that characterized 19th and 20th century wild collections which resulted in near extinctions of many ornamental taxa (especially in the Orchid taxa). But consider that under this policy *everyone* (even legitimate botanical gardens and arboreta, and even conservation organizations) are strictly prohibited from virtually *all* collection (see exceptions, below), and consider also that this policy is not accompanied by equal enthusiasm applied to prevention of careless mining, of other development, of fires, and so on. As a result, legitimate altruistic organizations with no commercial or exploitative intent are blocked from activities which genuinely offer propagation and preservation options for the genome of these endangered genera, at precisely the moment in history when these genera could use a helping hand protecting them from extinction due to development. It is unfortunate, but in the defense of the NC agencies in question, their intentions are very good and noble. But sadly, I suspect that the results of their policies may not be quite what they expected.

Although there are institutions which are respectfully trying to change this, currently, collection permits are only granted for specific scientific research projects from accredited educational institutions, the results of which must be accounted for and rigidly supervised by the NC agencies in question. If you are not a professor or PhD candidate with a legitimate (and documentable) experimental or study project, you will be sent away without so much as a "Have a nice day."

Resin, perhaps you are in the know of a regulatory aspect of which I am as yet unaware, but as far as I know, it isn't a question of money (e.g. $100m). Officially, it has to all be scientific study-oriented. Of course, if that leads to a profitable venture (e.g. pharmaceutical products), then naturally no one objects, provided the NC and French governments receive the deserved share of profits from such a venture. But the idea is that *they* are the ones in total control at all times, and real and serious science is officially the only criteria for the granting of any collection permit.

Jaro, as Resin says, the "global distribution campaign with the Wollemi Pine" is in fact an illustration of identically the same policy. Incidental collecting and exporting of Wollemia is a crime. This tree is essentially a national treasure to be marketed (one hopes) for the benefit of Australian conservation. Where the Aussies and the NC agencies differ, is that the Aussies have somewhat of a more enthusiastic (some might say too enthusiastic! It varies from State to State) policy for protecting natural areas from mining and other development. They are also better at seeing and funding the marketing potential behind Wollemia, for instance. There is no comparable effort in NC to officially market the wonderful plant life in that country in a manner that would benefit NC conservation.

Perhaps it is just a matter of time?

davevallejo wrote:
"They are also better at seeing and funding the marketing potential behind Wollemia, for instance. There is no comparable effort in NC to officially market the wonderful plant life in that country in a manner that would benefit NC conservation."

I thought I said pretty much the same thing, with fewer words :O)
All kidding aside though, I sincerely hope that you are right that "it is just a matter of time" -- hopefully not TOO MUCH time, as the next hurricane might just wipe out the entire population of Araucaria nemorosa, for example.
Also, it is interesting to note that one endemic NC species is already one of the most common household plants around the world (of course I'm talking about Dyzygotheca elegantissima - the False Aralia), and there are A. rulei trees growing in a few warm-zone cities (I believe someone posted a couple of photos from San Diego, not too long ago....).
Lastly, on another less serious note, I wonder how one can possibly be absolutely sure of avoiding getting any endemic gymnosperm seeds in their shoes or clothes, while hiking through NC forests, which are open to the public ?? (unlike the Wollemia stands)
Accidents do happen, you know! :O)