Caledonia

Hamilton, New Zealand
March 2023

"Sooner or later, everything old is new again.
- Stephen King.

Forget Atlantis - once, there truly was an eight continent.

​The name of this lost continent was Zealandia, a boot-shaped land mass that existed for 60 million years, until it disappeared beneath the ocean about 20 million years ago (1). Zealandia was nearly as large as the continent Australia. It was also larger than the entire Indian subcontinent, and over twice the size of the world's largest island, Greenland. For these and other reaons, Zealandia was proposed as the world's eight continent in the 2014 book, Zealandia: Our Continent Revealed, written by geologists Nick Mortimer and Hamish Campbell (2). The proposal was confirmed in 2017, when a team of geologists classifed Zealandia as a "submerged" continent. Given its status as a submerged continent, it could be argued that Zealandia still exists - it's just that most of it is underwater.

When it broke away from the other continents, Zealandia was thinned and stretched, which facilitated its immersion into the south Pacific Ocean. Today, 94% of Zealandia lies beneath the waves, although two main regions still rise above. The first and largest region is the temperate country of New Zealand, which lies in the south of Zealandia. The second, much smaller region is the tropical island of New Caledonia, which lies along the northern tip of the continent. 

Size comparison - Australia on the left, Zealandia on the right.

Although New Zealand shares the name of its continent, New Caledonia was named after another place, on the other side of the world.

Old Caledonia

The latin name, Caledonia, was used by the Romans to refer to the lands north of the River Forth, which includes most of modern-day Scotland (3). During the time of the Roman Empire, Caledonia was more sharply defined by the Antonine Wall, a turf and wood wall with stone foundations that was built in 142 AD and ran for 63 kilometers, between the Firth of Forth in the east and the Firth of Clyde in the west. The Romans erected the Antonine wall to protect their routes in the north of Scotland, but unfortunately the wall endured many attacks form the Caledonians and was abandoned only 8 years after its construction. Although the Antonine Wall provided a clear border, in many instances Caledonia was also referred to as all the land north of another wall, Hadrian's Wall, a stone wall to the south of the Antonine Wall that lasted for a much longer time than its northern cousin.

Essentially, all people who lived north of the Roman Empire's most northern border were called Caledonians, a term that was applied to a confederacy of people represented by a large number of Celtic tribes, all of whom were deemed as enemies of the Roman Empire. Many Caledonians were said to have red hair, though they probably dyed it that way, as well as long-limbed. According to the Romans, all of the Caledonians were said to be "overly warlike."

The Romans embarked on a number of invasions to subdue the Caledonians, none of which entirely succeeded. Perhaps the most famous was the Roman invasion of 208-210 AD, led by the Roman Emperor Septimius Severus. The Romans quickly advanced to the Antonine Wall, but north of the wall they were so harassed by Caledonian guerilla tactics that the invasion was abandoned, but not until Severus and 50,000 other Romans had died.

Caledonia was usually defined as the lands north of the Antonine Wall, although in some contexts it was also referred to as anything north of Hadrian's Wall.

The last known mention of the Caledonians was 305 AD - after that, the tribes of northern Britain were generally referred to as Picts.

New Caledonia

Much later, in 1774, the British explorer James Cook landed on the northern tip of Zealandia, an island that he called New Caledonia as the landscape reminded him of Scotland and its highlands (4). European influence remained relatively scant until 1853, when the French officially colonized and took possession of New Caledonia.

The indigenous Melanesian inhabitants of New Caledonia were the Kanaks, who had lived there since 1000 BC. The Kanaks were excluded from many aspects of the French economy and placed on reservations, which eventually led to an uprising in 1878, led by the High Chief Ataï of La Foa, followed by another one in 1917, led by Noël of Tiamou. The rebellions seemed to die down over the ensuing decades. In 1953, French citizenship was granted to all New Caledonians regardless of ethnicity. Although there were more conflicts in the 70s and the 80s, all New Caledonains seem to have lived together in relative harmony ever since.

Recently, Jess and I had a chance to visit Noumea, the capital of New Caledonia. It took just over 2 hours to fly from the south to the north of Zealandia, where a striking change in climate awaited us, from temperate to tropical, as we disembarked in La Tontouta International Airport. It took another hour by bus to arrive in Noumea, a city of about 100,000 people, which could have been a small city in France but for the semi-sweltering heat and kindly presence of the Kanak people.

We found an unassuming, but magnificant place to stay for the week, called Hotel Beaurivage, a fine accommodation placed right alongside one of Noumea's beaches. It was easy to stay ketogenic with the market-fresh meats and cheeses, which all seemed to be imported from France. And there were many chic restaurants to enjoy, perhaps my favourite being Parfums d'Olive, a restaurant dedicated to olive oil. We often enjoyed a somewhat under-used beach across the road from the hotel, which may have related to the fact that a number of shark attacks occurred that week.

Still, Noumea had plenty of other activities to offer, including scuba diving and hiking. We had two full days of diving along the reefs of Passe de Boulari, during which we encountered many of the usual suspects - brilliantly coloured fish, majestic rays, and quite a number of bull sharks...alas, no octopus. As for the hiking, we drove up to the middle of the island and ascended a relatively steep trail to Le Plateau de Dogny, where dazzling views were beheld of the surrounding hills and mountains.

New Caledonia, reminiscent of Old Caledonia.

The magnificent Hotel Beaurivage in Noumea.

Dinner at Parfums d'Olive, a restaurant dedicated to olive oil.

Sunset in New Caledonia.

In the end, a week was long enough to obtain only a brief feel for North Zealandia, a place named after Old Caledonia, a place now called New Caledonia. As time passes, it seems we often call a place a different name depending on whether we are seeing it 20 million, 2,000, 200, or 20 years ago...or as it is right now.

But, its underlying essence, which lies beneath the waves, remains the same throughout - hidden, silent, and unacknowledged.

​Solace.

References
(1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zealandia.
(2) Mortimer and Campbell. 2014. Zelaandia: Our Continent Revealed. Penguin Books.
(3) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caledonia.
(4) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Caledonia.