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15 Jun 2003
It's mosquito and midge season. This means that I'm more or less permanently covered in huge red or luminously throbbing bites. Biting insects of all species adore me; I'm like caviar to them. In any given room full of people, I must light up like a Christmas tree on the mosquito target guidance system. To make matters worse, I'm also allergic to the bites, so they come up the size of golf balls. It's at times like these that I long for the ultimate mosquito bite antidote—Rivière Bleu.
Three years ago, I travelled to New Caledonia in the South Pacific to do some field work. For a week or so, I stayed in one of the 'scientific lodges' in one of the National Parks—Parc de la Rivière Bleu. It's a fantastic 90 square kilometres of rainforest, mountains and—as the name suggests—a river. My host took me to the lodge (which was more of a hut than a lodge, but on the plus side, did have a shower and toilet), and then took me on a brief tour of the surroundings. He pointed down a steep slope, and with a smile said, "And this is your swimming pool".
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