New Caledonia

  • S1-E59: New Caledonia: Caledonian Shores

    A sailor of the Resolution holds up a freshly caught golden mackerel, its scales flashing like molten metal in the Pacific sun—brief abundance against weeks of salt meat and weary hunger.

    In September 1774, after weeks among the islands of the New Hebrides, Cook’s expedition turns southward into open ocean—expecting nothing but empty horizon. Instead, a vast landmass rises from the mist. Guarded by a colossal coral reef and fringed with pale grasslands and dark mountains, New Caledonia appears like a world apart.

  • S1-E60: New Caledonia: Poisoned Paradise

    Committed to the sea off New Caledonia, the ship’s butcher receives a sailor’s burial—the third life lost on the voyage.

    Anchored off New Caledonia, the expedition found fresh water inland and forged peaceful exchanges with the islanders. Mountains were climbed, graves discovered, and new species collected. But after a shared meal of an unfamiliar fish, numbness and paralysis struck before dawn—leaving Cook and his naturalists weakened, just as the island’s deeper secrets began to unfold.

  • S1-E61: New Caledonia: Bitter Reef

    European naturalists explore the sparse plains of New Caledonia in 1774, where illness, unfamiliar customs, and a harsh landscape challenge Cook’s expedition.

    In September 1774, Captain Cook’s expedition continues its exploration of New Caledonia, a vast island whose stark beauty quickly reveals its hidden difficulties.

  • S1-E62: Isle of Pines: Reefs of Hunger

    A blazing fireball tears across the night sky above the stranded ship, as the crew—trapped in a deadly calm among unseen reefs—watches in awe, hoping the heavens might send the wind they so desperately need.

    The Resolution leaves New Caledonia in a state of quiet desperation. Illness lingers, strength is fading, and the promise of discovery is overshadowed by a far more urgent concern: survival.