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In the last ever Journey of a Lifetime, an award given by the Royal Geographical Society, the French-Algerian journalist Chahrazade Douah travels from her parent's former home in Algeria across the world to the Pacific islands of New Caledonia, off the east coast of Australia. A brutal version of the journey was taken in the 19th century by Algerian exiles, forced to leave their north African homes after uprisings against French colonial rule. The survivors who made it to the Pacific settled and are now part of a complex New Caledonia society.
Chahrazade was first drawn to the story of these Arab exiles by the stories told to her by her Granny. The Royal Geographical Society prize gave her the once in a lifetime opportunity, not only to travel to New Caledonia, but to begin to understand the complexity of a people trying to establish themselves in exile with yearnings and memories of a land half a world away. She hears from Algerians with stories to tell about their ancestors who were taken to the Pacific, and to Pacific Islanders who carry the ancestral memories of a life back in Algeria. Names, religion and customs have survived and been given a Pacific Island twist, but in a unique island ceremony, Chahrazade becomes a part of the connection between peoples separated by force over a hundred years ago.

Producer: Tom Alban