24 October: New
Caledonia - Noumea
For my birthday a
couple of years ago we had a week in Noumea, the capital of New Caledonia, a
French territory in the Pacific. Quite
delicious! A multi-ethnic community, primarily French speaking, it is like a
taste of France.
Did you know:
Captain Cook landed here
in 1775 at a time when there were reportedly 70,000 Kanaks living in the
archipelago, and gave the name "New Caledonia" to these islands,
after Caledonia, the old name for Scotland. New Caledonia was annexed to France in 1853,
and became an overseas territory of France in 1956.
The country makes its money
from tourism and mining (nickel and cobalt).
The Kanaks are the indigenous Melanesian inhabitants of the country, and constitute around 40% of the population.
The Kanaks are the indigenous Melanesian inhabitants of the country, and constitute around 40% of the population.
During World War 2, Nouméa served as the headquarters of the
United States military in the South Pacific.
We went in July, when it wasn’t crowded and the weather was
warm, but not too hot. Eight days is about right to shop, capture many of the tourists
spots and relax on the beach. Our hotel
was out of the township itself in the area where most of the tourist hotels are
sited.
It was about a six or seven km walk around the coastline into town, which we enjoyed and it was easy to catch a bus from the Centre Ville back out, as it stopped right outside our hotel. We tend to walk a lot anyway, and it was a nice way to experience the town with a slight breeze and lots of places to stop for a coffee or an ice cream.
There is so much to look and and enjoy. I loved this stained glass window at the Cathedral Saint Joseph, and the statue of Joan d'Arc outside, looking a little the worse for wear.
If walking isn’t your thing, the Le Petit Train, an open air motorised train can whizz you around. It’s very relaxed. We only ate at the hotel once, as we wanted to try all the local places. The food is as you would expect, very good, with an emphasis on fish and sea food.
 |
| view from our room at dusk |
It was about a six or seven km walk around the coastline into town, which we enjoyed and it was easy to catch a bus from the Centre Ville back out, as it stopped right outside our hotel. We tend to walk a lot anyway, and it was a nice way to experience the town with a slight breeze and lots of places to stop for a coffee or an ice cream.
There is so much to look and and enjoy. I loved this stained glass window at the Cathedral Saint Joseph, and the statue of Joan d'Arc outside, looking a little the worse for wear.
If walking isn’t your thing, the Le Petit Train, an open air motorised train can whizz you around. It’s very relaxed. We only ate at the hotel once, as we wanted to try all the local places. The food is as you would expect, very good, with an emphasis on fish and sea food.
The City of Noumea museum has a lot of history about the
area, and the Kanaks, and we spent hours there, totally fascinated. Stephen found a really funny typo (typical! for him!) on one of the exhibits that we laughed ourselves silly over. It must have been there for years and years and no one had picked it up. See if you can spot it:
The Museum of New Caledonia and the is also well worth a visit, and you can see ancient Lapita potteries dating back to 1500 BC. Unfortunately, after walking all the way down to the Maritime Museum we found it closed when we were there. It could well be open again now. However, there was a great kitchen shop not far away and I bought loads of great gifts at excellent prices!
 |
| Hint: this year is 2014 AD |
The Museum of New Caledonia and the is also well worth a visit, and you can see ancient Lapita potteries dating back to 1500 BC. Unfortunately, after walking all the way down to the Maritime Museum we found it closed when we were there. It could well be open again now. However, there was a great kitchen shop not far away and I bought loads of great gifts at excellent prices!
We wandered the Botanical Gardens and the Zoo, enjoying the
birdlife, animals, blue butterflies, and
stunning flowers.
We recommend a day trip via one of the local operators to Anse Vata, and experience the multi coloured
fish in a flat bottomed boat, try
snorkelling, a native banquet, climb the lighthouse for amazing views, and laze around on the beach. We shared the
day with a group of the city’s gendarme! They were having such fun. Take a look
at some of my photos:
At the end of a wonderful day of sailing, snorkelling, swimming, walking the island, climbing all the stairs to the lighthouse, enjoying the feast and the dancing put on for us, we came back into the port and saw this view. It epitomises Noumea for me, a glorious spot and a holiday to remember.
 |
| a chap swimming under our boat! |
 |
| looking up to the top of the lighthouse inside. |
 |
| Gendarme on their day off! |
 |
| view from the top of the lighthouse |
At the end of a wonderful day of sailing, snorkelling, swimming, walking the island, climbing all the stairs to the lighthouse, enjoying the feast and the dancing put on for us, we came back into the port and saw this view. It epitomises Noumea for me, a glorious spot and a holiday to remember.
No comments:
Post a Comment