New Caledonia Part 1: Exploring Noumea

PART 1: Noumea

What to do. Put up with the wet, windy and woeful winter weather OR spend a few days on a South Pacific island? Of course that problem didn't take too long to consider and we were soon planning and packing for a tropical getaway. We chose New Caledonia because it's only a couple of hours from Brisbane, it's French, and there would be some sunshine. 

Flying over the island we were amazed at the mountainous terrain...

... with settlement largely confined to the flat coastal areas.

We landed in the capital, Noumea, on the main island of Grand Terre, then travelled a few ks south to stay in the Baie des Citrons, the principal tourist area. There's our hotel - the cream building right in the centre of the photo. 

Here are two views from the hotel rear balcony with the mountains in the distance.

In front of the hotel was the bay.

The hotel grounds were lavishly tropical and we certainly felt that we were far from home.

We explore Noumea

Our first plan was to see Noumea. We quickly figured out the bus system and were soon wending our way to the capital 3 kilometres away. I have to say it's not a particularly eye-catching city and there is little to suggest it is a thriving tourist destination. I was expecting French sophistication and elegance and instead found a typical South Pacific town with lush trees bordering the streets, a scattering of houses, a couple of banks, some businesses, a shopping precinct of a street or two which did have high-end jewellery, perfumes and clothes, a lovely park and a Chinatown. Admittedly we were only there for a few hours and we only explored a small section of this large city, so I may well be doing the place a disservice. This was our first day and we were a little travel weary, so decided to miss the lovely cathedral and museum which we really should have visited. On the plus side, the sun was shining, people were friendly, and it was an easy stroll from the bus station. This is what we discovered. 

The park was certainly a gathering place for people.

And a restful spot for Steve, too.

We popped into a bank to change our money into the local currency French Pacific Francs, as we quickly found out that people and businesses (especially taxi drivers), preferred cash. Continuing on, we discovered Chinatown, but beyond a couple of restaurants and some gaudy stalls, there was little of note.

An amazing dinner

That night, we ventured to a truly wonderful restaurant in the Baie des Citrons which was quirky but full of French pizzazz. We entered down a narrow path bordered by thick tropical plants, and inside, what I can only describe as a jungle. The room was filled with tall palms, cycads, cordylines, ferns - so much greenery you could barely see another table. 

The food was delicious. A plate of raw tuna with mayonnaise on a crouton was offered to us - a 'freebie' which we gratefully received. Then came the chargrilled prawns. So yummy.

My wonderful husband brought me a glass of Champagne (no 'sparkling' here) which was an astonishing $30 - a glass! 'We're on holiday. It's a treat', he said magnanimously.   I savoured every drop.

Port Moselle Markets

The next day we set off for the food and fish markets. I'd read about them. Be early, the information said. They start at 5:00 am and close around 11:00. am. We hopped on the bus and clearly said 'Port Moselle Markets please. Can you tell us when to get off?' Well, away we went and not much later the driver turned to us and said 'Now'. Well, all I can think is that he heard the words 'Port' and 'Market', because he had dropped us off at Port Plaisance which was a shopping centre with a supermarket.  Where we wanted to go was miles away. Because we were early nothing was open apart from a small bakery; to add to my woe, I mistook a pizza for a blueberry custard tart (in my defence, the olives certainly looked like blueberries). 
We set off down the road. We kept asking people where to go and they all said straight ahead, but the time they said it would take varied from 10 minutes to 30 minutes, and the distance from half a k to a few ks. It turned out to be 2 kilometres and took us over half an hour as we kept stopping to rest and the last part was up a steep hill. Part of the walk took us around a bay with some serious yachts and boats.

There was an excellent boardwalk which made for a very pleasant stroll.

Along the way was a monument to Charles de Gaulle, commemorating a victory for Free France over the Vichy French in World War II. 

We thought we were nearly there but no. A very kind lady walking her dog said, 'I'll come with you'. On and on we went, up and down hills. I chatted away in French (well ok, I said a few words about her dog and asked how often she walked here), until finally she told us to go down the hill and turn left. With lots of 'merci beaucoups' we were finally there. The food market didn't have the bustling atmosphere I was expecting with vendors vying for your attention, as there were few people there and not many stalls. And of course we were there rather late. But I did buy some bananas.

However, the fish market was fabulous. I didn't know many of the fish but there were so many of all varieties piled up behind the glass cabinets.  

Of course I knew the crabs, but when one 'winked' at me it rather put me off.

I much preferred these.

The vendors cheerfully obliged when we asked to take their photo. This man was very expertly slicing the fish.

We then wandered over to the tourist stalls.

I bought Steve a ball cap and a t-shirt.

So, although we had started off the day feeling a little disgruntled we ended on a happy note. 

Sublime sorbets

Very close to our hotel was a splendid sorbet parlour enticingly called Amorino. 

And love it we did. There were at least 25 different flavours. You selected a cone or a cup, paid, then could pick any number of flavours. I opted for three - lemon verbena, blood orange and passionfruit - all delicious. We made a number of return visits over our stay!!!!!

The day winds down

At dusk, we watched locals strolling along the beach and families enjoying themselves as the sun was starting to set.

We would soon be leaving for a few days on Lifou, one of the Loyalty Islands. But we would be back in Noumea for three more days when we planned to visit the National Aquarium and the Cultural Centre. 

To be continued...