Blogs from South Province, New Caledonia, Oceania - page 14

We arrived in Nouméa early in the morning following an Australian theme night party. Some of us dressed up - thanks to having found a "pound" shop in Cairns, but there was limited scope for anything other than Bruce and Sheila, the outback bush rangers or the painted native with associated croc/didgeridoo. Still, it was fun (picture attached). Nouméa is the largest city in the French Special Collectivity of New Caledonia. It is located on a peninsula in the south of New Caledonia's main island which is called Grande Terre. The population of the island consists of European, Polynesian, Indonesians and Vietnamese as well as many Melanesians who find work in Nouméa which is one of the South Pacific's most industrialized cities. It lies on a protected deep water harbour that forms the chief port of ... read more

As you can see in the summer of 2007 I went to New Caledonia. The flight to Noumea was very long. It took me 30 hours of flying to get to Noumea. I had a flight Ljubljana-Paris-Tokyo-Noumea with Air France. If you come from EU, you don’t need any visa requirements. Well in Noumea I was staying at the YHA. I really recommend this hostel. It is actually the only hostel in New Caledonia. It is save, clean and full of travelers. It is located in the centre of Noumea, on the hill, with a great view of Noumea. Well I stayed there for 5 nights. During these 5 nights I made a plan for Noumea (what to see, where to go etc.). I was surprised by the knowledge of English language in Noumea. Not a ... read more

We left you in Hervy Bay, from where we moved onto Brisbane! Brisbane is a really nice city, its not too big or busy and is well looked after. We stayed at a really nice hostel called Bowen Terrace, it was more like staying in a big house than in a hostel. You can get around the city using the city cat, which as it sounds isn't a large feline, but a catameran that cruises up and down the river in the centre of the city! We decided to take a trip to Australia Zoo, home of the late Steve Irwin. We encountered lots of animals, from mini crocodiles to the largest you could ever imagine, to circus rescued elephants, bengal tigers, wombats, turtles, dingoes and of course lots of Koalas, we even got to cuddle ... read more

My dear friends and family, Having a wonderful time in New Caledonia and warm at last! After a couple of days in Noumea resting at my brother Marc and Joelle's lovely appartment, we were off camping in the bush! Imagine that, I hadn't been camping since I was 18 years in Ireland! To top it all, we were to go camping in the wild for the 1st 2 days, not even on a camping site. Well I not only survived but loved the whole experience. Marc and Joelle have a landrover with a trailer (they call it their country residence) which Marc equipped with a double bed, cooking facilities, water tank with shower attachment and large ice box for keeping our beers (and food) cold. What else do you need? Going to the loo in the ... read more