http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Caledonia/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Oceania , New Caledonia en-us Thu, 24 Jul 2008 08:56:02 BST Thu, 24 Jul 2008 08:56:02 BST The colours of this place are amazing The finest whitest sand and some of the bluest seas we have seen in the Pacific. Visited New Cal in 2003 and going back in September 2008 for a few months of cruising swimming surfing kiting and swinging happily at anchor.Things I loved about New Caledonia buying warm crossiants from the market and having a big bowl of chocolat chaud surfing the reef b http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Caledonia/blog-272132.html The First Day Arriving in Tontouta at the beautiful time of 12.30am was not the best start to the trip. Then there was the lovely drive to the Noumea which took around 30mins. Luckily I had some amusement thanks to Claire. We reached the Hotel Beaurivage situated right on the beach front of the Baie des Citrons . I sank straight into bed so I would be prepared for the next days adventures. T http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Caledonia/Noumea/blog-260274.html The Nobregas are off to sea ... a new experience to add to our travel adventuresA 10 day cruise on the Pacific Dawn sailing to 4 ports of call around the south pacific region.Anticipation was high we've heard a lot about it Couldn't wait to get into that mile of food... As you all know on any cruise anything and everything is available in on stop shop and we weren't disappointed in that a http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Caledonia/Noumea/blog-259095.html Our excitement of getting to visit New Caledonia dampened a bit when we started researching how much it costs to stay there Definitely it has imported prices as well as the language from France and thats a real shame for backpackers. jKalednia ltogatsa irnt rzett lelkesedsnket kiss leh369ttte mikor rjttnk hogy milyen sokba is fog ez neknk kerlni. Nemcsak a nyelvet de az rak http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Caledonia/Noumea/blog-257637.html Apres la folie de Mardi Gras ce weekend nous allons nous reposer en Nouvelle Caledonie NC et arrivons donc dans sa capitale Noumea. A premiere vue Noumea n'est pas vraiment le paradis qu'on s'imagine. Mais quand on regarde de plus pres on decouvre une culture et une societe interessante avec ses problemes et ses bons points aussi. On est alles faire une excursion dans la Province Sud ou Fran http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Caledonia/Grand-Terre/blog-255311.html Thursday March 06 2008Today we were in Noumea New Caledonia. We docked about 700am and it did take awhile for the ship to be cleared by immigration. We had not chosen a shore excursion as we had at one time thought about doing a scuba dive trip. When I got burned on my leg I knew I did not want to put it in salt water and it is a good thing we decided not to go because the weather was overc http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Caledonia/Noumea/blog-253866.html New FriendsThe ship is beginning to feel like a very small village. Faces are now familiar and Irsquom starting to pair the names and faces together. Yesterday at lunch I sat next to Len from helliphellip.. Bridgeport. From the ldquocan you bite off your nose to spite your facerdquo notebook Joy from Australia did not think she needed a visa for New Guinea cost in Australia 25. T http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Caledonia/Noumea/blog-253475.html Wednesday March 5 2008Today is another sea day as we are about half way to Noumea. The calendar of events is packed. We began our day by attending the lecture on Noumea. Now know what to do and not do what to see and not see. After the Noumea lecture we had the next Explorations Speakers Series lecture. This time it was by a Colonel David Horner Australiarsquos military historian. http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Caledonia/Noumea/blog-253208.html The first Sea Day.Today was our first full day at sea and there was just too much to do. Enjoyed breakfast at 700 then finished yesterdays blog and welcomed the sunshine our first since last Friday.Then it was a little ironing. The first of our WWII lectures provided the background for war in the Pacific. The lecturers are military historians well versed in both sides of the conflict. Next I http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Caledonia/Noumea/blog-253099.html Que de bonheureWie nicht anders zu erwarten hat uns die Suedseeinsel La grande terre mit Sonnenschein und 30C empfangen. Nach einer kurzen Stadtbesichtigung von Noumea zog es uns sogleich mit einer 2 einhalb stuendigen schaukeligen Iris hat sich den Kaffee noch einmal durch den Kopf gehen lassen Faehrenfahrt auf das Trauminselchen Ile des Pins. Unser neu erstandenes australisches made http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Caledonia/blog-248738.html By request here are some older photos from New Caledonia. These were taken during the seven years I lived there. http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Caledonia/blog-217596.html My last excursion on this journey was the north province Grand Terre of New Caledonia. Again we rented a car for three days. Our final destination was the city of Voh. It takes around 4 hours from Noumea to get to Voh. Because we left Noumea late in the afternoon we decided to camp on the beach Pindai. Itrsquos a nice place top camp itrsquos for free but it is hard to find this place becau http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Caledonia/Grand-Terre/blog-209691.html My next destination was the island of Lifu in the Loyalty Islands. Again we went there with Betico. It took us around 6 hours to get there. We stopped first on the island of Mare 4 hours and then we went to Lifu. One way ticket costs 7000 CFP around 60 EUR. In Lifu we were camping in Motel chez Rachel. Itrsquos a good place for camping itrsquos about 100 m from the beach in the city of We http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Caledonia/Loyalty-Islands/blog-209039.html After Noumea I went to Isle of Pines. I was planning to stay there for 2 days camping but unfortunately there were no planes available to fly back to Noumea. So thatrsquos why I stayed there for just one day. I went there with a boat called Betico. I bought a round trip ticket for 9000 CFP about 80 EUR. Betico is modern vessel it can carry about 350 passengers. It took us about 2 hours to http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Caledonia/blog-208764.html 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 LjubljanaParisTokyoNoumea with Air France. If you come from EU you donrsquot 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 http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Caledonia/Noumea/blog-208735.html My last day in Noumea we went to the brand new aquarium which just opened on August 31st. I'd been to the old one several times and always enjoyed its unpretentious charm. The new one is modern and well worth the 1000CFP about 9Euros entry fee. It has remained for me the best place to see in Noumea. http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Caledonia/Noumea/blog-199173.html NoumeanbspAustralasia raquonbspNew Caledonia raquonbspNoumea By Desert RoseMay 5th 2007Michelle CArrived in Noumea in the morning and Laura wasn't due til that night so I made my way to the YHA. What a shock driving on the right hand side of the road. When I swapped busses i nearly got myself killed going to the wrong side of the bus that was on the highway side of the road looking for http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Caledonia/Noumea/blog-166211.html Pirog Through ParadisenbspAustralasia raquonbspNew Caledonia raquonbspNoumea By Desert RoseMay 12th 2007Michelle C Took a day trip on the Pirog which is a simple wooden sailing vessel. We sailed for over an hour in between land and an island. Once we landed we trekked through rainforest for 45 minutes to reach a tidal creek. This was crossed and we found our way through more forest to le http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Caledonia/Noumea/blog-161280.html Ile Des Pins Island of PinesnbspAustralasia raquonbspNew Caledonia raquonbspNoumea By Desert RoseMay 10th 2007Michelle CTook a flight from Noumea to Il Des Pins and stayed in a traditional hut by the beach for 5 days. The water was so clear and aqua blue and the sand so soft and white. http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Caledonia/Noumea/blog-161267.html New Caledonia or Nouvelle Caldonie was my first trip overseas and I was in Year 8 2003. The trip was a week long and I shared a room with Ilsa in my host family's house Pierre and Rgine. Most of the trip was spent in Nouma however we did go to Amde on one of the days. My journal was written in French as an assignment when we got back to Melbourne so most of the spelling and grammar http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Caledonia/Noumea/blog-157515.html 2 blogs in 2 weeks I hear you sayWell nearly at the end of our 2 weeks here and where has that time gone.Once we landed in New Caledonia we were greated by Ben Nathalie and Sam who took us back to Noumea a 50km drive. Once we arrived we were welcome into their apartment where we made ourself at home for the next two weeks. After a couple of days rest we decided to head south to and Island called http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Caledonia/Noumea/blog-148013.html We left you in Hervy Bay from where we moved onto BrisbaneBrisbane 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 t http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Caledonia/Noumea/blog-144255.html Day 29 February 13 2007 Tuesday At Sea Bound for SydneyTime 150 pm Tuesday 850 pm Monday CST Latitude 26 degrees 10.40 minutes SLongitude 161 degrees 33.73 minutes ESpeed 19.1 knotsSeas 47.5rsquo Wind 30 knots the ship is really rocking again with these winds Distance traveled from FLL 10442 nautical milesDistance to Sydney 721 nmWeather 74 degrees 82 humi http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Caledonia/blog-128874.html Day 28 February 12 2007 Monday Noumea New CaledoniaTime 658 am Monday 158 pm Sunday CST Latitude 22 degrees 16.51 minutes SLongitude 166 degrees 25.86 minutes ESpeed 0 At Anchor Seas SmoothWind Calm Distance traveled from FLL 10084 nautical milesWeather 80 degrees 75 humidity SunnyNoumea is the beautiful capital city of the French territory of New Caledonia. http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Caledonia/Noumea/blog-128871.html My dear friends and familyHaving a wonderful time in New Caledonia and warm at lastAfter 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 http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Caledonia/Noumea/blog-101720.html Partly cloudy strong winds 25cIt has begunOn arrival at La Tontouta airport I needed to find out where the bus stop was so I asked in my best french and got a reply I'd never heard before lsquoIl nyrsquoa pas buses.. something somethingrsquo translate there are no buses.. something something. Very strangeI asked someone else and got the same reply. I looked up the lsquosomet http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Caledonia/Noumea/blog-93305.html 18 September Monday... After a nice sleep in Sydney airport they reopened the main doors at about 430am and we could checkin. A nice flight with a disaster movie Poseidon as the inflight 'entertainment' and we arrived in Noumea or at least a bus ride away after being rather worried we'd missed all the buses. By the time we got to Noumea and checked in to the hostel the light was startin http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Caledonia/blog-92414.html Warm but overcast. Boardshorts every day. No one swam. Annoyingfamily. Crap Food in Noumea. Sharks. Sea Turtles. Mountains and mud.Rain. Wind. 12 hours sailing . Big Waves. Wet Bread. Patisserie.Boulangerie. Tasty Seafood. Cameras sink. Poor anchorage. Drifting.Reanchoring in middle of night. 10 cm below keel at lowtide. Yachtsgrounding. Catamarans floating. Lost Anchor. Fixing broken outboardmot http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Caledonia/blog-23576.html