New Caledonia

We weren't sure what to expect out of New Caledonia.  We didn't do any planning or even very much research on the area before leaving for vacation.  It's funny - I think this is the first trip I've ever been on where I didn't know one thing that we would do before leaving.  I suppose that's a sign of how much we needed this down time!  David especially.  He's been more stressed out than I have with everything going on at work.  Although now that I've been promoted, I think things may change for me in the coming months!  

New Caledonia is a French territory.  They speak very little English.  We stayed at a Hotel called Le Stanley in Noumea.  It's a 3 star hotel with very little amenities, but the staff is very friendly, the rooms are adequate and the views are stunning.  Check out this view from our bedroom!  The hotel was separated from most of the action (well if you can call it action in this town!) so we had to taxi everywhere but we were OK with that.  All we really needed was a pool, some wine and each other and we were quite content!

The main sections of town are the City Center and Anse Vata.  Anse Vata is set up more for tourists but the City Center has been completely closed every time we've gone down there!  It's unbelievable!  Literally every storefront is closed off with not a soul around.  I suppose it could be a charming place but I wonder when they're open!!  We were able to go for a nice walk in Anse Vata and had lunch at a cafe one afternoon.  Nothing is crowded in this country which is a nice perk so we had a bit of privacy and took some time to search for shells along the way.

The hotel has a nice little store with pre-packaged meals made in the hotel restaurant.  The food is great and very reasonably priced.  We ended up getting food from there or from the local butcher/bakery for dinner most nights!  We found that we love french cheeses (favorites are cantalet and raclette) with a fresh french baguette.  Of course we added on some prosciutto and a selection of salami - this was our appetizer most nights, and many afternoons!  I don't think I've ever eaten this much french bread in one week!  SO fresh and so good! :)    

We went to dinner one night at L'Eau Vive du Pacifique, a charming little restaurant run by singing nuns!  It's situated in a converted convent just off a round about - a place you would never expect to find a restaurant.  I'm sad to say we didn't get to hear the nuns sing but the food and wine were stellar! 

Thankfully David took a few years of French so we were able to lean on him a bit to communicate with the locals.  You should have seen us trying to describe what we wanted to eat at restaurants and at the butcher!  By the end of the week some of my French started to come back as well, but I continue to confuse it with Spanish in my head.  Funny what happens when you learn more than one foreign language! 

While desperately trying to piece a coherent French sentence together in a restaurant one morning for breakfast, we met a life saving French couple from Vanuatu.  They heard us struggling and offered to help by translating for us.  Then, once we were happily seated and eating, we got to chatting with them.  They had traveled the 45 minutes (by air) to New Caledonia to run errands and take their daughters to the Doctor.  One of them was born in New Caledonia so I suppose they were just getting an annual check up.  It suddenly became apparent that although New Caledonia doesn’t have much structure to offer a tourist, it has much to offer its citizens!  Their standard of living (for those who have money) is relatively high with a strong medial system and retail resources unavailable on other islands in the South Pacific.

Our last night in town we ate at Le Roof, a restaurant built in a bungalow over the water.  There’s a hole in the middle of the restaurant that opens to the water below - it was so entertaining to watch the fish and small sharks dance around waiting for food to be thrown at them!  I had foie gras and rack of lamb and david had crispy prawns and free range chicken.  Desserts were a warm chocolate soufflé with a Baileys milkshake and a trio of creme brulee.  We were in heaven!  The service and wine was also wonderful.  We’ve decided we should start learning more about French wines as a result of this trip!

The highlight of our vacation was a day trip to the Ile des Pins, known as the ‘Jewel of the Pacific.' The ferry ride was 2.5 hours each way but the experience was great!  I saw a few whales while David was sleeping.  The ferry was more like an airplane ride with a movie playing to keep the kids distracted.  The island was stunning - white sand beaches and crystal clear water.  We found our way to Baie de Kanumera to do some snorkeling, sunning and book reading.  

Our excursion package included a buffet lunch at Hotel Kou-Bugny (which we keep calling the  "cowabunga hotel" :) ).  Lunch consisted of fresh seafood and salads and our table overlooked the Baie de Kuto, filled with sailboats, a long stretch of white beaches lined with the tall pine trees that give the island its name.  It was a wonderfully relaxing day with great down time on the beach.  Snorkeling, we saw the biggest clownfish we've ever seen, swarms of giant angelfish and a number of butterfly fish.  There were many others - my favorites are the small black and white striped fish (humbugs) that hop in and out of the coral.  We even saw a fish that looked almost camouflaged - it was shaped like a spotted drum fish but it was covered in black and white spots instead of stripes.  So cool!  

Surprisingly we didn't scuba dive on this trip.  The shops that David contacted didn't return his messages and once we arrived we decided it was going to be quite a bit of effort with potentially little reward to do the research.  In the end the snorkeling we did at the Ile des Pins was probably better than any diving we could have done!

Although the country seems to be pretty friendly, we've decided that New Caledonia is no longer on our list of 'must-do's' in the future.  I think we've realized we like to have a bit of pampering when we go on vacation and this trip, although nice, fell short a bit.  Our next beach trip is to Fiji in February.  Looking forward to seeing how it compares!

~LAA :)