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I thought I’d put together a small travel summary of our Noumea trip, which ends tomorrow.
This is our 3rd trip here.
Since booking in November 2024, QANTAS have been fantastic in changing/modifying our bookings from Adelaide. The “troubles” here made the trip look grim, but we just waited and rode out the storm. Ultimately, we came a day earlier, left on the original departure date, and got an almost free night in Sydney on the way home. We also scored an op/up on the Adl-Syd sector courtesy of Qantas.
I know the government says “reconsider your travel needs”, but we decided to come anyway, based on local information and some common sense decisions on what to do/where to go. We had no issues with travel insurance via the RAA in SA.
Social media sites were mostly helpful with local feedback through the violent period, but with one or 2 people doing their best to discourage anyone from coming here. Some had agendas which were very pointed.
Our arrival was a little exciting with a missed approach into Noumea on the Air Calin A330 - that certainly made everyone sit up and take notice!!!!!
We have stayed at the Hotel Beaurivage at Baie de Citron and have been in and out of Noumea and south down to Ansi Vata. The bus service is great. We’ve done a 3/4 day boat trip to look at turtles, but as neither of us are water people, we have been happy to just relax and veg in and around the hotel and the beach out front.
It may not be 10 stars, but the staff are great, the location is excellent and the family room we have is very comfy.
We even went in to the Qantas office in the city to say hi to the staff and drop off a couple of packets of Tim Tams!
I know there was a delegation here this week from Fiji, Cook Islands, Tonga and the Solomon Islands to discuss overcoming the issues facing the local population. At street level, this went pretty well unannounced.
There are around 6000 French troops here now, and we have made a point to talk to them and get to know them. Surprisingly, quite a number speak English, as against the local population where English is a scarce commodity.
They are friendly, funny and talkative, and only 1 wanted to go back to France (he had a wife and baby there!). Who would blame them?
The military have been present, but not in your face. Army trucks and Police vehicles are patrolling all the time – and again, we have never felt threatened.
The people we have mixed with have been friendly and jovial, and there is no sense of an undercurrent of dislike – at least not where we are. If we went up north, and into the hills, I suspect it might be different. Business owners we spoke to on the aircraft, and in town, are not happy with the violence, and do not have a lot of support for the groups pushing to get the French out. They almost all expressed a desire for dialogue and discussion with all parties.
The food has been excellent, and we both agreed yesterday that we have not had a bad meal in the 10 days we have been here – some meals have been “interesting” because I had no idea what I was ordering, but that was part of the fun.
Halloween last night was fantastic with people and children everywhere having fun.
But by the curfew at 10pm the area was quiet, and bedded down.
This part of Noumea is certainly open for business. Today is a public holiday for All Saints Day, and there are families everywhere on the beach laughing and having fun.
Rumor has it cruise liners may be returning late November – I hope so for the sake of the local tourist economy.
We booked our next trip here for July in 2025 with the DSC promo and staying at the same hotel.
Have you noticed – the number of times I’ve used the word “fun”?
That is what Noumea is all about.
This is our 3rd trip here.
Since booking in November 2024, QANTAS have been fantastic in changing/modifying our bookings from Adelaide. The “troubles” here made the trip look grim, but we just waited and rode out the storm. Ultimately, we came a day earlier, left on the original departure date, and got an almost free night in Sydney on the way home. We also scored an op/up on the Adl-Syd sector courtesy of Qantas.
I know the government says “reconsider your travel needs”, but we decided to come anyway, based on local information and some common sense decisions on what to do/where to go. We had no issues with travel insurance via the RAA in SA.
Social media sites were mostly helpful with local feedback through the violent period, but with one or 2 people doing their best to discourage anyone from coming here. Some had agendas which were very pointed.
Our arrival was a little exciting with a missed approach into Noumea on the Air Calin A330 - that certainly made everyone sit up and take notice!!!!!
We have stayed at the Hotel Beaurivage at Baie de Citron and have been in and out of Noumea and south down to Ansi Vata. The bus service is great. We’ve done a 3/4 day boat trip to look at turtles, but as neither of us are water people, we have been happy to just relax and veg in and around the hotel and the beach out front.
It may not be 10 stars, but the staff are great, the location is excellent and the family room we have is very comfy.
We even went in to the Qantas office in the city to say hi to the staff and drop off a couple of packets of Tim Tams!
I know there was a delegation here this week from Fiji, Cook Islands, Tonga and the Solomon Islands to discuss overcoming the issues facing the local population. At street level, this went pretty well unannounced.
There are around 6000 French troops here now, and we have made a point to talk to them and get to know them. Surprisingly, quite a number speak English, as against the local population where English is a scarce commodity.
They are friendly, funny and talkative, and only 1 wanted to go back to France (he had a wife and baby there!). Who would blame them?
The military have been present, but not in your face. Army trucks and Police vehicles are patrolling all the time – and again, we have never felt threatened.
The people we have mixed with have been friendly and jovial, and there is no sense of an undercurrent of dislike – at least not where we are. If we went up north, and into the hills, I suspect it might be different. Business owners we spoke to on the aircraft, and in town, are not happy with the violence, and do not have a lot of support for the groups pushing to get the French out. They almost all expressed a desire for dialogue and discussion with all parties.
The food has been excellent, and we both agreed yesterday that we have not had a bad meal in the 10 days we have been here – some meals have been “interesting” because I had no idea what I was ordering, but that was part of the fun.
Halloween last night was fantastic with people and children everywhere having fun.
But by the curfew at 10pm the area was quiet, and bedded down.
This part of Noumea is certainly open for business. Today is a public holiday for All Saints Day, and there are families everywhere on the beach laughing and having fun.
Rumor has it cruise liners may be returning late November – I hope so for the sake of the local tourist economy.
We booked our next trip here for July in 2025 with the DSC promo and staying at the same hotel.
Have you noticed – the number of times I’ve used the word “fun”?
That is what Noumea is all about.
