Troubles in Noumea

VPS said:
Thanks for all the updates. Glad you are home safe and sound
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Thank you. Yes, home. First stop was the coffee club at arrivals. Unfortunately, upon entering the terminal we were all shepherded straight into passport control, no duty free. Many people disappointed.

Various estimates have shown that at least 80-odd people are scattered around New Caledonia without the ability to safely return to Noumea. That is the next challenge for DFAT.

Trip report to follow next week. Thank you everyone here for following along and your comments and feedback.
 
toowongman said:
Thanks. Nobody was across from me on the herc so I had plenty of leg room. And the crew gave me a second sandwich and biscuits. I suspect that's about as good as it gets. :)
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“Business Class” on a Herc is the forward seats, starboard side (no one needs to climb over your heading back and fourth but it’s FILO and just as noisy as every other seat 😁.

But welcome back. Sounds like it was a tad more eventful than my trip last year!
 
toowongman said:
Thank you. Yes, home. First stop was the coffee club at arrivals. Unfortunately, upon entering the terminal we were all shepherded straight into passport control, no duty free. Many people disappointed.

Various estimates have shown that at least 80-odd people are scattered around New Caledonia without the ability to safely return to Noumea. That is the next challenge for DFAT.

Trip report to follow next week. Thank you everyone here for following along and your comments and feedback.
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Hope you're less Misérables! Anyone noticed my references above to various songs from the musical?
 
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Antonov AN-124 just landed in Noumea (from France, via Cairns). Not sure it is there for evacuations. Must be bringing in some big hardware.......
 
I've been reading with interest and glad you're out of there safely @toowongman.

Luckily New Caledonia was never on my to do list. Sounds too volatile for my liking. Hope they can get this sorted quickly.
 
JohnK said:
I've been reading with interest and glad you're out of there safely @toowongman.

Luckily New Caledonia was never on my to do list. Sounds too volatile for my liking. Hope they can get this sorted quickly.
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But you go to Thailand which is pretty volatile. We have had 3 incidents. An Army coup in the 70s on the day we arrived. The Red Shirts taking over a couple of buildings and we were due to fly when the yellow shirts took over the airport.
 
Thanks for sharing. I was there a week before and hadn’t even put any thought into such drama before the spontaneous visit!

There was a fairly large protest happening which I never expected to escalate to such a level

IMG_9902.jpeg

To be honest, given the number of Palestinian flags being waived, I figured it was just a large group latching onto the latest fad!

Glad you made it hope. Hopefully things settle there. It’s such a lovely island so close to home (and I love flying AirCalin on the 330 for such a short flight).
 
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Did I see that the French were taking anyone arrested back to France for trial? If so, that should prove "interesting"!
And I believe Air New Zealand have cancelled all flights for the next 4 months.
We are still booked on Qantas/Air Calin to go in October for 10 days, and I really don't want to change it so I'll just keep watching and hoping.
 
FlyboyAl said:
Did I see that the French were taking anyone arrested back to France for trial? If so, that should prove "interesting"!
And I believe Air New Zealand have cancelled all flights for the next 4 months.
We are still booked on Qantas/Air Calin to go in October for 10 days, and I really don't want to change it so I'll just keep watching and hoping.
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With around 8 Antonov flights to Noumea in recent weeks (with what one would assume is full of military /riot equipment), not sure France is expecting a quick resolution. Pick a quiet island away from the city.
 
If we can't get into Noumea, my fallback will be Samoa - QF fly to Apia so less stuffing around to change the booking.
I've prepaid our Noumea accommodation, and am happy to write that off in the interests of supporting some beautiful people where we normally stay.
If they put it into credit, that will be great, but I won't hold my breath on it.
 
We were due to go to Noumea in July school holidays but have just cancelled given the ongoing situation. Free cancellation with Le Meridian and got back most points and costs via QF and Air Calin. Booked last minute Hamilton Island instead.
 

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