Time to get away: New Caledonia part 1

Thistles and Kiwis,

Early on Tuesday morning (6am in fact…) we flew up to Auckland and then on to Noumea, the capital of New Caledonia. This is our third trip there since we moved to New Zealand (which, at the end of January will be 11 years!). We find it a place where it is easy to relax and do nothing or find things to do that just feel a bit different.

With the island nation 2 hours behind New Zealand, we arrived in good time to get to the hotel, leave our bags, and head out for lunch to a cafe we have frequented on previous visits. It was good to see shops and restaurants surviving post Covid, though it did seem quite quiet. Below you get an idea of what greeted us.

On this visit, we stayed at the Hilton, and our room was more like a small apartment. We decided that each morning we would have breakfast on the balcony, looking out over the ocean. The hotel pool was just below for Karl’s morning swim, while I read and had a second cup of tea. Below you can see our view with breakfast and us setting out on Wednesday morning.

We headed into the city, starting with the market, which is always fun to walk about. I bought a couple of passion fruit to add to the breakfast table – note the price difference between the market (top left) and the corner shop, where I actually bought the fruit.

From there we headed over to the Le musée de la ville which tells the history of the city. We have visited before but it was good to go back. Unfortunately Le musée de Nouvelle-Caledonie is closed for renovation and expansion. We walked up to St Joseph’s Cathedral, stopping to look at Joan of Arc, before entering the late 19th century building.

Lunch on Tuesday was a croque monsieur at a cafe we had been to on previous visits, and on Wednesday we hid from the rain with beer and a salade niçoise for me and a sandwich and chips for Karl.

Below you can see three views from our hotel…morning, afternoon and evening, all on Wednesday!

That is it for part one…more on Monday. This post was written on my iPad….so quite brief!
Also entered in the weekend coffee share hosted by Natalie.

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Published by Thistles and Kiwis

Loves summer, sunshine and cats. Beginner gardener, likes eating, cooking and reading about food

35 Comments

  3. Enjoy your holiday in New Caledonia! We visited for a day during a cruise to the South Pacific. Unfortunately, it was a Sunday and many places were closed. You have certainly a lovely view from your hotel. Thanks for sharing your holiday with us and have a relaxing time. x

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  5. What a wonderful place for a holiday… lucky you… enjoy yourself! (I hope you are avoiding buckets of rain that we seem to have every second day or so..)

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  8. Lots of great pictures; thank you for sharing. It was -53 with the wind chill yesterday where I live. So, when I saw the round picnic table with the straw umbrella I wanted to climb into the picture, relax, and warm up.

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  9. That looks relaxing and warm. Thank you for your weekend coffee share that takes me to New Caledonia. Enjoy the rest of your holiday. I look forward to the next part of your trip.

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  10. Hi Barbara, this is somewhere I must return to one day. I keep saying that every year but put it off due to the memories I have of our terrible school excursion tragedy when I was 17. I think it would do me good to go back and lay some demons to rest so thanks for your timely post. Enjoy the break away!

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  17. Thank you for taking us along on this serene & scenic holiday. I googled New Caledonia – I must admit I hardly know anything about this island country. I am glad you found familiar shops & cafes still open – not something we can take for granted these days.

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  20. What a coincidence! I’ve just finished reading Miss Benson’s Beetle by Rachel Joyce, which is set in New Caledonia. I hope your visit was more relaxing than her fictional one 🙂 It looks a lovely place to visit.

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