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New Caledonia
New Caledonia
Bec2004-09-17 15:14:12
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Noumea
Tontouta airport is only two hours from Sydney but it is 45 kilometers from the capital Noumea. An excellent shuttle service brought me directly to the "Auberge de Jeunesse" on the hill behind the Cathedral, for 20 $US which is a reasonable price for expensive New Caledonia. You can also get to and from the airport on the blue bus for 3 $US.
The modern and comfortable youth hostel was also an excellent value for the money at 10 $US a night in a 6 bed dorm.
More than anything, I appreciated the great bunch of people that happened to be there when I arrived. In the usual order,Thomas Dutour (who was going around the world on his bicycle), Antoine Guilard, me, Rachel Boulez, André Moreau (almost my age, who has been almost everywhere I've been) and Fabrice Fouquet.
We had a ball in spite of a mean boss lady who objected loudly to our nightly parties. This hostel had the best kitchen facilities that I had ever seen, with a walk-in refrigerator and individual food lockers.
The only problem with the Noumea Youth Hostel is that all food and drink has to be purchased at the foot of the hill and carried back up the 110 step stairs seen here at the end of Jean Jaurčs street.
That was a problem for me with my short wind and bad knee but the daily climb was rewarded by the great view of the city from the top. The panoramic picture below was patched together from 4 photos with Adobe's excellent Photoshop software (move the slider bar of your browser to see the rest on the right).
The town of Noumea is, of course, very French. Rue de Sébastopol at the foot of the hill has a lot of restaurants and expensive boutiques.
Noumea's large central park is called "Place des Cocotiers". Public concerts are staged periodically in this pavilion at the northern end.
I don't have a photo of the large New Caledonia Museum on Maréchal Foch Avenue in the
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See photographs from:
New Caledonia Gallery
,
France Gallery
