Travelling the world for 6 months... My sabbatical leave experience
Jan 12, 2021, 2:15 am
#211
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We just had the day in Stewart Island. Hiking isn't our scene, but did do a tour of the island which was very enjoyable.
Auckland is a great city to visit with so much to see and do. On our first trip there we got a fantastic tour by a local company which was so worth the $70 each we paid. The Domain is a fantastic museum too - you can spend a day just doing the ANZAC stuff alone on the top floor. If you've done the Maori stuff in Rotorua, then you don't need to do the Maori session at the museum as its just about a replica of what we saw there.
Looks like you really enjoyed NZ like we do. We just love doing the Northland area and the drive north is very scenic, especially when you just get past Wellford and see the Bay of Island for the first time!
Auckland is a great city to visit with so much to see and do. On our first trip there we got a fantastic tour by a local company which was so worth the $70 each we paid. The Domain is a fantastic museum too - you can spend a day just doing the ANZAC stuff alone on the top floor. If you've done the Maori stuff in Rotorua, then you don't need to do the Maori session at the museum as its just about a replica of what we saw there.
Looks like you really enjoyed NZ like we do. We just love doing the Northland area and the drive north is very scenic, especially when you just get past Wellford and see the Bay of Island for the first time!
I would also like to visit more the northern part of the country as I did not explore it at all during this trip. Hopefully next time too... But clearly this country was in my top 3 of the destinations I enjoyed the most visiting !
Jan 14, 2021, 10:28 am
#213
Join Date: Feb 2008
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Noted about Auckland ! I stayed there for only 1 day and half, was alone and did not book a tour, but hopefully next time (god only knows when...), that will be different :-)
I would also like to visit more the northern part of the country as I did not explore it at all during this trip. Hopefully next time too... But clearly this country was in my top 3 of the destinations I enjoyed the most visiting !
I would also like to visit more the northern part of the country as I did not explore it at all during this trip. Hopefully next time too... But clearly this country was in my top 3 of the destinations I enjoyed the most visiting !
Jan 24, 2021, 10:24 am
#215
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Visiting the "Rock", a part of France located 24 flying hours from Paris (Part 1)
For my first day in New Caledonia, I decided to stay in the region of Nouméa, the "capital" of the island. I started my day by walking around the nice area of Nouméa, in the neighbourhood of Anse Vata and going up the Ouen Toro hill. The weather that day was quite tropical : Very hot and the air a bit humid, but at least, it was sunny !
The views were nice and clear !
Baie des citrons, in front of my hotel, with sunny weather this time !
Up the Ouen Toro hill
Anse Vata
There are several islets in the bay of Noumea, here is ile St Marie
Former canons on the top of the Ouen Toro hill
Ilots aux canards
Tropical weather means tropical plants and flowers !
I stayed about an hour walking but clearly, I started to feel exhausted quite fast as it was already very hot by 11am, with zero breeze to cool you down...
I went back to my car and decided to go to the Tjibaou cultural center at the north of the city, which features exhibitions and different experiences about the Kanak heritage. The center, located in a beautiful area along the bay of Magenta, opened in 1998, and was designed by the architect Renzo Piano. Several exhibitions are presented indoors about the Kanak culture indeed but also some facts about the melanesian, polynesian and to a lower extent Micronesian cultures (Melanesia is pretty much the area west of polynesia and south of Micronesia, and it includes territories like New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Fidji, New Guinea).
Tjibaou cultural center
Cattle industry is quite big in the central part of New Caledonia
Some of those colors remind me the Australian Aboriginal paintings.
Well... :-)
Outside of the main buidling are located different traditional houses from the different regions of New Caledonia, with a short trail along the bay. As there was a small breeze at that time on the day, I recall that was very pleasant walk...
Traditional houses from New Caledonia, there are 3 main types depending on the region (North, South or Loyauté islands)
I recall that the top distinguishes which area the house is from
Short walking trail around the cultural center
Bay of Magenta
I had a quick lunch at the museum cafeteria and finished my visit by looking at the exhibition related to the hostage crisis in 1988 and the subsequent political crisis and wish for indepence from a part of the population.
As it was still the early hours of the afternoon, I intially wanted to drive to the south of the island towards the N'Dua cape natural reserve. As a first timer on the island, I just trusted google maps which showed a main road going there. But the locals call the region outside Nouméa "La brousse" (Translation from French : The bush - The outback) for a good reason : While the road network in Noumea is pretty ok, as soon as you get our of the metropolitan region, this is different and as I was driving towards the south the rain started to come from nowhere and the road was having a few fords, I unfortunately decided to make a U-turn as I was not sure if I could go back in the evening. With an SUV I would have continued this little escapade, but my little Citroen C3 1.1 liter was maybe not fit for this job ! Another reason I decided to U-turn is that I also clearly underestimated the time I would need to get to my destination - at the speed I could drive on those roads, I would have arrived at night time at my destination - which was pointless...
South of Nouméa, the weather was starting to get worse...
Until that point where I decided to abort my little escapade...
So... going back to Nouméa !
Yup. The rain showed up from nowhere...
On the way back I stopped at the local toursit office in Le Mont Dore where the two very friendly ladies working there gave me some advice on where to go for some good picture / drone shooting...
Melody and Isabelle from Mont Dore tourist office.
While their recommendations were very good, local road construction in the area, combined with the lack of road signage, and poor google maps coverage, ended me getting lost... I fortunately managed to find an isolated spot up hill to play a bit with the drone and take some shots...
That isolated area will do the job to play with the drone !
Sunset on Magenta bay
On my way back I stopped at a local supermarket from a famous french brand and felt like home for a few minutes... Like in every remote area in the world, the prices, especially of the fresh and imported products reflect the challenges to bring goods from the other side of the world. As I was feeling a bit tired and somehow a bit frustrated of not having been able to see all I wanted, I just grabbed some snacks and bites to go and had dinner in my hotel room.
French yogurts, Pacific island prices ! (About 1000 CPF is about 8 euros) - most of the fresh goods come by air...
That guy came from quite far away !
My feast for that evening !
Unfortunately, I was not able to visit all I was hoping to during this first full day on the island, which left me a sentiment of frustration by the end of the day as this is not the kind of destination I am planning to visit every other weekend !
Fortunately, the next few days in New Caledonia were more eventful.
Next post : Going in the North district with some stops in the Central, "cattle ranch" area of the island.
The views were nice and clear !
Baie des citrons, in front of my hotel, with sunny weather this time !
Up the Ouen Toro hill
Anse Vata
There are several islets in the bay of Noumea, here is ile St Marie
Former canons on the top of the Ouen Toro hill
Ilots aux canards
Tropical weather means tropical plants and flowers !
I stayed about an hour walking but clearly, I started to feel exhausted quite fast as it was already very hot by 11am, with zero breeze to cool you down...
I went back to my car and decided to go to the Tjibaou cultural center at the north of the city, which features exhibitions and different experiences about the Kanak heritage. The center, located in a beautiful area along the bay of Magenta, opened in 1998, and was designed by the architect Renzo Piano. Several exhibitions are presented indoors about the Kanak culture indeed but also some facts about the melanesian, polynesian and to a lower extent Micronesian cultures (Melanesia is pretty much the area west of polynesia and south of Micronesia, and it includes territories like New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Fidji, New Guinea).
Tjibaou cultural center
Cattle industry is quite big in the central part of New Caledonia
Some of those colors remind me the Australian Aboriginal paintings.
Well... :-)
Outside of the main buidling are located different traditional houses from the different regions of New Caledonia, with a short trail along the bay. As there was a small breeze at that time on the day, I recall that was very pleasant walk...
Traditional houses from New Caledonia, there are 3 main types depending on the region (North, South or Loyauté islands)
I recall that the top distinguishes which area the house is from
Short walking trail around the cultural center
Bay of Magenta
I had a quick lunch at the museum cafeteria and finished my visit by looking at the exhibition related to the hostage crisis in 1988 and the subsequent political crisis and wish for indepence from a part of the population.
As it was still the early hours of the afternoon, I intially wanted to drive to the south of the island towards the N'Dua cape natural reserve. As a first timer on the island, I just trusted google maps which showed a main road going there. But the locals call the region outside Nouméa "La brousse" (Translation from French : The bush - The outback) for a good reason : While the road network in Noumea is pretty ok, as soon as you get our of the metropolitan region, this is different and as I was driving towards the south the rain started to come from nowhere and the road was having a few fords, I unfortunately decided to make a U-turn as I was not sure if I could go back in the evening. With an SUV I would have continued this little escapade, but my little Citroen C3 1.1 liter was maybe not fit for this job ! Another reason I decided to U-turn is that I also clearly underestimated the time I would need to get to my destination - at the speed I could drive on those roads, I would have arrived at night time at my destination - which was pointless...
South of Nouméa, the weather was starting to get worse...
Until that point where I decided to abort my little escapade...
So... going back to Nouméa !
Yup. The rain showed up from nowhere...
On the way back I stopped at the local toursit office in Le Mont Dore where the two very friendly ladies working there gave me some advice on where to go for some good picture / drone shooting...
Melody and Isabelle from Mont Dore tourist office.
While their recommendations were very good, local road construction in the area, combined with the lack of road signage, and poor google maps coverage, ended me getting lost... I fortunately managed to find an isolated spot up hill to play a bit with the drone and take some shots...
That isolated area will do the job to play with the drone !
Sunset on Magenta bay
On my way back I stopped at a local supermarket from a famous french brand and felt like home for a few minutes... Like in every remote area in the world, the prices, especially of the fresh and imported products reflect the challenges to bring goods from the other side of the world. As I was feeling a bit tired and somehow a bit frustrated of not having been able to see all I wanted, I just grabbed some snacks and bites to go and had dinner in my hotel room.
French yogurts, Pacific island prices ! (About 1000 CPF is about 8 euros) - most of the fresh goods come by air...
That guy came from quite far away !
My feast for that evening !
Unfortunately, I was not able to visit all I was hoping to during this first full day on the island, which left me a sentiment of frustration by the end of the day as this is not the kind of destination I am planning to visit every other weekend !
Fortunately, the next few days in New Caledonia were more eventful.
Next post : Going in the North district with some stops in the Central, "cattle ranch" area of the island.
Jan 24, 2021, 10:26 am
#216
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Jan 25, 2021, 8:56 am
#217
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Feb 16, 2021, 8:16 am
#218
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Visiting the "Rock" (a.k.a New Caledonia) - Part 2 : Central and Northern district
After a restful night in Noumea, I was quite excited to get outside the metropolitan area and noumea and discover "La brousse" (you could translate this as "the outback").
I packed a few supplies for the road headed towards my next stop, Koné, the biggest city of the Northern province and second biggest city of the island, with multiple stops on my way.
One of the reasons I wanted to go over there is to see the "Coeur de Voh" (Voh's heart) located in the town of the same name. This natural curiosity was made famous in 1999 when the French photo-reporter Yann Arthus-Bertrand took it in picture for the first time, from a microlight aircraft and consists into a salty field made in the middle of the mangrove. I was hoping to see this from my eyes... but more on that later...
Coeur de Voh, taken by Yann Arthus Bertrand
Ready to drive in the New Caledonian "Outback"
While driving on the main road towards the North I went through the town of Bouloupari, where I felt in the middle of Texas for a minute, and you could feel that the cattle industry is quite big in this region.
Past Bouloupari, I made my first stop along the sea in the Presqu'ile d'Ouano where I played a bit with the drone... It was already 35 degC at 11 am, but the sea breeze made the discovery enjoyable...
Presqu'ile d'Ouano
New Caledonia has in total about 200 km2 of dense mangrove, mostly on the main island.
I continued my drive towards the north and stopped again near Bourail, in the bay of Gouaro...
Gouaro bay
From above...
And then went on the other side of the bay where I enjoyed the scenery even more. The fact this was a week day, not the peak touristic season and that I was almost alone made the visit of the area very enjoyable and a nice place to stop for a picnic...
Countryside...
Cattle swimming pool
I was over there 30 min before
Notre dame des flots
The windy conditions that day made me stay at a relatively low altitude...
Former Gouaro light house
Panoramic view on the Gouaro bay
Roche percée
View on Baie des Tortues (Turtle bay)
It was already 4.30 pm when I decided to hit back the road as I wanted to arrive in Koné before sunset - which I (almost) did...
As I was driving north there was more distance between towns and I am glad I did not have to drive by night.
Poya
I stayed one night at the Hotel La Néa in Koné, and I would highly recommend this hotel. As I was feeling a bit tired and was not sure where to go to eat in Koné, I stayed at the hotel for dinner and enjoyed an excellent dinner with very good and fresh fish.
I checked out the next morning and headed north towards the small town of Voh. Once there, I had to stop at the local post office to (1) send some postcards and (2) ask my way on where to find a good view point to see the Coeur de Voh, as my guide book was not really helpful on how to get there, and indicating the touristic attractions is certainly not the islands forte... The lady at the post office was very helpful, although a bit curious about why I wanted to see that and indicated me where to park, with a nice "good luck". I understood why later, but eventually, I parked at the end of a residential area and started to climb the mountain, by 40c and without a single piece of shade on my way... (hence the "good luck" I guess...)
Ouch... not even 11 am, and already 39 degC... not even to mention the humidity levels...
so.. "good luck" !
Fortunately, I met at some point a couple of young tourists orignally from the "mainland" but having a multi-year assignment in the French administration in the Loyalty islands nearby (She was a nurse, he was a teacher) also trying to locate the famous heart. So we hiked together on our way up the hill... But at some point, we started to realize the hard truth : The heart was no where to be seen...
But one little ounce of hope remained as I decided to carry my drone with me, hoping that 100 meters here could make us distiguish our goal...
Still no heart to be seen...
But you could distinguish one of the many Nickel extracting / processing plants on the island
I may look smart with my hat, but believe me, the sun does not make jokes over there !
And no more luck with the drone, unfortunately...
Nope... nothing in sight !
Well, at least I did my physical exercise for the day !
After all, it appears that the Coeur de Voh cannot be observed all year long, and mostly only from a small plane or a microlight aircraft. Unfortunately, all companies offering this possibility were closed that day (it was a weekday, and not during peak season as I understand). Maybe for next time...
I drove back towards Noumea and stopped again on the way near Bourail like the day before to spend some more time in this place I really liked. The weather was much more pleasant in the afternoon and I got to spend some extra time at the baie des Tortues and in the area of the Roche Percée. On my way, at the exit of Koné, I encountered a couple of hitchhikers who needed to get to Bourail and since I was feeling a bit sleepy and did not want to repeat my unfortunate experience in New Zealand, I drove them to their destination and enjoyed their discussions on the way...
Voh township
The Caledonian society is definitely bipolarized, between the ones who want to remain part of France and the ones who want independance...
Conveyor belts going across the island to transport the nickel ore from the underground to the processing plants...
New-Caledonian landscapes
Poé beach, under light, refreshing rain...
Baie des tortues
Baie des tortues beach and Roche percée
Above Foé beach
From Baie des tortues
I got back in Nouméa around 7 pm and for my last night in New Caledonia, I had reserved the day before a spot in a local well known restaurant called "La Perle d'Eram" to taste one of the local specialties which I could not miss : A fish bougna. Although the pictures do not speak too much for themselves, it was delicious and the staff was very friendly. A place to recommend !
La Perle d'Eram in Nouméa is one of the best places in the city to eat a Bougna (local dish made in the oven with fish or meat and a whole bunch of local herbs and vegetables).
Dinner for one. Was stuffed afterwards !
Sorry buddy...
Downtown Nouméa was completely desert on this friday evening at 8pm, and I understood later on that most of the night attractions were actually located near my hotel located baie des Citrons and also near the Anse Vata. but since I had to wake up quite early the next day and was started to feel fatigued, I went back to my hotel after dinner. The next day, I was supposed to take a flight I could not miss, as there is only one weekly - Mising this flight would have ruined my plans for the rest of this round the world trip completely !
As a short conclusion to those few days in New Caledonia, I have to say that it was pleasant and most of the people I met were friendly, I am glad I was able to stop there during this journey. However, political views aside, I think this territory could really benefit from a quality tourism if more was done on the touristic infrastructures and signage for instance. Maybe I was not fully prepared for this part of the trip and got comfortable thinking that it was "like mainland", and just a small guide book and tripadvisor will suffice, I was obviously wrong, and I perhaps also got surprisingly too much used to finding last minute things to visit in a group and rely on this. But the reality is that most people visiting this territory are already knowing someone living there, or part of an organized tour and it seems that individual tourism is not that developed. If there is a next time on this island, I would certainly do a better homework to organize my trip there.
Next stop : A (domestic) flight back to the future !
I packed a few supplies for the road headed towards my next stop, Koné, the biggest city of the Northern province and second biggest city of the island, with multiple stops on my way.
One of the reasons I wanted to go over there is to see the "Coeur de Voh" (Voh's heart) located in the town of the same name. This natural curiosity was made famous in 1999 when the French photo-reporter Yann Arthus-Bertrand took it in picture for the first time, from a microlight aircraft and consists into a salty field made in the middle of the mangrove. I was hoping to see this from my eyes... but more on that later...
Coeur de Voh, taken by Yann Arthus Bertrand
Ready to drive in the New Caledonian "Outback"
While driving on the main road towards the North I went through the town of Bouloupari, where I felt in the middle of Texas for a minute, and you could feel that the cattle industry is quite big in this region.
Past Bouloupari, I made my first stop along the sea in the Presqu'ile d'Ouano where I played a bit with the drone... It was already 35 degC at 11 am, but the sea breeze made the discovery enjoyable...
Presqu'ile d'Ouano
New Caledonia has in total about 200 km2 of dense mangrove, mostly on the main island.
I continued my drive towards the north and stopped again near Bourail, in the bay of Gouaro...
Gouaro bay
From above...
And then went on the other side of the bay where I enjoyed the scenery even more. The fact this was a week day, not the peak touristic season and that I was almost alone made the visit of the area very enjoyable and a nice place to stop for a picnic...
Countryside...
Cattle swimming pool
I was over there 30 min before
Notre dame des flots
The windy conditions that day made me stay at a relatively low altitude...
Former Gouaro light house
Panoramic view on the Gouaro bay
Roche percée
View on Baie des Tortues (Turtle bay)
It was already 4.30 pm when I decided to hit back the road as I wanted to arrive in Koné before sunset - which I (almost) did...
As I was driving north there was more distance between towns and I am glad I did not have to drive by night.
Poya
I stayed one night at the Hotel La Néa in Koné, and I would highly recommend this hotel. As I was feeling a bit tired and was not sure where to go to eat in Koné, I stayed at the hotel for dinner and enjoyed an excellent dinner with very good and fresh fish.
I checked out the next morning and headed north towards the small town of Voh. Once there, I had to stop at the local post office to (1) send some postcards and (2) ask my way on where to find a good view point to see the Coeur de Voh, as my guide book was not really helpful on how to get there, and indicating the touristic attractions is certainly not the islands forte... The lady at the post office was very helpful, although a bit curious about why I wanted to see that and indicated me where to park, with a nice "good luck". I understood why later, but eventually, I parked at the end of a residential area and started to climb the mountain, by 40c and without a single piece of shade on my way... (hence the "good luck" I guess...)
Ouch... not even 11 am, and already 39 degC... not even to mention the humidity levels...
so.. "good luck" !
Fortunately, I met at some point a couple of young tourists orignally from the "mainland" but having a multi-year assignment in the French administration in the Loyalty islands nearby (She was a nurse, he was a teacher) also trying to locate the famous heart. So we hiked together on our way up the hill... But at some point, we started to realize the hard truth : The heart was no where to be seen...
But one little ounce of hope remained as I decided to carry my drone with me, hoping that 100 meters here could make us distiguish our goal...
Still no heart to be seen...
But you could distinguish one of the many Nickel extracting / processing plants on the island
I may look smart with my hat, but believe me, the sun does not make jokes over there !
And no more luck with the drone, unfortunately...
Nope... nothing in sight !
Well, at least I did my physical exercise for the day !
After all, it appears that the Coeur de Voh cannot be observed all year long, and mostly only from a small plane or a microlight aircraft. Unfortunately, all companies offering this possibility were closed that day (it was a weekday, and not during peak season as I understand). Maybe for next time...
I drove back towards Noumea and stopped again on the way near Bourail like the day before to spend some more time in this place I really liked. The weather was much more pleasant in the afternoon and I got to spend some extra time at the baie des Tortues and in the area of the Roche Percée. On my way, at the exit of Koné, I encountered a couple of hitchhikers who needed to get to Bourail and since I was feeling a bit sleepy and did not want to repeat my unfortunate experience in New Zealand, I drove them to their destination and enjoyed their discussions on the way...
Voh township
The Caledonian society is definitely bipolarized, between the ones who want to remain part of France and the ones who want independance...
Conveyor belts going across the island to transport the nickel ore from the underground to the processing plants...
New-Caledonian landscapes
Poé beach, under light, refreshing rain...
Baie des tortues
Baie des tortues beach and Roche percée
Above Foé beach
From Baie des tortues
I got back in Nouméa around 7 pm and for my last night in New Caledonia, I had reserved the day before a spot in a local well known restaurant called "La Perle d'Eram" to taste one of the local specialties which I could not miss : A fish bougna. Although the pictures do not speak too much for themselves, it was delicious and the staff was very friendly. A place to recommend !
La Perle d'Eram in Nouméa is one of the best places in the city to eat a Bougna (local dish made in the oven with fish or meat and a whole bunch of local herbs and vegetables).
Dinner for one. Was stuffed afterwards !
Sorry buddy...
Downtown Nouméa was completely desert on this friday evening at 8pm, and I understood later on that most of the night attractions were actually located near my hotel located baie des Citrons and also near the Anse Vata. but since I had to wake up quite early the next day and was started to feel fatigued, I went back to my hotel after dinner. The next day, I was supposed to take a flight I could not miss, as there is only one weekly - Mising this flight would have ruined my plans for the rest of this round the world trip completely !
As a short conclusion to those few days in New Caledonia, I have to say that it was pleasant and most of the people I met were friendly, I am glad I was able to stop there during this journey. However, political views aside, I think this territory could really benefit from a quality tourism if more was done on the touristic infrastructures and signage for instance. Maybe I was not fully prepared for this part of the trip and got comfortable thinking that it was "like mainland", and just a small guide book and tripadvisor will suffice, I was obviously wrong, and I perhaps also got surprisingly too much used to finding last minute things to visit in a group and rely on this. But the reality is that most people visiting this territory are already knowing someone living there, or part of an organized tour and it seems that individual tourism is not that developed. If there is a next time on this island, I would certainly do a better homework to organize my trip there.
Next stop : A (domestic) flight back to the future !
Feb 28, 2021, 10:56 am
#222
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Hi IAD_Flyer,
Well, I would say that this is still France :-) I think that Nouméa would be ok, especially when interacting with younger generations, maybe the Australian influence makes the level of English a bit higher, not sure ?. For the countryside, communication might be challenging if you don't know a few bits of French. I certainly felt that English was more present in French Polynesia compared to New Caledonia.
But really I could not tell more than that as I spoke French during my entire trip in the island.
Well, I would say that this is still France :-) I think that Nouméa would be ok, especially when interacting with younger generations, maybe the Australian influence makes the level of English a bit higher, not sure ?. For the countryside, communication might be challenging if you don't know a few bits of French. I certainly felt that English was more present in French Polynesia compared to New Caledonia.
But really I could not tell more than that as I spoke French during my entire trip in the island.
Feb 28, 2021, 1:15 pm
#223
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A "back-to-the-future domestic" flight (Air Calin lounge NOU + Air Calin Y NOU-PPT)
For my last morning in New Caledonia, I did make sure to setup multiple alarm clocks as I could not really afford missing that flight. Once, because going to French Polynesia is a dream for most, including me. Secondly, because of it's frequency : Every saturday morning departs from Nouméa a "back-to-the future" flight to Papeete in French Polynesia. This once weekly only flight takes off on a saturday morning, and lands in Papeete... on a friday night, since you cross the international dateline halfway during this flight. The fact it is once weekly, and without any direct competition on this route - meaning also that there was no easy way to get rebooked to my destination - made that I planned plenty of time to get to the airport in advance.
As written before, Air Calin is almost in a monopoly position when it comes to flight to and from New Caledonia, and they pretty much charge the prices they want for this direct flight to Papeete. A one way ticket on this flight back then was about 500 Euros in economy. Fortunately, Air Calin is a partner of FlyingBlue (well, even more, as it is also their loyalty program) and I could get a one-way ticket in economy, with 2 pieces of luggage included thanks to my Platinum status for just 29000 Miles and a hefty 124,90 Euros of taxes and "surcharges". But this was still a better deal than paying for a revenue ticket. Business class was able for 72000 miles if I recall correctly. For this 5 hour-ish flight, and being a day flight and I did not feel like spending an extra 50k miles or so to fly in an pretty outdated angle-flat business class of their 330-200 (nowadays, they fly this route on their new 330-900 neo I think, with a better business class product).
Another great example on the value of frequent flyer programs for some niche markets...
After a quick breakfast in my room, I checked out from my hotel on the baie des citrons and headed on the main road to La Tontouta international airport about 40 min away from Nouméa (as there was no decent hotel near the airport, I decided to sleep again in Nouméa that night).
I filled the tank of the rental car at the last station before exiting the city and this was enough to keep the tank full until the airport (as I was not sure if there was a gas station over there).
Bringing the car back was a formality so-to-say, the Hertz counter was not open when I arrived and I dropped the keys in a mailbox after taking pictures of the car at every angle. By 9 am, I was in the terminal ready to check-in. (I however pre-selected my window seat at the time of booking - unfortunately no emergency exits seats were available but I was happy to select a window seat at the front of the cabin).
La Tontouta Intl airport terminal
The public side of the terminal was a bit busy with visitors bringing their family and friends to the airport and enjoying a last coffee with them in the only café-restaurant of the terminal. I bought a couple last minute postcards and souvenir from the convenience store in the terminal and headed towards the Air Calin check-in counters. As you can see below, the check-in area was not really crowded...
Public area of NOU terminal
Air Calin Check-in in NOU. Used the priority line although it was not very useful...
Once a week only !
Check-in was swift, and I then headed to the emigration check and the security where everything was passed in a few minutes only. Although this is technically a domestic flight (Both New Caledonia and French Polynesia are French territories) the French border police was conducting the immigration and emigration checks in both territories.
Last stop : Mail the post cards for the family and friends !
View on the public area of the terminal
One of the two gates with a jet bridge for this flight.
I love the Air Calin livery !
SB Airbus 330-200
There is really not much to see and do in Noumea airport, a small duty-free store is located after security and there is like one restaurant upstairs as I far as I remember. Being FB Platinum I had access to Air Calin's Hibiscus lounge upstairs. A friendly agent welcomed me after scanning my BP.
Upstairs the terminal
Air Calin Hibiscus lounge in NOU
The lounge itself is ok, the seating is comfy and there are outside views on the tarmac but the catering was quite minimal. Note that the lounge has no restrooms as far as I recall, but some public restrooms are located right next to the entrance.
Seating was comfy...
Buffet section
Bar selection ok...
But the catering could be improved.
Departure board that day... Quite busy in La Tontouta :-)
View of the beast...
One thing I certainly enjoyed is the free wifi connection, although it was quite slow, as New Caledonia was one of the few destinations during this 6-month leave where I did not have a proper data-plan on my cell phone. (Between my French SIM card from free which provides me good and cheap connectivity in 50+ destinations and the Thai AIS prepaid SIM which offers great data plans across the Asia Pacific and some other countries - but not New Caledonia or French Polynesia unfortunately - I was happy to find free wifi in the lounge and at the hotels I stayed at !)
Around 10:00 I went back downstairs to the gate and boarding eventually started a couple minutes later, with priority boarding first, giving me enough time to snap a few more pictures of my ride...
F-OJSD in Noumea
Air Calin SB600 – February 10th 2019
NOU Noumea La Tontouta Intl - 1035
PPT - Papeete Tahiti Faa'a Intl - 1910 (- 1 day !)
Airbus A330-200 – F-OJSD – Seat 11H, Economy, window.
Since boarding was from door 2L, I was only able to take a brief look to the business class cabin...
Looks like AF's former business class seat...
Air Calin Economy class, a standard 2-4-2 configuration for those type of birds...
My seat 11H
Leg room was a bit tight...
A small amenity kit was available on every seat pocket. The flight boarded quite swiftly and I was very happy not to have anybody seated next to me. This 5-hour journey was much more comfortable with the block of 2 seats just for me !
Air Calin Economy class amenity kit.
Going to Tahiti !
ANZ flight arrived right during our push back...
We pushed back about 10 min earlier than scheduled and the safety movie was broadcasted during this operation.
Push back from NOU
SB600 flight route
Much better with nobody seated next to me !
Adjusted leg room
IFE from 20 years ago!
Row 10 central screen
Air Calin Safety video
A couple babies were located on rows 10, but they remained quiet during the flight. I would say that in economy class, this flight was about 60% full...
The IFE was maybe about 20 years old, and the selection was very limited, with only 8 TV series in there. I am however confident that the IFE on their newer 330-900 neo is much more up to date...
We took off on time with great outside views of the island.
Take off !
Above New Caledonian countryside
Once the seat belt sign switched off, I went to use the lavatories and discovered that the crew was giving the immigration forms for Polynesia during this time, but unfortunately, they did not leave me one and when I enquired the crew they told me that they did not have enough of those.
A drink service started about 30 min later. I have to say that the crew was no so friendly on this flight, probably because they do an immediate rotation in Tahiti and don't get to enjoy Polynesia ? :-)
Crew rest on the back seats of the first economy cabin. The crew does not get to stay in Papeete and flies back the same day to Noumea.
Bar service. You can get a Pastis 51 about 20000 km away from Marseille !
KLM-type snacks above the pacific...
Somewhere above the pacific...
The lunch was then served, with only one option available. It was very mediocre, especially the meat balls...
Lunch Air Calin SB600 NOU-PPT Economy class
The cake was maybe the best thing on this tray !
I wanted to watch something ont he IFE (cannot recall what) but the headphones were just terrible and got another pair from the crew. I think the jacks start to get pretty worn out on those old seats...
After a couple hours, we crossed the international date line and went back to yesterday...
Yesterday, here we come
I had a short nap (the seat was reasonably comfortable especially with no one next to you) and woke up with the sun setting over the Pacific ocean...
Getting closer to Papeete
We landed smoothly after making a few turns above Tahiti, on PPT's only runway along the lagoon, unfortunately, the sun had already set, hence the poor pictures...
We landed at 19:05 on Friday, February 9th local time, 16:05 the day after in Noumea...
Approaching PPT
Like all flights in PPT, disembarking ocured via stairs and we were parked next to nice Air New Zealand dreamliner. Upon entering the terminal a nice local band was playing polynesian music. You get straight in the local mood, I loved it !
Total flight SB600
Air Tahiti's ATR, which link Tahiti island with the rest of Polynesia and the Cook islands
PPT terminal
ANZ dreamliner in PPT
Maeva (Welcome) in Tahiti !
After completing the immigration form in the arrivals hall, I cleared immigration without too much wait and luggage arrived about 20 min later.
Papeete airport is quite small and most of the terminal is open air, just covered with a roof. The arrivals area felt a bit cramped, maybe due to the fact 2 wide body aricrafts landed at the same moment almost...
Immigration line PPT
Luggage area PPT
Arrivals hall, in open air
I then walked to my hotel for my first night, the Tahiti airport hotel located walking distance from the airport.
Destination map from PPT
Walking to my hotel across the street for my first night
This was definitely an interesting flight to take. The service onboard was so-so and the cabin a tad outdated but I was happy to take this "bucket-list" flight and find award seats for it. The only other way to get to Papeete from Noumea in a reasonable amount of time would have been to fly via Auckland on ANZ or Air Tahiti Nui, but I don't dare to check how much money they would charge for a one-way ticket...
Next : Heading to Moorea island !
As written before, Air Calin is almost in a monopoly position when it comes to flight to and from New Caledonia, and they pretty much charge the prices they want for this direct flight to Papeete. A one way ticket on this flight back then was about 500 Euros in economy. Fortunately, Air Calin is a partner of FlyingBlue (well, even more, as it is also their loyalty program) and I could get a one-way ticket in economy, with 2 pieces of luggage included thanks to my Platinum status for just 29000 Miles and a hefty 124,90 Euros of taxes and "surcharges". But this was still a better deal than paying for a revenue ticket. Business class was able for 72000 miles if I recall correctly. For this 5 hour-ish flight, and being a day flight and I did not feel like spending an extra 50k miles or so to fly in an pretty outdated angle-flat business class of their 330-200 (nowadays, they fly this route on their new 330-900 neo I think, with a better business class product).
Another great example on the value of frequent flyer programs for some niche markets...
After a quick breakfast in my room, I checked out from my hotel on the baie des citrons and headed on the main road to La Tontouta international airport about 40 min away from Nouméa (as there was no decent hotel near the airport, I decided to sleep again in Nouméa that night).
I filled the tank of the rental car at the last station before exiting the city and this was enough to keep the tank full until the airport (as I was not sure if there was a gas station over there).
Bringing the car back was a formality so-to-say, the Hertz counter was not open when I arrived and I dropped the keys in a mailbox after taking pictures of the car at every angle. By 9 am, I was in the terminal ready to check-in. (I however pre-selected my window seat at the time of booking - unfortunately no emergency exits seats were available but I was happy to select a window seat at the front of the cabin).
La Tontouta Intl airport terminal
The public side of the terminal was a bit busy with visitors bringing their family and friends to the airport and enjoying a last coffee with them in the only café-restaurant of the terminal. I bought a couple last minute postcards and souvenir from the convenience store in the terminal and headed towards the Air Calin check-in counters. As you can see below, the check-in area was not really crowded...
Public area of NOU terminal
Air Calin Check-in in NOU. Used the priority line although it was not very useful...
Once a week only !
Check-in was swift, and I then headed to the emigration check and the security where everything was passed in a few minutes only. Although this is technically a domestic flight (Both New Caledonia and French Polynesia are French territories) the French border police was conducting the immigration and emigration checks in both territories.
Last stop : Mail the post cards for the family and friends !
View on the public area of the terminal
One of the two gates with a jet bridge for this flight.
I love the Air Calin livery !
SB Airbus 330-200
There is really not much to see and do in Noumea airport, a small duty-free store is located after security and there is like one restaurant upstairs as I far as I remember. Being FB Platinum I had access to Air Calin's Hibiscus lounge upstairs. A friendly agent welcomed me after scanning my BP.
Upstairs the terminal
Air Calin Hibiscus lounge in NOU
The lounge itself is ok, the seating is comfy and there are outside views on the tarmac but the catering was quite minimal. Note that the lounge has no restrooms as far as I recall, but some public restrooms are located right next to the entrance.
Seating was comfy...
Buffet section
Bar selection ok...
But the catering could be improved.
Departure board that day... Quite busy in La Tontouta :-)
View of the beast...
One thing I certainly enjoyed is the free wifi connection, although it was quite slow, as New Caledonia was one of the few destinations during this 6-month leave where I did not have a proper data-plan on my cell phone. (Between my French SIM card from free which provides me good and cheap connectivity in 50+ destinations and the Thai AIS prepaid SIM which offers great data plans across the Asia Pacific and some other countries - but not New Caledonia or French Polynesia unfortunately - I was happy to find free wifi in the lounge and at the hotels I stayed at !)
Around 10:00 I went back downstairs to the gate and boarding eventually started a couple minutes later, with priority boarding first, giving me enough time to snap a few more pictures of my ride...
F-OJSD in Noumea
Air Calin SB600 – February 10th 2019
NOU Noumea La Tontouta Intl - 1035
PPT - Papeete Tahiti Faa'a Intl - 1910 (- 1 day !)
Airbus A330-200 – F-OJSD – Seat 11H, Economy, window.
Since boarding was from door 2L, I was only able to take a brief look to the business class cabin...
Looks like AF's former business class seat...
Air Calin Economy class, a standard 2-4-2 configuration for those type of birds...
My seat 11H
Leg room was a bit tight...
A small amenity kit was available on every seat pocket. The flight boarded quite swiftly and I was very happy not to have anybody seated next to me. This 5-hour journey was much more comfortable with the block of 2 seats just for me !
Air Calin Economy class amenity kit.
Going to Tahiti !
ANZ flight arrived right during our push back...
We pushed back about 10 min earlier than scheduled and the safety movie was broadcasted during this operation.
Push back from NOU
SB600 flight route
Much better with nobody seated next to me !
Adjusted leg room
IFE from 20 years ago!
Row 10 central screen
Air Calin Safety video
A couple babies were located on rows 10, but they remained quiet during the flight. I would say that in economy class, this flight was about 60% full...
The IFE was maybe about 20 years old, and the selection was very limited, with only 8 TV series in there. I am however confident that the IFE on their newer 330-900 neo is much more up to date...
We took off on time with great outside views of the island.
Take off !
Above New Caledonian countryside
Once the seat belt sign switched off, I went to use the lavatories and discovered that the crew was giving the immigration forms for Polynesia during this time, but unfortunately, they did not leave me one and when I enquired the crew they told me that they did not have enough of those.
A drink service started about 30 min later. I have to say that the crew was no so friendly on this flight, probably because they do an immediate rotation in Tahiti and don't get to enjoy Polynesia ? :-)
Crew rest on the back seats of the first economy cabin. The crew does not get to stay in Papeete and flies back the same day to Noumea.
Bar service. You can get a Pastis 51 about 20000 km away from Marseille !
KLM-type snacks above the pacific...
Somewhere above the pacific...
The lunch was then served, with only one option available. It was very mediocre, especially the meat balls...
Lunch Air Calin SB600 NOU-PPT Economy class
The cake was maybe the best thing on this tray !
I wanted to watch something ont he IFE (cannot recall what) but the headphones were just terrible and got another pair from the crew. I think the jacks start to get pretty worn out on those old seats...
After a couple hours, we crossed the international date line and went back to yesterday...
Yesterday, here we come
I had a short nap (the seat was reasonably comfortable especially with no one next to you) and woke up with the sun setting over the Pacific ocean...
Getting closer to Papeete
We landed smoothly after making a few turns above Tahiti, on PPT's only runway along the lagoon, unfortunately, the sun had already set, hence the poor pictures...
We landed at 19:05 on Friday, February 9th local time, 16:05 the day after in Noumea...
Approaching PPT
Like all flights in PPT, disembarking ocured via stairs and we were parked next to nice Air New Zealand dreamliner. Upon entering the terminal a nice local band was playing polynesian music. You get straight in the local mood, I loved it !
Total flight SB600
Air Tahiti's ATR, which link Tahiti island with the rest of Polynesia and the Cook islands
PPT terminal
ANZ dreamliner in PPT
Maeva (Welcome) in Tahiti !
After completing the immigration form in the arrivals hall, I cleared immigration without too much wait and luggage arrived about 20 min later.
Papeete airport is quite small and most of the terminal is open air, just covered with a roof. The arrivals area felt a bit cramped, maybe due to the fact 2 wide body aricrafts landed at the same moment almost...
Immigration line PPT
Luggage area PPT
Arrivals hall, in open air
I then walked to my hotel for my first night, the Tahiti airport hotel located walking distance from the airport.
Destination map from PPT
Walking to my hotel across the street for my first night
This was definitely an interesting flight to take. The service onboard was so-so and the cabin a tad outdated but I was happy to take this "bucket-list" flight and find award seats for it. The only other way to get to Papeete from Noumea in a reasonable amount of time would have been to fly via Auckland on ANZ or Air Tahiti Nui, but I don't dare to check how much money they would charge for a one-way ticket...
Next : Heading to Moorea island !
Feb 28, 2021, 2:16 pm
#224
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Stockholm
Programs: Various
Posts: 3,369
Question on passport control in New Caledonia and French Polynesia. What is the status for someone like you as French citizen to visit the islands. Are there separate immigration rules for these two compared to France itself?
Mar 7, 2021, 8:20 am
#225
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: In between BRU, AMS, DUS and LUX...
Programs: AF/KL Plat, BA Gold, A3 Gold, IHG Diamond, MR Gold, HH Diamond, ALL Platinum
Posts: 1,044
That's actually a good question, and I had to dig for more details on some government websites to get more answers...
Basically, although French Polynesia and New Caledonia are technically French territories, they do not belong to the European Union per se, neither Schengen. They are considered as an overseas European territiory, as they belong to a EU-member state but taxation, customs and immigration rules within other things are different than in the EU. They have a certain independance towards those matters.
In a nutshell :
For stays less than 3 months (like business or holidays):
any EU passport holder can freely enter those 2 territories without a Visa and the rules for a EU citizen will be the same as for a French citizen.
Also, EEA citizens + Swiss, Andorran, Lichtenstein and other similar European micro-states are treated the same way than EU citizens for stays lesser than 3 months out of a 6 month period.
UK citizens are no longer considered in this category since January 1st 2021, abut so far do not need a visa to enter as tourists (although borders are closed those days so this is not the main problem).
For Non EU-citizens with whom their countries has established a visa-free travel with France for stays less than 90 days (e.g Australia, Canada, USA etc...) the same entry rules should apply for those 2 territories than in mainland France.
Note that EU/EEA passport holders don't seem to get a stamp when entering any of those territories on their passports.
The situation gets more complicated if you want to remain for more than 90 days, and especially if you want to work.
If you have a French passport, moving permanently to French Polynesia or New Caledonia seem to be realtively easy, no specific immigration documents need to be established and the trouble seems to be more related with the customs to move your stuff, although there seems to be a lot of taxes exemptions.
If you are a EU-citizen, you can also move but you will need to register at the city of residence within the first 3-months. If you are a EEA + Swiss + Lichtenstein + Andorra + St Marino or Vatican passport holder, the same rule applies in French Polynesia, but NOT in New Caledonia. You will have in that case to apply for a long stay visa at the local authorities.
If you are from anywhere else in the world, including a UK-passport holder, you will have to apply for a residence permit too.
For EU/EEA+Swiss passport holders, working seems to be unrestricted in French Polynesia.
New Caledonia seems to be more conservative and a work permit needs to be requested to the New Caledonian authorities if you would like to work for instance (which seems to be a formality, but which needs to be done). The same rules apply for French and EU-passport holders. So Even as a French citizen, I would need to request for a permit to work in New Caledonia per my understanding.
New Caledonia is quite special in that respect and I even read that there was a plan to include the mention "New-Caledonian citizen" on the French passports issued in NC for people of New-Caledonian descendance and residents for more than 20 years.
But besides that, there does not seem to be any quotas or max number of mainland French citizens to move to those 2 territories, like there could be for a Chilean from the continent to move to Easter island for example.
Government websites for more information (In French, but there are some stuff in English):
For New Caledonia : https://www.nouvelle-caledonie.gouv....-des-etrangers
For French Polynesia : Conditions d'entrée des étrangers en Polynésie française / Démarches en Français / Étrangers / Démarches administratives / Accueil - Les services de l'État en Polynesie française
As usual, it is not completely straight-forward to understand the French administration, even thousands of miles away from Paris :-)