Last week we went to Noumea, New Caledonia for a few days, then stopped over in southern Australia on our way back to Hong Kong. Upon checking in for our flights in Hong Kong, Melissa got a rude awakening while checking out the baggage tags. She inquired as to why we had two baggage tags and was informed that they can only put three stops per tag, needless to say Melissa was not amused, but it wasn't all bad as we were in business class for most of the 4 segments.
After four flights we finally arrived in Noumea! As soon as we stepped out of the airport terminal we were shocked with the beautiful scenery surrounding us with green mountains and pine trees - definitely not what we were expecting. On the hour drive from the airport to the hotel, with its towering mountain peaks, we thought we were in Kauai again. The hotel room was okay, but wow- the private balcony was bigger than our room - very cool!
It seemed like every sunset in Noumea was absolutely perfect! Our first day we walked along the various beaches, but were severely disappointed as all the stores and a few of the restaurants were closed.. it was....Sunday. New Caledonia has a strong French influence, and like those French, these people don't like to work either. We found a cafe open along the beach and I ordered the Parisian baguette sandwich, but when I got it, I was shocked.. I didn't think I ordered the entire baguette!
Certain beaches were protected from the wind, but the ones close to the hotel were on the windward side of the island and received a constant and strong wind. The conditions were perfect for the windsurfers and kite boarders and the beach was packed with them.
Our last full day we went to the lobby to book Noumea's version of the hop on hop off bus, but were severely disappointed to find out it doesn't run on Mondays. Oh well, we went took the public bus to the town center for a walk about instead.
I am always on the look out for tikis to add to my collection and this particular tiki was everywhere! So naturally I had to have it. I took a photo of it and took it around to all the craft shops, but no luck. On our last day heading back to the hotel long after having given up on my tiki hunt we randomly stumbled across a store that had my tiki - victory!
After some shopping we picked up a panini (to share!) and found a ocean front park bench - cheap meal with great view... perfect!
Our last evening we went to a restaurant we passed every day and were intrigued by its name Stone Grill. Yes, it is pretty self explanatory but it was a really unique cooking/eating experience which was perfect for our last night. Melissa went with the seafood which had tuna steak, salmon, shrimp and scallops.
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