due to the 56m-tall lighthouse that
adorns it. The island is a popular
destination for diving and other water
sports, and contains a restaurant and
other day facilities. This dive found us
sharks, a turtle, as well as a massive
Maori wrasse and schools of brightly
coloured reef fish. Overall a fantastic
experience and well worth organising.
FISHING CHOICES
If fishing is your thing there are
several options, including gamefishing
outside the barrier reef, bottom
fishing inside and bone fishing in the
coral flats. Noumea itself is not the
most popular fishing location and
better fishing is to be had at Koumac,
on the northern tip of the island.
However a couple of operators are
active in the area and there are
several options.
Unlike Australia, most trips cannot
be organised at short notice, so it
is essential to do your homework
beforehand and book your trip before
you get to Noumea. Fishing in this
region is mostly done using lures
and jigs, especially the gamefishing,
and bottom fishing with bait is not
popular.
You don’t need to catch your own
fish though as the fascinating Port
Moselle fish market operates on the
waterfront from 5am until about 11am
every day of the week except Mondays.
On weekends this is the place to meet,
with music and entertainment and all
manner of fresh produce for sale apart
from the fish. Other markets have
sprung up nearby and local crafts and
trinkets can also be purchased.
If you prefer your food prepared
and packaged there are supermarkets
scattered around the town and
most products have English as well
as French labels. The usual foods
and brands are available, and wine
and beer can be bought at the
supermarket. Be aware though that
alcohol is not sold after midday on
Friday, Saturday or Sunday. The other
surprise was that fresh milk is virtually
unobtainable and you have to look
for the long-life boxed versions on the
shelf. On the other hand they have
a fabulous range of French cheeses,
preserved meats (charcuterie), pâtés,
preserves and of course, too many
varieties of fresh bread to name.
Apart from Noumea itself the main
tourist destination is the Isle of Pines
(Ile des Pins). This island lies 84km
south of Noumea and can be reachedby plane or ferry. The ferries only
run four days of the week, so if you
are based in Noumea you need to
prearrange your trip out. The Isle of
Pines is the destination of choice for
cruise ships and to avoid congestion
at popular attractions it is a good
idea to check their schedules and
plan your trip when there are none in
attendance.PARLEZ-VOUS ANGLAIS?
One of the difficulties I found
planning the trip was the paucity of
English language information. The
country is officially a territory of
France, although moving towards full
independence, and the French have
a maddening tendency to assume
everyone speaks their language.
This can be at times delightful and
charming and a bit of careful thought
and/or reading it out loud can often
decipher what the signs and labels
mean. For example, a pedestrian
crossing outside a school is an ‘enfants
traverse’. While most
people are able to speak at least
some English, officialdom is generally
in French only and most local
websites do not offer English versions.
I used a mobile app called iTranslate70 trade aboat.com.au