Trade-A-Boat — November 2017

“The reef itself is the second longest coral reef

on the globe, beaten only by its close neighbour

the Great Barrier Reef of Australia”

ABOVE What a day!
PHOTOS RIGHT Noumea provides a reef-diving haven with all sorts of sights, including sharks,
turtles and schools of brightly coloured reef fish.

Noumea has a reputation of being

expensive to visit, but that was not our

experience. Air fares start at just over

$300 each way for midweek flights.

Being a mere 2600km from Melbourne

the flight takes only about three hours

and flights land late morning and depart

just after lunch.

New Caledonians drive on the right-hand

side of the road, and after hiring a car we

quickly gained an appreciation for the

problems that tourist drivers face in

back home. However there are no

motorways apart from a short stretch

between the international airport and

the city, and speeds are generally low.

The French have a way of driving that

takes some getting used to, but were

polite and forgiving when we made

mistakes. Outside of the main city there

are few traffic lights but many

roundabouts and uncontrolled

intersections. It is important to

remember that you give way to the right

at intersections, not the left. Also note

that even the main road running north

and south of Noumea has sections that

are unsealed and narrow, so drive

cautiously and be prepared for

unexpected obstacles.

A GPS (or an app such as Google Maps

on your smartphone) is absolutely

necessary because the country is

extremely hilly. Getting from A to B can

involve complicated roundabout routes

that are not obvious. We would have

been lost several times without our GPS.

Mobile data access

Roaming data charges from mobile

providers are extortionate in New

Caledonia (as much as $100 for 25MB

from Vodafone, with the other telcos

having similar rates), so the best thing to

do is to buy a prepaid Carte Liberte SIM

from local provider OPT. These are

available from post offices or OPT shops

in town and cost about $80, including

$40 of credit that can be used to buy

daily data packages, while 24 hours

unlimited data costs about $6. This data

can be used by your smartphone for

Google Maps as well as a translation

app such as iTranslate for understanding

road signs and supermarket labels.

Getting there and getting around

tradeboats.com.au 71

Noumea, New Caledonia