This is in the order of places in city centre, followed by order of visit.
Port Moselle Market
Open Tuesday to Sunday, from 5am to 11:30am.
It is identifiable with the hexagonal blue roofs. It is not a big market but one can find meat, veges, fruits, cooked food and souvenirs. I got a couple of croissants (1 plain and 1 with ham and cheese), crossed the road to the garden, plonked myself on a bench and ate them for my late breakfast.
Place des Cocotiers
This is the city square and at the top is a band rotunda from the late 1800s. There's free wi-fi throughout the square and many benches to sit so a good place to take a break.
Cathédrale Saint-Joseph
Built in 1888 by convict labour and is one of Noumea's landmarks. I went on a Sunday and did not coincide with any scheduled Sunday masses time so it was closed.
Musée de la Seconde Guerre mondiale
Open Monday to Saturday, 9am to 12pm and 1pm to 5pm. Entry fees: 300XPF for adult
The musuem is housed in a refurbished Quonset hut originally built by the Americans in 1943. Between 1939 and 1945 New Caledonia joined free France. The musuem itself isn't big but the exhibits were interesting and informative on New Caledonia's participation in WWII. As the exhibits are in French, I was handed a hand held device, sized of an ipad to listen to the audio guide. This was the only museum I entered in Noumea.
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Orphelinat Bay
I walked over to catch the sunset as the weather was great. This was just next to Baie des Citrons.
Baie des Citrons
Orientated north-south and less than 10 minutes from the city centre. The beach is closed for swimming at the moment due to recent shark incident. On my visit, I walked along the waterfront, from Orphelinat Bay to Baie des Citrons to Anse Vata.
Anse Vata
Orientated east-weat, it is a popular beach. Likewise Baie des Citrons, also closed for swimming. It's only 5 minutes by taxiboat from here to Ile aux Canards.
It's not exactly a tourist attraction but it's a good walk that continues on from Anse Vata and rounds the waterfront to the other side of the island. I happened to continue walking on the day I wanted to walk up Ouen Toro but when I saw the trail and my slippers, I didn't not to proceed and continued on walking along the waterfront.
Ouen Toro
There are a few different trails to go up to Ouen Toro. I went up on one of the trail, across the road after Le Meridien. I think the trail that I went on is cross between some trails but so long it leads to the top. I came down by the walkway along the main road. The walk up felt easy, I wasn't gasping for air but then again, I also took my own sweet time to make sure I wasn't lost. The walk down was an easy downhill so I guess it would be a little steep when walk up.
Tjibaou Cultural Centre
Open Tuesday to Sunday, from 9am to 5pm (Tue-Sat), from 9am to 4pm (Sunday), entrance fee: 1000 XPF, re-enter allowed. Bus stop name: Tjibaou
The cultural centre is a tribute to a pro-independence Kanak leader Jean-Marie Tjibaou who was assassinated in 1989. The building was designed by Italian architect Renzo Piano who also designed Paris' Pompidou Centre. The centre is easily accessible by public bus with the stop just outside of the entrance. There were good views along the way by bus.
The exhibits are in French but there is free wi-fi within the compound and you are encournaged to use google translate to translate the texts. I really want to like this place but between this and the WWII museum, I prefer the latter.
Mont Dore Hike
Nearest bus stop: Ninette
The walk from bus stop to start of trail is clearly indicated. Start of trail was marked too but I missed it, it was a quick left turn from begining, so please don't miss it like me. The trail are on red dirt path along metal stairs.
Mont Dore is a mountain just southeast of Noumea. It was steep hike of 7.3km (return - I think, it's in french acronym). Said to take 4 hours 30 mins return (also by deduction) but I've read a blog that said they took 1.5 hours one way. At 1.5 hours, I only reached station 1. I also didn't finish the hike because I forgot to check the time of last bus back to Noumea. The bus was infrequent, one hours plus between buses.
Anyway, I turned back just passed station 1 so I don't miss the bus. But I somehow only took 40 minutes to hike down so I made a good time for the 2:39pm bus. The only consolation was that it started pouring just as I made it back to the bus stop. I was dry but my shoes and socks were already soaked through from the beginning of the hike because it rained in the morning.
It was over an hour bus ride from city centre to get here. There is hardly any shade at most part of the hike so when the sun is up, it was hot.
Eat bougna
I mostly bought food from the supermarket and only ate out once in Noumea for bougna. Bougna is a traditional Kanak stew dish, with ingredients wrapped in banana leaves then buried for cooking. I found a place in Noumea (Celeneraw) that serves this dish. I am not sure of any other restaurants that also serves bougna so I didn't make any comparison. The one I had ingredients of prawns, fish, banana, yam, sweet potato cooked in coconut milk and was delicious. On the day I visited, they were doing some specials set menu but I only want to eat bougna.
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| Served with bread, 2550 XPF |
There are some offshore islands that one can visit but I didn't make it to any. I was interested in Amedee Islet, mostly for its tall white lighthouse but seems the only way to get here is via a day trip with Mary D. However, I am not thrilled with the rest of the activities that formed part of the day trip. In the midst of my contemplation, there were no more spots on the days I could made it. So I didn't get to any of the offshore islands.
Side note: Running out of shows to watch...
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