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Anne Skyvington

The Art of Creative Writing

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TravelWriting

Some special things about Nouméa

written by Anne Skyvington June 28, 2015
noumea-resort

Noumea, the capital of New Caledonia (la Nouvelle Calédonie) is situated at the southern-most tip of the main island, directly east of Australia.  It has a similar history to Sydney, as It was set up as a penal colony for (French) prisoners. The indigenous inhabitants are Melanesian.

According to Wikipedia, Captain Cook first saw and named the conglomerate of islands that make up New Caledonia, because of resemblances he noted with Caledonia in Scotland.

In 1854, Napoleon commanded one of his generals to take possession of New Caledonia for France. Thirty-five percent of the population is indigenous compared with only two percent in Australia: that terrible word, “genocide” here?

From the moment we queued at Sydney Airport to board the AirCalin plane for the two-and-a-half hour flight to Noumea, we noticed the lustrous hair of many of the young women travelling with us: a feature of the islanders?

As we arrived in winter (l’hiver) with a temperature of 22 degrees, the wind factor turned us off the idea of swimming in the beautiful resort pool or the sea at our back doorstep.

Because of the “trade winds” sweeping the islands, modern youths, during the winter months, have taken to wind kite propelled surfboards that skim along the top of the ocean, sometimes lifting the skier above the water. We watched this from our hotel balcony.

There are 37 different types of palm trees growing on the main island. The Island of Pines, (l’Ile des Pins) is said to be the most beautiful of the islands, and has, by contrast, pine trees galore. That will be our next destination!

La cuisine, of course,  is excellent on the island.

Some of the original colonial style buildings are in stark contrast with more recent developments.

There are large numbers of unemployed, especially youths, in Noumea. Many of them can be seen lolling around in the central squares in town. We took a walk to the Latin Quarter: no chique cafés here, just another poor part of the town.

wedding-photos

You can choose to get married here at this resort, and one couple did while we were there.

 

Saint Joseph's Bay on the Isle of Pines

Saint Joseph’s Bay on the Isle of Pines (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Some special things about Nouméa was last modified: October 24th, 2017 by Anne Skyvington
French food and language in the PacificNoumea in New Caledonia is a tourist heavensome special aspects of New Caledonia and its capitalthe trade winds in the island of new caledonia
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Anne Skyvington

I have been a reader/writer all of my life as far back as I can remember. Blogging has opened me up to another world, where I can share my skills and continue to create through word and picture. Writing is about seeing the world and recreating it for others to see through different eyes.

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2 comments

Lynne June 28, 2015 at 9:16 am

A previous headmaster of mine spent several years here. Looks like it’s still as beautiful as he described. Enjoy!

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Anne Skyvington June 30, 2015 at 5:38 pm

Yes, it’s gorgeous on the beaches. Some grotty places, too, of course

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About The Author

About The Author

Anne Skyvington

Anne Skyvington is a writer based in Sydney who has been practising and teaching creative writing skills for many years. You can learn here about structuring a short story and how to go about creating a longer work, such as a novel or a memoir. Subscribe to this blog and receive a monthly newsletter on creative writing topics and events.

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About The Author

About The Author

Anne Skyvington is a Sydney-based writer and blogger. <a href="http://anneskyvington.com.au She has self-published a novel, 'Karrana' and is currently writing a creative memoir based on her life and childhood with a spiritual/mystical dimension.

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