We were last here in 2007 – during our very first cruise. It arrived late in the afternoon – and all we had time for was a very quick drive around. I remember being not too impressed with the place – not for any particular reason, but just at its’ apparent lack of anything exciting. However, on this visit, we had more time and got to see a bit more – and I am now thinking that Noumea generally gets a bad “rap” from many who have visited. The tourism authorities here do go out of their way to make the town attractive – they have a nice cruise terminal, put on welcome shows to each visiting cruiseship (we had a Melanesian (Kanaka) group in the morning on arrival – and a Polynesian group on departure). By comparison, what does the famous and visually spectacular city of Sydney offer to visiting cruiseship tourists??
There are tours available in the cruise terminal – at a fraction of the cost of similar tours offered by the cruiseline. We were going to go swimming/snorkelling at Duck Island- but we have noticed a definite decline in temperatures as we have left the more northern Tahitian waters, so we decided instead to take the “hop on-hop off” bus (1500XPF each-approx $15AUD) and went to the Tjibaou cultural centre. We got XPF from a mainstream bank before leaving departure – and topped it up with extra from the ship. You can use AUD in Noumea for some things (most of the stuff including tours sold in the cruise terminal) – but I find it much easier to have local currency available as it is easier to use in other places locally. Most people seem to think that Noumea is expensive – but how many have gone into Sydney or Cairns for a day or two as a tourist???. From my experience, I now believe that Australia is more expensive than French Polynesia as a tourist destination.
Regarding the hop on-hop off bus – it is very convenient to use, but it is difficult to spend time at many of the stops, so it is not therefore especially cost effective. BUT – you only have a day there, so for us, convenence is the key. We really only used it to visit one stop – the Tjibaou cultural centre. We spent a leisurely 3 hours here – and could have spent more time. You can race over it in a shorter time – but it repays a slow graze. Make sure that you spend at least an hour in the outside grounds – not just go inside the centre itself. We are not particularly “arty” - and those who are would probably get more out of the interior presentations than we did. But, I will say that I thought that it was an unusual and interesting collection of pieces that, to me, were a crossover between “modern” western art and Kanak cultural art. They probably deserved more attention that what I gave them. BUT – I am more of an outside person, so I really enjoyed the outside grounds of the centre. The architecture of the main buildings are outstanding and unique – and much effort has been made to display/accentuate the local flora on the site, with particular attention to how it relates to traditional Kanak culture.
After also completing a couple of complete circuits of the bus (1 hour for a complete trip), we finally ended up in the big supermarket across from the cruise terminal. We could have spent quite some time there – and wish we had the opportunity to try out much of the French produce available (especially the wine).
 Early morning arrival into Noumea – the first noticeable thing is the number of sailing boats |  Supervising the tugboat Captain |  Kanak entertainers |
 |  The wonderful Tjibaou architecture – blends beautifully into the natural landscape |  |
 How do you spell “exaggerated”? |  Some “unusual” artwork |  a double hulled ocean going canoe |
LOOKS AN AMAZING PLACE.
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