Tropical holidays are my favourite. Anywhere where the sun is shining, the days are long, the skies are blue and the salt fills the air – I’m there! You may have recently seen on my Instagram we traveled to New Caledonia for a family holiday. This time we traveled with my husbands side of the family – all 9 of us. It was a wild adventure full of memories.
New Caledonia is a French territory made up of dozens of islands in the South Pacific. It’s a 2-3 hour flight from Sydney, Australia and is an ideal destination for a warm family holiday. We flew into Noumea with New Caledonia airlines (Qantas on the way home), although many Australian visitors often choose to travel via cruise ships, which stop at different islands such as Vanuatu on the way.
French is widely spoken in Noumea, but as is English. We enjoyed practising some French with the locals. We choose to stay at Le Meridian in Noumea, which is about a 40 minute drive from the airport. The resort is beautiful as it is on a peninsula, and faces west which made for some incredible sunsets. The rooms were very modern and the resort was well kept and spacious – ideal for families. The pool area was also superb. You can see more here.
I love resorts where everything is included. Le Meridian is exactly that. During our stay we were able to use the bikes, paddle boards, canoes, snorkel gear, kayaks.. the list goes on of activities you can try out on the island.
I don’t know about you but I sure do love my seafood. Le Meridian does a spectacular seafood buffet from Thursday – Sunday night. It’s about $90AUD a head and the restaurant is booked out with visitors and tourists when it’s on. Hello fresh prawns, lobster and fish.
Whilst in New Caledonia, we also chose to do a day trip to The Isle of Pines. It’s on a different island so we flew 30 minutes from Noumea and spent the day exploring this magical place. I would highly recommend a day trip as it includes hotel transfers, flights, access to a nearby resort and facilities on the island, lunch and a driver on the island. The crystal clear waters of the Natural Pools are a definite sight to see.
Views of the atolls whilst flying to the Isle of Pines.
The Natural Pools at the Isle of Pines.
Pastel pink sunsets in Noumea.
We stayed for 5 nights which was a great amount of time. Not too long, not too short. We were able to do some of the main tourist activities, as well as spend some time wandering around the island with no plans but to just explore.
View from our room at Le Meridian overlooking the chapel.
New Caledonia is a beautiful island destination for a short but sweet family holiday from Australia.
With love from the Jennings clan.
Have you been to New Caledonia before?
A x
Golden Hour Girl 