New Caledonia Holidays

There's a Lot More to the South Pacific than Empty Beaches And Balmy Weather

There’s a Lot More to the South Pacific than Empty Beaches And Balmy Weather

On their first South Pacific holiday, many people are merely seeking a white sandy beach, balmy weather and a vacant sun-lounger.

But there is much more to the South Pacific, than well, doing nothing much. The South Pacific is the perfect destination for romantic retreats, fun filled family holidays and adrenaline pumping holidays such as 4WD safaris and jet skiing.

Why not enjoy the high flying thrills of the South Pacific’s only canopy zip line tour as you soar through Fiji’s lush rainforest? Or what about caving in the beautiful Sigatoka Valley, while drifting down the river on a bilibili (or traditional Fijian raft)? Not to mention the possibility of jet boating or hot air ballooning.

Or you could go island hopping around some of Fiji’s 333 spectacular islands. On a Captain Cook cruise in the Yasawa Islands you can dive and snorkel in some of the most spectacular marine ecosystems in the world. Each day you will wake up to idyllic lagoons, beaches and magnificent coral reefs.

Leading New Zealand travel company, Adventure World has officially launched its new Islands collection for 2011/2012, which showcases its unique range of tailor-made itineraries to popular destinations such as Fiji, Vanuatu, Tahiti, New Caledonia and the Cooks Islands. It also includes lesser known destinations such as Niue, Tonga and the Solomon Islands with a large selection of exciting new itineraries – each offering holidays that provide genuine immersion into traditional South Pacific culture.

Suggested itineraries – which are perfect for those who have been to the South Pacific before but are seeking a different travel experience – are one of the key features of the new collection, all of which are showcased in Adventure World’s new Islands brochure.

For instance, Adventure World’s picks for the Cook Islands include diving and snorkelling in Aitutaki’s world famous lagoon and spectacular underwater wonderland; or a visit to Atiu – the underground cave of Anatakitaki, home to the kopeka (Atiuan swiftlet). And for the energetic, there’s a recommended cross Island Trek.

Samoa has some of the most enticing landscapes in the South Pacific. Adventure World’s picks include a visit to the world famous Robert Louis Stevenson Museum, a visit to the extinct Mt Matavanu Crater, or the Afu Aau Falls and waterhole, and of course, there is also sublime snorkeling.

A holiday in New Caledonia « Man of Errors

When I was eleven I went to New Caledonia.  It was the first time I had been overseas and it still remains with me as a vivid dream.  As is the way with dreams and memories, as you get older each remembering finds new meanings.  Perhaps a childhood holiday in 1984 to a Pacific island could be yet another way to look longingly toward the past, or maybe it has some connection to the present or suggests something about the future.  Increasingly I suspect that every story contains within in it all possible stories and all possible lessons if only we take the time to tell it well, and linger.

We spent the first part of that holiday in 1984 on a tiny island you could walk around in about half an hour; the second part of the holiday in Noumea and visiting nearby touristy islands; and the third part on a tour in a Landrover that took us around the whole main island.  Each part of the overall holiday is very clear in my mind, and each part was wonderful in its own way, but of the three probably the final part – the tour around the island – was the best.

The guide and driver was a Frenchman with long blonde hair and a beard.  There were a couple of other people on the tour and it was fairly basic as guided tours go.  Sometimes we slept in tents at night, and meals were usually on a blanket with a French stick and some cheese and fruit.  Most of the trip has fallen out of my memory, but I remember the Frenchman very well, and the orange coloured Landrovers, and the ferocious ants that bit you at the tent sites.

The far side of the main island of New Caledonia is not really French.  Nature has more of a hold, and the native people predominate.  One day we came to a series of limestone caves which were up a muddy track and through the dense and dripping trees.  After the surreal, lunar interiors of the stalactites and stalagmites, we wandered back down the muddy track and out into a village.  There were fales about, and in the fales the enormous shells of turtles hanging from the posts that supported the thatch roofs.  Mainly I remember the strangeness of the place where the plants seemed so lush they almost grew before you, and the flowers stunned your eyes with their painful, beautiful colours.  Most of all though I noticed that there was no one there.  All the fales were empty.  It made me feel like an interloper.  As if I were in someone’s bedroom, going through their things, anxious that they would return and spring me.

Vanuatu and New Caledonia

New Caledonia

South Pacific

Holidays in French New Caledonia

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