Raster Gang

Do you want a vacation that is truly extraordinary? You might be thinking of someplace that provides beaches and sailing opportunities, plus the cuisine and atmosphere of a metropolitan city. A ideal vacation that offers all of this is a trip to the French colony of New Caledonia, located about halfway between Fiji and Australia.

This island is situated farther south compared to other South Pacific islands, benefiting from southeast trade winds, plenty of sunshine and warm weather. If a sailing holiday is what you like, New Caledonia is located in a part of the Pacific that has the greatest coral lagoon in the world. Sailing charters are easy to find and with the help of the trade winds you can sail out of the capital city of Noumea along the coastline, past numerous small islands that dot the ocean around the New Caledonia. Other outdoor activities on the Island are scuba diving, snorkel diving, horseback riding, canoeing, and kayaking.

If you were thinking of a gourmet holiday, you can find everything you could want on New Caledonia. New Caledonia’s capital city, Noumea, also known as the Paris of the Pacific. Noumea features fine gourmet French food and wine along with the other benefits of a bustling cosmo town. The restaurants here are some of the best in the South Pacific. Claimed by the French in 1853, New Caledonia has a distinct French influence when it comes to food and wine.

There are great deal of places to eat, ranging from sidewalk cafes to high-class bistros. French cuisine is easy to come by, but other choices include Indonesian, Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, and African food. Seafood is a speciality of the Island, including spiny lobster, prawns, crab, and mangrove oysters. One of New Caledonia’s national dishes is Bougna, which is fish or chicken, combined with sweet potatoes and bananas wrapped in banana leaves and then cooked covered in sand on hot stones. For the adventurous traveler on a epicurean holiday, you can try out a dish favourite with the locals, bat stew.

New Caledonia is the vacation destination you want to be: a sailing holiday, a gourmet holiday, or a time to just relax on the beaches.