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Noumea

By Eleanor James

Just 2.5 hours in the air from Sydney, or a swift 120 minutes from Brisbane, New Caledonia is extremely accessible for the East Coast holidaymaker searching for sun, sand and seafood, tinted with the joie de vivre of the Gallic tropics.

After traveling down from the airport through lush mountains for an hour, you reach the sweeping bluewater bays and beachside cafes of the capital Noumea.

We stayed at the Coral Palms Island Resort located on the seven-hectare island of Ilot Maitre, just 20 minutes off the mainland. This surely is the most luxurious accommodation New Caledonia has to offer. Featuring a stunning pool complex complete with hot and cold Japanese-style plunge baths, a cascade and a tasteful swim-up bar, the terrace area is the elegant focal point of the resort. Inside, the restaurant is combined with a sunken bar reminiscent of those found in stylish Singaporean hotels, fans languidly swinging and furniture designed for draping oneself upon.

The epitome of opulence is to inhabit a pristine Overwater Bungalow, only recently constructed above the clear waters of the leeward side of the island. Private and spacious, these high-ceilinged suites face out to the ocean with steps leading from the bungalow's exclusive deck into the sea, the semi-tropical climate allowing swimming in the turquoise waters to be a daily indulgence.

The cuisine at Coral Palms is first class, with delicacies such as guinea fowl on the menu amongst an ocean of seafood options, and is beautifully presented over many courses. As with many hotels and resorts in Noumea, staff mainly speak French, so it would be wise to bone up on your s'il vous plâits and your merci beaucoups. Now strangely antiquated, the franc, or at least the French Pacific version, is local currency and can be exchanged at most hotels and banks.