What is it like to work in New Caledonia

The international airport “La Tontouta” is located at about 40 Ks from Noumea, the trip from the airport to Noumea takes about 30 minutes. The road goes through the mountain and the scenery is quite nice, it looks like Queensland. In actual fact New Caledonia looks like some parts of Queensland right up to Cairns.

For someone who never worked in a foreign country, working in New Caledonia can be a totally new and rewarding experience in many ways. Life is rather peaceful and enjoyable, a mixture of a middle size City and a small town in the bush. Being an island, New Caledonia offers a very special way of living, some call it “Little France in the Pacific”, others “the next best thing to Paradise”. Apart from the odd petty misdemeanour here and then, they are no major crimes, Bank robberies, kidnapping, etc. It is not uncommon to see a teller in a service station counting stacks of money right in front of customers. Well, there were a very few who tried to rob a grocery shop, but they never go too far for too long, local Police is highly efficient and as it is a rather small place, would be robbers don’t have the time to spend their loot. There are two different Police forces, one is the National Police, placed under the control of the Home Office, its uniform is about the same as the State Police in Australia, and the “Gendarmes” (translate Men in arms). The Gendarmerie is a paramilitary force wearing an army uniform, also placed under the control of the Home Office. Both “Police” have the same jobs on the field, one in Noumea, the other outside the City boundaries. This is a result of a very long standing decision made by the French Government to protect the Constitution as France did not want to be a Police State but a place of freedom.

For a foreigner arriving in New Caledonia it can be impressive to see so many uniforms, one might think that the island is placed under martial law, but it is not the case at all. The National Police is only found in Noumea, the capital City of New Caledonia, the Gendarmes are found anywhere else on the mainland and the surrounding islands. For those working on mining sites, they will only see the Gendarmes patrolling in army vehicles, once in Noumea they will see the blue uniform. In both Polices there is always someone with a good knowledge of the English language. Unlike the way it is in Australia, the Police, or the Gendarmes, can stop a car anywhere at any time for any reason just to control the vehicle’s documents, so don’t be surprised if you got pulled over by a Police, or a Gendarme’s car, unless you were driving too fast or went through a red light, you have nothing to worry about.

 

Working:

Each mining site has its own way to operate, at Vale Inco, depending on what sort of work you will be doing, there are 4 shifts each day in the smelter which is now operational. For those working on the mining site, work usually starts at 7.30 AM with a 2 hours break for lunch most times and according to workload, and finishes at 4.30 PM. Local law requires that an employee works 8 hours per day before starting to get overtime. The same applies at Koniambo, except that the smelter is not yet finished.

Koniambo mining site is located some 274 Ks North of Noumea, a good 4 hours on a sealed road. Unless you live permanently on the Camp Base, K.N.S (Koniambo Nickel SAS) charters a fleet of shuttles for its employees. For those living in Noumea, pick up is done early on Monday morning and drop off is at about 5 PM on Friday. During the week you will be accommodated on site in a very pleasant fully furnished and equipped unit. On site, and for a very small fee, you will enjoy real French food at the cafeteria.

Vale Inco New Caledonia is located on the West Coast of New Caledonia, down South at 70 Ks, about 2 hours drive on a road going through the mountain range to the other side of the island. Once again, unless you live permanently on the Camp Base, Vale Inco New charters not only a fleet of shuttles for its employees, but also a rather large Cat Jet for those wishing to go to work by sea. If you live in Noumea, both by road and by sea, pick up is done early on Monday morning and the drop off at about 5 PM on Friday. In the very same way as K.N.S., you will be accommodated on site in a very pleasant fully furnished and equipped unit. On site, and for a very small fee, you will enjoy real French food at the cafeteria. If you work or if you have to go to the smelter, because of the way the Nickel ore is process at Vale Inco, pyrometallurgy, and the presence of acid on site, you will have to go though many “check points” because there is a maximum security system in place. Usually, at Vale Inco you will work 10 days and have four days off.

Of course on both sites there are all the required facilities, Doctor, nurses, etc…

Even if you are an expatriate will be have to join the local Social Security system, known as CAFAT, this is compulsory, your employer will have to lodge forms declaring that you are working locally. On due time, about 3 months, you will be issued with a card, this card is to be presented if you go to a Doctor, Dentist, etc. If you need medical attention, and depending on what it could be, the CAFAT will reimburse you up to 100% of the medical fees, most times if is 60%. There is a very good general hospital in Noumea and three private clinics, you have the choice, you can either to go the hospital or a clinic, you will be covered for both.

 

Public holidays in New Caledonia:

Compared to Australia or New Zealand, there are many public holidays in New Caledonia, in fact in all French Territories and mainland France. There are two different types of public holidays, the “civil” public holiday and the “religious” public holiday.

Civil public holidays:

• 1 January – New Year
• 1 May – Labour Day
• 8 May – End of WWII against Germany
• 14 July – Bastille Day (French revolution)
• 24 September – Local National Day
• 11 November – Armistice Day – End of WWI

Religious public holidays:

• Variable date: Easter Monday (5 April in 2010, 25 April in 2011)
• Variable date: The rising of Christ to heaven (Thursday) (39 days after Easter, 13 May in 2010, 2 June in 2011). As this public holidays always falls on a Thursday, there is a long weekend till Monday morning.
• Variable date: Monday of Pentecost (50 days after Easter, 24 May in 2010, 13 June in 2011) Being a Monday, there is also a long weekend from Friday night till Tuesday morning.
• 15 August : Assomption Day (the rising of Virgin Mary to heaven)
• 1 November All Saints Day (a day for our departed )
• 25 December : Christmas

Symbolically, when a public holiday falls on a Thursday, trade unions and employers get together at the beginning of each year to work out which holiday will become a long weekend so that employees can also benefit of the Friday as a day off taken from annual leave. If you work in the smelter you will not get any public holidays, expect for the 2 December which is the only day off smelter workers a re getting. Shift workers in a smelter cannot enjoy public holidays.

 

Rest and recreation

When you will have you time off and go back to Noumea, you will enjoy the charms of the City and particularly the beauty of the beaches around Noumea. In Noumea, apart during peak hours traffic jams, everything is a five minutes drive, shopping, entertainment, beaches, and so on. For your grocery shopping you will have to shop wisely. Most foodstuffs are imported, either from France, the U.S., Australia or New Zealand, so it is rather expensive, about thrice the price of your food in Australia. There are many supermarkets in Noumea and just outside of Noumea. In Noumea you will find in the City itself a supermarket “Casino” along the passenger’s cargo terminal. In the suburbs close to Noumea, you will find “Leader Price” the cheapest of them all, then another “Casino”, named “Giant”, and other supermarkets “Champion”, also rather cheap.

There are many small snacks and restaurants in Noumea, particularly in Chinatown where you can have a good meal at a reasonable price. Restaurants are all over Noumea and also along the road going to the beaches. If you need clothing, it will be best to take with you as much as possible, clothing is highly expensive in New Caledonia and it is a ritual for locals who can afford it to go to Australia once a year to buy their clothes there, even with the cost of the ticket and accommodation it remains cheaper to buy clothes for the family over there. Consider Noumea as a medium size town in Australia, you can find just about anything in a very friendly atmosphere. For a very long time, when New Caledonia was the home of over one million U.S. soldiers during the Pacific war, Australia was considered as the “big brother”, many locals grew up on Arnotts biscuits and all the Australia made products. Australians and Kiwis alike are particularly liked by all local ethnic groups.

If you do not rent a flat in Noumea, you will find many hotels in the City or just five minutes drive from it with good accommodation at a reasonable price if you keep on going to the same each time, here is the list :

Complexe Nouvata Parc

Promenade Roger Laroque, Nouméa
Telephone: 262200

Le Pacifique Hotel Noumea

Promenade Roger Laroque, Nouméa
Telephone: 262200

Le Lagon Hotel

149 Route de I'Anse Vata, Nouméa
Telephone: 261255

Le Surf Novotel

Noumea
Telephone: 286688

Best Western Hotel Le Paris

45/47 Rue de Sebastopol, Noumea
Telephone: 281700

Hotel Mocambo

Baie des Citrons
Telephone: 262701

Ramada Plaza

Route de l’Anse Vata
Telephone: 239000

HOTEL BEAURIVAGE NOUMEA

BAIE DES CITRONS 7 PROM ROGER LAROQUE
Telephone: 262055

HOTEL LANTANA BEACH NOUMEA

ANSE VATA 113 PROM ROGER LAROQUE
Telephone: 262212

HOTEL LE STANLEY NOUMEA

OUEMO 33 RUE DE LA RIVIERA
Telephone: 232323

HOTEL MARINA BEACH NOUMEA

BAIE DES CITRONS 4 RUE AUGUSTE PAGE
Telephone: 287633

HOTEL LUTETIA NOUMEA

QUARTIER LATIN 10 RUE DU DR LE SCOUR
Telephone: 269799

If you prefer to stay close to work, there are some nice hotels in Kone, near Koniambo, the list is below:

HOTEL KONIAMBO

ROUTE PROVINCIALE 1
KONE
Telephone: 473940

HOTEL LA NEA

VILLAGE RTE TERRITORIALE 1
KONE
Telephone: 473040

HOTEL RESTAURANT L'ESCALE

KONE
Telephone: 472109

HOTEL RESTAURANT MONITEL HIBISCUS

42 VILLAGE
KONE
Telephone: 472131

Vale Inco New Caledonia being in a very remote part of the island, there is no hotels close by.

 

Going out:

Night life in Noumea is predominantly along a stretch of road “Promenade Roger Laroque” which goes from “Baie des Citrons” right up to “Anse Vata”. At the Baie des Citrons is a rather large commercial complex made out of restaurants, pubs, bars, discos. At the commercial complex at the Anse Vata there are quite a few and very nice restaurants and one large bar with a terrace overlooking the lagoon.

Throughout the eek, night life starts from about 5.30 PM for the very French “aperitif” , what the locals call “apéro”, a gathering of co-workers of friends having a drink just before sundown which can be seen while taking a cold beer, the sun sets on the West coast and therefore can be seen from Noumea over the blue lagoon. During the week night life is rather quite, starting to rise on Wednesdays when most discos have the “girl’s night out”, free drinks for the ladies knowing that the men won’t be too far behind. From Wednesday right through to Saturday night restaurants along the beach are jammed pack and most time booking is a must, a large majority of restaurants have their menus in French/English/Japanese, and most waiters/waitresses speak English, but there is always someone nearby to translate. Usually after a good diner in a restaurant people start going to discos which start filling up from 11 PM and usually close around 3.00 AM. There is a good mix of discos, for younger people, 18 to 25, for older people, 30 to 40, so everyone can enjoy a good night out, there is even a disco by the beach for homosexuals, but many heterosexuals are also going there, a very popular disco with good music. 

Although there are many ethnics in New Caledonia, Japanese, Indonesians, Wallisians (from the Kingdom of Wallis and Futuna, another French Territory in the South Pacific) who are built like Maoris, Indians, Vietnamese, Chinese, Tahitians, Kanaks (natives), Australians, Canadians, New Zealanders, night life is principally made out of Europeans.

Alcohol is a major concern in New Caledonia, causing many fatal road accidents. Because of that the High Commissioner of the Republic placed a ban on selling alcohol in shops from 4.00 PM Friday to Midnight Saturday night. Alcohol can be bought just about anywhere, grocery shops (very expensive though) Supermarkets, bottle shops as we find them in Australia do not exist here, but there are what could be called “wine shops” also selling alcohol and beers. During the time the sale of alcohol is banned, one can buy a drink in a Pub or a restaurant providing it is drank on the premises. The only Australian beer found here is “Forster’s Beer” made in the U.K.

There is one picture theatre in Noumea with 12 different movies to see each week. There are 2 Casinos with roulette, black jack, etc, and the old one armed bandits, usually imported from Australia. If you own a DVD player, or even just a computer equipped with a DVD player, you can hire all the latest movies in all the DVD shops in and around Noumea or Kone is you want to watch a movie after work. About 90 % of all movies are American, Australian, Canadian, English made, dubbed in French, so when you get to the menu part of the DVD you can choose to watch the movie in English.

There is always something to discover, if you like surfing, wind surfing, gliding, water skiing, hiring a jet boat, rent a push bike, a car, even a motorcycle, there are many places in Noumea to look for and so much to see. Australian driving licences are accepted in New Caledonia, but it will be best if you took an international drivers licence at your nearest NRMA branch before you leave Australia. There is a huge network of buses in Noumea, but only until late in the evening, taxis are 24 hours a day 7 days a week.

 

Practical:

If you bring any electrical appliances with you, you will have to buy locally an adaptor as the French plugs are different than those in Australia, you can find them in Supermarkets or specialised shops in the City; local voltage is the same as in Australia.

If you want to bring your mobile phone with you, it will work just as well as it does in Australia. In the same way as Vodafone in Australia, you can buy a rechargeable SIM card in any Post Office or Mobile phone retailers. You can also get a contract with local Telecom for a 1 hour, up to 5 hours calls per month, it work out to be a lot cheaper than recharging your SIM card each time.

 

Banks:

There are 4 Banks in New Caledonia, 2 of them are the correspondent of Australian Banks, there is also an ANZ Bank in Noumea. The other Banks have branches throughout New Caledonia. To open a Bank account you will need one form of I.D., your last 3 pay slips, your working contract, and a prove of address. It takes about one week to have the first cheque book issued and about one month for a Visa Card or Mastercard. There are two type of Visa Cards, the debit card, known as ELECTRON, or the credit card which give you interest free money ahead for 30 days. If you have your own Visa Card or any other card, you can withdraw the equivalent in French money of up to AU$ 600.00 each 7 days at any automatic teller machine. But if you do, keep in mind that an exchange rate will apply which could work out to be more expensive.

 

Useful numbers to know:

Australian General Consul:

19 Avenue du Marechal Foch – Telephone: 272414

After you settle down, it may be a good idea to drop in and register with the Australian Consul General so that they know that you are there in case you need some assistance. Australia likes to know where its citizens are around the world.

In Australia, the emergency number is 000, in New Caledonia it is quite different.

When in Noumea:

If you need emergency medical help, dial 15 – This number is linked to the hospital where an emergency team will get to you in an ambulance fitted with all the emergency equipment

If you need the Police, dial 17

If you need the Fire Department, dial 18

You need to know these numbers, for yourself or others. If you buy a SIM card or get a contract with your local Telecom, these numbers are preregistered and will appear in your list of contacts.

When you are on site, well, you don’t have to worry too much, you will be looked after very well in case you need some assistance.