A first trip ‘round the world, part 60

Upon enjoying Sydney and everything that large Australian city had to offer, Gérard and Marcel flew to Nouméa, New Caledonia, a Pacific island that's about 1,250 miles to the northeast, and less than three and a half hour away from Sydney.

Since our two friends were there for a just a couple of days and didn’t want to invest in a relatively expensive hotel room in town, they decided to spend each night at the airport. Staying at a hotel would have busted their traveling budget! 

Says Gérard: “I remember that a police patrol working inside the terminal checked on us the first night and after listening to our explanations, agreed to leave us there .... It appeared to us that the cost of living was very high in that French enclave, and that the local folks were obsessed with money !” 

Marcel especially enjoyed swimming in the magnificent bay of Nouméa and had the time of his life. 

One day, the two attempted to hitch-hike to see and hopefully visit the nearby nickel mines, but unfortunately this mode of transportation didn’t seem to work too well on that French island, and they had to finally turn around 50 km and several hours later. 

Marcel said ironically, pun intended: “That’s when I learned what it meant to have to travel on one’s own nickel!”