Hi everyone, My family and I have been wanting to move to New Caledonia for a while now. My husband is French and I am Australian. We have been living in France for the last 10 years but we would like to move closer to Australia. Finally an opportunity has come up with my husbands work. My only worry is, one of my children (4 years old) has a rare Autoimmune illness and is treated with Immune suppressing drugs. I have recently had friends arrive in Noumea for an afternoon from a cruise ship and although they really didn't have time to look around they said the parts of Noumea they saw were filthy and smelly and they said it may not be the best environment to have my child in. Can anyone tell me if these observations are correct? Would it be a health hazard for my child? I am sure there are parts of Noumea that are beautiful and that they were unfortunate to see a bad part. All the photo's that I have seen on here are beautiful but there isn't much about LIFE it's self. Our move depends on this. Even though I am not happy here in France and I want to move closer to home I won't risk my child's life, so I am desperate for information. If anyone can settle my mind I would appreciate it very much. Thank you. Nat
Noumea or just outside
Hi Nat, I am an aussie have been living here for nearly 3 years. Whilst "centre ville" is not attractive and it does look run down and a little dirty, most parts of Noumea are lovely. The health service here from what I have experienced is excellent with good doctors and specialists. It is also very cheap and you do not have long waiting times for appointments. I don't know specifics with regard to your child and specialist care, there is an Australian Consulate here perhaps you might be able to get more information from them. Being a tropical island it does have Dengue. Hope this helps.
Thank you so much for replying Sanjo3.
You have set my mind at rest. I am glad to know that the dr's are good over there. As for specialists, I think our daughter will either be flown back to France 2 times a year to see her specialist and if she needs emergency treatment she will be flown to Sydney or Brisbane as she has already seen both specialists there last year. I was really only worried about the cleanliness of N.C. The way my friends carried on when they got off the boat was maybe a little exaggerated. Anyway thank you again for your reply.
Cheers
Nat
Hi,
If you understand/speak french, try the french version of expatblog. There are several nurses answering regularly.
Regards,
GSL
I can read and understand, I am just not very fluent in written French. Thank you for the advice, Graz et Steph. 
