Attending a travel conference in New Caledonia recently landed Thames man Geb Owen in the middle of deadly protests that stranded him in Noumea for just over a week.
The riots and protests broke out in the capital in May, resulting in nine deaths, deployment of the French army and a declaration of a state of emergency on May 16, with the unrest causing damage estimated at more than NZD$2.6 billion. The violence broke out following a controversial voting reform aiming to change existing conditions which prevent up to one-fifth of the population from voting in provincial elections.
Geb, who works in insurance, was in New Caledonia with a group of 42 delegates from a New Zealand travel company for the four-day conference when the riots broke out.
“To be honest it was more odd than scary. It was unusual. When we got there, we left the airport and there was a lot of flag waving with the locals and we didn’t really know what was going on, we thought that was unusual but didn’t really think too much of it,” he said.
The conference was in a remote area outside of Noumea, so the group was unaware the protests had escalated until they travelled back to their hotel in Noumea the day before their scheduled flight home.
“As we were driving back, there were these roadblocks where they’d been burning fires in the middle of the road and tyres and all manner of stuff – they were pulling stuff down and chucking it into these fires and waving their Kanak [indigenous] flags.
“We got a general idea from the bus driver of what was happening… but it got progressively worse as we got into Noumea,” he said. “The funny thing is, you’d think of 42 people involved in the travel industry, if anyone was going to be aware of the potential issues, it’d be us – they hadn’t really communicated what was happening.”
His company’s emergency assistance service later told him the unrest had been “bubbling away and this riot has been on the horizon” but there was no information in the media while he was at the conference, he said.
“It did come as a bit of a surprise. That night we said ‘well we hope we can get out tomorrow’, sort of tongue in cheek… but the next morning they said the road’s been closed and no-one can get to the airport.
“That’s when it became quite surreal.”
Geb’s hotel was in a tourist area in south Noumea, a few kilometres from the riots, and about 20km from the most violent protests to the north.
“You could see the military presence as the days went by. You could hear helicopters and you could hear explosions, you could hear gunfire. It was quite surreal, sitting on the balcony, sipping fine French wine, listening to gunfire.”
New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Air New Zealand staff also staying at the hotel were able to give the stranded New Zealanders and Australians regular updates, he said.
Around a week later, around 50 New Zealanders with children or medical issues were flown home on a New Zealand Defence Force recovery flight.
The following day, Geb and several hundred other New Zealanders and Australians were offered a flight to Brisbane on a French government plane that had transported around 200 soldiers to Noumea.
Though the tourist area he was staying in wasn’t the target of any protests, the father of three was keen to return home to his family. “If you can imagine, my main concern really was [wife] Jo and the boys. I felt there were definitely times she was doing it tougher than me.”
The journey home was the “most interesting part”, Geb said. “We went down to the local domestic airport, so we saw a lot of burnt out buildings and cars as we drove to the airport. We were greeted by the French Berets, who were all fully armed, and we were transported military-style through the airport into a hangar.”
From there, the group flew to a military airport and boarded the French plane to Brisbane, then Geb and around 80 Kiwis were flown to Auckland by the NZ Defence Force. “It was amazing to see the way the Kiwis came together, the way they supported one another in that sort of scenario. We all gravitated towards one another and made sure they had what they needed, it was really cool to see.”
Geb said the riots were ongoing in New Caledonia. Protests flared up again last week, with several buildings set on fire, including a police station and town hall, after pro-independence activists were arrested and taken to France.
“It’s still going on… Air New Zealand has just cancelled all their flights to New Caledonia [until September 28]. It’s still happening, there are a lot of local businesses that are really suffering.”
However, despite his ordeal on his first trip to the French Pacific territory, Geb said he would go back in the future.
“It’s actually a beautiful, beautiful country. If you can imagine the [Pacific] islands but with some proper infrastructure… roading and all that sort of stuff, [which] comes from French money.
“It’s a beautiful spot and Noumea itself is a lovely city, I definitely would go back. I do hope they can find some peace or resolution, however, it’s going to take a long time to rebuild their tourism. It’s a real shame.”
