Car rental in NC - What route to drive in a week or less?

Hey,

As I bought tickets to Noumea - arriving on 25th of September, 16:00...

I figured I will spend a few days to a week in Noumea, after which I'd like to tour the main island a bit.

The car rentals are fairly expensive at least when compared to these Australian prices.

However, I'd maybe like to tour the island for a week maximum... Or can I see "the best places" (relevant, of course) in, lets say 3-5 days?

Every page and book says that one should head to northeast coast with the car, then cross over to the west at some point because apparently theres a very scenic road, and then cross back to east a bit later on.

What would be the most "logical" way of exploring the island by car? Drive from Noumea to to the south on the west coast, round the headland to the east coast, continue there for a while, then do the westcoast crossing - and head for Hienghiene (oslt)?

I figure I shouldn't expect much to do except to see stuff, scenic views etc - No snorkelling (or what are the best places to snorkel?)... But horseriding? My girl would love that! If you have done any riding anywhere, please let me know how much you paid and what kind of trip did you get?

-J

Driving along the west coast heading north makes sense as the road is very good and some interesting places to stop- including a number of places for horseriding. Heading east is very scenic as you correctly have already worked out.
Hienghiene is a real highlight.

But how many days would one need to comfortably see these highlights of NC?

-J

A week could be fine, though of course the longer the better.
3-4 days too short.

I would also start with going straight up North along the West Coast, then down the East. Note that the most scenic crossing you must have read about on my VT pages is sort of in the middle of the North, so if you want to see both that road and the entire NE coast (certainly recommended!) you will have to cross more than once or even twice. A map should help you plan this, but some backtracking will be unavoidable.

There's very interesting horse-riding out of Kanak tribal villages inland from Hienghiene. Both more scenic and more culturally interesting than doing it along the West coast. You could organize this through the tourist office in Hienghiene.

Also, you should explore a bit of the South, at least as far as the Riviere Bleau park, but I don't think you can continue right up along the East Coast from there.

Yeah, this LP site lists the south has one of the highlights, so I figure head south, come back to Noumea -> continue on the west coast, and cross to the east in the place you mentioned, and maybe back to the west at some point..

-J