The sail into the Bay of La Moselle, Noumea, New Caledonia was not the best one we have had so far. It was heavily overcast and rainy. New Caledonia was a territory of France for many years. They primarily used these small islands as a French penal colony. And the French also found the islands rich in iron ore making them valuable to their country. The population of all of the islands combined is 275,350 people that claim their origins from French Polynesian seafarers. And they speak mostly French, and some English. They gained independence in the 1980's. The capital is Noumea, and where we are docked today in a container port. Although we could not appreciate the true beauty of the World Heritage listed lagoons and reefs, we do remember the colors of the water to be deep blue to aquamarine. Without the sun shining, the scenery took on many shades of gray.
The city itself has a more European feeling about it since there are numerous bakeries and cafes serving gourmet food and specialty coffees. Many citizens from France fly here for the beaches and resort bungalows out of the immediate area. Iles de Pins is a tiny drop of an island that has the finest packed white sand we have ever seen. Unfortunately, this stop is not on our itinerary this cruise.
Their most loved food is a mix of yams, sweet potatoes and taro root served with fish or meat. It is simmered with coconut milk, then wrapped tightly in a banana leaf. Lobster, crab, and even dugong (manatee) and sea turtles are traditional dishes. The last two are forbidden to hunt commercially now. Beer and wine are their favorite beverages.
One interesting fact is that a certain type of shell fish is only found in these waters at a depth of 500 meters. They are called the nautilus which belongs to the mollusk family. They have remained unchanged for over 100 million years. Only six remaining species exist here. Their shells resemble a ram's horn, like a whirl of color. One side is round, shiny, and smooth, while the backside is cut so they lay flat. They were suitable for pendants on a beaded necklace, and very affordable as an island souvenir. And do you think we could find any today? We saw exactly zero. There must be a reason for this, such as they have been forbidden to make the pendants. We will have to do some research on this.
Being that we were in a working container port, we were not allowed to walk to town from the ship. There were plenty of shuttles to take the guests to the Cruise Terminal Center, a 5 minute ride at the most. We stuck around until 10am before we headed off. Of course, those folks who had booked ship tours went off at a different gangway unannounced. There were only a few excursions offered today. And they were short from 2 hours to 3 ½ hours in duration. Most all of them stayed within the city limits and ran from $60 to $120. Having been here at least twice in the past, we have toured the museums, churches, beaches, and viewpoints.
One negative about stopping here today was the fact it was Saturday, and many of the venues would close by noontime. So we did not plan on lunch. At least that was what we were told. We took a look in the cruise terminal, and finally remembered it from our last visit years ago. Following the ship's map, we headed across the street and located the Place des Cocotiers, a pedestrian esplanade from the 1800's. There was a strip of park featuring a band stand, gardens, and a place for gatherings. It is filled with mature trees probably over 200 years old. Since it was lightly raining, the park was very soaked and only locals were here.
Near the top of this park was a block dedicated to souvenirs. It sure looked like Chinatown in San Francisco to us, and mostly the same items being sold. Baseball caps, t-shirts, and island clothing and sarongs were the main offerings. Looking from the street, we did not see any of the nautilus necklaces. And every shop had the same items. So, we circled around the block and made our way to the top of the park. Up this way were typical stores like Mango and other high end boutique shops. All were getting ready to close for the day.
Making our way back down the other side of the park, we ended up back at the cruise terminal. Checking out the second level in the terminal building, we scanned every table and ended up with nothing. These vendors were more into the artistic items, carvings, and island paintings. Back outside we did see that a ho-ho bus tour was offered, although too late to book by now, it was affordable. They also sold tickets for the Tchou Tchou Train ride which took about 1 ½ hours. It was strictly a scenic ride and not treated as an off and on venue.
From here, we continued walking the waterside restaurants of the Ferry Docks. For some reason, we don't remember this venue being here before. If we had come here later around 1 or 2 pm, we would have eaten lunch at one of the small cafes with tables outside under a canopy. We even saw one place that had many varieties of pizza, although it was more like take-away.
It was still drizzling when we got back on the shuttle for the 5 minute ride to the ship. Many of the guests that rode over with us were also on this bus. Lunch was in the Lido with our usual salads and sandwiches. The nice ice cream gal had run out of sugar cones, but was happy to give us unbroken small cones instead.
The Captain came on the speakers around 4:30pm and claimed the bad weather was behind us now, and it should be pleasant sailing for the next few days. He expected 6 foot swells as we head for Sydney, Australia. But there was some sad news…..we will be arriving to the harbor too early for a scenic-sail into the bay. Perhaps it was due to the tides, we will be alongside the White Bay Terminal by 5:45am. Then, that same evening, the ship will leave that dockage, and take a spot at the Darling Harbor Terminal at or around 10pm. That will be nice for a change, but once again, we will miss sailing under the coat hangar Sydney Bridge when we depart the harbor.
Dinner found some different appetizers of a vegetable soup, smoked chicken with coleslaw (very good), and the usual Caesar salad. Mains were the same…. Teriyaki short ribs over a bed of rice pilaf. Very good as well. One scoop of pecan ice cream was just right.
When we returned to our stateroom, we discovered that the TV did not work. It was not responding to the remote although the red light was flashing. The screen stayed on all night with nothing happening because we could not turn it off. This is a first experience we wished we did not have. Hopefully they can make it right before Super Bowl Day…….
Bill & Mary Ann
