New Caledonia

Lifou

We stopped here and went looking for McHale’s Navy, but alas we were 70 years late.  The island of Lifou is the largest atoll in the world and is part of the Loyalty Islands.  It is a province of New Caledonia.  This island and its three neighboring islands are the most traditional islands of this archipelago, with many people still living the old way, in thatched huts.  Apparently, the old ways also included not bathing; these people literally stunk.  The population of this province is 98% Kanak (the indigenous people of Melanesian origin).  They speak French here. 

After anchoring, we went ashore to have a beach day.  There were no excursions scheduled as there is nothing to do here or any place to go except to the beach and snorkeling (plus they have no tour operators here).  We had an absolutely beautiful day for the beach, blue skies with a few cotton ball clouds scattered about.  It was warm, but the humidity was low for this part of the world.  The water was clear and aqua in color.  

  

 Michael and I both passed up an opportunity to sightsee as Hanita, Jan and Fred went on a two-hour tour.  We wanted to beach.  After finding a shaded place to put our stuff, we took turns going in the water as there were locals nearby and didn’t want to leave our stuff unattended.  The beach was sandy, but littered with coral pieces.  I was first up to go in the water and found the bottom full of coral and rocks.  It was also very shallow.  There was no good way to get into deeper water going barefooted, so I went back to get my shoes.  I am still kicking myself for not packing my water sox.   So in I go, wearing my sandals and got out to deeper water.  It was warm and pleasant  just to float about.  Michael went next and didn’t get very far; he came back for my shoes!

There was a pavilion up the hill where a ceremony was taking place.  It is the first time Seabourn has stopped here and the captain presented a plaque to the village leaders, and they in turn presented a plaque to him in honor of this visit.  Michael went up the hill to see the ceremony; I couldn’t go because HE WAS WEARING MY SHOES, and there was no way to go up the hill without them.  There was a lot of noise, dancing and banging from the locals putting on a show.  I could hear it.  Michael comes back and tells me how great the show was, the dancing and chanting, the presentations, yada yada.  I am sorry I missed it – plus he didn’t have the camera with him to take pictures. 

Some folks went snorkeling at a different location and said it was the best so far on this trip.  At our location, a man went snorkeling and said he was bitten twice.  Apparently, these fish are aggressive, territorial or were just plain hungry for human flesh (BTW, the natives used to be cannibals).  I saw ONE fish, about two inches long, white with black stripes. 

I found another location on the beach that didn’t have as much coral on the bottom of the ocean, so we moved our location.  This was much better and we didn’t have to wear my shoes.

Noumea – or Never on Monday

You could have knocked me over with a feather.  I never in a million years thought of New Caledonia as anything but a tropical island that Ernest Borgnine and McHale’s Navy inhabited on our TV set way back in the 1960s.  This is a beautiful place!

New Caledonia is the third largest archipelago in the Pacific and is comprised of the Mainland, the Isle of Pines, the Loyalty Islands and the Belep archipelago.  This South Pacific gem has the second longest reef in the world (the Great Barrier Reef is first) and has the largest lagoon in the world.  It is protected by UNESCO as a world heritage site.  New Caledonia is a unique blend of Kanak, French, Polynesian, Indonesian, and Vietnamese cultures. 

The history is very interesting.  In 1853, France took possession of these islands.  At the same time, the discovery of substantial mineral deposits of copper, nickel, and cobalt contributed to the growth of New Caledonia’s economy.  From 1864 to 1894, convicts were sent here from France, and voluntary immigration from India, Vietnam, and Indonesia provided labor for mining.  During WWII, New Caledonia played a strategic part in the Pacific conflict; over one million US service personnel were stationed here.  Today, nickel is still mined and contributes to the economy.

New Caledonia is its own country, but is part of France.  Noumea is the capital and lies on the southern tip of the Mainland.  The climate is semi-tropical.  A majority of its citizens live in the capital.

Noumea is a peninsula, with convoluted shorelines, bays, and islands close to shore.  We were ready to explore the area on a hop-on-hop-off train with Hanita and Morry, so off we go to the visitor center to get tickets only to find out that it is closed on Mondays for rest; as a matter of fact, every sight worth visiting such as the aquarium and maritime museum were also closed on Mondays!  We stopped at Lifou on a Sunday because stores are closed in Noumea.  Somehow, things backfired.  The stores were open, but not the attractions.   

Now for Plan B.  There was a one-hour bus tour (it had A/C), and it only cost $10 per person.  Very reasonable, so off we went.  We drove through the very traffic-congested city center, then up into the hills to the Point de vue de la F.O.L. viewpoint.  This city is a whole lot bigger and more cosmopolitan than I expected.  We had a spectacular view of the entire peninsula, including all the islands and bays.  There was a really nice breeze keeping the temperature pleasant.  Every direction we looked, there was stunning ocean views with color changes in the water from light aqua to deep sapphire.  Pleasure boats were plying the waters, visiting the many islands or just sailing around.  For those without a boat, there was a water taxi out to Duck Island where one can swim along an underwater path. 

We saw some unusual looking pine trees that I have seen in Hawaii that were used as Christmas trees.  If we turned the other direction, we could see the mountains that run along the center of the Mainland.  We then drove along the sea promenade and saw many resorts and upscale hotels, restaurants, and shops.  The tour brought us back to city center, where we got off and on foot, went shopping.

Shopping here is quite expensive for electronics.  There was a video/music/electronics store and Michael went in looking for a VGA adapter for my iPad.  He found it, but it cost double what we pay at home and decided not to buy it here.  The city was very clean and there was a lot of road work being done.  Just like any other big city.  The women wore loose fitting dresses in bright colors and bold patterns.  I found a tie-dyed pale green and pink dress for my souvenir, which I plan on wearing to dinner tonight (we have to host again).  I’ve gone native!

We all had had enough of shopping and it was starting to get warm, so we walked back to the ship.  It was easy to find because anywhere you went in city center, you could see the ship docked at the foot of town, right across the street from the Casino/Supermarket.  That’s right – a combination I have never seen before. 

We were back on board by 11:30am.  Since our suite was being cleaned, we went up to deck 10 to the observation lounge and saw the plaque exchanging ceremony with city leaders and the captain.  This was not very exciting like on Lifou.  No dancing, chanting or drum banging, just short little speeches.  The captain did get an air kiss from Miss New Caledonia – it’s good to be the Captain!