New Caledonia – First Stop in Noumea then to Kuto, Ile des Pins

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Noumea, the capital city of New Caledonia was our first stop. It is located on Grand Terre, the main island, known for beaches and its blend of French and native Kanak influences. Not the most interesting city but I was intrigued as all New Caledonians speak French (it is a French Territory). Citizens get to vote for the President of France!



The French used New Caledonia as the location to send prisoners (in particular political prisoners) after they annexed the islands in 1853. Napolean III made it a penal colony and sent around 5,000 Communard deportees to these islands. The islands were first discovered by James Cook in 1774 and named New Caledonia because the mountainous scenery reminded him of his native Scotland.



We booked a hop on, hop off bus for the day and circled the city and the main beach in Nomea. Note my photo through the letter “a” on the bus window to get an idea of the city. Lots of Marinas and most of the restaurants were along the beach area. Sadly, the beach was closed due to 3 recent shark attacks (1 fatal). Very sad and disturbing as we love beaches and sun and I always swim in every ocean I am at! It sure gives you a second thought about swimming in the ocean when this is so close to home!



So we spent the day having New Caledonian beers in the restaurants along the beach. We found this funky one with a pink Cadillac for a seat and a yellow convertible at another. We then hopped back on the bus and toured the coast and all the marinas! No, that sunken sailboat was not chartered by Darold and I!!!



Our second stop in New Caledonia was at Easo, Lifou as Kuto on the Ile des Pins was deleted from our itinerary by Holland American (with no explanation). A much more interesting stop as it was a more remote island where you could see the typical lifestyle of the New Caledonians. Most of the country is Roman Catholic and you could see a church tucked up on a bluff surrounded by the dense rainforest. There was a second church in the same bay. As I walked to see the church on the bluff, I took a photo of the circular huts that are homes for the locals. Note: The North American style garage next to the hut!



There was (of course) a local market where the cruise ship tendered in Easo, Lifou, New Caledonia. But the best part was the local dance troupe who performed for us. The woman in the yellow dress stripped the large palm leaf that you see in the foreground as the dancers swayed and the musicians pounded the floor with their sticks which acted as drums for the rhythm. Everyone sang and then the young boys came forward to dance, followed by the young girls and then the men. The women chanted and made baskets, trays and toys (balls and a bat & ball type of toy) during the 10-15 minute performance. The woman in yellow completed that huge basket in that short time. They then demonstrated their crafts and showed how each item was used by the villagers. It was pretty cool to watch! The little boy and girl in my photos were our favorite – so cute and so enthusiastic when they danced and sang!



After the dance performance, I walked the beach and waded in the water. Others were swimming but after being in Nomea the day before with shark attacks, I thought that I am not swimming here as sharks can swim too!!! I found this purple rubber ducky in a burnt stump on my beach walk. I've never heard of this before but it is a THING! There were rubber ducky's hidden on our ship and I guess people are hiding them in random places. I think you are supposed to take them and hide them in a new place but I thought that this purple ducky looked perfect where he was and just took a photo!



I also took a photo of a spider that I saw on the pier to the tender boat. I thought that it was strange seeing this about 100 feet out on the pier so I took a picture. There are deadly spiders on New Caledonia (we discovered later) - one even related to the Australian black widow (and very poisonous)! I didn't know this when I took a photo of this spider but I found out later this very sad fact! Someone we met on the cruise and who became a friend of ours, was bitten in New Caledonia (he thinks by a spider) and sadly had to be dropped off to the hospital in Hawaii to get emergency medical care! We are trying to find out how he is but lost contact.

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