Blogs from New Caledonia, Oceania

We’re back in Denver after a journey that has taken us to Hangzhou, Singapore, Bali, Darwin and Australia’s Queensland coast, and across the Pacific by ship. We stopped off along the way at ports in New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Fiji, and the two Samoas (Western and American), and ended our thirty-three day sea voyage in Honolulu. We also got to relive April 23rd two times over by crossing the International Date Line. Like some of my literary forebears (Jack Kerouac), I worked my way across the Pacific. But unlike Kerouac, I didn’t have to wash dishes or swab the decks on a pukey tramp steamer. Instead, I lectured aboard a state of the art cruise ship – Royal Caribbean’s "Rhapsody of the Seas" - in exchange for room, board, and passage for myself and Nancy. Normally I ... read more

A shared breakfast at the Waterfront early and a #11 ticket for our tender.A tender is the life boat in real life but since we can't anchor at some of our shore excursions we use these to take us to the jetty on the Isle of Pines. This island has 2000 inhabitants mostly involved with the tourism industry of cruise ships. It is part of New Caledonia so French is spoken as well as native languages and a little English. We disembarked in Kuto Bay and had a little walk around to start our day. There is an obvious fort like fence near this port, possibly built by the French to keep out the locals. The locals had set up stalls with food and souvenirs for sale, there was dancing and music displays and every thing ... read more

Noumea, New Caledonia from 8am to 5pm. What a great day, such a lovely place, a delightful mix of Europe, Melanesia and Kanak cultures all on proud display. We were welcomed to Gare Maritime terminal, downtown Noumea by a group of dancers and singers. We had sailed from Vanuatu through the Havannah passage, Woodin Canal and the Petit Rade into this deep water harbour. Our draft enabled us to berth downtown; we were only 3-4 meters from the bottom though. Noumea is situated in Grande Terre the main island, and was sighted and named by Captain Cook in 1774. Noumea was claimed by the French in the Napoleonic war and this city became the administrative center in 1854. Like Australia it was a penal colony but free people also came in the form of traders and ... read more

After our massive day yesterday we slept in until 9am and I think so did most other people, as breakfast was really crowded. We sat with a couple from Sydney, no free tables at all. She has cruised before and like us they had a busy day yesterday. The coffee machines serve disgusting coffee, thank god for the 2 cafes, small price but big pleasure. Laundry day today, there is quite a large one on level 10 with normal prices of $3 per load and $2 per dry. There is also a pull out line in your shower for hanging smalls. Back to the coffee machine saga. So far we have tried; strong white, strong black and normal black with add your own real milk, and normal white with milk and all have been declared revolting. ... read more

Nous sommes allés ensemble au parc de la Rivière Bleue, une chouette découverte. Une petite balade à pieds nous a amenés jusqu'à des houps géants : fûts d'une vingtaine de mètres de haut et sans doute pas loin de 2.5 mètres de diamètre à la base... Un énorme pin colonnaire à poussé dans l'un de ces houps géants, bizarre et impressionnant !!!... read more