I Thought Sitting on the Dock of the Bay Was Good, Over the Water Bungalows are MUCH Better

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I thought people airbrushed photos of these... it's a shame I was alone.


Over the water bungalows is where it’s at!


As we neared New Caledonia the weather began to shift to the cooler, rainier side. I was a little worried that our strictly liberty port was going to be ruined by the weather in fact. Many started to complain about the cool weather, but I kept my attitude optimistic, thinking of the over the water bungalow I had secured for all 3 nights.


As we pulled into the lagoon, by the way, it’s the largest lagoon in the world, there were reefs everywhere. Looking at the navigational charts, the harbor entrance is listed as a “no anchor zone” due to unknown ordnance from WWII. Apparently there was a large U.S. Supply Headquarters here and between them, the French and the native inhabitants fighting for the Allies, lots of mines and other exploding things were dropped in the lagoon. So, trying to anchor was a nightmare. We got a pilot, but it was still a bit of a nail biting experience, especially when we had to shift anchorage sites. The winds were acting up, severely crippling our ability to get anything done on the ship. We had a breasting barge and two water taxis, but the seas just wouldn’t cooperate. We ended up pulling the anchor in and shifting sites to a more sheltered area between two small peninsulas.



As one of the few people on the ship with any French knowledge, I was immediately in charge of trying to talk to and understand a French female officer, Flavie. She spoke English beautifully, with a few words exception, where I was able to help her out a little. I was now trying to help get the customs items taken care of with her as the ambassador ashore and me getting her around the BYRD. Finally, after way too many hours on board, things worked themselves out. I ended up getting to Kuendu Beach Resort around 9pm, after the long wait for the water taxi and the taxi into town for a bit of food. I’m off the ship for the next 3 days!!! Whatever shall I do with myself?



Well, let me tell you what I did. As soon as I got to my bungalow I was blown away. You cross the threshold and look up to large wooden trusses and a lovely little room. There’s a coffee table that opens out below to the look at the fishies below. Walk onto the balcony and there’s a hot tub... oh, and there are steps straight into the crystal clear, blue water. Now this is what I call a room! First stop... hop into the hot tub. Oh yeah, I did. Next stop, bed... tomorrow I start some more diving adventures.

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