Blogs from New Caledonia, Oceania

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 ... read more

Day 1 - Departure from Sydney Harbour We travelled via the bus to Sydney and then a taxi to the Overseas Terminal. Checked in to the boat which was easy and smooth. We had managed to get a suite for this cruise. Our bags took a while to arrive so we went to have lunch at the Windjammer buffet and treated ourselves to a glass of bubbles. That evening we had our first sampling of the Concierge Club which we could access due to our suite booking. It is open 4.30 - 8 for free drinks and hot/cold nibbles. We had dinner in the Cascade restaurant and then returned to the club lounge. Day 2 - At Sea A light breakfast as we had been invited to brunch today. We sat at a table at the ... read more

Something I remember from my childhood and the many family sailing holidays we had is that things often go wrong and when they do the best thing to do is laugh about it and then fix it. We seemed to do a lot of laughing at certain times in the past few days … When everything was going well, we just kept on seeing amazing sea life up close and personal as well as idyllic sand fringed palm tree studded islets at every turn. Sometimes the weather could have been better, but we were warm enough to go swimming with the tropical fish and enjoy being outdoors. Ile des Pins is a large island compared to the others. It must be about 20 km across, so we wanted to hire a car to see it for ... read more

Day 6 The view once again from our balcony this morning was stunning. The Isle of Pines showed a beach to the left of white sand and an ocean split into a dark sea blue that shimmered like diamonds before meeting the land in an almost irridescent aquamarine. Taking a smaller boat to land the view again becoming postcard picture perfect loomed into a life size view. Disembarking off the boat we walked towards the left, mesmerized by the view. The white powder sand looked inviting and looking back toward the ship offered a spectacular view. Mangrove type trees lined the beach providing shelter to the many families already enjoying the tropical island. Small huts once again adorned the area offering a selection of food, drink, hairbraiding and massages. Looking over to the right another beach ... read more

Blog 29 Easo, Lifou, New Caledonia, April 17, 2018 – Weather forecast: mostly sunny; temperature 27°C 90%, wind 19kts (5 Beaufort) Our port of call today was the island of Lifou and the community of Easo. According to the documentation provided by the Shore Excursion Team the name “Easo” in the local Drehu language means “smoking fire”. The name was derived from the fact that whalers lit fires on shore to render the fat into oil from the cetaceans they had harpooned in the area during the decade of 1860-1870. Catholic missionaries came to the island in 1858 and established a chapel, Notre Dame de Lourdes, on the promontory overlooking Santal and Jinek bays. The chapel was clearly visible from the ship as we sailed into the Santal Bay. Our shore excursion took us to the ... read more