Noumea, New Caledonia

THURSDAY 5th MARCH

Hi all,

We arrived in Noumea, New Caledonia at 10am instead of 7am today, due to the fact we had been in Port Vila on Wednesday, three hours north of Mystery Island where we were scheduled to be. This meant the shore excursion we had booked had its time shifted and was in the middle of the time the ship was docked. We ended up cancelling it for a refund as it would’ve meant it was all we got to do and we would’ve missed out on exploring anything else.

We had a late breakfast and then Rob and I set off with Eliza. New Caledonia is Eliza’s 4th country, and my 85th visited. I’ve slowed down a lot in recent years due to Covid and having Eliza, but I’m pretty proud of that number. I would love to get to 100 one day. One day!!

We caught a bus from the ship to the edge of town (Royal Caribbean organised these and had them running constantly). Then we bought tickets for a sightseeing “train” (more like a mini shuttle bus made to look like a train) that a friend had done with her two sons when she came here in January and enjoyed. It went for 1.5 hours overall, we saw some key sights such as beaches and historical landmarks from the war and learned information as we went from our guide. We also stopped up the top of a hill called Ouen-Toro Parc (Ironwood Hill), saw some canons and enjoyed panoramic views. We were very lucky with the weather. It was much brighter than expected and barely rained at all. But it was very humid!

We learned that like Vanuatu James Cook also stopped here in 1774, and New Caledonia received its name as it reminded him of the highlands of his homeland of Scotland, which Caledonia is the Latin word for. In 1853 the French arrived, turning it into a penal colony and sending thousands of convicts over. The name of the town was Port de France at that time, and Martinique (another French colony) had a town called Fort de France. So many convicts’ letters got lost due to the similar name and they lost touch with their families, having nowhere to go once set free. As a result many convicts remained in New Caledonia, starting a new life there and having ancestors there today. Today, the country is still a territory of France. French is the national language and while English is taught at high school it is not compulsory and students have a choice of English, Chinese, Japanese and Spanish. I enjoyed hearing French for the day and being able to say “bonjour”, “aurevoir” etc again.

Eliza did so well on the train. She sat and took it all in, waving at pedestrians and signalling “stop” with her hand any time we stopped at a traffic light which was cute. Right at the end our driver rang our bell outside of a school and all the little kids came shrieking and running over to wave to us which was very cute. She waved back.

After the train ride we caught the bus back and dropped her off to Gab and Mike who took her for her nap, and then Rob and I headed ashore again. This time we just wandered around. We found an ice cream shop and had one for “lunch”, walked in the main square, Place des Cocotiers. It had lots of beautiful trees with flowers and a nice rotunda.

We then walked to St Joseph’s Church as our train guide had told us the internal chandelier was made of nickel, New Caledonia’s main resource. They have one of the largest nickel reserves in the world. But the doors were locked up tight so we just had to appreciate the outside and the Joan of Arc statue on the grounds. It was built between 1876-1909 by the convicts from local wood and stone.

We ended up at McDonalds next and had a quick snack before walking along the harbour and back to catch the bus again. Overall I really enjoyed exploring the town. The train was perfect with Eliza and for gaining a snapshot of New Caledonia in the time we had. And the town itself was a lot more developed and modern than Port Vila yesterday, due to New Caledonia being under French rule still and having the influence and resources from that connection.

We got back on board the ship again and had a shower, before getting Eliza back and showering her too. Then we had dinner in the dining room and went to a dance/cabaret show which we enjoyed called “Spectra’s Cabaret”.

The footy started tonight but the 24 hour sport channel on our TV has stupid rugby on instead. Grrr!!

I'll be posting one last time for this trip on Sunday regarding our final two days at sea.

Love to all
Claire
Xoxox