DAY 35 - NOUMEA, NEW CALEDONIA - MARCH 3, 2010

WE ARRIVED AT THE ENTRANCE TO NOUMEA ABOUT 8:30 BUT DIDN’T DOCK UNTIL NOON. THERE WERE NO PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED JUST A VERY SLOW, SCENIC JOURNEY THROUGH THE NARROW CHANNEL AND LARGE CORAL LINED LAGOON LEADING TO THE PORT TERMINAL.

IN THE PAST SEVERAL DAYS WE TOURED TWO ISLAND, AND IT FELT JUST LIKE WE WERE IN A RUSTIC PLACE OF ERA LONG AGO. SOMEPLACE THAT HADN’T REACHED THE 20TH CENTURY LET ALONE THE 21ST. TODAY HOWEVER WE STEPPED BACK INTO MODERN TIMES TODAY.

NOUMEA IS A RESORT CITY OF SORTS, PRIMARILY FOR THE AUSTRALIAN AND NEW ZEALANDERS. NEW CALEDONIA IS A FRENCH TERRITORY, AND STARTED AS A PENAL COLONY. AS MANY AS 30,000 FRENCH CONVICTS WERE SENTENCED TO NOUMEA IN THE LATE 1800’S. ALTHOUGH IT BAGAN TO DEVELOP BEYOND THE PENAL COLONY STAGE IN THE 1900’S REAL PROGRESS WASN’T MADE UNTIL AFTER WWII.

AS IS THE CASE IN MOST OF THE SOUTH PACIFIC, THE AMERICAN MILITARY PLAYED A LARGE PART OF IT’S SURVIVAL IN NOT BECOMING A JAPANESE HELD TERRITORY. THE JAPANESE HAD NOT COME AS FAR SOUTH AS NEW CALEDONIA BUT WERE VERY CLOSE. THE AMERICAN MILITARY LANDED 100,00 MEN, TRIPLING THE POPULATION, AND IN LESS THAN 3 MONTHS HAD GUNNERY POINTED OUT TO SEA THAT ALTERED THE JAPANESE PLAN FOR INVASION.

NEW CALEDONIA IS MADE OF OF 82 ISLANDS, MOST OF WHICH ARE NOT POPULATED. THERE IS LESS THAN 100,000 POPULATION, MOST SPEAK FRENCH, SOME ENGLISH, A FEW NATIVE TONGUE. IT IS EXTREMELY EXPENSIVE TO LIVE AND VACATION HERE.

MOST TOURS WERE SHORT IN DURATION AND THAT FACT INSPIRED US TO BE ADVENTUROUS. WE CHOSE TO DO 2 TOURS TODAY. OUR FIRST WAS THE COUNTRYSIDE WITH WINE AND CHEESE. THE LARGE, AIR-CONDITIONED BUS WAS MORE THAN BIG ENOUGH FOR THE 27 PEOPLE WHO WERE GIVEN THE NAME AS “FRANKIE’S WINO’S.” AS YOU MAY REMEMBER, FRANKIE IS ON STAFF, HE IS THE CRUISE DIRECTOR’S ASSISTANT. HE IS A VERY FUNNY GUY WITH HIGH ENERGY AND CAN GET EVEN THE QUIETIST PEOPLE INVOLVED.

ANYWAY BACK TO THE TOUR.

OUR FIRST STOP WAS HIGH ON THE HILLS OVERLOOKING THE ISLAND. A LARGE STATUE OF MARY HAD BEEN ERECTED ON THIS SITE YEARS AGO AS A MONUMENT TO SOMETHING I DON’T REMEMBER. ADDITIONALLY THERE WAS A LARGE CROSS AND A CIRCULAR HUT WITH THE STATIONS OF THE CROSS. IF YOU HAVEN’T GUESSED BY NOW, NEW CALEDONIA IS PREDOMINATELY CATHOLIC, AS IS FRANCE. (THAT MAY NOT BE TRUE ANY MORE WITH THE INFLUX OF MUSLIMS TO FRANCE, ESTIMATED AT 33%.)

THE VIEWS FROM THIS PERCH WAS MARVELOUS. IT WAS CLEAR, SUNNY, HOT AND YOU COULD SEE FOR MILES. LARGE ISLANDS AND SMALL ISLANDS ALIKE WERE SCATTERED THROUGHOUT THE LAGOON MAKING PICTURE TAKING A DELIGHT. OUR 10 MINUTE STAY TURNED INTO 25 MINUTES BEFORE HEADING TO THE NORTHEAST SECTION OF THE ISLAND FOR ANOTHER HILLTOP EXPERIENCE.

THE BUS NAVIGATED THE NARROW PASSAGE TO THE TOP OF THE HILL AND THE GUN PLACEMENTS INSTALLED BY THE AMERICANS IN WWII, KEEPING THE JAPANESE FROM INVADING. EACH DIRECTION PROVIDED PICTURES BETTER THAN EACH OF ANY OF THE OTHERS AND IT BECAME DIFFICULT KNOWING WHICH WAY TO TURN NEXT. WHICH SHOT SHOULD BE NEXT, THE SAIL BOATS, THE SMALL ISLANDS, THE GUNS OR THE LANDSCAPE. WHAT MONSTER DECISIONS TO BE MADE, THE PRESSURE WAS UNBEARABLE. YA RIGHT!

THE NEXT STOP IS WHAT GAVE US OUR NAME, CHEESE AND WINE, OR IS THAT WINE AND CHEESE. OH, WHO CARES, BRING IT ON. WE HAD THREE SMALL SAMPLES OF FRENCH WINE, 4 CHOICES OF FRENCH CHEESE, AND OF COURSE THE FRENCH BREAD. (ANYONE REMEMBER THE MOIVE “BETTER OFF DEAD” WITH JOHN CUSICK. HOW ABOUT THE SCENE WHERE HIS MOTHER IS SERVING DINNER TO THE NEIGHBOR AND THE FRENCH STUDENT?)

THE SITE WAS THE RAMADA INN, SHOULD HAVE BEEN A VINEYARD, WHERE THEY DISHED OUT THE WINE AND WE HELPED OURSELVES TO THE CHEESE AND BREAD. VINEYARD OR NOT, IT WAS GOOD AND THE COMPANY WAS ALSO. STILL MEETING NEW PEOPLE EVERYDAY EVEN THOUGH WE HAVE BEEN ABOARD 5 WEEKS. THERE WERE 27 VERY SOPHISTICATED PEOPLE, NO WINOS AND NO DRUNKS, ALL WERE ABLE TO WALK A STRAIGHT LINE BACK TO THE BUS.

THE SCHEDULE ALLOWED US 30 MINUTES BETWEEN TOURS AND IT LOOKED AS THOUGH THINGS WOULD BE CLOSE. OUR BUS PULLED INTO THE LOADING AREA AT 3:50, A MEAR 10 MINUTES BEFORE THE TOUR FOR THE GLASS BOTTOM BOAT WAS TO DEPART. OUR VAN WAS ALREADY ON SITE WAITING FOR THE 10 ADVENTURIST. WE ASKED PERMISSION TO GET INTO THE AIR-CONDITIONED VAN TO WAIT FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE PEOPLE. WE WAITED IN COMFORT.

IT WAS ONLY A SHORT DRIVE TO THE BOAT TAXI LAUNCH AND BEFORE LONG WE WERE OFF ACROSS THE LAGOON TOWARD DUCK ISLAND. THE SHALLOW WATER, NOT MORE THAN 3 FEET DEEP, BROUGHT US CLOSE TO THE VARIOUS CORAL SHAPES BENEATH THE BOAT. OUR CAPTAIN MOVED FROM SITE TO SITE AS WE VIEWED THE CORAL. AT TIMES COLORFUL FISH WOULD DUCK IN AND OUT OF THE CORAL FORMATIONS. THE BEST TREAT WAS YET TO COME.

THE CAPTAIN MANEUVERED THE CRAFT AROUND THE ISLAND, STOPPED THE MOTOR AND WITH THE PLAM OF HIS HAND MADE SEVERAL LOUD POUNDING NOISES TO THE SIDE WALLS OF THE GLASS ENCLOSURES. WE WATCHED THE GLASS BUT NOTHING APPEARED AND THEN LIKE MAGIC, HUNDREDS OF MULTI COLORS OF FISH SWAM BENEATH US. THEY KNEW IT WAS FEEDING TIME.

WE WERE GIVEN SMALL CHUNKS OF BREAD WHICH WE BROKE INTO SMALL PIECES AND TOSSED INTO THE WATER FROM BOTH SIDES OF THE BOAT. WHAT A FEEDING FRENZY. WHAT A PICTURE OPT THIS WAS TO BECOME. IT WAS THE BEST GLASS BOTTOM BOAT TOUR WE WERE EVERY ON AND OTHERS SAID THE SAME. WE WERE ONE HAPPY GROUP OF CAMPERS.

WE WERE BACK ON THE BOAT BY 5:30 AND OUR FIRST STOP WAS THE POSTED MENU ON DECK 5. THE ITEMS FOR DINNER LOOKED VERY APPETIZING SO WE RAN TO THE CABIN, FRESHEN UP, CHANGED CLOTHES AND MADE OUR WAY BACK TO THE DINING ROOM.

THERE WAS NO SCHEDULED ENTERTAINMENT FOR TONIGHT BUT INSTEAD, FRANKIE HAD A PRESENTATION ABOUT THE MOVIE “SOUTH PACIFIC”. THERE WERE CLIP, OR TRAILERS, FROM THE MOIVE AND A “60 MINUTES” INTERVIEW WITH JAMES MICHENER. THE LOUNGE WAS PACKED. THERE WAS INPUT FROM SEVERAL PEOPLE AND THE PROGRAM RAN WAY OVER SCHEDULE. THE MOVIE WILL BE SHOWN SEVERAL DAYS FROM NOW IN THE LOUNGE. WE ARE IN THE AREA WHERE THE IDEA FOR THE BOOK ORIGINATED AND FRANKIE FELT THE TIE IN WITH THE MOVIE AND AREA WAS GREAT KNOWLEDGE TO BE GAINED BY ALL. IT WAS WELL RECEIVED.

SINCE LEAVING HOME WE HAVE GONE THROUGH 8 TIME ZONES AND CROSSED THE INTERNATIONAL DATELINE. BEFORE HEADING TO BED WE HAD TO GIVE BACK ONE OF THE HOURS AS OUR NEXT DESTINATION, IN NEW ZEALAND, MOVES US BACK IN AN EASTERLY DIRECTION.