Noumea

Docked at Noumea (the capital of New Caledonia) this morning. We separated today, not in the divorce sense, just that Pam and Amanda chose a train/trolley ride around Noumea, the rest of us opted for a Zodiac ride to Duck Island.  In the end both groups thought they'd made the better choice so it all worked out well.  The downside to the zodiac ride, had to get up at 6am for breakfast as we were heading off at 7.15 for our tour.  We all managed without any complaints.

We had a short bus ride to the zodiac, the ship is docked in the port and a large bay is across a narrow stretch of land and we left from the bayside.  Straight in the zodiac and out through the mouth of the bay for about a 15 minute ride across the open ocean to Duck Island.  It's a small island (took 7.5 minutes to walk around), and there have never been any ducks on the island, it's not shaped like a duck so that's another mystery?

Decided to rent some snorkel gear as the locals have marked out a snorkel route with bouys to take you on the best way to see the largest variety of wildlife.  What a treat!! There was no drifting today, no tide or current, we could just lie on the surface and watch the activity below and I've never seen so many fish in one spot.  Lots of coloured coral in all shapes and sizes. Highlights were a turtle spotted by us all and an octupus spotted by William and 400 million fish of every variety annoying us constantly.  Stayed in for an hour (except Harley who got very waterlogged in the 2 hours he swam).

Zodiaced it back to the bay, onto the ship for showers and lunch.

Pam and Amanda had a highlight tour of the city and have decided they're coming back for a couple of weeks because it was so beautiful and I'd have to agree.  They learnt some of the history and waved at all the locals.  We have thousands of photos which I know you can't wait to see?

The lesson for the day - the currency is the Pacific Franc.  It was created in 1945 after the war and was designed to protect the French colonies (African colonies got the African Franc) from the devasting debt caused when France had to devalue their currency after WWII.  The Greater Noumea area has a population of about 150,000, about the same size as Toowoomba.

We met up for lunch and the ship left Noumea at about 12.30, on our way home with a fun day at sea tomorrow.

They tried to get Duck Island in the background - almost a win!

Police patrol

Friendly locals along the bay

A couple of the more than 140 islands making up New Caledonia

Duck Island

WWII defensive instalation

Couple of minor mechanical issues?

Noumea Town centre

Zodiac time!!

Out through the mouth of the bay

Wind in our hair

Our island

Our camp

Snorkel shop

Bar and relaxing area in the centre of the island

Ready to snorkel

Tough on the feet for the walk to the water

Walked around the island after a snorkel, not much to look at

An exclusion zone where hundreds of seagulls are nesting - they are as angry as a nesting plover

Small seawall made of coral rock

Came back to one exhausted man

Leaving the island

The snorkel map, follow the numbered bouys for maximum viewing

Our ship - view from the bay