Noumea, New Caledonia

Today is Monday, April 6 in Noumea, New Caledonia. It is also Easter Monday which means that all the businesses are closed. We docked in Noumea early this morning. Noumea is a port city and capital of the French overseas country of New Caledonia. It was founded in 1854 as Port-de-France. French is the primary language spoken here. 

 

partial view from our balcony

another balcony view

Unlike our most recent ports, this city has modern buildings, a large public market, museums and St. Joseph’s Cathedral. It is also home to the University of New Caledonia (est 1999), numerous boutiques, a coral aquarium, a hydroelectric plant and a nickel refining plant at nearby Duiambo Point. 

I would have enjoyed seeing some of the local sights, but basically the city was dead today. It was a happy coincidence for Ronnie because we didn’t have to rush to get off the ship this morning and he was able to take another 3 mile run on solid ground. That doesn’t happen nearly often enough to suit him, so I’m always happy when he gets to do that. 

There was a large grocery market an easy walk from our ship that was (surprisingly) open, so I walked over and picked up some treats for our room stewards. We are quite fond of them, and they seem to like us too.

After lunch on the ship, we walked around the town for an hour or so. We first strolled through some craft booths at the port, then headed to Place des Cocotiers (Coconut Square). The entire town was completely closed down except for just one other business. 

Peace Square

 

Fontaine Celeste (Heavenly Fountain)

I was hoping to visit China Town, thinking it might be open, but obviously they took advantage of the Easter holiday and closed their businesses as well. I snapped a few photos as we walked along but was soon happy enough to head back to the ship.

 

Chan Dang Vietnamiens Statue

Chamber of Commerce

 the other open business

Goodye, New Caldonia

By the way, I recently read the novel “Miss Benson’s Beetle” by Rachel Joyce with the setting of a New Caldonia rain forest. I would recommend it if you’re looking for a new read. Parts of it are laugh-out-loud funny with a little bit of “sad” thrown in. If you read it, let me know what you think of it.

 

He is Risen!

Happy Easter to our family and friends from Mystery Island, Vanuatu in the South Pacific! I'm wishing you a Happy Easter a day before you actually celebrate Resurrection Sunday. That's because we're a full day ahead of home since crossing the International Date Line, so we're celebrating Easter today on the ship. Actually, we had "early" church last night with the Lord's Supper and will celebrate again tonight with our small group Bible study.

As far as the ship is concerned, there are signs of the Easter holiday here and there. In the atrium there is a display of edible handmade eggs. There is another display outside the Terrace restaurant and of course jelly beans on the dessert bar. I snapped a representative few to share here. I will add that the displays smell chocolate-y and delicious! 

 

 

 

turtle eggs?

 

Happy Easter to our family and friends!

So there are plenty of rabbits, eggs and candy on board the ship today but we are thankful that we can celebrate the real meaning of Easter.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.  1 Peter 1:3

 

Mystery Island, Vanuatu

Mystery Island (or Inyeug Island), part of the Vanuatu archipelago, is often referred to as “the Happiest Place on Earth”. I’m not sure why, since no one actually lives there. Ha! This tiny island is barely two thirds of a mile long and a couple of hundred yards wide. This morning we walked on clearly marked trails around the entire island in less than an hour, including my many photo stops. And due to the dense tropical foliage, we were in shade the entire time!

view of Vista from the shore

We had the option of going to another island for a cultural village experience, but we were glad that we chose not to and instead just enjoyed the beauty of Mystery island. Others who did not choose excursions enjoyed hiking around the island, swimming or snorkeling on their own. Mystery Island boasts some of the best snorkeling in the South Pacific. A fellow passenger attested to this, saying that the coral and fish were the most beautiful he had ever seen.

 

As mentioned above, no one actually lives on Mystery island. It has no electricity, running water, roads or telephones. However, we did discover a cell tower and were able to connect our phones to wifi! The island is completely uninhabited and is only used when people from nearby islands come to greet cruise passengers and sell their handicrafts, or offer snorkeling or boat rides to a neighboring island. 

Locals live across the waters on Aneityum Island. They believe that Mystery Island is haunted and don't go there after dark as they believe ghosts come out at night. However, we didn’t see any. They do have facilities, though quite "rustic".

 

Mystery Island got its name because during WWII, Americans built an air strip on the island which could not be seen from the water. Anatom Airport (or Mystery Island Airport) is a small, grassy runway. It still serves as a flight link for nearby Aneityum Island. It is mostly used for small plane flights, typically a couple of times a week.

 

Mystery Island grass landing strip

Mystery Island Airport

We could see several small islands from our ship which was anchored offshore and a huge circular atoll beneath the crystal blue water. I must say that Mystery Island and the waters surrounding it are the most clear and beautiful we have seen so far. This post and these photos don't begin to do it justice.

 

The island itself had all sorts of interesting vegetation, I took far too many photos to share here, but of course I'll post a few. Mystery Island is probably the most beautiful place I've ever seen.

 

coconuts galore

 

visitors enjoying an island massage

Can you see the white waves at the top of this photo? Those you normally see near the shore, right? That is an atoll. Remember, an atoll is  a circular or ring-shaped coral reef, island or series of islets that encircle a shallow lagoon." They are typically formed by coral growing around a sinking, inactive volcano.