The alarm went off at 5am (ugh) and we were up in the Horizon Court Buffet when the sun rose and the beautiful reefs surrounding the main island of New Caledonia, Grand Terre began to appear. After breakfast, we finished packing for a day where we really weren’t sure what we’d be doing. The Port of Noumea is a freight port, and cruise ship passengers must ride free shuttle buses from the ship to the port terminal.we were on the second one.
Once we arrived at the terminal, we were met by tourist center reps who asked us what we were interested in doing and then escorted us inside to the appropriate booth to make arrangements. Our tentative plan for the day was to go to Duck Island (Île aux Canards), an island about a five-minute boat ride from Noumea where we could enjoy some beach time and snorkeling. For 2000 XPF (French Polynesian Francs, though we could have used AUD too) per person, we purchased all day passes on the Hop On Hop Off bus, which took us to where we could catch a water taxi to Duck Island. The water taxi ticket was included in that price. Sold! I used a credit card (which always gets us the best rate) and we boarded a beautiful bus right in front of the port terminal.
G is always jonesing for potato chips (the one thing that’s tough to get on a cruise ship) and was hoping to buy some at the grocery store right by the terminal (thank you Cheryl!) but it was Sunday and the store was closed. Luckily we left the ship with a couple of protein bars each, because the restaurants in Noumea were $$$. Yes, it is French Polynesia!
The HOHO bus drove north past marinas filled with expensive yachts and long stretches of beaches (coarse sand or broken coral) until we reached Anse Vata. We disembarked there and boarded the waiting water taxi for the short ride over to Duck Island. The island is beautiful, with a sculpture garden and puffin nesting area and a restaurant and bar and lots of wicker loungers with large umbrellas (3000 XPF for a set). We were among the first people there today, and had our choice of lounger location, so we chose two on the side of the island with a great view of another nearby island where we were able to watch kite surfers all day long.
There were some cool sculptures on Duck Island
We think this is Amadee Island in the distance.
I can’t say the beach on Duck Island is great -it’s largely broken coral with a few sandy areas- but the setting is fantastic and there is also an underwater snorkel trail that reminds me of Trunk Bay on St. John. I swam it over and over, and saw the largest parrot fish I’ve ever seen, and two other types of large fish that, though I later found them on a fish chart, the chart was in French so I still don’t know what they were. I flew my kite and we enjoyed the island until 1pm. When we first boarded the water taxi, we had to tell them what boat we’d want to return on. Since we had no idea about what was on the island, and also because we wanted to see a bit of Noumea, we chose 1pm, but we could easily have enjoyed the entire day there.
When we returned to the mainland, we got lucky and immediately caught another HOHO bus. We finished taking it around the loop back to the ship, but stayed on it until it got back to Lemon Bay, a long, gorgeous stretch of beach with a beautiful boardwalk along it and several restaurants with outdoor seating along the opposite side of the street. This is the part that reminded us of Waikiki Beach. There were actually concrete lounge chairs along this beach and we enjoyed some time in them before we walked the length of the boardwalk. The last HOHO bus was coming by about 3:30pm and we took it back to the port terminal; where we connected with the free shuttle bus back to the ship.
Mainland with Duck Island in the distance.
We had just enough time to shower (and rinse and wash out gear) before watching a few minutes of pierside pre-departure activities from the Promenade Deck and then a 5-minute preview of tomorrow night’s British Invasion production show in the Piazza. We went directly into the Bernini Dining Room afterward, and were pretty hungry tonight. (Lunch at the restaurant on Duck Island was about $55 USD per person; therefore, we had dined on protein bars). I had a salad and then salmon and veggies but was still hungry enough that I grabbed a bag of popcorn on the Lido Deck before the evening was over.
Steve Larkin of Mercury Rising did a totally different second show of Queen classics tonight (except he repeated Bohemian Rhapsody- yay!), and, once again, he was phenomenal, and received a standing O. I really hope we see him again this season. We went from the Princess Theater down to the Vista Lounge for 50s and 60s music trivia followed by the Rock and Roll Night party. The most entertaining part of the party was a little 4-year old girl who danced her heart out through the whole thing. So cute!
And that’s how it came to be so late before I started this post. Between hours of snorkeling and hours of walking, I think I’ll get this post uploaded and be asleep in minutes. But it doesn’t matter. Tomorrow is a sea day without a single obligation or commitment, and the alarm clock is turned OFF.
Life is good. :-)