I was awakened by G setting a bowl of mixed fruit on the nightstand and urging me get up so we could get to the visitors’ terminal early before its WiFi got bogged down. Two bites of fruit, eyes pried open, contacts forced in, clothes thrown on and we were off.
He was right; the WiFi was pretty fast before it had been discovered by everyone else. I was able to publish the blog posts from the last three days, check finances, call Mom, even get caught up on the news. New Caledonia is a country that is not part of T-Mobile’s international roaming plan, so while we’re here, it’s WiFi or nothing.
I’ve mentioned it before, but that new ‘slide to type’ feature on the latest iOS update is saving me. The BlogTouch Pro app on the iPhone does not support a landscape keyboard. In the past, I’ve had to type my posts into Word on my phone (which does), and then copy and paste into BlogTouch Pro. I did it for years, but it was cumbersome. Slide to type has changed all that. I can achieve laptop keyboard speeds in the palm of one hand. Blog posts get written whenever I have a few spare moments and the post then resides in my Offline folder until I get internet. Like today.
Of course, the other issue is battery life, and since I had neglected to plug in my phone overnight, my battery was soon exhausted. We left the visitors’ center then, and instead of buying a HOHO bus pass for the day, just walked to the Noumea morning market. No photos, but it is a feast for the eyes. It makes me want to return to the Papeete market. Fingers crossed that we can someday.
We backtracked to the visitors’ center and boarded a shuttle back to the ship. It’s mandatory and free...and fast. Just a 5 minute ride or so. They simply don’t want passengers roaming around an active freight port on foot. We returned our phones to the cabin to charge and went down to Alfredo’s pizzeria for lunch. We got there just before the crowd hit, and the wonderful headwaiter had our pizza to us quickly. He knew we had more sightseeing to do.
There was one final museum in Noumea that we wanted to see on this, our final visit. The World War 2 Museum is small but highly reviewed, and it was within easy walking distance from the visitors’ center. As a veteran, G’s admission was free, and mine was only XPF100 (less than US $1). Note: like the Aquarium and the Maritime Museums, they only take French Polynesian Francs or credit card, not Australian dollars. We had all three of these, and paid in XPF.
We spent quite a bit of time there. I’m unsure how much, exactly, but the exhibits certainly captured our attention. It started from the Caledonian perspective, how nearly 300 troops were trained to aid France when Germany started to encroach, but, before they were even in France, the north was under Nazi control. They then assisted the Vichy effort in the south and in North Africa.
The bulk of the exhibits dealt with the US using New Caledonia as a huge base from which to conduct its a Pacific theater operations. Over one million US troops passed through New Caledonia, and 11 military hospitals and seven clinics were constructed. New Caledonia was forever changed as a result. First, the Americans brought new technologies to what has historically been a small French penal colony in the South Pacific, but the Americans also brought a sense of equality which did not, to that point, exist. Native Kanaks people, Melanesians and the Chinese here were all treated as second class citizens to the French. That changed because of the war.
New Caledonia WW2 Museum
We had two of these fans during my childhood, only larger.
They would blow the furniture across the room.
Three kids and none of us ever lost a finger.
:-)
That is an awfully narrow hospital bed.
G had a good laugh thinking about the Army maintaining a chicken farm.
Pencil drawings of New Caledonia sent to a love at home.
Notice the censor stamp.
The museum isn’t large, but it’s very good
G stood and looked at this plane engine for at least five minutes. That’s my guy!
Many of the exhibits were in English, and we were also given a Samsung tablet, which provided a nice interactive experience, but it took a fair bit of concentration to take in all the information, and I was wiped out when we started to walk back to the visitors’ center to catch a shuttle. We didn’t even have time for showers, but went directly to dinner in Concerto Dining Room. I could have been convinced that a pass through the buffet would be our dinner, but, oh no. Still, I begged off going to the show and returned to the cabin. The day hasn’t been especially hot, just in the mid 80s and not humid, but it wiped me out.
Day 4 dinner menu, page 1
Day 4 dinner menu, page 2
Day 4 dessert menu
Surprisingly, G was not too far behind me. He said guest entertainer Chris Gable opened his show with Waltzing Matilda on the saxophone, and G just wasn’t feeling it tonight, either. It’s not yet 9pm and he’s already asleep. I’ll be there in just a few minutes.
Day 4 Princess Patter, page 1
Day 4 Princess Patter, page 2
Day 4 Princess Patter, page 3
Day 4 Princess Patter, page 4