“Caledonia” is Roman-era Latin for Scotland, so I expected English to be the language of the island of New Caledonia. I was wrong. Seems the island was named by Captain Cook, but then soon after the French jumped in. Despite the surprise French, Noumea was the first place we’ve visited since Lima where our ship was not the largest thing around. So it was a return to the first world.
Noumea is the capitol of New Caledonia, and more than 60% of the population lives in the city. Like many pacific islands, it started colonial life as a prison. What makes it different is that nickel was found – currently 25% of the world’s proven reserves. So, they don’t just grow pineapples and such.
I signed up for the history tour, was essentially was a visit to two museums. We started with the Maritime Museum, which was unusually tall for how wide it was. Turns out they have the entire rudder from a wrecked tall ship. Much of the exhibit contain such item (while admittedly smaller). The museum also has an educational section, such as this box of standard ship communication flags.
The old lighthouse lens and (mock) lantern grabbed most of my attention.
It was very hot and humid and the museum was not air conditioned. However, once we found the only conditioned display room it was amazing how interested everyone became. Returning to the bus I found the “be a ship’s captain” photo spot for kids. That’s never stopped me before…
We then went to the World War 2 museum. There wasn’t much in English and the collection looked more like someone’s personal stash that they donated. The big thing was an actual Jeep that many cruise passengers posed with.
We stayed overnight in Noumea, so I got to have two tours. Second day I visited the local Forestry Park. I wasn’t really sure what I was getting myself into, so I brought my “serious” camera and hiking gear. I needn’t had bothered, it was more a zoo than a nature reserve.
However, they has peacocks, which is something.
The guide made a big thing about visiting the Kagu zone. Seems the “mostly flightless” bird only exists in New Caledonia. Our walkway is above the display area and we had to walk thru two sets of doors that opened one a time to ensure none of the birds escaped.
The Kagu shared space with the Emerald Dove.
We made a quick stop at the vivarium, but the reptiles did a great job at hiding.
It then started raining, so we made our way back to the ship to be spoiled with air conditioning. We did pass some very yellow flowers.
Since Lima we’ve been heading west, but now will turn hard south to get to Auckland, New Zealand. This will take four days, and then I take an additional four days for a field trip to the south island and lounge around. I”ll then fly to Tasmania to re-join the ship.
This morning at breakfast I found a melon mouse. That’s a sentence I never thought I’d say…
