A late start in the port of Noumea, New Caledonia; gave me a chance to do some computer work onboard before having lunch and heading to our afternoon Best of Noumea bus tour. This is the capital of the French overseas country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. We can dock with no tendering today, so very easy access to the terminal and city. Unfortunately, this is Easter Monday, so almost everything is closed for the holiday. The city was founded in 1854 as Port-de- France. There are stunning scenic views and sunsets. The area is known for the hydroelectric plant, nickel refining plants (which is on a down turn with several plants closed at this time), Place Des Cocotiers (Coconut Square), and historic statues. They have a city museum, aquarium, and maritime museum. We only saw the aquarium as the others were closed and not listed on our tour.
I did miss out on a few photos, as my iPad was frozen when I started to download an iOS update at the port terminal. Sorry about that miscue. We passed a former penal colony penitentiary on our way to our first stop at an outdoor Catholic Church with the 14 stations of the cross and other religious statues. Next we visited the aquarium with sea turtles, coral, and lots of coral fish species. We could also see the swimming beach with a shark barrier. Our last stop was at another lookout with canons supplied by the Australians. Reportedly the canons have never been fired. There are tunnels for ammunition under the mounds.
On the drive back to the cruise terminal we were told about some of the original houses in the old part of the city that are being refurbished.
As of this time, the blog website is not letting me upload any photos. If I cannot get this resolved, there may not be any more photos. I hope I can get this fixed.
No comments:
Post a Comment