ILE DES PINS, New Caledonia

Ile Des Pins had to be the inspiration for Michener. This is it. What a Paradise. The most pristine, emerald water surrounded by forest. Enjoyed snorkeling and laying about. Took a walk to the Penal Colony or what was left of it. On this island Napolean kept the political prisoners separate from New Caledonian local prisoners. It was an eerie walk through head high weeds along a narrow trampled path to the walls of the prison. These men, the locals called them straw hatters, were often sentenced to life for disagreeing with the King. Not terrorists, but dissidents. Hard for us to imagine this freedom being denied and even harder is the realization that we are still dealing with it in the Arab world today. The prisoners, shipped over from France built the magnificent church that still stands today as well as their Jails. Some of their hats are on display in the Nouema city museum as are many Kanak memorabilia. The most notable event of the day, something we’re glad we didn’t get a picture of was the man who whipped off his bathing suit and proceeded to slowly dry himself off, top to bottom (and I do mean bottom…yuck) and get himself into his dry clothes. As an American this is a shocker, but to Europeans, it’s accepted as appropriate beach behavior. The Europa, a German ship had anchored in the harbor along side the Rotterdam so we had plenty of European company.

Some Shipboard Stuff:
Today we received the entire list of onboard names and places of residence. There is a Thomas Mullen from Hedon, E.R. of Yorkshire, England. Sounds important. I’ll look him up.

Went to dance class and started the Argentinean Tango. Wow, this looks so sleek when Ron and Sharon dance. I could watch them for the hour. We look like drunks. I wish I could film the class, without me in it of course. I watch the people who come to gawk and they have a real giggle.

We are currently in the Tasmanian Sea and will be in Sydney tonight. We’ll have some updates on Australia once we have some free time.