After a somewhat rough crossing of 350 miles from Port Vila we arrived off the coast of Noumea, New Caledonia. A beautiful sunrise had us early birds anxiously awaiting our 7:00 AM entrance to the harbor. We were not disappointed as a fire boat spouting water lead us into the spectacular harbor. Pleasure boats, merchant ships and mountains were our first views of the city.
Noumea is the Capitol of the French territory of New Caledonia. Although British Captain James Cook first sighted the Island in 1774, it was claimed by France in 1853. The area first served as a Penal Colony for France, then a center for exploitation of Nickel and Gold which is mined on the Island. Later it served as the Headquarters for the U.S. military in the Pacific during WWII. At one time Admiral Halsey had 120 warships in the harbor preparing for the fighting in the Solomon’s, Philippines and other Pacific battles.
Today, Noumea in the South Pacific looks very much like a city on the French Riviera with its beaches, clear water and many café’s. We would have to say that New Caledonia is truly a surprise. Very French. If they do speak English and they know you’re American they pretend they don’t understand. We tell them we’re Canadian. Today France subsidizes NC with $300 million a year but they have an Independence referendum coming up in 2012 which will be a big deal. It would be nice to have their Independence but not so nice to lose the $300 Million a year. Their main export is “Kneekell” (nickel) and most of the mining is done by Chinese and Vietnamese. As in the other islands, the Chinese or local French are the main retailers, while the original settlers, Kanaks, sit on blankets outside in the parks and sell their home made wares. They can’t afford the retail space.
For lunch we had a wonderful Cheese and Ham baguette (the French do know how to make bread) sat in the park and admired the scenery, then onto the local city museum, which, although not air conditioned was very interesting. The first settlers, the Kanak were almost entirely wiped out in their sacrifices in WWI and WWII. DeGaulle used massive propaganda campaigns to recruit the young tribal men from all over the islands to enlist. This was a significant loss for the comparatively small population of New Caledonia. Today NC is quite cosmopolitan and very hip. We spent the rest of the day touring and swimming at the beach. Later we stopped in a café for a beer and watched the young skinny French women smoke cigarettes and push a baby carriage while walking a dog! This is a young population with one third of the Island under the age of 15. Tonight the ship will make way to the Ile Des Pins, New Caledonia for an early morning arrival.
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