Noumea, New Caledonia

Noumea (New may a)is the capital of New Caledonia which is a French territory. It was first used by the French as penal colony. In 1870's it had nearly 4,000 political prisoners who were held under inhuman conditions. These convicts were used for labor to build many buildings. They were allowed to return to France in 1880.







Noumea served as the headquarters of the United States military in the Pacific during World War II. Later on it became a "mini-United Nations of the South Pacific". Even today there is a military post there. It is said that 60% of the population in Noumea is 25 years and younger. Many of that age group are in the military and their families.

The indigenous group to this island is called Kanaks. The shape of the New Caledonia islands is long and narrow like a cigar.

We only had a two hour tour in which to see many things. After leaving the pier, we went pass the military barracks, followed by a waterfront drive, and up to the top of a hill. At the top of the hill we could see stunning views of the island and the water.








Next we drove to the Aquarium des Lagons. We only had a brief 30 minutes there which was not enough time to really enjoy it. We did get to see the prehistoric nautilus. That was really exciting because we had only seen pictures of them before. Sharon thought they looked like really large snails.








We traveled pass beautiful beaches. We were told that we might see more on the beach than we should BUT WE DIDN'T.







After we returned to the ship, Dennis and I went out to look around the city. At the city park we saw many small stands where people were selling things. Once again we are getting the high temperature and high humidity as we are traveling towards the equator.






The strangest part for us was the fact that the cigarette suppliers were on strike and had been for over a week. There were no cigarettes in any of the stores. We had people come out of their shops and others on the street and ask if we had any cigarettes that they could buy. Talk about a whole city dealing with nicotine withdrawl. I even felt a little sorry for them.