Pacific Island Cruise Holland America Noordam Part I

Pacific Island Cruise     Holland America Noordam        April 8- May 1, 2016

After flying from Tasmania to Sydney, Larry and I spent the night in the city center just a few blocks from the Rocks, an area where our ship was docked.

 

We boarded the Holland America Noordam around 11:00 am ….everything went smooth. Our baggage beat us to our room so we quickly unpacked before heading up to the Lido Deck for lunch on the outside deck with the Sydney Opera House in sight.

                                        Even on an overcast day, this was an awesome view!

The ship was scheduled to leave the dock at 4:30; however, since the ship’s petrol tanks were still being filled and the time was approaching the harbor’s busy commuter time, the harbor master did not give us clearance to leave until around 7:00 which gave us passengers magnificent night time views of the Sydney Harbor all lit up.

It was magnificent!

 

 

                                                                         Incredible!                                                                

With the ship's movement and the lights reflecting in the water, Sydney was one exciting looking       city!

                               Passing below the Sydney Harbor Bridge....so cool!

The first two days were sea days….Larry and I quickly slipped back into our ship routine…breakfast, morning walk around the deck, soaking up some sun, lunch and all the extra activities that keep the passengers entertained....there is so much to do that we have a hard time squeezing it all it.

 

The indoor pool with retractable roof

 

The pool on the back deck

 

The pools were open at night.

 

Evening entertainment

 

cute display

 

The Casino

 

The Crow's Nest

 

Best Cabin Stewards in the World....Iwan and Dani...from the Phillipines....

Kept us with fresh linens, ice, and a super clean room.

 

 

Our Room 

View from the back of the Noordam

 

Fresh flowers were all over the ship...so beautiful!

 

                                      Beautiful orchids were on every table in the dining room.

Noumea, New Caledonia     Monday, April 11, 2016

 

We enjoyed a quiet sunrise and watched the ship glide past several tiny islands and breaker waves making its way into the port of Noumea, capitol of New Caledonia on the island of Grand Terre in the Coral Sea. 

                                                                   Very modern city!

We walked down the gangway right onto the dock and made our way to the shuttle bus…the ship docked in an industrial area that would not allow us to walk about.
 

Nice little island tourist train!

The shuttle took us to the visitor center where we purchased tickets to get a countryside tour of New Caledonia.

                                                      Tropical huts over the water...so unique!

                                                              Great harbor for sailboats!

The city of Noumea, (New-may-ah) was modern, clean, and with bustling traffic. The waterviews were beautiful with white sandy beaches.  The mountainsides were an emerald green.  The fauna and flora were in full bloom. 

The bus took us by the premiere beaches (Lemon Beach and Anse Vata Beach) with condos and villas flanking the azure waters. It was a gorgeous area.

 

The bus carried us to the Ouen Toro Lookout with magnificent views of the Pacific Ocean. Here Australian Canons rested ….never having been fired during WW II.

We enjoyed watching the para-sails that glided just a few feet over our heads and seeing the wind surfers in the bays below. The bus took us along the coastal waterways with bicyclers and walkers strolling along the calm waters. What a nice area to stroll about.

 

We stopped at the Tjibaou Cultural Center (1998)that is always closed on Mondays. Lucky for us, they allowed our ships passengers to visit the center.

                     Richard, our guide, shared stories about the Kanak Tribe and their traditions.

            We learned about the indigenous New Caledonian (Kanak) tribes and their ways of life.

Two of the ten wooden structures built to commemorate the ten tribes that lived  in New Caledonia.

 

 

Iconic wooden round houses were displayed in a natural village setting. Today many traditions are maintained and some of the ways of the past remain.

 

 

Pictures of Kanak Trible Traditions

  Traditional Home

 

 

 

 

                                                                     Meeting house

Although the Kanaks are no longer cannibals….they do suggest that visitors stop by the chief’s hut with gifts of a cloth  (shirt) that is quickly hung on sticks in front of his home. This is the way of communicating to the villagers that the visitors in the area are approved to be there....Do Not Eat Them!  



Our tour's final stop was at the Church of the Immaculate Conception, oldest in New Caledonia, built in 1874. It had exquisite stained glass windows.

Larry and I enjoyed our countryside tour. We walked to the city center of Noumea and enjoyed seeing the daily colorful moo-moos that the area women wore.  It was difficult to talk with any of the locals because they spoke French. Although New Caledonia is under French rule; our guide said that the islanders would like to have their independence. Our day ended with the purchase of some snorkeling gear…a necessity for the next few days of island hopping.

 

The evening was fabulous with a barbecue by the pool.

Whole grilled pigs, steak, kabobs, chicken, tropical salads, corn on the cob, baked potatoes with a band playing tropical tunes.   Larry and I went to the theater to see the comedian, Patrick McCullagh, an Irish prankster. He was so funny! The night ended watching the movie "Concussion" with Will Smith. Quite an eye full of the NFL’s greedy ways  especially while we are listening to the Hiesman Trophy biography about John Hiesman.  

 New Caledonia is the South Pacific's best kept secret....a truly incredible tropical island!

Mare, New Caledonia                  Tuesday, April 12, 2016

After breakfast we headed down the A Deck, the lowest level of the ship.

Here we took a ten minute tender boat to the island of Mare. We were greeted by a dozen singers giving us a rendition of the local sounds….music Larry and I had never heard before. How authentic was that? Very!

 

We hopped onto the local bus and went seven miles out of the town passing volcanic caves and magnificent sea views. With temperatures in the 80’s, the windows were all wide open.  Were we experiencing the ways of the island? YES SIRRE!

Our bus passed several villages with grass huts and I did see a pole with cloth flapping in the wind in front of one of the huts….must have been the chiefs house. Guess the natives know that visitors are all about today! Hope this means we are safe on the beach from the local ....cannibals.

                                                   Yejele Turquoise Beach was fabulous!
 

The ride to this white sandy beach was well worth the wait. It had shade trees and white sands with sparkling turquoise blue waters and visible coral reefs.

Oh My ! I was in snorkel heaven. I donned my flipper and face mask and went splashing in the warm waters to find fish of all sizes…small, medium and HUGE! They were all colors….Brilliant florescent blue, multi-rainbow colored, bright yellow, black and white, multi colored stripes, orange, so exciting to the eye. It was delightful to see so many and such beautiful colors.

                          Warm, clear waters...the best for snorkeling!

The under tow was very strong so I had to pay close attention to where it was taking me….a bit scary at first….I didn’t want to end up out where the waves were breaking….a place where we had been told to stay clear. Although a lot of the coral had a thick coat of filmy growth, small patches of  beautifully formed coral were  found in magnificent purple, white, pink, orange…..simply incredible!

Breaking waves beyond the coral reefs.

 

Cool breezes under the shade trees made for a gorgeous day with fabulous beach scenery! What a delightful day!

Black Volcanic Rock lined the land where we caught the tender boat back to the ship.

Mystery Island, Vanuatua       Wednesday, April 13, 2016

After breakfast a quick ten minute tender boat ride took us to Mystery Island.

From the ship it was quite a romantic looking island with white sandy beaches and fascinating streaks of different colored blue water. Our goal today was to walk around the whole island…a 45 minute walk. What sights we saw!

                                          The natives knew how to capitalize on their past!

Tempting relaxation!

                                                                     What natural beauty!

                                  The most perfect beach I have ever visited. Clean and pristine!

 

Our walk  meandered down well groomed paths as well as rocky shelves and granular sandy beaches.

 Inner sandy paths lead us away from the slippery rocks down well groomed paths of a tropical paradise…a natural jungle. It was AWESOME!

Huts made of authentic palm leaves and grasses dotted the area…a real Robinson Cruso paradise.

                                                 Locals were still using carved out canoes

                                       Unusual flowers with red inlaid in the leaves 

                                        Grass runway airport....neighboring island in the  background.

                                 Large neighboring island was just a short distance away.

                                                           Colorful Kayaks for rent

Almost as nice as our Clearwater Beach!

 

 Larry found a private area on the beach that was  all  ours alone with such a nice breeze. The waters were a perfect temperature for swimming….very refreshing and the snorkeling was tenfold better than that of the previous day in Mare. Thousands of more colorful fish and the huge mounds of coral were superb so snorkeling was the best I have ever experienced. (East Timor had always been the best in my lifetime until today.)

 The waters today gently carried you over the coral beds making the underwater world viewing more relaxing. The day was completely UNBELIEVABLE! So many fish, so much colorful coral! What a beautiful world we live in! WHAT a wonderful memory we will have of Vanuatu!

                      As much as I like being on the ship...I wanted to stay here in this little paradise.

    There is no mystery about why Mystery Island is Number 1 beach on this Pacific Island Cruise.

Lautoka, Fiji             Friday, April 15, 2016 

Just a sliver of a sun rise greeted us this morning as the pilot boat guided us into the harbor.  The ship passed several little islands…Fiji is actually made up of 333 islands.

Lautoka, known as the “Sugar City”, is Fiji’s second largest city (population 50,000). The area is covered in sugar cane fields that have been harvested twice a year since 1903, making the area the largest sugar mill producer in the Southern Hemisphere. 

Larry and I took a private tour driving down the English right side of the highway (here we go again on the other side of the road) to the Western side of Fiji, making our first stop in the Garden of the Sleeping Giants.

The gardens were full of beautiful tropical flowers.

 

The lily pads were very healthy and the gardenia behind my ear smells mighty fine.

Here we discovered Fiji’s natural beauty at it best by viewing blooming tropical plants and fascinating rare orchids that had been developed by the late Raymond Burr of Perry Mason and Ironside fame. 

                                                          Three Fijian Tree Huggers

                                                                               Cool Vine House

 

At the peak of the mountain, our guide, Mary, pointed out  the Sleeping Giants….the face of a man and a woman who were looking to the sky….caught taking a nap so to speak. This emerald green mountainside was very sacred to the Fijian residents.

                                                              Our Fijian guide, Mary, and Kay

Our tour took us by the infamous thermal mud baths and on to the third largest city of Nadi where we visited the largest Hindu temple in the South Pacific.

 

 

 

 It was quite colorful as well as the native Indian women in their gorgeous attire.  Here we took a little walk down Vitogo Parade, a famous street for shopping… viewing the rows of local fruits and vegetables  such as coconuts, bananas, papayas, cassava, taro, and sweet potatoes  as well as spices, Fijian pottery and locally carved wooded bowls. Indian and Chinese restaurants lined the streets. 

Our final stop today took us to the area where the first English settlers landed….stopping at a waterside resort  called “First Landing”.

                                   Lots of turtle designs are around First Landing.






Here we partook in a little liquid refreshment to cool the body from the humid temps. The local villagers usually drink something called Kava…a relaxing drink made from a ground Kava root that  numbs your lips and the rest of the your body….depending on  how old the mashed Kava root is and how much Kava you consume. Actually this is a very sacred drink and it is consumed at elaborate rituals.

 We were fortunate to see some young turtles while at First Landing.

 

Larry and I really made a day of it, making it back to the ship just before boarding time…WHEW! 

Fiji was surprisingly a lot like the Caribbean Islands….extremely friendly people who seemed resilient to the never ending cyclones that interrupt their daily lives from November to April….Fijians were still getting over one that had hit in late February. Larry and I left thinking that Fiji had a rich cultural heritage. We only wished that the sun had shown up today to fade away the fogged in mountains and gray clouds making way for some more spectacular island scenery.

 

 

Off to American Samoa....Stay tune for Part II.