After the great day at Ile de Pins, I was really looking forward to the stop in Noumea. I had again booked a pair of half-day excursions, one billed as an “off-road adventure” and the other a city tour by the “Petit Train”. The off-road trip sounded particularly interesting, using phrases like “pristine pools” to describe sights that the usual tours don’t visit. Boy, was that an exaggeration! The trip turned out to be just a rough, bumpy ride up and back on a rutted dirt road down a valley. We drove alongside a dry river bed for most of the trip. The “pristine pool” turned out to be water backed up behind a bridge. After driving down the road for about an hour, we reversed direction and drove back over the same road. Not quite the “adventure” I was expecting!Then the day got worse. After coming back to the ship and having lunch, I went to the lounge for my afternoon excursion on the little train. While we were waiting for the staff to call our group, an announcement was made that the train had broken down. They were going to try to have it repaired so we were given two options: either come back in a couple of hours or cancel and receive a refund. Since it was already 2:30 pm and I was already irritated by my earlier “adventure”, I opted for the refund. I later found out that the train was repaired and that the tour was very scenic and a lot of fun. Some days you just can’t win, I guess.
The good news was that our next stop, following two sea days, would be New Zealand. I was looking forward to New Zealand and Australia more than any of the other places on the itinerary. So, in the grand scheme of things, Noumea was just a little speed bump. Onward to the land of the kiwi, the long white cloud, the silver fern and forty million sheep….
By the way, we’re now sailing east again and we set the clocks ahead two hours!
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