October 2008: South Pacific
Port Moselle, Noumea, New Caledonia pt3 (S 22.16.815 E 166.25.963)
While in port we try to make a list of things we’d like to do beyond provisioning and fuel. There’s usually something of interest that we can all agree is important to do or see. Aside from the group stuff I’ve set out on my own in each place and just wandered the streets with a camera. Without a specific goal in mind whether it be main streets or backstreets I have been able to capture some very interesting aspects of these so very different places. Above is a picture form before the turn of the century and in the center is the church. I managed to wind my way thru the streets and found it. It doesn’t look too hard to find in this picture but the city has grown around it and to it making it a little harder to see while at street level.
An obvious preference of mine onboard of things to do in port is to go to museums and aquariums. The museum items inside may not seem like much but if you really read the descriptions and follow the stories you can usually find incredibly interesting stuff. One very common theme throughout our journey is the influence the U.S. has had and more specifically remnants of Coke. It is so prevalent that it stretches from the bottom of the ocean in shipwrecks dating back to WW2; they are washed up and strewn on the beaches from those wrecks and the bottles make it into museum displays.
There are also several war monuments in Noumea. One specifically makes a statement of thanks to the U.S. as we played a pivotal role here with New Caledonia. It is sobering to walk these streets that at one time were heavily influenced by the military that I have only read about in the history books.
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