aussielozzie18

My plan for the day was to snorkel. I walked to the side of the island where I had done some excellent snorkeling previously. Only a few cruisers on the beach at this stage. I stepped into the beautiful water, that was deep, felt that very strong current and promptly exited the water again. I am a strong swimmer and was wearing flippers but I felt unsafe. Got out of the water and whilst I was sitting on my towel a young family sat down near me. I walked over to the dad and reminded him of the ship announcement and told him about the strength of the current and not to let his kids out of their depth and to keep a firm eye on them. I then decided to walk across to the other side of the island. A couple of snorkellers were in the water here. I watched them for a while and then joined them but again the current was too strong and this side of the island was rocky close the waters edge which wasn’t great so out of the water again. As I sat on my towel, I watched a glass bottom kayak group arrive and thought this could be interesting. Watched the local lead the group off, most of the kayakers did well to follow him but one double kayak had no clue about paddling and were really struggling. The tour leader was way ahead. Hoped there was a second local with them. Finally, saw a local boat move off the beach into the water and follow behind that last double kayak. Decided to walk along the beach and follow the kayakers. Reached the tip of the island where I came across a local who was security and the grass airstrip built by American military personnel.

Currency - the locals here will accept AUD in small denominations. Again, no coins as they can’t be banked. I just take $5 notes. Carnival offers village tours to the island where the locals come from as well as stand up paddle board, clear kayak and drift snorkel tours. Plenty of these tours also offered by the locals when you arrive on the island at a much cheaper rate.

Mystery Island is uninhabited. The name of the island is Inyeug but I have only ever heard it called Mystery Island. On the morning of cruise day, a lot of the locals of the nearby island, Aneityum travel across the water to Mystery Island in their small boats to work on the island and offer a variety of tours. My cruising friend who cruises to the South Pacific annually with her partner tells me the massages offered here are the best in the South Pacific.

Next port was MYSTERY ISLAND, Vanuatu. One of my favourite ports. Another tender port. Before the water shuttles/tenders commenced, Lizzie made an announcement that the current today was very strong and that any snorkelers should not go far from the beach. Again, I was on one of the first tenders, travelling across with me were a group of 20yo who had volunteered to be hypnotised last night on stage and it was interesting to hear their experiences. The crew took ages to secure the tender at Mystery Island but it was worth the wait.

No, not Muslim as far as I am aware. There is always one. Disappointing, especially as the cruiser was a parent.

I LOVE cheese and how lovely to catch up with your BFF whilst enjoying this. If anyone plans to read the review, please start from #30 as that is where I talk about the ports. The rest will be boring to all of you.

Forgot to mention that the night before we arrived at Lifou, we received this notice in our cabin letterbox: On the the way back from the church we passed a family group walking to the church and one of the adults had clearly decided to ignore this request regarding dressing appropriately.

Currency in Lifou - they will accept AUD in small notes. AUD coins are useless to them because their bank won’t accept them (not sure what the local at the church steps did with all the coin donations- that’s why we each gave a $5 note). Hair braiding by locals is popular here and there is a small bar/open eatery just above the beach that was popular. A local lady was selling lovely looking cocktails with a potent level of alcohol for $20 AUD.

Whilst eating early lunch at the Lido Buffet, Lizzy our Cruise Director announced tenders tickets now no longer required. Yay! Headed back down to deck 1 forward to immediately board a near empty tender to head back to Lifou. This time I headed to the section of the beach on the right of the wharf after you got off the tender. The water here was deeper, more sandy and had sea grass with turtles and coral out further with fish. Spent a very pleasant afternoon with my fellow cruisers, snorkeling and swimming on a glorious afternoon in Lifou. When we were all back on the ship, we had the first of many lovely sunsets, which I happily watched from a POD on deck 10 before dinner. That night we had the hypnotist in the main theatre and there were a lot of cruisers who volunteered…

We walked back down to the main beach which is divided by the tender wharf. Looking at the ship, we went to right hand side part of the beach. Had been told in advance via cruise forums that Reef Shoes are a MUST for this beach. Man, they weren’t kidding. This beach was full of coral from the waters edge. Unfortunately, it was also low tide so snorkeling over the coral without cutting yourself was virtually impossible. So back out of the water to relax on the very busy beach. My new cruise friend was hungry so bought one of these from a local on the beach next to us. And said it was delicious. Me, I was hungry but wasn’t going to risk eating chicken that was basted by sauce out of a tin of unknown vintage, so I said goodbye to my new friends and headed back to the tenders. Had the pleasure of seeing two turtles in the beautiful blue waters on the way back to the ship.

Knew you would! You’ll have to put a transpacific on your bucket list 😀

Since the pandemic, an enterprising local now sits at the base of the stairs to the Church with a sign saying $3 entry. There had been complaints about this in cruise groups but geez if you can afford a cruise surely you can make a “donation”. The ladies wanted to pay $5 each so we did that. Then we climbed the stairs, which were short and sharp and easy for us three and reached the small church which was open. Views from the top were lovely. Jinek Bay - we passed the barricaded off entrance as we walked up to the church.

Thought that might be the case. I can see them but wasn’t sure if anyone else could. DD only took videos when we went last time and I wasn’t going to climb those 247 stairs this time, not even for CC 😀

Pre-Covid, Lifou had the best snorkeling in the South Pacific at Jinek Bay. After seeing the coral regenerate during the pandemic and cruise ship ban, the Island’s Chief has made the decision to close Jinek Bay indefinitely. My plan was to snorkel off the main beach this time around. When I arrived on the island, I was the first on the beach with the exception of a local man with a machete (for coconuts). I decided that it was too early for beach time and went for a walk instead. Fortunately, I came across two cruisers who wanted to walk up to the Church on the hill but were lost and asked me for directions. I said sure but would you mind if I joined you? (Our walk to Jinek Bay last time was on the way to the church). It was something I wanted to do but I didn’t feel comfortable doing solo. From this spot, you head up the road, turn left and just follow the road along. It was hot & humid already so we were thankful that we did it first thing when there was still shade. We didn’t see anyone else for ages, so I was thankful for the lovely ladies company. Eventually we started seeing cruisers walking back from the church, looking hot & very sweaty. Doing this walk is very popular but we still asked the cruisers their opinions which varied but they all groaned about the stairs at the end….

LIFOU, NEW CALENDONIA This is a water shuttle/tender port. Unless you had status, a suite or FTF pass or a Carnival shore excursion booked, you needed a tender ticket which were available from 7am onwards on the main pool deck. Ugh. I am not a morning person and I horrified my kids when I told them I went up to the pool deck at 6.45am in my pjs to collect a tender ticket (pjs covered by a jacket). Subsequently, I was on one of the first tenders - after showering & having breakfast. Carnival do offer a couple of excursions here - a visit to a vanilla house (haven’t done but recommended by my fellow cruisers), a visit to Luecila beach on the other side of the island and a Melanesian encounter. This Island is very rustic and has very limited tourism infrastructure. There are local tours that can be booked on the day. The most popular being to a dark cave for swimming. Note, the vehicles used can be rather rustic.

Regarding currency on this island. I had bought souvenirs here previously and with the big buffet lunch and boat tour included I didn’t need to buy anything this time around. Video from top of Lighthouse was from previous visit. You will need Pacific Francs if you do plan to climb Lighthouse & make purchases in shop or hire snorkeling gear.

After more snorkeling, it was time to head back to Noumea via our fast ferry boat. I have no fear of snakes, so the snakes on the island don’t bother me and I look forward to returning to Amedee Island in the future. Thanks to my fellow cruisers on this tour who kindly shared their scenic photos with me after my camera battery died after lunch. After a day full of snorkeling, dinner was in the Lido Buffet, where I could fill my plate and have more than one dessert….

Glass bottom boat ride (included in the days fee) was excellent. Had a young French guide who gave a very informative narration and we saw turtles, lots of big coral and because we fed the fish from the glass bottom boat, plenty of fish of all sizes. At the end of the tour, we all stood up to leave the boat and the lady across from me yelled snake - a sea snake had been curled up behind the guy seated next to her whilst we did the tour. Our guide calmly picked it up and put in the water over the side of the boat. I didn’t see any sea snakes in the water but when we first arrived at our loungers on the beach, two girls in their 20s choose loungers next to us. As we were getting ready to snorkel, they screamed snake as one was moving in the sand under their table towards the scrubby greenery behind us.

After lunch, went for a short wander to the other side of the island. Part of the island is closed off to protect a large colony of nesting terns. Then continued snorkeling until I made a last minute decision to join our scheduled glass bottom boat tour. As I was rushing to the wharf, I tripped on a tree root and went to put my hand on the tree to stop myself falling. Thankfully a fellow cruiser grabbed my arm. Grateful for his quick response as this was on the tree I was about to put my hand on…. A sea snake. Highly venomous but unlikely to bite unless disturbed. My unplanned actions would definitely have disturbed 😳

At lunchtime the black clouds had moved away and the sun came out. We headed for our buffet lunch which was included and was fresh and tasty served with rum punch and other alcohol followed by dessert and plenty of fresh fruit then traditional dancing with some audience participation.

As soon as we arrived at the island, we grabbed a couple of loungers (there were plenty) grabbed our snorkeling gear (packed in suitcase for this cruise) and headed into the water. Within a couple of minutes of being in the water, I saw my first green turtle and during the course of several hours snorkeling during the day, I saw a total of 8 green turtles feeding on the sea grass and then rising up to the surface and then back down again to find more sea grass. Also saw plenty of fish and coral. Water temperature was lovely.

Amedee Island/Phare Amedee is an uninhabited Island with just a caretaker who is rostered on. The dominating feature of the island is the Lighthouse. In 1861, Paris ordered a lighthouse be built due to the number of shipwrecks occurring as boats entered the lagoon. A French Engineer from the Eiffel Tower workshops, started work on the Lighthouse in Paris. Once it had been built, it was completely dismantled and shipped on a long voyage to New Calendonia where it was erected on the island by locals & French soldiers. It was first illuminated in November 1865. You can climb to to the top for stunning views of the lagoon & reefs surrounding the island. Cost is 300 francs for an adult and you need to climb a circular staircase of 247 stairs. IMG_1447.MOV

Noumea to Amedee Island booked via Carnival. It’s a full day tour. Meeting point in MDR. Short coach ride from ship to dock where high speed boat transferred us to the island. Comfortable 40 min boat ride. On the way across, staff gave us coloured bracelets for glass bottom boat ride session and showed us an info sheet of the day’s activities. Weather looked threatening but we stayed dry and the temp was pleasant.

Hi. This cruise was last week 15-24 May. Currency: In general in Noumea city you need Pacific Francs or an international credit card for the shops, cafes etc. Some of the local tours that leave from the tourist centre that I mentioned previously will take AUD (not sure about USD) Hoho to the Aquarium is a great choice. It’s a small aquarium but beautifully done & very interesting to visit. Note the Aquarium only takes Francs or credit card. Phone plan - I didn’t organise one. I just bought 24hrs of Carnival internet @$35 (there is also a $25 package) twice during the cruise to message family & friends back home. Will explain currency at other ports when I get to them.

You’ll have to give us an update in January. I hope she is chosen. Will be a honour and great experience for her, whether UK or AUS.