Noumea - New Caledonia

     A week has passed since my last update in Mooloolaba.   After a few days at sea, we spent two days in Sydney.  Then a couple more days and here we are in New Caledonia.  We will be here until 1600 this afternoon.  FYI, we are still living in tomorrow land and don't know when we cross back into yesterday.  It's Dec 1 here.  Weather is lovely.  I had planned to go ashore, but somehow I missed the memo.  I don't care to wander around Noumea alone, but thought I'd update the blog.


     Sydney was very nice.  Lots to see and do.  We were only there for two days and day two was thunder, lightning, wind, and rain.  I kept the ship in order while Anh led the VN cohort to China town.

Ron & Ruth Prosise

     Sydney day one we took a harbor tour with Captain Cook then we had lunch ashore and finished up with the "hop on hop off" bus.  Ron and Ruth (our companions du jour) stayed on the bus when we got off to explore China town.

     The bus tour was a little too long for some of us.  So I was surprised that we wanted to trek around China town.  Silly me...

Smitten by the sand man

         So we went into the "Market Center" in China town.  It was just a four-story shopping mall.  Then we wandered around and had supper at a Japanese Mom & Pop business. 

The second day in Sydney, I met the man that had been taken off in Dutch Harbor with a heart attack.  His name is Hans and he's ninety years old.  In Anchorage, they gave him a pacemaker and sent him home to Florida.  He contacted the cruise line and was flown to Bali where he hitched a ride for the remainder of the cruise.  He was extolling his good luck over a big ole cigar.

     Here are a few of the sites we saw in Sydney.

Anh imitating art

Notice people on top of the bridge ($300 ea)

 Personal note:  Stepped on the scale this morning to see how my weight is doing.  Don't feel like I'm losing any weight.  Turns out I've gained two pounds over the last two months.   This is unacceptable.  The goal is to lose weight.  Making a new plan to kick it up a notch for these last twenty days.