We arrived in Noumea right on time - 8am. Carnival Spirit is a fairly large ship so it is unable to dock at the main cruise terminal like the PO ships do so this meant we were docked at the container terminal. It isn't far from the main terminal it just means that you have to catch a shuttle bus when you get off the ship over to the main terminal. They do not allow you to walk around the contain terminal for safety reasons. It's only a few minutes drive away but it's not as convenient as being able to just walk on and off the ship as we have been able to do on previous visits on the Dawn and Jewel.
You can just see the containers out the window - we're docked and we're fueling up for the day! Seeing as the bus drops us off at the main cruise terminal we thought we might as well check out the markets. These are found upstairs in the cruise terminal although they aren't that cheap, actually nothing in Noumea is cheap!
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| These are the markets upstairs at the main cruise terminal. As you can see, even though we docked at the container terminal, our ship isn't very far away! |
A few small purchases were made and then we made our way back downstairs to see about changing some money and getting tickets for the hop on/hop off bus. I only wanted to exchange $20 as we were only planning on going to the supermarket but the minimum amount was $50. After getting our French Pacific Francs we walked outside to where all the buses and touk touk trains were and just waited for one of the many tour operators to come up to us - it didn't take long. We opted for the $5 hop on/hop off bus. The whole journey takes about 1 hour in total and there are about 7 stops along the way. We got off at the 2nd last stop (out the front of Maccas - we didn't go in) so then we could do a bit of sightseeing on foot.
There are markets on near the marina, this is also one of the stops for the hop on/hop off bus, so we checked those out. I bought a wooden ring for $4, it has painted flowers on it but they are gradually wearing off! After the markets we walked through the centre of town popping into a few shops here and there but as mentioned nothing is cheap in Noumea. After doing a big (not on purpose) loop of the town we headed for the supermarket. This is just across the road from the main cruise terminal. We stocked up on a few nibblies and drinks and $50 later we were done! We met a family from our cruise who were a bit frustrated that the locals spoke French and very little English - hello, we are in their country! People are funny.
Almost time for lunch! Now where's that shuttle bus!!
Mexican - yum!
After lunch we decided not to bother getting off the ship again - we have been to Noumea before and seeing as we hadn't booked any tours we would just be looking at the same things again. So what should we do? Putt Putt of course!
and then a bit of football throwing
The top sports deck (deck 11) is such a great use of space. There's the putt putt that goes around the sides and front of the deck and in the middle of this is the basketball court, also used for football throwing. Then down one level there are table tennis tables.
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