Melanesian Cruise: Pacific Dream (Noumea, New Caledonia 3.12.26)

Noumea, New Caledonia, is beautiful.  From Ouen Toro, the lookout point where cannons from World War II still point over the harbor, the turquoise blue Pacific Ocean flows past green islands beneath an endless blue sky.  We visited this French island on March 12, 2026.  It was modern, peaceful, and quiet, although a civil war had raged just months before.  The citizens of New Caledonia are split on whether to remain part of France or gain their independence.  There is a valuable nickel mine on New Caledonia, and so the French are holding on.

Noumea was a rest and recreation area for Allied troops stationed in the South Pacific during World War II, and the cannons pointed over the bay still remain.

Another picturesque lookout spot above Noumea is the Notre Dame d'Ocean Pacifique open air church.

The church included a huge statue of the Madonna overlooking one of Noumea's elegant beaches.

The stations of the cross surrounded the Madonna, including tiled shelters with figures of Jesus during his last procession from Pontius Pilate's palace to Golgotha.  It was a sort of park combined with a church.

When we stopped at Noumea on a previous cruise, we visited its excellent museums displaying Melanesian art, maritime voyages and ships, and its experience as a troop paradise during World War II.  On this trip, we visited an excellent small aquarium.

And, everywhere we went, we appreciated Noumea's tropical flowers.

Melanesian Cruise: Firewalkers (Suva, Fiji 3.10.26)

Cultural immersion villages and tropical animal refuges are to tourists in the South Pacific what cathedrals are in Europe and Buddhist temples are in Thailand.  We visited our third cultural immersion village of the trip on March 10, 2026, near Suva, Fiji.  This experience had some unique twists, including a village warrior who came onto our bus with a spear and shouted threats, and firewalkers.

The warrior who came onto our bus when we arrived at the village was a scary guy.  I could imagine him bashing in a tourist's head and then roasting him and eating him with a special spoon.  That was the way intruders were treated in Fiji's old days.

After surviving the scrutiny of our bus visitor, we watched the preparations for the firewalking, as a village elder supervised burning logs into coals and then blessing them.  The guide said that firewalking is limited to just a few villages now.  As a little girl, I watched a performance of Indian firewalkers in Burma.  Our cook, Gopal, was one of the firewalkers and invited us to come.  I didn't know cultures in other parts of the world also have that tradition. 

Young men spread the coals to prepare them for the ceremony.

The elder signaled that the coals were ready and a young man blew a shell horn.

The firewalkers proceeded over the hot coals, one after another.

Afterwards, the men and women danced and sang, and then we all shared plates of tropical fruit.

Melanesian Cruise: A Sunken Ship and Pool Music (Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu 3.6.26

Vanuatu, like the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea, participated in World War II.  However, Espiritu Santo, the port where we docked, was an American base during WWII, rather than a battle zone.  Our guide explained that the still-existing wide streets in the tiny town were built so that large Army trucks could pass each other and turn around.

An arch near the bay commemorates the sinking of the President Coolidge, a troop ship that was sunk by friendly fire as it entered the bay.  Luckily, no soldiers were lost.

Rusted remains of Army equipment lay on the beach.  When the Americans left after WWII, they offered their remaining equipment to the returning French colonists for a couple of million dollars, which was pennies on the dollar, compared to the equipment's worth.  The French refused to pay anything, so the Americans threw the equipment into the bay.

Our morning was free, so we hired a taxi driver to show us around.  He led us to a "cultural immersion" village that was a work in progress.  We arrived at the listed opening time, but no one welcomed us.  We sat on a bench and waited until the head of the tribe arrived, puffing from his efforts.  However, the total effect was charming, if not smooth. 

We went first to the "men's house," where a teenager was learning how to make Kava, the ceremonial drink used throughout the South Seas.

Children danced and sang with their elders.

  

The women of the village then put on a program of splashing rhythmically in a pool. I never saw such a program again and don't know if that was a real cultural tradition or something cooked up for the tourists!  The tribe elder said they were going to take their program to America. Maybe.

Melanesian Cruise: Bat Heaven (Lautoka, Fiji 3.9.26)

March 9, 2026 was our second visit to Lautoka, Fiji.  When we stopped last year, we visited the impressive orchid garden, which is the top attraction of the area.  Dave was not interested, as I explored other alternatives-- a mud bath, a cave with human skulls, or a zip line tour.  We finally settled on Eco Park, a jungle wildlife sanctuary with turtles, cockatoos, parrots, fruit bats, and iguanas.  

As soon as we entered the park, our guide offered us snakes and iguanas to hold.  My bright green iguana promptly climbed on top of my hat! 

Our guide then led us from one enclosure to the next, as he made animal sounds.  

Ed and green parrots flew up and ate peanuts from his hand.

 

A fruit bat hung upside down on the wires of its cage and stuck its furry little head out to be petted. Sweet!

Outside, herds of bats hung upside down in the trees.

We walked along a swinging bridge, through a jungle, with bright tropical flowers in our hair.

Peacocks strutted on the grounds and bright corals grew in the aquarium.

As we drove back into Lautoka, we stopped to take photos of the ornate Indian temple.  Fiji has a large number of Indian residents whose ancestors came to work on the sugar plantations and in the sugar mills. Lautoka was, historically, the center of that major business.  One of our guides told us that, now, the Indians are the shrewd businessmen throughout Fiji.