Our Wonderful Cruise (Part 1)

 I've finally had a chance to post about our wonderful holiday. Cruising to New Caledonia.

 Off we sail! This is taken on our balcony. 

We were on Deck 8, the top one for staterooms.

 First stop was the Isle of Pines. How amazing is the water!

 The snorkelling was great here. Yes, I did snorkel as well!

 Heading back to the ship in the Tender.

Next stop was Lifou.

Did a tour around the island in the morning.

This is heading down the "Two Hundred Steps". Some steps were quite high and my legs knew all about it. My calves were sore for a couple of days. Walking up and down the stairs on the ship was very slow going!

 Do you know what these are?

 Vanilla beans! 

I'd never see these before, only the dried ones.

 The afternoon was spent snorkelling.

There was a change of itinerary. We were supposed to go to Mare but due to an algae problem at the beach where you snorkel, it was closed. They were hoping it would have cleared by the time we were due to go there. 

 So instead, we went to Mystery Island in Vanuatu. 

It was our favourite stop!

We were greeted by the women and children, all singing beautifully. There were also some men doing traditional dances. Those photos must be on Noel's phone.

 The market.

 We booked to go snorkelling to see turtles. 

We didn't realise they would take us out so far. 

There's the ship and the land is to the right.

 I don't know if you can see it but just in a bit at the top right hand side of the reef, you can see a bit of a gap. That's where we were snorkelling outside the reef! It was very deep there but so clear. And yes, we did see turtles! Nelson had his GoPro, so hopefully I'll be able to show you what 

we saw when he downloads the pictures.

 The final stop was Noumea. 

 Unfortunately it rained a little in the morning and we 

missed seeing the amazing view from the highest point. 

But this view wasn't too bad. 

Can you see the ship between the trees?

Enjoying some French Pastries for morning tea.

This is just a snap shot of our holiday. I've got lots more to show you but will do so over several posts.