Pacific Pearl data

Pacific Pearl data.

Built 1987, Italy, to suit conditions in the Med, not the South Pacific. According to a lady who knows these things, she was refurbished in March 2011.

Food venues: Plantation Buffet, deck 12 with access to outside seating;  Waterfront Restaurant, full service, fully enclosed; The Grill, deck 12 near the pool, charges apply after 6pm.

Bars: Charlie’s Bar – café; Players Casino – in the casino; Mix Bar, Orient Bar, Connexions Bar – prices vary for the same drink so check first before you order. Orient was up to $3 more per cocktail – dearest we’ve found on board – go to Connexions right next door.

There are bars in Marquee – entertainment area; The Dome – another entertainment area, directly under the Bridge, the only place you can get a view forward. Splash Bar up by the pool, aptly named with the amount of water being splashed out of the pool the first 2 days!  Then there’s The Café – ice cream, cookies, waffles etc. – charges apply here too. $1.95 for a waffle cone and one scoop - best value on the ship!

Laundry. It’s huge!! I counted 10 washers and dryers and 5 ironing boards and irons. Bring gold coins, $2 coin for the washer (not 2 x $1), and 3x $1 for the dryer. That’s the one on Deck 10, there’s another one on deck 6 but I didn’t go there.  Washing powder is available at reception for $1AU cash. Travel irons were removed by Security upon boarding, so don’t even think of bringing one. If your bag hasn’t arrived within a reasonable space of time, it’s probably with Security waiting for your explanation of whatever contraband they suspect is within. Front up near reception to claim.

Snorkel equipment. Hire: mask, snorkel and flippers for $49.95 for the duration of the cruise. Purchase: mask and snorkel $45, with flippers $89.  We bought mask and snorkel before we left for $45, soft silicone parts, comfortable to wear, didn't see what the Pearl's were made of.

Back to Reality

Saturday 23^rd June, 2012. Sydney arrival.

Well of course I got up for sail-in!! Was there ever any doubt? Trevor even braved it. Thank goodness I didn’t pack my warm coat and scarf – it was cold up on deck pre-dawn, and even colder if you walked around the corner to the unprotected side. It was like an Arctic blast! Everyone we watched walk around quickly scurried back! It made my eyes water so much I had tears running down my face that I didn’t even feel till they got to my chin because my cheeks were numb from the cold!! Security came outside and told us that the deck was closed due to the strong wind and we shouldn’t be out there. Too bad! There was nowhere else to go to see out. The Dome was closed because it is directly under the Bridge (so would have been an excellent vantage point). Any light from down there would upset the Captain’s view, bit like night driving with the interior light on. In the end, she said she felt sorry for us because there was nowhere to go and we could stay, but P&O would not be responsible for us if we fell overboard. So, OK, we’ll take our chances. In the end there were a fair few people huddled up there in the sheltered corner and once the sun started to rise, there were even more. Security would have had no hope of keeping us all indoors!Not when there were views like this!

We could see coastal lights and a few other ships which turned out to be cargo vessels. Not knowing exactly where we were, we didn’t know if the lighthouse flashing away in the distance was Norah Head or Palm Beach, but eventually we figured it was Palm Beach. Every now and then we’d stick our heads around the corner into the Arctic blast to check on our progress. Already we seem to be behind schedule, and by the time we dock we’re about an hour late, which is fine because it means it’s light coming in past the Heads. We missed seeing the Pilot board, but we saw the pilot boat leave. I hope those guys get paid really well! Now inside the Heads and getting hungry, we duck downstairs for a quick piece of toast and cuppa and are back up top for the Eastern suburbs, Opera House and Bridge. Our harbour is just gorgeous and this viewpoint makes it even more special. It’s pretty much the same view as from the Manly ferry, but it’s the height that makes all the difference.

My City of Sydney

 
 We need to vacate our cabin by 8am, so we go back to throw the remains of our belongings into the soft cooler bag we bought in the Noumean  supermarket and go to the Orient Bar, our departure meeting venue. Bar stools are all that’s left so we sit for a while until we get bored and decide to have 2^nd breakfast, because once we leave the ship we won’t eat again till we get home and that will be slim pickings. 

Fuelled up, we go up on deck to take some photos of the re-provisioning of the ship and the removal of all our garbage. Good to see these people have their priorities in the right order – there are pallets and pallets of alcohol parked right near the loading area, all set to be packed away. 

there must be more somewhere - this won't be enough!

Refuse comes out, all crushed and cubed and plastic wrapped, to be forklifted into the back of a waiting garbage truck, bigger than the ones that do our household rubbish collection.

A Quarantine officer is prowling the decks, checking on people’s arrival cards and stamping them to make disembarkation quicker once dockside. We haven’t heard our colour called to disembark, but we’re sure it must have when we hear the colour after our called so we head for the gangway. When we get to the luggage collection point, here’s our bags sitting all alone, so we grab them and head for the train. We weren’t going to walk back up the hill to Wynyard, but it’s such a lovely morning and if we take it slow, we’ll be ok.

One last look back at our temporary home and we turn and head back to reality.


P.S. Sunday. Jumped on the scales, risking one eye only..... I put on 0.8kg!! Yay!! Happy with that! Lee, the Cruise Director said at the disembarkation talk: "you came on board as passengers, and some of you are leaving as cargo! Hands up who's wearing their elastic waisted trousers??" NOT ME!!!!

Homeward bound.

Thursday 21^st June, 2012. Sea day.

Back to the rocking and rolling today but at least we don’t have to make up any time, so the Captain’s not pushing it. I take a pre-emptive seasick pill. 

There's a cooking demo in The Marquee this morning followed by a tour of the galley. Keen for the galley tour we sit through the cooking demo, which turns out to be humourous and entertaining. The galley tour is very interesting. It's always fascinating to see behind the scenes of such a big operation. 

the "Captain's Table" in the Waterfront Restaurant

Trevor’s turn to feel seedy, so he takes a seasick pill and goes back to bed. I go to the Disembarkation talk given by Cruise Director Lee Oliver, then have lunch in the Waterfront with a couple of older ladies who enjoy a good laugh and we get along very well. Once your dessert is delivered, the wait staff seem to forget about you though. More so this late in the cruise. We'd all love a cuppa and struggle to catch someone's attention without one of us jumping up and flashing them! I tell them "I've been treated better in worse places than this", which gets a good laugh. 

Waterfront Restaurant

Somewhere along the way, Trevor and I met John and Helen at dinner and we formed a 'Brains Trust'  Trivia team with them and we won! We all got a P&O stubby cooler with the P&O logo and "winner" written on it. Special!! Martinis with the Masters is at 3pm, so I go it alone. John is there, so we sit together. Somebody he met won the ticket for the Martini mixer, worth $16, didn't want it, so gave it to Helen, she didn't want it either, so John wasn't going to waste it! Trevor starts to feel better and turns up towards the end. Nice, easy day and I got to read some of my book – at last!

There's the traditional Bombe Alaska parade and champagne waterfall at 10.30pm and of course we hang around for the free champers! 

Friday 22^nd June, 2012. Final sea day.

No alarms set today and thanks to the heavy curtains, we sleep in. Decide to try for lunch at 'Salt', but they’re all booked up. Wish we’d heard the good reports about the place earlier. 'Salt' is Luke Mangan's restaurant on board and for $30 you can have lunch or $40 for dinner. A fellow passenger told me Luke is with us on this cruise, but I'm not sure whether to believe that.

Leisurely breakfast, up to The Dome for some quiet time and watched our approach into a rain squall. 

view from The Dome

Lunch, Martinis with the Masters at 3pm where we get to create our own cocktail, arvo nap (this relaxing takes it out of you!), then start the tiresome business of packing. Bags need to be outside our door when we go for dinner. Early night. Still trying to decide if I’ll get up early for the sail into Sydney Harbour. At least there’s the bonus of putting our clocks back an hour tonight.

My Island Home.

Wednesday 20^th June 2012.   Isle of Pines.

The hands down winner in the beauty stakes – Isle of Pines or Ile des Pins. From where the tenders drop you, it’s a short stroll along the road to the left of the wharf hugging the bay to a typical tropical island beach. White powder sand and turquoise water, with a mid-calf shore break. This is Kuto Bay.

Kuto Bay

 Across a small peninsula of land is Kanumera Bay, another lovely beach good for snorkelling with a huge rock outcrop which is sacred to the locals and therefore forbidden to climb.

Kanumera Bay

  
The snorkelling here is good, but not as good as Lifou. Reef shoes were handy here as well, once you got into the water. This is where a lot of the passengers swam and snorkelled and the coral was suffering from heavy use, so I think there are probably better spots if you can go a bit further afield.

We tried to walk to a place where there were ruins of a French penal settlement, but we got distracted by trying to find the way up to a lookout, and although we got close, we’d had enough walking and were ready for a swim.

The local food stalls included a grilled lobster plate for $20. Both halves of a small lobster cooked over charcoal, combined with some rice and papaya salad, delish. Again for $2AU you could get your passport stamped.

worst part of any tender port day!

If given the choice to pick one place to come back to, this would be it.

why wouldn't you?

AU accepted here again, $1AU = 100CPF.

Today is the day for snorkelling!

Tuesday 19^th June, 2012.  Lifou.

Locals were stamping passports for $2AU. Market stalls selling the usual things and food and drink were set up where we landed.

Today is the day for snorkelling! With all our snorkelling needs packed into our P&O issued beach bag ( with purchase of boarding photo) we set off to find the road to the church on the cliff top we could see from the ship. The way to the good snorkelling spot was off to the right from the church carpark. After taking a wrong turn and having to retrace our steps we were soon on the right path. Note to self: Walk up the hill from the tour meeting point to a T intersection, THEN turn left! Funny how there are so many little black clouds in our daily lives. We asked a fellow passenger heading the other way if he had been to the church and he replied with a snarl that he wasn’t going there because someone told him it was 6 km! 

Jinek Bay

We found our way to Jinek Bay and what a lovely spot it was. A grassy and sometimes rocky slope running down to the cliff edged bay with plenty of shade and the obligatory locals with drink and snack stalls. The tide was going out so it’s just as well we got there when we did as by the afternoon you would have had to go a fair way out to find water deep enough to snorkel in. Access to the tiny beach which would be covered at high tide, was by a wonky looking ladder made from tree limbs. It was actually much stronger than it looked judging by the bodies it had already supported! 
 

sturdy ladder to access the water

The quality of the snorkelling here definitely reached our expectations, having heard from several people how good it was. I knew I shouldn’t stay in too long without a swim shirt as I’d get burned, but I just couldn’t tear myself away to go and get it. So I got a bit burned.

great location for snorkelling

The Spa on board was offering a heavily discounted massage service on port days, so having made an appointment for 2.45 we had to pack up and get going. I’d love to be able to say it was worth it, but it really wasn’t. I haven’t had all that many massages but this one didn’t rate. Then there was the attempt to sell hideously expensive products which I was told would be very good for me and hinted at all sorts of miracles for my skin. Not impressed at all. A reasonably relaxing hour spoiled by a sales pitch. 

right at the jetty - swim with turtles

 An announcement was made for any passengers of A +ve blood type to go to the Medical Centre to donate blood for a critically ill passenger. By the time Trevor detoured to our cabin to get his Red Cross card, there were 10 or so people already waiting to donate. Gotta love the Aussie way of pitching in in a time of need!  Never did find out the full story.

Lifou was Island Night, and an acrobatic troupe were going to perform up on the top deck, with a semi-circular gantry spanning over the deck. It was the same troupe who had performed a similar act inside the Atrium a few nights previously. The majority of the troupe had graduated from Circus School in Columbia, one woman was Greek and one woman Canadian. The Atrium show had been well worth seeing so a high flying act 4 – 5 metres above deck was a must see. 

Unfortunately, early in the show, one of the troupe fell horizontally from about 2 metres, and his brother (another performer) stabilized his neck but then stood him up and started walking him off stage before any other help arrived. The young guy looked semi-conscious and everyone around us were amazed that proper first aid had not been rendered. It was impossible to enjoy the rest of the show, which was a shame, as it was really good, and Anastasia, the Greek girl, was a real daredevil on the high rope swing. After their act finished the deck party kicked off with lots of music and dancing and continued well after midnight. Kim was with us again and we all had a good time.

Aussie dollar accepted ashore here. Exchange rate not as good as Mare. CPF price was rounded up to the nearest AU then another dollar added. It doesn't hurt to have a bit of local currency.

First island call.

Monday 18^th June, 2012. Mare.

Sleep in day today, no rush to get going. Mare (pronounced Mar-ray) is a little island with seemingly nothing much to do. The ship is running a shuttle bus to Yejele Bay, $15AU pp return. If you decide to go back later, it looks like you have to pay again. I think it’s a rort but Trevor sees the up-side and says it’s also a little drive around and we might see some interesting stuff. So once we go ashore and look around where the tenders drop you, we charge the cost to our cruise card and get tickets for possibly the last shuttle to the beach. The P&O people were packing up their bits when we approached them.

self explanatory, non?

Before this we went for a walk. Up from the jetty to the road that runs parallel to the water and turned left, walked for maybe a bit less than a km till we find a spot where we can get a good look back at the Pearl. It’s a busy port here in Tadine, there was a warship (Just a little one, don’t know whose) docked when we arrived and tender services were suspended for 10 mins while it departed. There was a barge docked as well which left in the afternoon, around the time the Betico ferry arrived from Noumea. More food vendors and market stalls were set up in this main area as well.

turn left from the jetty

and a little further, not much

Very new looking pushbikes were available for hire, no idea how much or how many there were, but a good option if you got hold of one. The road around the island that we saw seemed easily navigated by bike. Take your passport ashore and the locals will stamp a ‘visa’ in it for $1AU.

The locals were selling grilled chicken skewers and also fish skewers, cold drinks and fruit. We both had a chic skewer for $3 each and it came with a chunk of baguette and somewhere to sit and eat it. 24 hours later and we’re not sick so it must have been ok.  I had a nice (non) chat with an old mate who spoke no English, so with my smattering of schoolgirl French we had a good laugh while we waited for the ‘interpreter’.

lunch

After we ate, we headed out on the shuttle bus for the beach and it was actually a pleasant drive. Practically every passenger van or bus that could be spared was put into P&O service for the day, with pretty tropical fabric tied over the seats in the mini-van we rode it. The bay was postcard gorgeous, with a spray of blue and white striped pool towels. It was a very long bay, so it was easy to find a spot to settle in. 

Yejele Bay/Beach

A reef protected the beach, so while we could see waves beyond the reef, the beach was dead flat. I'd read a bit about reef shoes being a good idea for Lifou, but it certainly doesn't hurt to have them here as well. The sand is very chunky grains of smashed up shell and coral, possible to walk on, but why risk a cut?? There was also the obligatory local stall selling things, don’t know what, didn’t really look too hard. The water was colder than I’d expected and shallow for quite a way, so didn’t go any further than knee deep. Will have to harden up tomorrow, because snorkelling is my challenge for this trip! Walked along the beach to the closest rocks/cliff face and saw the tiniest ghost crabs going at a million miles an hour when they felt threatened. Also saw sea cucumbers spewing out what looked like silly string to catch it’s food. Someone got some on their reef shoes and it looked like it was really difficult to get off.


Every afternoon when we are ready to up anchor and leave port, the Captain gets on the P.A. and lets us know that all passengers and crew (all-a souls-a) are accounted for and we shortly be leaving-a da port-a. Today he says something along the lines of: "Tomorrow, we be visiting the lovely port of Lifou" and he waffles on with some facts and figures... then he says: "but firsta, we have-a-to move-a da ship." 

A really weird thing has been happening to me since we got on board. I keep seeing people I think I know, then when I get closer, it's not them at all!  BTW, is Wayne Swan missing? I think he's here!! I mentioned to someone that I think there's a passenger on board who is a midwife at Gosford Hospital (where I work). Yes, they say, her name is Kim. Amazing! Next time I see her I give her a wave and she joins us for Trivia.

In Mare the exchange rate was $1AU = 100 CFP, so working things out was really easy and they took either currency.

My Kind of Town. (On 2nd thoughts - not)

Sunday 17^th June 2012.

Noumea!

Woke early, I think because the motion of the ship was different, barely rocking at all. Went out onto the balcony to see what we could see. It was just after sunrise, the water was very calm and we could see green hills. Seems so long since we saw green! Anyway, after a quick breakfast, we left the ship and stood on solid ground, ran the gauntlet of the ship’s photographer, then all the local touts trying to sell tours. There’s a supermarket across the road so we bought 2 big bottles of water 100CPF each, so cheap enough, took them back on board, then ran the gauntlet again.

There was a guy selling tickets to the hop-on, hop-off bus for $5AU, which was very cheap, we were expecting $15, but the first price we saw was $10, so $5 is a worryingly cheap price. Wonder what the catch is. Anyway, we rode the bus around to the morning market which was good for a look, and McDonalds, with free wi-fi is just over the road. So, that’s where we are now just to post this. Not sure if we’ll get another opportunity, haven’t really sussed out the internet on board.

Back to the bus stop and didn’t have to wait long before it came along. We think the driver was related to some famous race car driver, because, although she wasn’t dangerous, she didn’t waste any time. There was a quick announcement for Baie des Citrons, before continuing on to Anse Vata where we picked up a family. Past the Aquarium we flew, the family sounded slightly interested, but no real option to get off here it seemed, maybe if you called out? Anyway, we’re just along for the ride really. So, short answer is, I think we got what we paid for! The dearer HOHO went further afield we think. May have to confer with fellow passengers to confirm this.

We nipped back into the supermarket to buy a shopping bag, like the green bags we have at home. I’m getting quite a collection of foreign ones now. Got a cooler bag style for 395 CPF, to go with the ‘normal’ one we bought at the morning market for $1.50AU. Decided to have lunch on the Pearl, because this is a ‘don’t think too much holiday’. So fed, watered and etc, we headed back out for the 3^rd time! We keep these security people on their toes! Lonely Planet walking tour in hand we set off around the deserted town centre. It’s Sunday so the town is closed. All the action is at Anse Vata, the touristy part of town. The area around the port is really sad and neglected looking when the shops are closed. Not many have windows you can look into, most are covered with roller shutters. Makes you wonder what prompted that kind of lock-down look. Combined with the locals hanging around, it’s not a good look.

Always after the best vantage point, we climb a set of stairs at the end of Rue Jean Jaures and find our way to a high point behind Cathedrale St Joseph where we had a great view over the town. Next real point of interest was the Mwa Ka, a 12m totem pole opposite the Musee de la Nouvelle-Caledonie. Only sad thing about this fabulous carving was the local indigenous bloke who hit us up for some money. Probably the only English he knows…. ‘please….. money?’ Seems the only locals hanging around town were a bit shifty. Fair Police prescence though, so not too concerned. 

                                                                       Mwa Ka

Thinking we’ve done enough on our ‘do nothing’ holiday, we return to the friendly call of a bar aboard ship, then Oasis, before setting ourselves up for departure at 5pm, which must be about now, the tug boat is here and I feel movement, so I’ll get back to you later!

Gotta mention the ‘adults only ‘ area on board. It’s called Oasis, and there’s a bar (of course), 2 huge spas and heaps of deck chairs. And NO KIDS!!! Very civilised!! Not to feel left out though, there is a place called HQ where only kids and occasionally their parents can go. They can play video games all day – just as if they’d never been uprooted from their console at home! 

The sun had nearly set as the tugboat did it’s work to pull us back from the dock. Some of the locals had come to see us off, a little girl in particular waving madly with both arms and many on the ship waved back. By the time we were under our own steam the town was lit up and looked very pretty. The channel markers beckoned to us beyond the harbour and we spotted the light from Amadee Island. The Captain has made several quite pointed references to the fact that we picked up the Pilot well before entering the local waters and that he will be with us until we leave New Caledonian waters.  Did I mention our Capitain is Italian? And a very lovely man he is too. Once the sun was gone and we were out in more exposed waters, the wind picked up and it became rather cool.

Now that we’ve made up all the lost time, the ship might be back to running at it’s normal pace and we won’t have to suffer the rough ride. We are in an area of high pressure now, so a lady told us at the local market this morning. Thanks to us (I’m thinking she means the ship) she said, the weather was much better than last week. It was great to have a little chat in English to a local who was just out doing a bit of shopping.

Heard later that some of the people on the Tchou Tchou train tour saw a guy pretending to shoot at them with his hand. Nice place this!