Port Moselle, Noumea, New Caledonia
25 October 2010 | New Caledonia
Alison
Good morning from Nouvelle Caledonie, Slip A-27 in the Port Moselle marina. We're enjoying the fresh breeze, the sunny skies, and the low humidity as we await the arrival of the Customs, Immigration, and Quarantine agents before we're allowed to leave the boat.
We've bumped into numerous boats we know from our travels: IO, Totem, Jenny P, and Szysergy, who are here on the dock with us. The exchange of information along the way is crucial to all of us as we check in and out of so many countries, and as soon as you see someone you know who's already here, the exchange begins: how to check in, what Quarantine does with your fruit, veggies, meats and cheeses, where the laundry is, what the exchange rate is, nearest grocery shopping, and, of course, the best pizza. This time, though, a new topic is included in our conversation -- that of selling our boats in Australia, which of the 5 of us here, 3 are planning to do as soon as we get to Brisbane. Or sooner, if our brokers find people who want to look here in New Caledonia. There's lots to know about selling a boat in a foreign country, and the information varies. So we've had a good time today on the dock, since we can't leave, chatting with people and fine-tuning the next step in our plans.
Ah, the Quarantine guy just came and went, poking through our fridge with rubber gloves on, helping us separate our trash into "organics" and "other" so the organics can be incinerated. We did pretty well, thanks to smoothies: I was able to blend everything into a yummy green smoothie before he came -- mango, pineapple, banana, apple, and the last of our frozen greens. So all I lost was an egg, some cucumber, and a few mushy tomatoes to the incinerator. Apparently if Customs doesn't show within 2 hours, the marina office just faxes all the info to them and we no longer wait for their arrival. So now all we need is the Immigration folks and we're free to roam.
And by roam, that would mean: looking for an Internet provider, a cell phone sim card, the laundry, and finally, the free cocktail that comes in the marina welcome package. The marina is centrally located within walking distance of everything here in town, and it's rumored to be a fun town, the biggest city we've seen since Papeete. We've gained some knowledge about good snorkeling and diving spots, so we're excited to go hang with our fish buddies in a few days, but in the meantime, some time in a cosmopolitan city like Noumea sounds fun!