Our first Cruise

So I'll start off by saying as I always do- that's it's been FAR too long before posting on this blog.

We've had such a great past 6 months with Justin and Amanda coming over from San Diego and Cara coming over from Seattle. So we've been busy spending time with friends and not having the time for the blog- which I guess is an ok thing!

One thing we did make time for was going on our first cruise....

Dan and I have talked about going on a cruise for a while now and finally took the plunge and went the first week in July during Dan's school holidays.

It was a 7 night cruise from Brisbane to the pacific islands.

The ship left Saturday at 2pm and then arrived at our first stop Monday afternoon in Noumea.

Noumea was nice to stop in and get off the ship, but we didn't have too much time to explore before the sunset. We did a little island driving tour to see the major spots and then roamed a little beach area called the Bay of Lemons.

The city side of Noumea was a bit hectic and pretty dirty, not to mention expensive and they all only speak French. However it looks like the islands that are just off of Noumea look amazing, so might be worth going back and checking out one day.

 

Coming into Noumea

 Our tug boat coming to get us

 A view from a hill in the city

 Sunset in the Bay of Lemons

We got back on the ship around 7pm and then by the time we woke up the next morning we were in our next stop, Lifou

Lifou is just a little island that’s pretty underdeveloped in comparison. They don’t have a port so the cruise ship anchors in the middle of the bay and then you take one of the little rescue ships to shore. The rescue ship was pretty rocky and it took a while for it to be your turn on shore- but once you got there it was so worth it.

Crystal clear water, amazing people that live there who set up little markets for you to roam.

We spend the day snorkeling this really beautiful coral reef area that’s restricted to 100 people a day to help preserve the coral. You could get so close to it that you get almost too close.

I’ve never even snorkeled before let alone snorkeling with a view like that! We had a really amazing time and after snorkeling just spent the rest of the time on the beach before catching the little boat back to the ship. This is definitely a place we’d go back to for a relaxing week away. 

 Under that hut was the markets the locals put on

 This is the bay we snorkeled. Jinek Bay.

 A view of our ship anchored in the bay

 This shows the rough size of the side of the island we were on. To the left is Jinek bay where we snorkled.

 The water was so clear!

The next day was our final shore stop in Port Vila in Vanuatu. We had heard of some really great snorkeling there as well as some really cheap duty free shopping which someone I know loves a really good deal on Scotch..

We hired a driver with a South African family from the boat and got a really cool look at Vila. Our driver took us to a place where we could catch a little boat to a place called Hideaway Island. We had the opportunity to snorkel there and hang out for the first part of the day. It was a really cute island with great coral reefs and really nice little beach shacks if you were to stay there for the week or more.

After Hideaway Island we then went into the city to do some shopping. The duty free didn’t disappoint and dear ol Dan was in heaven!

After our duty free shopping we roamed the local markets and then got back on the ship. 

 

Entrance to Hideaway Island

 Looking like a drowned rat post a great snorkel sesh

 All of Hideaway Island

We had two full days of cruising to get back to Brisbane and we used those to just relax before getting back to the grind.

Overall, we loved the stops we made but jury is still out on cruise life. Those professional ‘cruisers’ are pretty intense with their bingo and themed parties and overall cruise-ness to them. Not sure it’s our cup of tea, but it was a good experience.

One other draw back was the fact that I’m the worlds pickiest eater and they didn’t quite cater for my needs. There were a few panic moments that I’m stuck in the middle of the ocean and never going to eat again… but we made it through :)

 Our Ship pre departure

Our towel Elephant we kept for the whole trip. Our Jackson away from Jackson!

Overall a great trip, good experience, and we saw some amazing places.

I’ll try and keep the updates more frequent in the future.

Until next time…