Ilot Maitre, New Caledonia

We have had an eventful two weeks since our arrival in Noumea. We have very much enjoyed being in France in the Pacific. We spent our first week in the marina in Port Moselle getting the boat cleaned up, the fridges serviced and wandering around the town. To our surprise, we were berthed next to a Canadian couple whose surname was also Last. What are the chances of that, one might ask!
We met my birthday buddy Swen and Katrin from Solar Planet and enjoyed the local restaurants with Dave and Marion from Kilkea.
We saw the aquarium ( see below) which was quite excellent for a small town. An added bonus was the replacement of an upgraded esspresso machine so the Admiral can again have her morning coffee. We found it by surprise in a very upscale kitchen gadget store and just had to buy it as the old machine died a few months ago.
We left the marina last Monday and anchored outside the town in a very crowded place and the next morning was awakened at 0600H by a huge tug and asked to move a cruise ship was coming to town. We moved to the adjoining bay and got same treatment from the French Navy to warn us that a destroyer was backing out of its berth and would we please move again. Such is the cruising life.
We took a bus trip across town to the Tjibaou Cultural Centre on a very clear and beautiful day. This was built by the French about 15 years ago by Italian designer called Renzo Piano at a cost to the French taxpayer of more than 50 million Euros (70 million USD). The museum was architecturally spectacular but we expected to see some indigenous New Caledonian cultural exhibits but most of what we saw was contemporary artwork done by Europeans. The place was reminiscent of the Getty Museum in Los Angeles but was more a monument to the glory of colonial France than New Caledonia.
We did visit two other much more modest stuctures subsequently,that did show the development of Noumea and New Caledonia from its discovery to the present day.
We left Noumea four days ago as a low pressure front was coming through with strong westerly winds so we left for a small islet about 10 miles out of town and spent the weekend in a delightful, protected spot with a very nice beach and live coral to explore.
This was just as well as we got the predicted westerlies to over 20 knots and about an inch of rain.
This morning we arrived at the Ilot Maitre where there is a resort and internet!
More photos to follow.