June 6, 2015 in Noumea, New Caledonia
Background: For those of you not following our blog closely enough and not prepared for the final exam, we’ll review the HITCF index, or “How’s it Compare to Fiji” index. We introduced it here. A reading of 300 means drop everything and come here at once. A reading below 150 means you might possibly want to stay in Fiji.
In light of our trip out to Ile des Pins, some of the islands in the southern lagoon, and a wonderful visit to a small island in Baie du Prony called Ile Casy, the meter’s mechanism made some adjustments.
My blue arrow is now well above the “come to New Cal” mark. Cyndi’s purple arrow has gone up almost as high as it can go. Being back in the wonderful town of Noumea may push my needle up a bit in the near future.
There’s another index that needs to be taken into account when interperting these readings and that’s the HBAIWFaHISATITS index… “How bored am I with Fiji and have I seen all there is to see.” In the unlikely event that this index has topped out for you, then please add one or even two hundred to the HICTF reading above.
Three Phases
And that brings me to a recent, probably alcohol induced, thought: For me, I seem to have three phases to just about everything in life – especially cruising. First, the exploration phase, then the enjoy what I’ve discovered phase, followed by the I’m bored phase. To keep from getting to that third phase, I think I need a balance of the first two phases.
But this year hasn’t been balanced. We went to Australia and it was go, go, go – all exploration and no “enjoy what we know” phase like we used to get in the now familiar to us New Zealand.
I think my needle on the above gauge might be a little lower than it should because I really need some “enjoy what you know” phase right now and other than familiar and wonderful Noumea, it’s all exploration in New Caledonia for us.
I don’t know how people do three year (or even shorter) circumnavigations! All exploration. No relaxation. I think if I only had three years to cruise, I’d be happier hanging out someplace like the Sea of Cortez the whole time.
There are people that don’t like to go back to places they’ve been. I can understand the sentiment – I can rarely turn around and go back the way I came, no matter how lost I might become in forging ahead. But I have really loved going back to places we’ve been on this cruise. We went back to Tonga and that was amazing. We’ve been back to Fiji twice and I think I could do it several more times, and we’ve spent two cyclone seasons in New Zealand, which now feels like a second home. In going back to these places, I get ample “enjoy what I know” and can mix in just enough exploration to keep life interesting.
But hey, that’s just me. I’m sure your milage will vary! -Rich
