We sailed thru the pass in the reef around sunset last night. The one end of the reef had a lovely lighthouse which sent out white light after dark. We made great speed as we worked our way thru the channel on the rhumb line that Mark added. We found our way to Baie Kouo but it was pitch dark. We found the water too deep and we didn't want to get any closer to shore. Decided to move the next anchorage. So, we turned around and headed back to the channel. The next bay was called Ire. It was much bigger. There was a mega yacht anchored at one end with lots of lights and that was the only lights in the bay. I really don't recommend anchoring after dark in a strange place. Oh my! We finally found 50 feet depth and dropped our anchor. It held, digging in well. It was already after 10 pm and we were both beat. Mark had some hot cereal for dinner but I just wanted to head to bed which we did after some coffee and Bailleys to warm up. The one thing we were grateful for was the flat waters in the anchorage. It's just been so long since the boat didn't move!! We slept for 10 hours! The time changed here. We are two hours earlier. Our time is now 5 hours behind East Coast Time, but a day ahead. The sun greeted us! The bay looked totally uninhabited as there were no signs of life ashore other than vegetation. Had a lovely hot breakfast this morning, using up bacon and eggs. Otherwise, they may take these things away from us when we check in tomorrow. Decided to move to another anchorage on route to Noumea. It was only 8 miles away. We had a lovely downwind sail, with speeds to 7 knots. Such a beautiful, almost breath taking view of the mountains around here. There's lush green vegetation mixed with reddish brown rock and soil. Even the beaches are reddish brown sand in places. As we rounded the point to Baie Uie, a light rain descended upon us. We found a lovely spot in 25 foot of water and dropped anchor as the wind funneling thru the mountains clocked to 22 knots. The anchor held on the first attempt. No other boats here. Mark worked on clearing the starboard bilge of water that leaked in from the massive swells out on the ocean. He also tied down the bimini frame. The high gusts tend to rattle it. This will keep it quiet for our sleep tonight. I worked on boat clean up, changing our sheets and cleaning the salon. Lunch was an attempt to use up our ham slices. I made quesadillas with ham, tomatoes and cheese and served them with salsa. We enjoyed a hot shower in the port head. Mark put our heated sun shower thru the hatch above. We are flying our yellow Q flag so we didn't venture off the boat today. We talked about getting in the water, but the breeze was so cold, we didn't bother. It pretty much rained all afternoon. We did have one other catamaran join us here in the anchorage. They waved as they passed and headed much farther in the bay. We spent the rainy afternoon watching a couple more episodes of Season 2 Downton Abbey. We must have watched these shows as they are familiar. We enjoyed a lovely happy hour tonight. The sun has set without much color in the sky as the clouds took over. Mark mentioned that maybe we brought the clouds with us, but it was sunny when we arrived yesterday. Thanks for the many satellite messages we woke up to!! Appreciate hearing your news. As another month passes us by, it's amazing to be reminded that this is our tenth country on such an amazing adventure! We have almost been gone a whole year from Jacksonville!! Yes, we do miss our home!