We are about 60 nautical miles off Passe du Dumbea, which is one of the two principal passages through the reef into the southern lagoon of Grande Terre, New Caledonia. There are others but they are not equipped with navigation aids or lights so are not for night approach. It's about 0830 local time now and we'll be at Dumbea about 1830 or so tonight. We can already see the crown of cumulus clouds that usually seem to sit atop most significant islands mid-ocean - as if the peaks had caught the clouds unawares and snagged them as they scooted past and trapped them. Yesterday we a lovely day's sailing, close-hauled but in diminishing seas and breezes - making 5.5 to 6 knots in 22 to 25 knot breezes with a single reef in the main to make it easier for the autopilot to cope. Overnight we found ourselves on a converging path with Kukka, who are heading for Dumbea also and will be there about the same time as we arrive - they came within sight of us on the horizon at 7 miles off and were in view all night. Wombat came up on the HF sked this morning - he is in a small inlet in the reef further up the coast effecting some repairs before he can proceed south - we hope to see him in Noumea in a day or two. The most noticeable and welcome feature of the conditions is the air temp - we have a balmy 25C in the cabin this morning, and the trackpants and sweaters are going away under a bunk somewhere for the next few months - thank goodness! The breeze is going to drop right off to less than 5 knots for the remainder of the day, so we'll be supplementing the full main with the judicious use of the cast iron topsail as required. We'll head directly to Noumea from Dumbea Pass - once inside the reef we'll have no swell to deal with and we'll drop anchor in Petite Rade, the smaller of Noumea's two harbours, and wait till we can go in to the visitors' pontoon to do our Quarantine, Customs and Immigration. That will, I'm sure, bring a swift end to a good run (8 to be precise) of Gold Star Days (1GSD = 24 hours with no money spent; it is fairly difficult to spend money on board at sea, although on the odd occasion John has offered Shauna $1 million to do his night watch). We'll let you know how things go with the entrance after we get in. Cheers from us.