Tropical islands or muddy rivers? You can get to experience both in New Cal,but we prefer the white sand, turquoise water, tropical island scenario.That's why we loved the Atoll d'Ouvea, the northern most island group in the Loyalties. Surprisingly we had the atoll to ourselves - it seems most yachties won't venture 50 miles off the mainland to experience paradise!

One windless day we decided to explore the outside of the atoll, visiting the Ile de Milieu, listed as an anchorage in our "South Pacific Anchorages" guide. As it was 40 m deep outside the atoll, we were slowly creeping along the reef, with good lighting from behind and me wearing Polaroids (not a fashion statement - they help you distinguish reefs) standing on the bow, when a massive coral "bommie" suddenly loomed ahead less than a boat length [13m] away, rising straight up from a depth of 30 metres to just below the surface. Luckily we were traveling slowly and David could reverse the boat to safety, but it shattered our confidence as in the past we've been able to see bommies and reefs. It was windless and this may have given the water a more reflective surface than if ruffled by a breeze, any way it was too close . We anchored in deeper water and returned by dinghy to snorkel over the bommie. Just as we were about to jump out of the dinghy, a Grey Reef Shark started circling the dinghy just below the surface, paying us way too much attention. David hung our "Shark Shield" over the edge of the dinghy to see what would happen. The shark darted off leaving us to enjoy the pristine coral undisturbed. It was comforting to know the "Shark Shield" works!

We returned to Noumea for 4 days to provision, visit a couple of museums, and collect a parcel of "Raymarine" spare parts from the post office. Therein started the saga of the daily trips to the internet café to follow the tracking notes for our parcel which it appeared had found it's final resting place in Vanuatu not New Caledonia. Fingers crossed it will still be in Port Vila when we arrive there in a fortnight.

It's not all bad hanging around Noumea for a few extra days. The obsession with croissants and bread of the "campagne" continued and we found a traditional French restaurant to celebrate my birthday in advance - venison salad, goat's cheese, jugged rabbit, penne with smoked duck and artichoke hearts, patisseries and Crème Brulee. We considered we deserved a good meal out - we'd been away from shops for 16 days and, although the food on Courtesan had been good, one does need to be self sufficient and innovative (eg bean sprout omelets). Our best meal was Green Jobfish (from the sea perch / snapper family,*** for eating) baked by David in foil on the barbie with papaya, banana and ginger. I've celebrated my birthday over the years in some really exotic places (London, Vienna, Finland, Budapest, Istanbul, New York, Savusavu, not sure if snow camping at Mt Baw Baw qualifies), so I wasn't impressed that the "Grib File"(computer generated wind and weather map) dictated that my birthday would be spent at sea, between New Caledonia and Vanuatu). My birthday started at 1 am when my night shift started. Although I've now spent over one hundred nights at sea on passage, I still feel uneasy and am always happy to crawl back into my bed, at whatever angle it lies, after my shift. Fortunately the clear starry night and waxing moon gave way to a day of blue skies, and slight winds with David happy because he could fly the spinnaker.

We are due in Tanna in the south of Vanuatu tomorrow morning to start our month of entertaining family on board. Tanna is famous for its active volcano, Mt Yasur. The guide book says to get your personal affairs in order before you visit - I can do one better than that: I will take my lawyer (brother) with me!

With love, Heather

David has missed the publication deadline for bulletin No 8!