Voters in New Caledonia will decide on Sunday whether they want independence from France.
The referendum completes a 30-year decolonisation process which has given the territory peace and stability after the violence of the mid-1980s.
All polls suggest a majority will opt for the status quo.
This would however leave indigenous Kanaks still demanding independence and their right to self-determination.
Walter Zweifel is in Noumea and Koroi Hawkins asked him what the mood was in Noumea.
Photo: RNZ Pacific/ Walter Zweifel