Leaving Australia, we head for some down time in the layed back Rarotonga of the Cook Islands, before returning to the chaos, hustle and bustle of Vancouver.
Rarotonga
March 11th
Yes, it is March 11th again... We arrive in Rarotonga at Midnight, and with crossing the timeline we get to have Tuesday again. A mini-bus takes us to our amazing little bungalow... the Muri Beachcomber. There is fresh flowers everywhere, on the countertop, fridge, tables, bedroom (everywhere), even on the toilet seat and tp roll. We roll into bed at 2am... what a long day! It seemed like 48 hours, oh yeah, it was, but it would be worth it.
Of course the first morning they have some rain after a 5 month drought... raining means it's laundry day for us. Normally the beach is calm as the island is surrounded by a protective reef, but there is heavy winds and some good waves... since we're already wet, we go for a refreshing swim, rain from above, waves from below.
The view from the beach area at our Bungalow
We do a little shopping to stock up our bungalow, and then head to the Island Night at Edgewater Resort. It's a luau style event, including a BBQ pig, complete with head. After dinner we are joined by a very nice newlywed couple, Andrew and Maria from New Zealand, we hang out on the patio listening to a band, having drinks with our new friends. After midnight we find out the buses aren't running anymore, and order a taxi. I only have $21 left, the guy at the hotel desk says it should be $10, the meter keeps going, 10...15...18, at that point I tell him we only have 21, so he'll have to let us out and we'll walk the rest of the way... he shuts off his meter, and says no problem, he would take us the rest of the way. Said he was only going to charge us $20 anyway. We felt really bad, we offered him some Canadian or Visa, but he declined and gave us a friendly honk when he left, luckily we never saw him again... the island is only so big. 2:07am... time to go to bed
March 12th
This morning we do a tourist focused Island tour... Cultural Village Costumes, weaving, cooking, carving, music, fishing, and coconut opening. We enjoy an authentic ethnic Cook Island Meal, eaten with our fingers; including Chicken, tupo, tupo leaf (looked like spinach), papaya, flaked coconut, red grapes, and a banana served on a woven plate made of coconut tree leaves. Their are dances going on during the meals, and Norine is dragged up, only to discover a tiny lizard is hanging out on her leg. Not a problem, it was cute and she kept on dancing.
The tour include a 20 mile drive 'Round the Island' tour, and the local highlights were pointed out. Since the island isn't very big, it doesn't take very long. That night, the thunder and Lightning really put on a show, better than most of the fireworks shows he have seen.
March 13th
Since bank machines were non-existant and the bank was closed the day before we got a $20 loan from the office of our bungalow, wandered around the small town, and went to the bank. The staff in the bank is all bare foot and wearing wraps, beats Jeans Day hands down. We paid back our loan, and went for a swim off our beach, it was calm as could be, and clear as a bell. We went to very nice restaurant called the Flametree for dinner with Richard and Margaret. The restaurant is named after the huge tree that looks like it is on fire when it's red and orange flowers blossom.
March 14th
6:30 am Orange sky, and Norine wanders down to the beach and watches a wedding. 2 native men in full traditional clothing row the bride into shore with an out-rigger canoe, and the couple are married on the beach, both dressed in white and barefoot. After calling me over to see, we went back to bed and left the doors to our bungalow open... the housekeeping girls were quite embarrassed to find us in bed several hours later.
We Rented bikes and rode around the island... we stopped to take a pic of "The Needle" the famous peak at the center of the island, and took another turnoff to a non-existent waterfall. Apparently the 5 month drought had a big effect on the island, even with the recent rains, not even a drop. It was a 5 hour round trip on our bikes, very hot, but very peaceful too.
Being our last night on the island we went to the Portifino restaurant for dinner.
March 15th
It's our last day, I'm up early to return the bikes. We go for an early morning swim... checked out the reef and the nearby little island called Koromiri Island. After relaxing for a while we grabbed our snorkeling gear, we see a lot of fish and sea cucumbers, and snorkel around Taakoka Island.
It's 6:00 pm and we have to be packed and out of our place, we leave for the Airport at 10:30. Announcements are made at the airport since the flight was overbooked, anyone wanting to stay an extra night, they would pay all the expenses... we should have! But we didn't :-(
The flight took off at 1:30am... it stopped in Tahiti at 3:30 for an hour wait to top up the fuel. Apparently Rarotonga's airport is too small for a Jet to take off with a full load of fuel. We arrived late into LA and missed our connector because US customs took so long... flight departure at 4:00, got to AC terminal at 3:30 but they "closed the gates". We ended up on an Alaska Airlines flight after a lot of complaining and arguing. That flight is delayed because they are waiting for a connecting flight... hmmm, imagine that? Waiting for your connecting flights, grrrrr!
Our suitcases never showed up in Vancouver, part of the issue with changing flights. Only one duffle bag showed up, but it was missing some of our souvenirs, it was on the flight we were supposed to be on. Somehow American Airlines ended up with our suitcases, and they showed up at our front door at 10:00pm the next day. It seems our troubles with Air Canada go back a ways.
Pepper and Midnite growled at us when we got home, it wasn't until the next day that they seemed to recognize us strangers. We may have been strangers to them, but not strangers to a very different part of the world, and this one time trip of a lifetime has sparked a travel bug that will affect us for the rest of our lives.