Rarotonga

3-April-2002

Our first day in the Cook Islands began with a hot morning. This place is very warm! The breeze that blows off the ocean is quite refreshing, though the sun is intense.

Because of crossing the international date line from west to east, we gained an extra day during our flights to the Cooks. We were quite confounded by this when we were making reservations. If you do this - make sure you get the right day on your lodging reservations.

Our first daylight view was out a panoramic french glass door to a white sandy beach, beautiful blue water, and breaking waves out on the reef. When we booked our stay, we decided not to rent a car or anything for transportation, so we walked out to the road and found a petrol station with selection of groceries. This was quite convenient, though it turns out that we bought only one bag of groceries during our stay, and that was in the main part of town.

We had read that the best fruit smoothies on the island could be found at a place called The Fruits of Rarotonga. We walked about 2 km down the road to find the breakfast stand and it's two small tables out front. We ordered two smoothies and a couple of fresh baked pineapple muffins - and had an impromptu breakfast. We walked back along the beach to our villa, and ventured out for a swim.

Well, it turns out that it was low tide during the midday hours, and we walked about 200' out from shore, and the water got up to our mid-thigh. Unfortunately, the walk out those 200' was through sea-slug infested waters. One mis-step and things got quite slimy. We dunked ourselves in the water to cool off, and then picked our way back out of the water.

In the afternoon, we caught the bus into the main town on the island, Avarua. Rarotonga has two public buses that travel around the island each day - one goes clockwise around the island, and the other goes counterclockwise, or "anti-clockwise" as they say there. The busride took about 15 minutes and dropped us off in the center of town. We walked around town and tried to get money from one of the two ATM's on the island, but it was broken. We ate lunch at Mai Tai. The meal was a little overpriced for the small portions, but there weren't too many options to choose from. After lunch we checked out the wears at some of the pearl retailers, and investigated prices for scooter rentals. Scooters are a vary popular way to travel on Rarotonga, as the island is only32 km around.

We walked down to the large CITC grocery store and bought foods for the next few days. We noticed that breakfast cereal is not as popular here as in the States - only about 1/4 of an aisle was devoted to cereal, as opposed to the entire aisle in the U.S. Another difference, given the warm temperatures on the island, is that the dairy section is in its own, refrigerated room.

By this point, it had been a long time since the meager lunch, and we were both getting crabby from lack of food and the heat. We rectified this with a stop at an ice cream shop - Sarah went for Caffe Latte, and Steve chose Lemon Sorbet. Both were excellent choices, and really hit the spot. We said if we were back in the area the next few days we'd have to make another stop!

We caught the 4 p.m. bus and headed back to our cottage. The sun was still hot, so we walked up the beack towards Pacific Resort and Villas and Sarah took a quick dip. We realized that the tides determine wheather you can swim or not. The tide was out, and the water was till too shallow!

We decided to try a restaurant just up the road from us called Sails. It was close enough that we were able to walk to dinner along the beach. The peaceful walk was interupted by Sarah's squeals as several ghost crabs ran over her toes. We had a lovely spot on the restaurant deck for dinner. The fishcakes we had as an appetizer were fantastic. Dinner was Fish curry with a spinach sauce, and fish w/ a hollandaise sauce on sweet potatoes. We thought the food was the best we had while we were in the Cooks.

4-April-2002

Did we mention that it's hot here? This morning we walked down the beach and checked out some of the other accommodations. The Sokala Villas definitely looked top notch, with each unit having its own pool, and located on the only swimming hole on the beach with a slug-free zone. The slugs don't appear to survive in this region because the longshore current is quite strong. In fact, it could take small children quite a ways down the beach.

Just around the corner from our villa is a well known lunch cafe called Ambala. They have beautiful gardens and a wonderful lunch menu. They are only open 9-3, so lunch was the only meal we could eat there.

Heading further along down the road, we stopped again at Fruits of Rarotonga for some snorkeling. Evidently the reef off the shore near their stand is among the best around the island. We rented a mask and snorkel, and took to the water. Most of the reef was dead, except for a few large corals. We were impressed by a particularly deep blue coral. The fish were quite diverse in species and size, ranging from less than 1" to over 12". After snorkeling, we got another smoothie at Fruits. Wow that really hits the spot!

We walked back to the villa and relaxed in the sun for a few hours. Around 7, we took the bus to Vaima restaurant. As we got off, the driver said - be back around 9:30. Hmm we thought - that's OK, we're taking the anti-clockwise bus back at 8:30. We had a wonderful table out on the porch. The food was good and the ambiance was excellent. Perhaps our most romantic dinner overseas. The sunset was gorgeous, and we took a break from our meal to watch it on the beach for a few moments. Finishing up around 8:10, we walked outside to catch the bus. After about 45 minutes of waiting, we got a little concerned. Reading the bus schedule again, it said it would leave clockwise on the hour at 6, and 9, and anti-clockwise on the hour at 7. We interpreted this to mean that the anti-clockwise bus would run hourly. It did not, apparently. Luckily we caught a ride with some other guests being driven home by the Vaima dinner shuttle. They were so kind to help us out of our predicament.

5-April-2002

We thought it might be a good idea to see the rest of the island before leaving. Since scooters seemed to be the "way to go," we decided to rent scooters from a place just around the corner from our cottage. Unfortunately, just before we got there someone rented the last one of two scooters that were available. The owner suggested we try our luck at the Pacific Island resort. We rented the two scooters, and drove them to the police station in Avarua to get a license for the Cook Islands.

Because our Michigan licenses are for cars, not motorcycles, we had to take a road test. The test takes you literally around the block. Four left turns brought us back to where we started. Two people went at a time, and the police officer followed behind us. If you failed to stop at the stop sign, you were required to take the test again. We both passed, and headed back into the police station to have our pictures taken. The entire process was very slow - it took us almost 90 minutes to get the licenses, which is longer than the time it takes to drive around the island.

We had heard good things about Perfumes of Rarotonga, which makes perfumes from local flowers. All the different flavors smelled great, so Sarah bought several of the sampler vials. We made our way back to the cottage, stopping along the way to take pictures of a local church. We stopped at the Fruits of Rarotonga for (guess what) another two smoothies. Yummy. We continued around the island, stopping at various scenic vistas to take pictures. As we charted our progress on the map, we realized that this island is reallly small!

While we were enjoying our smoothies, we struck up a conversation with two Canadians on vacation. They told us that if we needed a swimming break by the time we got around to the western edge of the island we should stop at the Rarotongan Beach Resort. We were quite warm (it was hot!) by the time we got there, so we took their advice and went for a dip. The pool was nice, but there were lots of kids splashing about. It would be a fun place to come with kids and a couple of other families.

We continued the ride around the island and split up at the airport. Steve decided he wanted to drive up valley roads looking for a nice view of the ocean. Found absolutely nothing. Went up all kinds of paved roads - dirt - then tracks. He came across what might be the power station for the whole island. Would 9 megawatts be enough? Probably. He continued around the ring road and went back to the Villa. Since Sarah had the keys, he couldn't get back in, so he dropped his backpack and went back out on the scooter to try one more road. It started paved, then two lane dirt, then two lane jeep, then one of the tracks disappeared and he found himself on a single track hiking trail. He gave up, turned around, and headed back to the main road.

Coincidentally, we came out on the main ring road at the same time and in the same place. We rode back to the villa and thought a swim would feel nice. We walked down thhe beach to our new favorite swimming hole and swam for an hour or so. It was wonderful to cool off after being on the hot pavement all day.

Unfortunately, it was time to pack our bags again for the next leg of our long trip home. We packed our bags and got ready to go. For dinner, we drove our scooters up the Flame Tree restaurant, which was also within walking distance. The dinner was good but not excellent. The ambiance was nothing like what we expected. We were at a table inside a large room with no view or anything. The menu sounded good - we started with Fish Spring rolls - which turned out to be fish inside wrapper w/ little cilantro. We were expecting somehting a little more complex. Steve ordered coconut encrusted deep fried fish which was good but not exceptional. Sarah had Fillo wrapped fish which was a little on the heavy side.

We drove out scooter back to the Pacific Resort and returned them. We took the opportunity to walk through the resort and got a glimpse of their Friday evening show setup. The resort looked like a nice place to stay. The grounds were well kept - though the occupancy was a little high for our tastes. We crossed through to the beach and walked back to our villa.

Back at home, we packed some more and waited for Henry to show up to take us back to the airport. He showed up laughing... said "I forgot you guys had a lot of baggage." We went on to pick up 4 others, with all their bags too. We had bags everywhere!

At the airport they were conducting hand searches of checked baggage from people selected randomly from the check in line. The check in procedure seemed very slow, but I guess there was plenty of time. At the x-ray screening, everyone automatically removed their shoes, as if it were routine for them. We were then directed to a seemingly unsecure area that looked like a park.

When you leave the Cook Islands, you have to pay a departure tax of NZ$25 per person. We had some extra NZ currency, so we paid about NZ$15 in cash and asked to put the rest on a credit card. The teller at the WestPac bank office informed us that they have a NZ$2.50 surcharge if you use a credit card. We thought that was akin to extortion, but it was either that or stay trapped in paradise. Steve doesn't think that this is a legal practice with credit cards, but what can you do when you're abroad and have no other option?

We boarded a 737 widebody jet for the 9.5 hour flight to Los Angeles and settled in for a long night. The Air New Zealand flight was excellent, as usual

6-April-2002

After a fairly restful flight, we arrived in LAX around noon. Not surprisingly, the flight arrived a little early. We grabbed our bags and had perhaps the easiest pass through customs and immigration ever. They never even looked at what we declared.

Chris and Allison Donovan met us roadside. We were so glad to see them! They fed us nutrigrain bars and two bottles of water - what a wonderful way to be received after a long flight. We've now learned how to do it right! Chris drove us to their house in Beverly Woods. We showered, and felt human again.

We drove to Beverly Hills and walked around the chic stores. Our cravings for a real american hamburger were fulfilled at the Cheesecake Factory, where we had lunch. Chris and Allison gave us the exclusive tour of LA. The tour concluded with a very pleasant walk down the Santa Monica pier.

On the way home, we dropped by a very ritsy grocery store - valet parking and everything. We cooked dinner "in", opened a very nice bottle of wine and relaxed. What a wonderful evening. We all caught up on the last few years and shared a slide slow of our recent travels in New Zealand.

Chris and Allison dropped us back off at the airport for a 1:45 AM departure to DTW. The airport was deserted at the check-in desk - though the gate area was packed.

7-April-2002

The Northwest flight was packed and of course we received horrible service. We had forgotten how absolutely rude Americans can be. When the seat rows were called, people pushed and rushed to get on. One particular couple pushed their way ahead of us, even though after we boarded, we realized that their row numbers hadn't been called yet.

There was a shortage of blankets on the flight, and when we asked the flight attendants, they informed us that there were enough blankets, but that some passengers had taken two or three. The woman across the aisle from us had two blankets while we had none. She had one over her body, and one wrapped around her feet. Nevertheless, we thought it was a little rude. Humorously, she spilled water all over herself; so she was a little damp for about half of the flight. We couldn't help but chuckle at her just desserts.

Overall, we were a little ashamed to see how poorly our fellow citizens behaved, and it validated the stereotypes that everyone has about American Tourists.

Back in Detroit, we claimed our luggage and met up with Jen, who had been watching our house for us. She drove us home to our house where it seemed like eons ago we had left for down under

We collapsed in the house, a little depressed that our vacation holiday was over. But we recall the fond memories that are preserved in this journal and in our photographs that shall remain for a long time to come. Aaaaw, now ain't that special...