Aquarius Pacific Hotels Rarotonga Limited Avarua

Hey folks ...sorry about the delay.. finding some internet access is proving a problem here.

Anyway a quick blog from the cooks... Aitutakai is the most amazing place ...there are just no people here it is truely a deserted island paradise. Our beachfront villa is situated directly ON THE BEACH......there is no one around and I feel like I am on the programme shipwrecked but without the other wallies.(apart from Steve !) we eat local food and laze around all day a nice change ...

... road. Being the South Pacific, we assumed that bus stop signs were probably non-existant, and stood there anyway. A shiney, large, air-conditioned coach pulled up... this couldn't be the local bus service, surely? No, but the coach driver was going into town and wanted to know if we would like a ride.

We arrived in town, and quickly located the market. Colourful handicrafts predominated, from virant sarongs to beautiful applique coverlets, woven palm bowls and ...

... The gradient also increased, until what began as a gentle slope became a definate climb. Despite the hard work however, I was loving every minute of it! Strange birds called in the distance and colourful lizards scampered underfoot. Almost before I knew it, I was nearing the Needle, 413m above sea level. The views from the top were astounding - the green jungle, punctuated by the bright pinks or yellows of flowering plants, sloping down to a sapphire ...

... the first segment of this cruise - some believed that any minutes which were unused would be lost, while we explained that to the best of our knowledge we believed that as long as a package had been purchased you would not loose any unused minutes, however if you had not purchased the package by the end of the first segment, then you would loose those minutes. People are getting somewhat exasperated as to why Princess are unable to clarify the ...

... when Barbara and Beverly showed up, Karl and John immediately jumped to give up their chairs for the ladies, showing us that manners, kindness and chivalry are not dead. -- And the way that my team, the Vaka 106, have been open to putting all sorts of oddly colored, totally unfamiliar foods on their plate and taking at least a little taste...even when the mystery food item resembles squishy purple bread. Readers... These ...

... totally understand who I'm talking about. Needless to say, it's a very very good thing. And the custom here is to give each other a smooch on the cheek when you greet people. So this morning, after my enjoyable bike ride to school, I was greeted by Jason, the John Pratt lookalike, with a friendly wet kiss. At Te Uki, Stephanie and I hang out in a reading room, which is like a library with rugs and couches, and kids are sent in to read books to us. It's pretty funny in ...

... voisin (un local trop sympatioque, en amour avec Montreal, qui avait une plantation de fruits exotiques)!!!! Nos activites preferees ont ete notre soiree traditionnelle des iles (spectacles de danse, musique et repas) et notre tour en bateau d'une journee avec Fred et d'autres invites de l'auberge. Fred nous a emene sur 4 differents sites de plongee en apnee ou nous avons vu des tortues, des poissons de toutes les couleurs et des beaux coraux. Aussi, il nous a amener sur l'ile de ...

... of tooting, shouting and waving. Saturday 19th Another lovely sunny warm calm day - 23+ degrees. We've managed to talk ourselves into daily exercise, that's apart from up and down several flights of stairs several times a day, and did our 7 and a bit laps which equates to about 4 kms we think. After an aborted attempt at sending emails in the morning we finally managed a reasonable connection in the afternoon so got that first epistle sent along with our birthday wishes to Colin ...

... it has to be way too hot up there. We are then seated in the center pews along side other visitors to the congregation. The church interior is white with blue accents, simple stained glass windows, and interesting motifs on the ceiling. At the front of the church is a short mosaic wall behind which are two pulpits, a lower one and a higher one that is accessed by a set of stairs. There are two large doors at the ...