King's Beach Villas Rarotonga

... that we even saw a sea turtle! I spotted it and my guide didn't believe me! He's only seen two ever in the lagoon and the other guide had never seen one! They come into the lagoon for shelter on rough days so they don't drown or get hurt on the reef.

Monday was so much fun! We visited one of the primary schools on the island. We were given a traditional welcoming. With women entering first as a sign of peace, a little boy came to welcome us and chanted ...

... handle bars melted into my palms. Having said all that it was a beautiful ride and a great way to see the island. Most people hire scooters and zip around the island in about 30 minutes but to really see the place cycling is far better. However, one thing that was noticeable was the amount of money spent on churches, which were beautiful, white washed and pristine, with well kept graveyards, bursting with colour and flowers.

There is one main town at the ...

... me right away (he says he has a 90% accuracy in guessing his guest right, in my case, i was a no brainer since I was the only asian girl in the plane). We grabbed my bags and drove back to the huts. It was dark by then. So took a quick solar powered shower (thakfully there was still hot water left, just took a while to get there) outside the hut under the flashlight, and headed straight up to my room on the upper treehouse.

Nach 3 Organisationstagen in Auckland und einem wieder einmal wunderschoenen Sonnenuntergang am Mount Eden, einem erloschenen, 130 meter hohem Vulkan mit Blick auf die Stadt ging meine Reise auch gleich weiter auf die Cook Islands. Mit Air New Zealand ging es zunaechst auf die Hauptinsel der Cooks. Beim Flug wird die Internationale Datumsgrenze ueberquert, so dass ich Mittags am 27.02. in Auckland abfliege und nach knapp 4 Stunden Flug Nachmittags am 26.02 ...

Today we visited the Cook Islands. We stayed off shore of Rarotonga, Cook Islands. This was a unique stop for us because the ship did not drop anchor, instead they maintained our position during the day with the ship engines. The ocean floor next to the island did not lend itself well to anchors. From our point of view there was no difference. We boarded tenders and headed to the shore. Harriet likes using the tenders better than docking because we feel the ocean activity more in the ...

... this ocean oasis with a girl from Michigan named Stephanie, who I've already mentioned. Stephanie is cool and the youngest person in our group...I'm the second youngest...it happens that our group consists of 13 people, only two of whom are current wage-earners. That's me and Stephanie. Everyone else is a retirees. So let's check out my statistics...on the last service project, I was the oldest person in a group of about 30 18-year old Brits. This time, I'm ...

... islands "Motus" - sorry I think that is spelled correctly). There are lots of kayaks around so hopefully we'll be able to get out and have an explore of the islands tomorrow. Not being bothered to cook we ended up at Sails restaurant on the beach for lunch today. It wasn't that expensive and the fish burger I had was yummy! We had island fries too, kinda like hot chips but made out of kumara, banana and taro. Not good for the waist line but you've got to try the local food, right?!?

... Interested too in the books and noted some very familiar titles from Shortland Publications. Also of interest was the largest building, which seemed to be accommodation for students from the South Pacific University who are studying Marine Science. Returning to the ship by Tender took a while caused by the logistics of moving so many people 150 at a time. We met several more NZ couples today - Thames, Papamoa, Pukekohe, Auckland - from all around. Tonight's show was a comedy ...

... take the 'obligatory' test because we were from th UK - big mistake. I've never been on a moped before and struggle to ride a pushbike). Even the Cook Islanders found my driving skills to be hilarious. They would beep and laugh out of the window as the passed. I continued to wobble all over the roads (luckily there's only one road on Raratonga, and the speed limit is 50kph so the danger element was low.) It ...

The 15 Cook Islands lie virtually in the center of the Polynesian triangle. Rarotonga is the capital of the Cook islands. Mountainous, covered in jungle, luxurious ferns, turquoise lagoons, coconut palm fringed white sand beaches & surrounded by a coral reef. Ok, stop drooling, you got the picture. There is a very small passage into the harbor for shuttle boats (tenders) & when I was here 4 mos. ago, it was impassable & we had to bypass the island. There are 3 ...