MAURUA BEACH BUNGALOWS Rarotonga

... takeoff but the seat belt sign went off about 10 seconds after we took off and she told me I could move across. Was caught unawares so when I thought I was filming a movie of the lagoon I wasn't. Damn!! When I realised and started recording, I only managed to catch the very end of the lagoon.<br><br>Another smooth flight so my fear of planes without jet engines is no longer. Well, at least of the ones with two propellers.<br><br ...

... but we could sit in bed and see water (plus the construction site next door), we had a huge covered verandah, it had chairs and a table, a big modern bathroom, but best of all IT HAD NO LADDER!!! Pretty much dumped everything and headed out to catch the bus. $7 each to go right round the island. Bargain! <br><br>Was great to get away from Muri and see where the locals lived although lots of the places on the beach front were obviously rentals. <br><br ...

... in Sydeny in some part time work and also a lovely couple who live in England even though they are Welsh and South African. All were really nice and we may see them again in New Zeland and Oz.<br>So we said goodbye to the Cooks on Thursday eveving (sept 10th) and left on a 4 hour flight back to Auckalnd. Due to time difference we arrived back in Auckland on Fri 11th at 8pm.<br>We had a great 8 days in the Cooks and are batteries are recharged for the adventures ahead in New Zeland!

... the island to an amazing snorkelling area. Hiring masks etc, we waded into the water and saw more colourful fish in clear warm water. The visibility was stunning and I was able to distinguish an octopus from similar coloured rocks, more blue star fish, Picasso fish, puff fish, tunnel fish, angel, parrot, coral trout, but no sharks or turtles, despite me being convinced that I saw one, which I later found out, was not. We then dried off, hopped back onto the ...

... we felt we were in need of some R&amp;R so it was off to the Spa sun deck to soak up a little bit of sunshine for a couple of hours. After lunch they were showing a special presentation of the original 1958 production of 'South Pacific', we decided to give this a miss and instead returned to our cabin to watch a TV presentation given earlier in the day entitled 'Spying 101' - The impact of Espionage on History, the talk was ...

... that did take us by surprise was the price of food. You would spend in a supermarket here twice that of what you would spend back home..... ah well.... our budget had already gone out of the window so it was take aways and restaurants all the way!! Cook Islands certainly gave us the tranquility and peace that we so desired...... more so as there is no mobile phone coverage and very little internet coverage. They even only have one TV channel..... pure bliss!!!

... Indulging in New Zealand chocolate 14) Spotting the subtle difference between coffee grounds and ant poo 15) Informing fellow volunteers that "pooki pongi" does not mean good morning 16) Learning to pronounce a variety of unfamiliar names like Autupuna, Avani, Julyn Mae, Shari-Moana, and Meilani 17) Listening patiently to a variety of stories about pirates, sandwich-eating-dogs, kidnapped kittens, worms, wildlife park rangers, and words that rhyme with snake 18 ...

... by consuming some unfamiliar food items. The Aussie gal from my dive boat, Liz, came and picked me up from Ambala Gardens on her scooter. She assured me that she wouldn't dump me off the back and had become a scooter-driving-expert while navigating through the Greecian Isles. So we rode around the island into Avarua and got a nice ocean-side spot at Trader Jack's. The island specialty I was told was called "ika mata." I'm not sure what that ...

... by the pool trying unsuccessfully to read and not doze off. In the afternoon we enjoyed an amusing movie- 'License to Wed' starring Robyn Williams. The show tonight called 'Save the last dance' was the first production by the Princess entertainers. What an energetic bunch of young people they are, and how polished a performance of song and dance they entertained us with. The only problem we have with these shows is that the theatre holds about 600, and even with 2 sessions a ...

... and left us with unforgettable memories. Then what seemed like half way through the night Isobel was good enough to get up and drop us back to the airport for our flight to NZ. After we checked in, Isobel took us to wait on the seawall at the end of the runway. The sight, noise and jetfuel smell of the Air NZ plane dropping in to land ...