Mango marmalade - give it a miss.
A better breakfast probably would have been the Tuna that Marco a French Canadian guy staying here caught being so excited to show me the pics of it. Pity I'll miss it's BBQ'ing though since I'm off to the small atoll of Aitutaki today. Aitutaki is a destination I had chosen before I had even left home known that I would have to go there once I came to the Cook Islands. It's lagoon is the real attraction being described as one of the most beautiful places on earth, even more perfect than the islands of Fiji which from my experience it would have to be something really special to top them. Waiting in the airport for the flight north with Air Rarotonga there was a total of 6 people and 2 of them were taxi drivers. Maybe explains why the check-in staff appeared to pass the time weighing each other on the baggage scales. Heh.
So leaving the hectic and faced paced life of Rarotonga behind the 45 minute flight did already feel something special with only four of us on the small plane enjoying the in flight meal of cheese and biscuits. Landing in Aitutaki we were greeted by a heavy rain storm the first I'd seen in the South Pacific luckily given that it's rainy season but hardly the scene I had pictured arriving in paradise. Waiting in the spacious arrivals/departure lounge (little more than a hut) in jokingly named Aitutaki International Airport I ended up getting a lift to Tom's Beach Cottage where I would be staying with the guy delivering the parcels and mail brought over on the plane since my arranged pick-up failed to arrive.
Tom's was expectedly basic but I didn't need more being right on the beach, though it would have been more surprising if it wasn't giving the size of the island. Only one other family staying here keeping themselves to themselves plus an old guy who was even less talkative. Taking a short walk along the beach the people were immediately more relaxed and friendly, not that Rarotongians weren't, referring to it as the 'big city' coming here to escape the rush of that huge metropolis with only 1700 people on the whole island. Rarotonga itself is a small remote island in the middle of the South Pacific so not sure how to describe Aitutaki being even smaller and even more out of the way. Laid back certainly comes to mind though.
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