Easy Rider, or Not
Trip Start
Feb 08, 2008
1
25
29
Trip End
Mar 10, 2008
Avarua,
Cook Islands
Saturday, March 1, 2008
The Marae
. We visit the spot where it is said that the ancient Cook Islanders left on huge vaka's to discover NZ. This site is commemorated with a circle of stones and it too has a spiritual feel. When the tour finishes we ask to be dropped off in town. Al has decided that he wants to rent a scooter (and feel the wind blow through his hair as we drive around the island like carefree spirits). Helmets are not a requirement here (but soon will be). However a license is required before you can drive a scooter. Soon we are involved in much more red tape then we expected. Al fills out his forms, waits in a long line and is eventually told that he will have to take a road test, and as his drivers license says that he is excluded from driving a motorcycle he will have to pay $30.00 Al tries to explain that in Alberta a scooter is not the same as a motorcycle so he is really not excluded from driving a scooter and the test and license should only cost $10.00. All of this is for naught though as he now finds out that the driving inspectors have all left for the day, so no more road tests today. Al has me fill out a form and go and inquire about a license, to see what they will say when I give them my Alberta drivers license. After another long wait in a long line up I get to the front of the line only to be told that the office closes at 3:00 and it is now 3:01. The clerk does however have a look at my paperwork and tells me to come back first thing in the morning with my paperwork, my $10.00 and a scooter to take the test on as they do not provide scooters for the test
Al with his new toy
. This was another piece of information that we did not know, so we head next door to the Budget rent a car to inquire about their scooters. We get a very helpful girl who tells us we do not have to reserve a scooter as they have lots of them and she takes time to show us how to operate the bike, how the signals work etc. Scooters can be rented to $20.00 a day or $50.00 if we take it for 3 days. Rentals are available everywhere so this is a very competitive market. Feeling somewhat mollified we head back to the bus stop, looking with envy at all those couples driving by on their scooters, soon that will be us. Arriving back at the resort we talk it over and decide to try again tomorrow at 9:00 a.m. when the Police Station opens and before the line ups get out of hand. Saturday is also the day of the Pananganui Market downtown and we had planned to take that in. Most businesses close for the day at noon on Saturday so the market is a must do. Saturday morning we are downtown at 9:00 a.m. waiting for the doors to open and Al prepares to start the process all over again. After a half hour he emerges from the station, paperwork in hand and heads over to Budget. He is back in two minutes - they are closed on Saturday (what!!) so he heads off to find another rental outlet. While waiting I have seen many people ride in on their scooters and prepare to take their test. I tell him to drive the bike around the block a few times to get the feel of it. Soon I see him circling the block and looking pretty happy, all seems to be well
Pananganui Market
. I head off to the Internet cafe, having already seen how long this process is likely to take. I return an hour later, just as Al is coming out of the Police Station with his license proudly in hand. Al has already named his scooter the Crotch Rocket and invites me on (hmm). We are off to the market (about 2 blocks away). Doubling does not seem to be as easy as riding alone, and we are off to a wobbly start. After 2 blocks I am very happy to get off. Having never been on a bike of any type before I am having serious doubts about riding this all the way back to the resort! The market is starting to wind down but there is still lots to see and do. We pick up some delicious coconut chicken curry and wander through the stalls. There is a central entertainment area with picnic benches so we settle in to watch some of the local entertainment. Al continues to watch the swiveling of hips, while I go and check out more vendors. There are lots of vendors selling local crafts, wood carvings, jewelery, tie dyed sarongs and of course lots of black pearls. If you are looking for a sarong this is the place to buy it . You can purchase a good quality sarong for about $20.00. If you are looking for black pearls stick to the big jewelery stores downtown, their pearls come with certificates. We pick up some fruit to take home, the prices here are excellent in comparison to the supermarket but some of the vendors here seem resentful of tourists, perhaps we are invading their island paradise
The Needle
. It has really started to cloud over and we have a quick little rain shower and everyone scatters for cover. It is soon over so with all of my delaying tactics used up I reluctantly get back on the scooter and we point it in the right direction and I say a little prayer to myself as we head off. I am wearing shorts, sleeveless shirt, sandals, sunglasses and no helmet. I cannot help but think how much this will hurt if we tip over on this thing (did I mention very big potholes everywhere!!) Off we go, and once we get a little momentum going it is not so bad and luckily we are not too far away from our resort. By the time we arrive back at the resort Al is feeling pretty confident, I am still feeling happy to hop off. Al tells me I was trying to strangle him I was holding on so tight (perhaps I wanted to strangle him). We have rented this bike for 3 days so I know there is more to come, I have a long way to go before ever becoming a biker chick!
The weather seemed to be getting worse so we settle into our room. We have groceries, beer, local newspapers, and I have the laptop connected (although there is no Internet access at this resort), so I am only able to write and save and hope to upload later. Uploading pictures to the blog has been hard as some Internet connections do not have much broadband so uploading is super slow. Soon the wind really starts to howl, the shutters are rattling as we look out to see torrents of rain. I have never seen rain come down this hard, or so much of it. Combined with the wind it is quite ferocious. Having never experienced a tropical storm I am not sure if this is the norm and wonder how quickly it will pass. It is very green here on this island so we expect that they must get lots of rain. For sure we are going nowhere tonight. In the morning we find out that a freak storm had moved through the area about a ½ mile from us, creating the worst tornado ever reported on the Cook Islands. No one was injured but many local homes had their roofs torn off, while another house had its veranda and half the house ripped off. We feel very lucky - in this case ignorance is bliss.
