I arrived in Rarotonga at 9:50am. The plane was late due to the amount of time it took to take off from Los Angeles. Apparently they are resurfacing one of their runways so we spent 45 minutes just taxiing around. Joy. I was also totally shattered, having been awake for so long by this stage.
So, we got on the plane and took off an hour late. They then informed us that it was going to take nine and three quarter hours to get to Tahiti, which half of us didn't even know we were going to! It turned out that the flight went LA - Tahiti - Rarotonga - Auckland. So even more time!
We arrived in Tahiti in the early hours of their morning. It was light, but there were dark clouds and rain overhead. It was also 31 degrees and exceptionally humid. I was seriously hoping this was not what it was going to be like in Rarotonga! We all had to pile off the plane to go through customs and were greeted by people giving us flowers and singing traditional songs - it was actually very nice and quite welcoming. Would have been better if it wasn't a French-speaking nation!! we had to stay in Tahiti for about an hour before piling back on to the plane and taking off again. At least it was only an hour and 15 minutes to Rarotonga.
We arrived in Rarotonga at 9:50am. It is just the tiniest little airport sandwiched between the sea and some mountains. Very scenic indeed. The sun was shining and we were informed it was 28 degrees. It also felt very humid and we were told this was due to the short, sharp rain showers they had been having. I was met at the airport by Steven, who collected people who were staying at Vara's. There were three of us he picked up, me and two guys, one from the UK and one from Sweden. It was 11km from the airport to our area, and we had a brief tour of what was happening where. It transpires half day opening is Saturday, and everything is completely closed on a Sunday. Huzzah!
As soon as we got to Vara's we were shown to our different accommodations. I have my own self-contained beach studio, which is very nice except for the lack of air-conditioning. I looked out of my window to see the colour of sea you only imagine exists in pictures of like the Maldives. It was turquoise and surrounded by white, palm-fringed beach. Despite wanting to do nothing more than just jump in it, I thought I had better stock up on drinks and some food before everything closed. I took a wander down to a little 'supermarket' (read 'corner shop') and bought some drinks and food. This sort of stuff is quite expensive here.
I went back to my room, packed it all in the fridge and got out the bikini. Having slapped on more suncream than one would normally deem necessary, I went and got straight in that gorgeous, clear, warm water. I stayed in just floating around for about 45 minutes. I was going to swim over to one of the 4 little islands in the lagoon but thought I ought to leave something for the rest of my time here! I got out of the water and found I had been completely burnt. Joy. Out for an hour and already look totally lobster-like. Damnit!!! So I went back in, slapped on more suncream and went for a little walk. I bought a parea, which everyone owns out here - like a sarong basically, and a few little bits. During this walk I burnt my feet and my hands - hands actually hurt now.
I went back, more suncream (you see a pattern emerging here!) and then went for a walk around the beach. I found a shady spot under a coconut tree and sat there for an hour or so pondering the world. I also found loads of coral and pretty shells, although obviously you are not allowed to take them. I stayed until a couple of other girls from my place came past and we all walked back
By this time I was totally shattered and just went back to my room and unpacked a few bits. I also completely drowned myself in aftersun. In the end, despite it only being about 9pm I just went to bed and fell right asleep! More tomorrow!
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