Little Polynesian Titikaveka

After checking out the freaks of Venice Beach and the homes of the rich and famous in Beverly Hills, we flew out from LA to Raratonga, the main island of the Cook Islands. The flight was great, considering it was midnight and the kids were wonderful. Air New Zealand's inflight entertainment can take all the credit for this - with thousands of films, TV shows and albums available at the touch of a button, not to mention all the computer games, the hours flew by ...

... the kayaks, had returned. Predicting that the tour time might be about two hours, we paddled back to the beach. Turned out our prediction was correct. We lazed on the beach, before going to get ready for an island night at the Pacific Resort.

We were greeted by ukelele, played by the same gentleman who had greeted us at the airport. Palm frond and hibiscus lei were draped around our necks. Cocktails and delcious ...

... have paid a lot of money for and as such were expecting something a little special but instead we are getting very mediocre food. Neither of us can understand why more people are not visiting the bistro, as there is no extra charge, the food is considerably better, it is cooked fresh to order, the staff are more attentive so generally a far more pleasant dining experience. Having spent some three hours with some fellow ...

... and headdresses. Our hands-down favorite was the dance depicting a dude picking coconuts from a tree. For some reason, the coconut picking dance required a scanty, coconut-clad female to twirl around the dude dancer with a fan. Apparently, coconut-picking is a two-person project in Rarotonga. I just know that you're not supposed to stand under a coconut tree. In fact, I was reprimanded by Mr. Sick for doing just that. After the coconut dance and some beers, Steve ...

... is an ancient sacred site. They are scattered around the island and are essentially ruins that used to be used during religious ceremonies. We arrived at the marae near sunset, and the volcanic peaks were washed out in soft light, almost as though they were disintegrating into golden mist. Up the sides of the golden peaks were fields of taro plants. This place is exquisite. One more day of diving...hoping to get through it with my ponytail intact. love,Q

... 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/musical act ...

... the very small airport. At 10pm we took off on our 3 hour flight to Rarotonga, but instead of arriving in the Cook Islands in the early hours of fri 29th, we re-wound 19 hours to 3am on thurs 28th may (again)! When we left Bali we were 8 hours ahead of GMT but arriving in the Cook Islands we are 10 hours behind! Crossing the date line, felt a bit like ground-hog day, except instead of reliving the same drone day stuck at an airport, we got to spend our 2nd thurs 28th May on the ...

... had en het verlaten van Aitutaki had me wat melancholisch gemaakt.

Ik wilde naar huis. Zo graag als dat ik in het begin van mijn reis meer wilde zien, meer wilde ervaren, meer wilde!! Zo graag wilde ik nu terug naar het regenachtige Nederland, de wolken, naar de stukken land waar je over weg kon kijken en het in de verte kon zien regenen, naar mijn eigen kamer, waar verder niemand slaapt, naar natregenen op de fiets, een joggingbroek aan en dan met een kop warme ...

... motu (eilandje), dat naast de CI naam ook wel 'Musquito-Island' werd genoemd. 10 minuten zijn we er geweest en we werden letterlijk door zwermen van muggen aangevallen. Of je nou met een boomblad waaierde, of heen en weer bleef springen, het haalde niets uit. Onze gidsen gaven ons enkel als advies om niet te krabben...
Op dit eilandje ligt wel de eerste aanvliegbasis die Aitutaki kende, aangelegd voor militairen. Daarnaast staan er bungalows ...

... bleek al om 15.00 gesloten.

Dinsdag zou ik op tour gaan met Teking naar de andere eilanden van de atoll, maar deze werd op het laatste moment afgebeld: er waren niet genoeg aanmeldingen. Toen dus toch maar een scooter gehuurd en alsnog naar het
politiebureau voor dat rijbewijs. Gelukkig had ik de engelse vertaling van mijn rijbewijs meegenomen en hoefde ik de test niet te doen. De politieagenten zagen er trouwens ook niet ...