Muri Shell Bungalows Avarua

... wandered a bit then headed back to the hostel. Went snorkeling at fruits of rarotonga and loved it. My first taste of colourful tropical fish. Sun poked through briefly.
Back to the hostel to take it all in. Had some welcome drinks to meet new people, which turned into too many.

... side street. Why didn't we figure that out? And of course, there was a huge queue of people more in the know than us. Things were not in favour of the fragile carrier bags making it back intact...

Before too long, the bus turned up. We somehow got seats, and were off. The drive round the island was rather lovely- the road runs along the coast and circumnavigates the whole island. Everything was very lush and green, and most of the tourism developments were ...

... it's not just a movie invention! By the time I reached Wigmore's Waterfall, the end-point of the trek, I was liberally coated in most of the island's topsoil and had more than a few scrapes and bruises. A cold beer at the nearest bar never tasted so good!

Scuba diving was on the agenda the following day - my first underwater foray since arriving in the Pacific. The water was warm, the visibility was over 30m and the marine life was both ...

... vitsien mukaan lentokoneet lähtevät ja tulevat tänne Rarotongalle keskellä yötä siksi, ettei ihmiset näkisi ja kauhistuisi miten lyhyt kiitorata täällä itseasiassa on! :-) Vettä tuli siis ihan kaatamalla ja koneesta juostiin pikavauhtia suoraan pieneen terminaaliin, jossa olikin sitten todella aito ja mahtava tunnelma! Terminaalissa oli todella kuuma ja joku ikivanha äijä soittamassa keskellä yötä ukulella ja syntikalla kunnon tunnelmamusiikkia. Ihan ...

... one piece. A few hours at Christchurch airport (including just enough time to head out of the airport, get a photo in front of a signpost telling us that Rarotonga was only about 3,500km "that way") we boarded our flight to the middle of nowhere and endured another hour of that good old "Nor´Westerly". Once the seatbelt signs were extinguished, the crew set about their mission - to get all the passengers inebriated so they could all head to business class ...

... ve been clogging my mind and distracting me from focusing on truly important matters. Like my friendships, and my family, and my own happiness. From across the world, I'm finally getting some perspective. It's not like there's nothing going on here in Rarotonga...there's plenty. It's just a little smaller and a little more manageable. Here are a few of the news headlines from the last few days: MYNA BIRD ATTACKS TEACHER: A few days ago, whilst chillin' in the ...

... Boxes are tight and inflexible and constricting and cardboard color clashes with most of our wardrobes. Taking risks, making changes happen and running.... not walking, out of the comfort zone... who wants to live in a box when you have the chance to ride it out in this surprisingly fun 15 person Vaka?? MESSAGE OF THE DAY BY BEVERLY BARBER: "Life is not measured by the breath we take, but by the moments that take our breath away."

... to row competitively in college, and I'm quite competent in a kayak and a canoe...but there's a noticeable amount of "paddling snobbery" here. As we all teamed up to carry the giant wooden vakas (canoes) down to the beach, one of the teachers, who is also on a paddling team, asked me if I knew to paddle. I said, "yes, I've canoed many times." She actually laughed at me and said that wasn't paddling. Hmmm..... That incident aside, when the first batch of kids returned from ...

... tropical landing strip, and I could hear the chicken cacophony even through the airplane windows. I looked at the ramshackle houses scattered in the hills and thought, "What the hell am I doing here, all by myself. Why do I do this?" But everything got much easier. My luggage showed up immediately. Esa, the Canadian guy who owns Ambala Gardens, had an "R. Sherman" sign in his hand when I emerged into the Rarotonga humidity. The sun started to shine, and we drove on ...

... tender' to the shore at Dravuni Island. This is a tiny island with only 150 inhabitants living a very laid back, simple life. Along with many others we climbed the highest peak, walked across the island, along the beach, swam, snorkled and generally enjoyed the sunshine and warmth. Dravuni Island from the top of the highest point We were interested in the school - 10 pupils in the kindergarten, 10 pupils aged 6 - 9. Good old-fashioned education like we had at school - chalk and ...