Dave's Place So some of you have been wondering where I’ve been staying this whole time. The second time I was out to paddle I asked around if anyone had any extra room and one of the paddlers, Dave, commented that he was the only one in his three room house. Went by the next day and moved in the day after! Dave’s working quality assurance for Air Rarotonga and is renting this place while he works here (actually from New Zealand). It’s an awesome place, his work pays for internet, he’s got hot water, washing machine, and it’s right [View Full Entry]

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Alright so this was pretty sweet. About a week or two before I came out here a vaka (meaning canoe) went on a voyage to Samoa. The boat is a huge catamaran of traditional design made in the 90’s. There’s a website with info about it that I’ll try and find later. It’s been on the trip back for about 2 weeks now, with a stop in Niue (sp?) for repairs. Today it arrived. Dave told me at lunch it was due back between 2 and 2:30, which probably actually meant 2-4. So I biked down to Trader Jacks (the spot [View Full Entry]

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Constitution Week! So I had the good luck of timing my arrival right and landing during Constitution Week. This actually turned out to be a little bad to because everyone was taking time off from work so things got started slow but I got to see some cool cultural stuff so it was worth it. The main event of the week was the parade, held on Saturday. I tramped into town to see it and it was pretty cool. Uploaded some of the pics to try and get the overall feel of it. One of the big things in the Cooks [View Full Entry]

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First Race So this weekend was the first race, sorta. I was told I was going to be in it but then I arrived to find out I had been taken out of the boat. There’s been trouble getting everyone to show up for practice so they combined the men’s and women’s novice. I was pretty frustrated because I’ve been there trying everyday. I’ll put up a post in a day or two but this has been a really frustrating bit: getting a seat in the boat. My consolation prize was that I saved $5 (would have preferred to spend) but [View Full Entry]

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Muri Beach A few days ago did a run past Muri - few kilometers down the road - which is a popular resort village type thing. So I decided to go down and take some pictures of the lovely blue water. For the traveler that may be wondering about it, Muri is located on the eastern coast of the island. It’s a series of three islands that protects a small and shallow lagoon. In the village there are several restaurants - heard there’s a pasta shop that’s the best on the island - a whole bunch of hotels/resorts/bungalows, a few cafes, [View Full Entry]

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Pedestrian My feet are black. I may have only owned my jandals for a week but they have a month’s worth of miles on them already. I am truly pedestrian. I have not rented a bike and I don’t want to rent a motorbike - I can hardly afford it anyways - despite it being the most common mode of transportation here. So I walk or run, depending on how much time I have to get to where I am going and if it’s ok for me to be sweaty when I get there or not. All in all I [View Full Entry]

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A Taste of Outrigger If you truly want to taste outrigger simply mix some water and salt, load it into a SuperSoaker, and spray it into your face while running; don’t forget to enjoy. It’s a Saturday morning and the paddlers have gathered and moved the canoes to the water. We assemble at the rocky beach, awaiting Fletcher to tell us where to sit and where to paddle to. I trudge into the water and awkwardly slink into 5 seat, just in front of the steerer. A light drizzle is irritating me slightly but the drops are small and these [View Full Entry]

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Ending the First Week So now I've been here a few days and am starting to get settled. The canoe club around here doesn't paddle every day and it's Constitution week - meaning many places are closed - so I havn't had much to do about canoeing. Instead I've been sorting out what's around this place and getting some miles in. I don't have a bike or anything yet so the only ways to get around are walking, running, or skipping. Last time I skipped someone made fun of me so I stopped. Basically it means I've been putting a [View Full Entry]

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Tiare Village So this post is meant more for the Cook Island traveler community than anything else. When I arrived here I stayed at Tiare Village at first. This post will describe the place and my thoughts about it (along with a secret for staying cheap in the Cooks). The pictures below hopefully say a lot. Other than them I've only got a few comments. The place is run by Adrianne who is a sorta pretty nice lady. After a day or two though you realize she's really out there to make a buck though. For example, one of the girls [View Full Entry]

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Getting Gone Hard to believe but I actually made it. For those of you who didn't hear I was stuck on the tarmack in Boston for 3 hours, which made me miss my connection to the Cooks, a flight which only goes once a week. After waiting in line for an hour I was finally able to get a flight the next evening to Auckland and then on to the Cooks. They wouldn't put me up in a hotel because it was a weather delay and since it was 2AM Pacific (felt like 5AM) I just got a discounted room at [View Full Entry]

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