RARATONGA

So you arrive at Raratonga and you are greated by singing and Ukele players and then covered in the most amazing flower garlands which smell fanatstic.


This was where we met the people whose house we would be staying in whilst on the island.


They really are larger than life, happy carefree people who treated us really well. It was a bit of a weird set up as we didn't know that anyone would actually be staying at the house whilst we were there. There was one brother with his wife and two kids and a baby, which to be fair we were not extactic about!!


The kids were really noisy and kept trying to get into our room but apart from that it was cool. The family own the bakery on the Island and so we got fresh bread and muffins everyday. This was an absolute god send, people had told us that Raro was expensive but we really werenot ready for things to be more expensive than bakc home. We were used to getting three meals a day on mcuh less than a fiver and then all of a sudden we couldn't afford to eat out and the supermarket prices were just outrageous.


Luckily we had brought porridge oats, jam, peanut butter, two huge packs of dried noodles with us from Borneo, so the fifteen pounds we spent at the market on a few bits of veg and a couple of tins lasted all week.



What cool about this place?Well it's a small Island with lots of misty covered mountains a great climate(even though it was too cold for us when we were there!24 degrees)its surrounded in many parts by the most beautiful crystal clear lagoon with all sorts of tropical fish right there next to you, you don't need to to dive or snorkel to see them, when you look out to the distance you can see the waves of the deep blue sea crashing against the lagoon, it's just wonderful.



During our time on the Island we cycled the whole island, we did the across Island hike,we walked the whole length of our side of the island along the beach, we went kayaking between the outlying Islands and we hopped on and off our bikes to stop at different lagoons and beaches to go swimming and snorkelling with all the tropical fish surrounding the coral reefs.



You can do all manner of water sports here everything is available to hire and at quite reasonable prices. However for backpackers any of the activities we were interested in doing were well over budget!! You could go across the Island and up into the mountains in huge quad bikes or be take in landrovers by guides, there is also a glass bottom boat which takes you right out and I have it on good authority that the marine life you see is fantastic. It sounded great but we settled for doing everything ourselves which was more rewarding and we didn't have to get up so early!!




We did go into town a few times as the evenings could be a bit slow!! The days draw in quite quickly and the cafes and restaurants at Muri are better priced than in town, you can pick up cheap fish and chips and fried chicken and stuff at many little places along the main road but thats not really what we like to eat. Making your own food is defo the way to go.And it is a good idea to bring duty free alcohol, the booze on the Island is expensive even the locally brewed beer is a expensive, its nice though if you like it flatand dark, its easier to drink!!



There are two buses on the Island, one is clockwise and the other anticlockwise, it actually runs until 12am most night and 2am on a Saturday. The timetable looks good, but its usually not on time!! However just walking along the road in whatever direction you want to go and then sticking your arm out when you spot the bus is the best idea. Getting the special offer tickets on the bus for 10 journies, its the most economical way to get around, they don't care if two people use the same ticket(you can buy it one the bus).Its a rip off to do single fares. Also believe it or not when we took the bus to the Airport when we left the driver charged us extra for our luggage, which I think is totally ridiculous when you have just seen a local get on without paying at all and there is nobody else on the bus. I didn't like that.




Loads of people rent cars and scooters here which also works out quite well economically and the views are stunning as you go round the Island, personally I think you see it better at a slower pace on a bike where you can stop if something catches your eye, or go for a dip if you get a bit hot!!The other reason i personally wouldn't rent a scooter is that loads of people drink drive here and speed, the roads are pretty dead at night and the lighting is terrible, I think the bus is the best bet and you get to meet more locals on the bus like we did!!




A great thing to do when you visit Raratonga is to go to church, it's something almost most all locals do and you are very much welcome after the sevices there is also a huge free lunch laid on , which you are also most welcome to join in, in fact you are expected too, the people here love food and you need to pile the plate high!!




We got treated to a night out in town by the owner of the house we were staying at , free beer all night and great dancing and singing from the Islands Cultural representatives, who had just won major prizes for their show in New York!! It was great, we had a go, but I was rubbish, you really need to be taught the moves and have a massive bunch of feathers strapped around your hips to do the dances justice!




The place completely shuts down at the weekend! The town is dead by 1pm as everything that isn't already closed closes for the weekend at that point and everything is closed on a Sunday. During the week it's pretty much 10 am till 5pm everywhere so it's pretty relaxed.




I think Raratonga has a bit of a problem at the moment with two things, break ins, which you see in the paper (mainly tourist bungalows/accommodation) and stray dogs. I got attacked by one on the beach that actually jumped me and left scratched me from my chest to my stomach, it was painful and ugly and it happened again when we were walking back from buying some water one day, the dog came bounding out of nowhere straight for me, but luckily Dan spotted it just in time. The y tend to follow you on the beaches and they are quite persistent following you for while, so you have to watch out for them. I don't know what is being done about it, but when they are pack you can feel quite threatened. We didn't see any problems with break ins ourselves but we spoke to some locals who said a lot of kids who get sent to New Zealand/Oz to study after primary get sent back to Raratonga if they misbehave and sometimes they bring their bad habits back with them. Well I don't think getting sent to NZ or Oz makes you a thief! , but a lot of people believe it is a major factor.





We had agreat time in Raratonga, lazy days in the sun in the most amazing setting and we were sad to leave but very excited about our journey on to The States.

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