Flights, snorkeling and a brewery.

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21st February 2011

Our second morning waking up in our new abode, was also the point at which we had decided enough was enough and the extreme heat of our room was just too much to allow us to sleep properly. The lack of aircon in this place is rather annoying and as a result I woke many times in the night covered in sweat - its like having a fever but not being ill.

So this morning our first task was to go to the airport to visit the Air New Zealand office and see what we could do about changing our flights. We had already decided that we couldn’t afford to come home as late has we had planned, but the flight we wanted to leave on was within the ten day period which is required to change the tickets, so it was a guess as to whether we would be allowed to change the flight from Rarotonga to LA or not.

As it was we arrived at the airport in the baking morning heat, and entered the blissfully airconditioned office and asked the lady there if there was a chance we could bring the date forward to this Saturday coming giving us a week more here as opposed to a fortnight. She said yes which was a relief as a fortnight more without sleep would have been the end of us both I think, and if not possibly the end of us as a pair! With that done we could change the San Francisco to London flight to the following week meaning that within a fortnight we’d be back in blighty.

The woman tapped keys for what seemed an eternity but managed to re-jig the details on the computer not having to re-issue the entire ticket meaning we didn’t have to pay as much for the privilege - excellent news to our poor wallet.

All in all it took about twenty minutes and brought home to us how soon we’d be back. A scary thought which we attempted to banish by going for a bit of a drive on the moped. This is one of the best ways to attempt to cool down on this island, and the only one that doesn’t involve immersing oneself in water.

So we drove around exploring a little of the inner road (there are only two real roads, one around the outside of the island and a smaller circuit further towards the centre) There is less evidence of buildings on this road, and the greenery ranges from manicured gardens to untended patches of tropical jungle.

When we returned home to the hostel, we chilled out for a time before deciding that the rest of the day could best be spent going snorkelling. As such we packed our kit into a bag and headed to the Rarotongan resort which is on the south-west corner of this almost parallelogram of an island. Here the lagoon is protected by a Raui, a local “law” which prevents removal of marine life, meaning there are more fish to see here than in some other well fished parts.

The one thing we forgot to pack however was the waterproof camera which was pretty stupid, but we didn’t care as we were going to snorkel again, so we’d take pics next time. What we saw was pretty amazing - the technicolor array of fish was a sight to behold. A place couldn’t be better designed for this activity, warm, clear water and fish of differing shapes and sizes all munching away in and around the clumps of coral.

As Lou doesn’t have flippers I was towing here about and it wasn’t long before she had seen enough and wanted a bit of time on the beach -suited me fine as I could then do as I pleased and venture a bit further out. The water doesn’t really change as you head out further into the lagoon - it remains almost the same depth and clarity and the fish that you see are still awesome. I just wish that I knew a bit more about them so I could let you all know what they were! What I can report is there were no nemo’s here.

The rest of the day was taken up eating dinner and chilling in the hostel. Neither activities that require a commentary so I’ll leave it there - apart from to say that even with the door to the room open and the fan on for about three hours it was still like an oven!

22nd February 2011

At some point yesterday when I had told the hostel that we were only staying for a week, I also asked if we could do the brewery tour that we had seen on the notice board. It was a free activity with free transport so we thought we’d see what it was all about.

When we sat down on the chairs outside reception at 11am the allotted time, I stuck my head in to ask if we were right to wait there and the girl had forgotten to tell anybody that we wanted to do it. Luckily a quick phone call and it was re-arranged for midday.

A quick 45 minutes later the guy, Eric, who is one half of this brewery showed up to pick us up and take us there. We chatted on the way there about beer mainly, as in the back of the car bottles chinked as we went over the lumps and bumps in the road. Ten minutes later we arrived down a small driveway to what looked like an abandoned shed with a shipping container in it. This it turns out is the Matutu Brewary.

Eric explained to us how it all works; cracking the grain and adding water, so the water an absorb the natural suger. Moving the brew to a vat where it is boiled with the hops to add more flavour. From here it is moved again to another tank where it is fermented with the yeast culture to make the alcohol. Then it is decanted from the yeast cultures, chilled and the CO2 is added to give it the fizz. Finally it is filtered to remove any remaining yeast and bottled. Whilst we were there James, the other half of the brewery, was in the refrigerated area bottling. Despite the bottles being 330ml they overfill them, for two reasons - one everybody likes to get a bit extra, and two to keep the bottles fresh they need to remove oxygen. In a big plant it would be done by adding an inert gas to the top of the brew before capping off the bottles but here a quick flick causes the brew to fizz a little, this fizz is the CO2 escaping from the drink and this, as it is heavier than air, displaces the air in the bottle neck allowing for an air free bottle which stops it going off. This method works fine here on a micro brewery scale but would no doubt get you in trouble with weights and measures at home.

The other part of the “tour” was a sample of the two brews they have here- a lager, and an ale. The lager is twice as strong flavoured with hops as the ale, which meant both Lou and I preferred the ale. I couldn’t resist buying some for later in the day, and although they bottle it up here, they will also fill up any container you have at a very reasonable price of $6 a litre. In moments I was the proud owner of two 1.5l recycled Coca-Cola bottles filled with Matutu Ale brewed in the Cook Islands.

We were dropped back by James and popped the bottles straight into the fridge. It was a pretty hot day and we had to go for a ride to cool down not long after we returned - meandering our way about the island purely to get some breeze. After this we headed back to the lagoon at the Rarotongan, and this time we remembered the camera, so I went in and did some videoing and took a few stills also. Looking at them they don’t do the colours justice but until I get home and can work on them in a photoshop type program they will have to do.

The afternoon had fast disappeared and it was approaching time for dinner. We were both thoroughly fed up with instant noodles by now and decided to go out to find something else for dinner. This resulted in us getting all the way into Avarua town (a whole 8km away) where we stopped at the High Tide Bar and Grill for some food. I had a Pizza and Lou opted for fish and chips which here means chunks of tuna in what we think was coconut bread crumbs. A very nice dinner and a truly refreshing change, a great way to finish off the day.

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Photos

Micro brewery or home brew?
Some would argue there is no difference!

Angel Fish
I think