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Quite simply we have discovered paradise in the South Pacific and we are quickly getting used to the pace of life as we entered weeks 2 and 3 on Rarotonga. The local Polynesian folk are lovely and invariably wear a flower behind their ear and a smile on their faces. We had settled into 'Are Moe' bungalow.... Absolute heaven... just a few seconds from the beach on a remote Island. The sea around the lagoon is amazing .... a calm and spectacular blue but the fierce Pacific Ocean outside of the reef sends waves crashing against the rocks in the distance.
Initially we thought that four weeks on one small island would be too long, in fact people's reaction had been, 'what are you going to do there for a month' .... but we were loving the laid back lifestyle, "Island time" was our favourite phrase and we had got into a routine of our own .... Every other day we'd do a long walk into town (approx 17km) to use the internet, cashpoint, shopping etc and this was then usually followed by an afternoon in the 'High Tide' bar or 'Trader Jacks' Bar for happy hour and finally we'd
catch the bus home.
On alternate days we'd stay local, have a beach day and then later cook at the bungalow and watch a film.
All very relaxing! The most difficult decision we faced was what flavour ice cream we should have that day!?
It was nice though to be in one location for an extended period of time after all the travelling we'd done.
Madam had actually been abe to hang all her clothes up & not just live out of her rucksack for a change!
Don (the owner of our bungalow) gave us some more fresh tuna... it was literally minutes after he'd caught it and as fresh as you can get! Don's dog obviously takes a shine to anyone staying in his bungalow and we were no exception. He would regularly follow us down to the shop or beach where he would swim out to a rock and then stand on it to watch the fish! The sea was like swimming in an aquarium with millions of exotic fish all around you and every day we had numerous postcard moments.
This dog was one of about 10 in the area and everytime we went
out most of them would tag along!
It was quite funny and they would gradually drop off after a few miles and return home.
By Friday of the second week we'd discovered another great happy hour in town....This time we were introduced to a nice bar at the 'Rarotonga Game Fishing Club'... although nobody appeared to have the slightest interest in fishing! We were walking the 17km into town to use the scanning and internet facilities as usual when a lady called Mary stopped to ask if we wanted a lift. She dropped us off in town and mentioned the fishing club bar ...so one good deed deserves another and we popped along later to buy her a drink! A fun evening but no surprise, we had to write off the next morning with hangovers.
So, instead of doing our normal walk that afternoon we settled for a few hours at a local 4 star hotel using their pool, loungers and other lovely facilities.
On Sun 12th we went for another long walk and this time we were initially accompanied by about 8 dogs!
It was like a scene from the "Pied Piper" Don's dog would bark when
we came out of the bungalow and this would alert the others! Anyway, we set off with the dogs in tow and they soon whittled down to four, including Don's dog. This time they didn't drop off and despite us trying to send them home they stuck with us. This was very amusing because we intended going 12 miles to the other side of the island.
So, 3 hours later they were flagging but still with us. We wandered into town and found that
the bars were closed on a Sunday afternoon (you can imagine Madam face when we sussed that out)
so we waited at the bus stop.... with 4 dogs in tow. The bus came and the driver wouldn't allow them aboard ... so, we set off without them.
I'm no dog lover but the look on their poor faces when they realised what was happening!
So, we got home and waited for the dogs to appear later that afternoon!
We waited and .... we waited... we went to bed and we got up the next day.... still no dogs.
By lunchtime ... almost 24hrs had passed and we were seriously worried.
The owner of the bungalow,
'Don' was a real animal lover and we knew he would not be impressed that we had abandoned four local dogs 12 miles away. In fact we would probably be out on our ear too!
An afternoon on the beach was cancelled and we decided to head back into town to look for them.
This time we caught the bus into town and all the time we scanned the road for dogs ... or their carcasses!
No sign in town and no sign on the way home but... by the time we got home there they were!
The 4 muskateers, tired and weary but home just the same! Little b******s! Panic over!
One morning I was up early before dawn to go fishing with Don. We headed out on his boat and put out two rods about 1km from shore. Almost immediately we were both into two reasonable tuna fish. Two more followed that morning before we called it a very exciting and fun day. The only slight blot on my copy book was that I was sea sick (again!) ..... twice.... Embarrasing!
The tuna were filleted and tuna steaks were heading for the BBQ that evening.
Later that day we received an email from an immigration solicitor in Sydney and it will change our lives forever.... My beautiful and talented wife has achieved something spectacular! A four year work contract that allows both of us to work & travel in & out of Australia...how cool is that??!!
We immediately bought a bottle of something appropiate and celebrated with a few bubbles on the beach!
Our travel plans were hastily changed as Madam is now enjoying her last few weeks of holidays before she starts her permanent job with a Healthcare Recruitment Company in Perth in mid June..after a week in LA to shop!!
On Sun 19th we (I) decided that we would change our usual walking route of going either clockwise or anti clockwise around the Island and instead we'd catch the bus to the most northerly point and head South across the Island to the most Southerly coast on a route called the 'Rarotonga Cross Island track'.
The fact that we could only see mountains behind us should have given us a clue about the track... and it turned out to be a torturous adventure.... And I'm not sure she'll ever forgive
me for putting her through it!
There was a track but that didn't stop us getting lost for an hour in the tropical rain forest. My Jungle warfare training was long forgotten... Thank goodness for tree roots that acted as ropes to help us pull ourselves up & assist on our descent when needed!
The views from the top of the Island at a mountain called 'The Needle' were awesome but I'm not sure it was worth the five and a half hour yomp up and down mountains! It was really hard going and a tough slog .... bread and butter for a fit ex-Marine ... And Madam did brilliantly to complete it... but not with her normal cheerful flair...
The first few pictures show her lovely smile.... But, by the end of it she was hating it ... and me!
Check out the pics!
We're not sure how far it was... the circumference is 32km and then you do something with a pie and a square to get the radius.... I'll ask the kids.... All I know is that it was bloody hard work in 90 degree humidity and 30 degrees temperatures... we certainly deserved the
G & T's that evening...and the next day was definately a beach day!
Not a lot happens on such a small island and there's not a lot to report - we hope you just enjoy the pictures!
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