Blogs from Cook Islands, Oceania - page 12

The day after we left New Zealand we crossed the International Date Line. Therefore we had two Fridays, December 4th twice! This caused all sorts of confusion on board especially with dinner reservations and spa appointments and parties. The Jewish passengers had consecutive Friday Sabbath services and many people expected to be arriving in Rarotonga when in fact we had another day at sea. It is interesting because when we are traveling from west to east we are losing hours on the clock but end up gaining a full day. So if you had a bad day on the first December 4th you have a chance to improve on it on the second December 4th. A few people on board celebrated their birthday twice. Because of this phenomenon Phileas Fogg was able to win his wager ... read more

The Cook Islands are a group of 15 islands or atolls stretched out across the South Pacific. We have spent the last ten days on the main island of Rarotonga, the largest of the group at 67 square kilometers. Arriving at 2:30 in the morning, we disembarked the airplane and walked across the tarmac to the smallest airport we've ever been in. We were greeted by a warm tropical breeze and a local playing the ukelele. Once through customs we were directed to Bill, the man from the hostel who was waiting to pick us up. "Welcome to Paradise!" he said as he loaded us up into the van. After a long sleep, we awoke to a beautiful tropical island surrounded by a white beach and aqua lagoon with a lush mountainous interior. We've spent most ... read more

It's been a long ambition of ours to snorkel with Humpback Whales and Niue Island is one of the few destinations in the world that you can 'legally' do this. Niue is located between Tonga and the Cook Islands. The Humpback Whales are only there from July to November, we went there at the end of July. We had to fly to Auckland and stay overnight then fly to Niue the next day, crossing the international dateline meant that we arrived in Niue the same day we left Brisbane! There is only one flight in and out a week from Auckland and one shipment a month. Niue is a small independent state perched on top of a sleeping volcano rising steeply from a 3000-4000m deep ocean. The tiny limestone island, about 23 by 18 km rises ... read more

Cook Islands & The Jurassic Park soundtrack We powered up the North Island of New Zealand and stayed with our friend Alisha who we had traveled with in China and after a pleasant stay in Auckland we jetted off to the Cook Islands and as we flew onto the island we got a chance to view its beauty by air, from the sprawling emerald-green lagoons to the dramatic mountainous centre of the island (cue Paul singing the Jurassic Park theme tune every half hour) Our hostel was right on the beach with an amazing view of the lagoon and nearby smaller islands. After a few quiet days relaxing on the beach and exploring the small town where we were staying, we decided on going for a meal in the main town on the island, which featured ... read more

So, we arrived in the Cook Islands in the morning on Tuesday 16th June having left New Zealand in the evening on Tuesday 16th June; all very bizarre! Our time on the Cooks basically involved sitting on the beach... it's a hard life! We did however hire some bicycles and managed to cycle round the WHOLE island (not a particularly difficult task!) Some pictures...... read more