We went for breakfast again at about 7.45 but as it was raining decided not to go for a snorkel but take advantage of different activities for the day. Firstly we all went back to our room and for a couple of games of May I, which Steve won - both of them - again! Around 11 o'clock we all got ready for a trip to Avarua as we thought it would be a good time to go shopping as there wasn't much we could do in the way of "sun" activities. We caught the "clockwise" bus outside the resort and [View Full Entry]

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We again woke fairly early and went to breakfast around 7.30 where we talked to Ros and Len for a while before they went off on their last day excursion. Ros and Jeni found we had so many similarities, including both had broken our ankles while on holidays within a few months of each other, we had the same orthopaedic surgeon in Brisbane, we have the same camera, drive the same make of car, our daughters are both nurses and they had recently done the the Scenic Tours Jewels of Europe River Cruise (which is the same one we are doing [View Full Entry]

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To start with we nearly didn’t quite make it to the Cook Islands. Nobody tells you in advance that you need to be able to demonstrate that you have a flight out from NZ on your return BEFORE they let you on the plane to Rarotonga. We only discover this as we are checking in. As we are travelling light our RTW flight tickets are back in the hostel. Options rush back & return or get a copy of the tickets from the Qantas desk as we are flying with them. C rushes off, the desk is just closing - 5 [View Full Entry]

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We woke early and the taxi arrived at 5.45 for our trip to the airport. During the journey we found out that the driver was Bob Welsh, a good friend of Jean-Pierre and Chris Raber from the Sunshine Coast. Consequently he gave us a discount on our trip which was such a bonus for the start of our holiday!! We had breakfast at the airport and sat chatting while waiting for our departure call. The flight was great to Auckland, although Mel had to sit by herself for that leg of our journey. We ended up sitting next to a girl [View Full Entry]

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We awoke fairly early (after Jeni's very sleepless night!) and went to breakfast at around 8.30. The weather was a bit overcast but this cleared after a few hours. It was so lovely to be back again less than a year since our last visit and Mel really loved the resort and the position of it on the lagoon, especially looking out over the lagoon while eating breakfast. The thousands of Blue Trevally were still waiting for their bread breakfast each morning and the staff were just as helpful and lovely. After breakfast we took the orientation tour of the resort [View Full Entry]

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Yesterday was a splendid day. We awoke to another perfect view, this time the largest of the Cook Islands, Rarotonga. I went on a snorkeling trip in a secluded lagoon. The water was warmer than any I've ever been in and perfectly clear. Lots of beutiful fish around the coral including what I think were clown fish...so funny-looking with their yellow-striped mouth, blue stripe over the eyes and red stripe on the back. They came up to me as if they were as curious about me as I was about them. There were no instructions about snorkeling, just "Here's your snorkel [View Full Entry]

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Pub Crawl Fredag kveld var det duket for den ukentlige pub crawlen paa Backpackers Internasjonal med Katja som lokal guide. Paa Rarotonga stenger alle barene ved midnatt untatt paa fredager da det er aapent til 01.00. Dette kommer av at oeya har at store problemer med alkoholsisme. Vi var hele 13 stk. som presset oss inn i Toyotanen for aa komme oss til foerste stopp. Et dodgy lite sted med Shania Twain paa hoeytalerene:S Vi ble derfor ikke veldig lenge. Ferden gikk videre omtrent 5 andre steder, Trade the Jacks var ett av hoeydepunktene:) Vi avsluttet paa utestedet (bokstavelig tal [View Full Entry]

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Etter tips fra vaar travel agent Jan Erik, som nok en gang har snekret sammen en kjempe tur, booket vi en dagstur til Aituaki. Dette mente han var ett "must" om man besoeker Cook Islands. Atuaki er en av de sørlige øyene i øygruppen Cookøyene. Aitutaki er 18.05 km² stor, derav hovedoeya dekker 16,8 km². Det er ca 2000 innbyggere. Aitutaki ligger ca 40 minutters flytur fra Raratonga, saa det foerste vi gjorde var aa booke oss en dagstur gjennom ett turistkontor paa Rarotonga. Dagen etter var det tidlig opp aa komme seg til flyplassen der flyet gikk kl. 08.00. Det [View Full Entry]

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Rarotonga, Cook Islands (1st Feb- 8th Feb) Rarotonga is paradise! I have seen some of the most beautiful beaches and sceanary. After many terrible hostel choices in the past i have finally picked a good one. Its is run by a really lovely old couple, located about a 1min walk from the beach, it is clean (ish) and there are no crazy people! The place is full of all kinds of wildlife (mainly lizards, wild chickens, dogs, cats and insects) which are all harmless apart from the biting insects! I have been sharing a room with a Norwegian girl called Greta [View Full Entry]

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Rarotonga er den stoerste oeya av Cook Islands 15 oeyer i Stillehavet. Rarotongas areal er kun 240 km², og huser hovedstaden Avarua. Som navnet tilsier, ble oeygruppa oppdaget av den engelske eventyreren James Cook i 1773, og ble senere en engelsk koloni, deretter overfoert til New Zealand i 1900. Men naa er Cooks et selvstyr demokrati. Ankomst i Paradis, og rottehaler Klokka 7 paa morgenkvisten trilla Toyotaen inn paa gaardsplassen paa Backpackers International. Ut av bilen ramler 3 gutter, en jente og Vilde og Camilla. Tidenes reunion! Vi hilser paa de andre nyanko [View Full Entry]

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