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Published: February 17th 2007
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The Hillside
Our place in Rarotonga Kia Orana!
Wow! Is pretty much all we could say when we arrived here in the Cook Islands at 09:00 in the morning, as it is just so unbelieveable. For those of you who have seen Lost it's very much like that but if i'm not mistaken it's filmed somewhere like here so it's bound to look similar.
So we've finally left the cold weather behind us and i'm so glad we had those few days of warm weather in LA to help us get used to the heat else I would have passed out as soon as we got off the plane as the heat really hits you hard. Well we did want to take some pictures of our short stop over in Tahiti so we could put up a blog for there too but we thought that would just be a bit too much.
So since we've been here we've done a lot of relaxing on the beach and have done some snorkelling too. This for me was a first and I must admit I was a bit freaked out by it all and was a little scared about what I might see swimming towards me.
Waterfall
Mosquito heaven!! Thankfully I soon got the hang of it, that is until this one Trigger fish decided he didn't like the look of me and bit me which was surprisingly painful, well for a fish bite anyway.
Gary finally got to play golf with some of the guys who were also staying at our hostel which apparently ended in a draw. Meanwhile I decided to go off with the girls Stacey and Rhian and go Horseriding, which I think was the better thing to do as we got to ride around the Island, stopping off at the Island's main waterfall for a quick swim while the horses had a little rest as they really need it in this heat. Then we got to ride through the sea and along the beach which was pretty amazing until the horses started using it as a toilet, I just feel sorry for anyone who was snorkelling near us at the time.
Since then we've just been chilling out, riding around the island on the moped we hired, stopping off at our favourite beaches for a snorkel and a bit of sunbathing. We even went to church on Sunday, which we were advised
was well worth a visit, not only for the amazing choir but for the free lunch afterwards.
Gary would like me to point out that he had to take a test to get his Cook Islands drivng licence so we could legally use the moped which involved nothing more than riding around the block and smiling for a photo.
We've been eating lots of the fish here as it's really really cheap and also absolutely delicious. We've tried Marlin and Albacore (a kind of Tuna) and for Valentines day Gary treated me to a seafood platter at Trader jacks which looks out at the ocean (he's such a romantic). The platter consisted of Prawns, fat lip mussles, Lobster, Oysters and a local dish called Iki mata which is a raw fish in a coconut based sauce. I wont bore you anymore with the contents of the platter but as a seafood lover I was loving it.
I'm pleased to say neither of us have got sunburnt yet but it has been a close one on occasions as you don't need to be out in the sun too long before the burn takes over.
The first night
Seafood and eat it
Our Valentines day feast! we were here we went to the local Island night where they have the local boys and girls dance teams performing in traditional outfits ie. grass skirts and coconut bras for the girls. One night we even tried to recreate these dances in the local dance contest but we weren't even shortlisted which i'm certain must have been a fix!
We've been treated to some really amazing sunsets whilst we've been here, maybe best of all at Black Rock where we joined locals and travellers alike in jumping from the top of the rock while watching the stunning sunset.
Tonight we fly to Fiji and in all honesty it's got a lot to live up to in our expectations as we find it hard to believe that it can get much better than this, however we have been informed by other travellers coming the other way round that the best is yet to come... We'll be the judge of that.
Until next time
V&G
x x
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Kathryn
non-member comment
I am soooo jealous!!!
Seriously its not even funny!!! The minute you get back, I need details of where you stayed, how much it cost and I'll be gone! Looking forward to seeing all Gary's (and Verity's) lovely photos on your return to grey old Blighty!! xx