Advertisement
July 7 - 8th
This morning I had a change of plans. I was going to go horseback riding until a girl here at the guesthouse stated that she read some really bad reviews about them not treating their horse well. That along with having to ride the bus there and back just didn't appeal to me any more.
So I borrowed some snorkel gear from the guesthouse and went out to snorkel the shallow area along my beach front. It's so shallow that you can walk out to the island about 200 yards before it's deep enough; just barely able to swim in spots. But there is an abundance of sea life. And I see a great variety of fish here than I did further out in the reef and within the preserve.
I even spot two little spotted eels watching my every more. These are about the size of a quarter in diameter even so there are intimidating. Most of the fish are small to medium size until I sport the really big one hiding in a little tunnel of coral. He looks mean but not sure what kind of fish it maybe so I keep
my distance. I also get to see a midnight blue colored starfish. I can only swim for about an hour and have to check out of my room.
So I still have several hours to kill before my plan leaves so I take the bus into town to have lunch and window shop. OKAY I lied! I wanted to buy a black pearl and this was my last chance to do so. I do look around not finding anything that strike my fancy or my pocketbook until the last shop and there is was in the front case. A beautiful silver setting (as I prefer silver to gold)and and excellent price with a letter authenticity. It's the best $100 dollars I have spent so far!!
On the bus ride back to the guesthouse I strike up a conversation with an Englishman and casually asked him what he did that morning. His answer totally surprised me. He went and sat in court and listened to all the morning cases. He said that these real life scenarios were better than any theatrical productions. An interesting way to spend vacation time. And I did ask him if he were a barrister
back home and he said he wasn't.
Well time to fly out of the Cook Islands and continue on to Auckland New Zealand. It's a four hour flight and quite crowded. I did get a lovely meal and even though the wine was free I still only had juice and water. I was enjoying a bite of salmon when it happened, just about to take a bite of garlic mashed potatoes. I couldn't believe it, I look around the cabin and everything appeared to going on as usual. There was no screaming, crying or any acknowledgment what so ever. But some where between the bite of fish and a bite of potatoes an entire day disappeared. POOF! Gone! was David Blaine on board? That mysterious international dateline was breached and it was no longer the 7th but it was now the 8th. The flight proceed on like nothing had happened. But something did happen I lost one whole day in my lifetime. The good thing is I will pick it back up on the way home :-)
A little visit to the Customs officials when I land because of the soil that was still in the grooves of
the tread in my hiking boots. So a little spray of some chemical and my bagged boots were sone returned. The airport was pretty quite and they had separate lines for the KiWis and Aussies so it was me and 2 others that fit the 'all other passports” line.
It's cool and raining and about 8 PM so I am ready from my room just off Queen Street one the most popular streets in Auckland.
I have rented a studio as it was the cheapest in town with 4/5 star ratings from Trip Advisor and I have to give it a 5/5 I have a kitchenette with microwave and dishwasher, a nice modern bathroom, a balcony and a free continental breakfast already in my room and in the fridge. I even have a washer and dryer and they gave me the soap powder to use. All for 75$USD per night. WOW WOW WOW!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.124s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 10; qc: 50; dbt: 0.0849s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
craig
non-member comment
pics
hi angie the pics are great remind me of snorking