http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Cook-Islands/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Oceania , Cook Islands en-us Sat, 26 Jul 2008 20:38:29 BST Sat, 26 Jul 2008 20:38:29 BST Hey guysThanks for your comments and messages it's always nice to know people back home are thinkin of us Really appreciate it. Anywayy two days ago we were in town and bumped into the lady who's been helping us at the New Zealand Commission...we said hi and she asked us if we'd picked up our brand spanking new passports as they'd arrived Yayy WOOHOO So the worrying is all over The http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Cook-Islands/Rarotonga/blog-298529.html We arrived in Raratonga in a similar fashion to Fiji 3 in the morning when it was still hot and muggy. How do people sleepOur first night we booked in to the local hostel. Ben had managed to charm one of the flight attendants on our flight from Fiji and as we landed she came up to him with a huge bottle of Verve Cliquot and told him it was a gift to help us celebrate our trip Not bad W http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Cook-Islands/Rarotonga/blog-297570.html Well there has been some progress since I last wrote...basically due to an angry email from my Dad which our landlord told me went to the primeminister Nick and I going on tv shouting in the police station and ranting to anybody who listened...the police ended up taking us seriously. We had to make a new report and a statement as before they made a report our passports had been burned in th http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Cook-Islands/Rarotonga/blog-296223.html I would be telling you about the fantastoc diving we did on Sunday or the cool day we had just chilling out on the beach on Monday....but unfortunately all that has been overwhelmed by the events that occured on Sunday night....Nick and I had cooked dinner and were chilling in our room reading at around 7pm. We heard really weird noises glass crunchign and breaking people running...it was rea http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Cook-Islands/Rarotonga/blog-294939.html Hey everyoneWell we had a great last few days in NZ. Nick managed to get a days skiing in so he had funwith that. I was a bit terrified driving upto the ski resort though the road was icy windy and on the edge of a mountain. Arghh looking over the edge was a steep drop. Not good We had to put snowchains on the camper but it was still sliding around a bit eeek I didn't ski I was going t http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Cook-Islands/Rarotonga/blog-292957.html Donrsquot you just love the South Pacific I think out of all the places that Irsquove visited on my travels the islands of the South Pacific are what have surpassed my expectations again and again. Flew on Monday to Rarotonga in the Cook Islands and yes I know that Irsquove been here already and have to say that flying from NZ makes much more sense than when I flew from Sydney last http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Cook-Islands/Rarotonga/blog-292562.html 260608 Days 130So in a 4 hour flight from Auckland to Raratonga ive gone from being 11 hours ahead to 11 hours behind...the first time in my trip that you see the day frist.I landed at 3 in the morning to be greated by a old dude playing guitar and singing he was so happy too.The aitport was one of the smallest and so relaxed a 15 minute car jorney followed to the hostelwhich is costing me http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Cook-Islands/Rarotonga/blog-291422.html Note Suwarrow is the tiny dot in the centre marked by the middle yellow pinIn Bora Bora they have tamed Manta Rays that will eat out of the palm of your hand. Hundreds of technicoloured reef fish loiter under your hut's glass floor lured by the nutritious raw sewage of your toilet which flushes directly into the lagoon. You can buy black pearls at a boutique in town and there's high speed In http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Cook-Islands/Suwarrow/blog-289118.html hi everyone. Have had a really good few weeks. The end of new zealand was lots of fun we got to explore some places that we only saw briefly on our way down the island and then we spent two evenings with some friends from Bristol who have moved out to Auckland for two nights it was so nice to see familiar faces and be spoilt with real food and lovely company We then went to the Cook Islands for http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Cook-Islands/blog-287913.html If these are the famous Trade Windshellip.I can do without the trade.Tearing ourselves away from the magic of Bora Bora in the Society Islands we set off for Rarotonga in the Cook Islands some 500 miles SW. The first day or so was really quiet we even had to drive for a while but then had Big Red up and hauling us along. Thursday came the front wind blowing 20 25 knots and the seas just went http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Cook-Islands/Rarotonga/blog-287810.html part 1 I had such an amazing week on the cook island however i lost my camera So i will put my friends on instead as the cook island are truly beautiful. I was only there for a week bu that was enough to explore the island. Pip and i hired a nissan micra so we could get around and explore the whole island. It is cook islands winter at the moment but you wouldn't know it it was still about http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Cook-Islands/Rarotonga/blog-287004.html Landing in Sydney on Thursday afternoon it felt strangely like I was coming home... Sydney remains the closest place in my opinion to London and for that reason I love spending time there. However by the time I had wandered around the domestic terminal trying to figure the best way to reclaim my left luggage from international terminal and then arrived via the airport link train at Central http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Cook-Islands/Aitutaki/blog-281963.html Tja waar waren we gebleven. Ik weet alleen dat het al weer een hele tijd geleden lijktis. Fiji stond op het programma en dat mag een hele omschakeling heten na 6 weken NieuwZeeland. Mijn vliegtuig landde rsquos avonds laat in Nadi en vanuit daar mocht ik in een busje vol met dronken waarschijnlijk was de drank gratis in het vliegtuig bejaarde Kiwirsquos in ieder geval aardig op leeftijd http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Cook-Islands/Rarotonga/blog-280844.html Etter en 10 timers lang flytur var vi paa plass paa paradisoeya Rarotonga.Her hadde vi egentlig ikke lagt store planene bortsett fra soling bading og selvfoelgelig 17.mai feiring. Vi skulle ogsaa treffe igjen Par her som vi moette paa Hawaii.Vi havna igjen paa et bra hostel Varas beach house som laa perfekt til paa stranda med stor solterasse. Den fikk vi ikke mye bruk for gitt vi hadde vel t http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Cook-Islands/Rarotonga/blog-279208.html From Auckland we flew to Rarotonga an island in the South Pacific which is part of the Cook Islands group. This was supposed to be our paradise island break with lots of sun and sand but unfortunately it rained solidly for the first 3 days.Rarotonga is such a remote island and only about 20 miles in circumference there is not a huge amount to do when the sun doesnrsquot shine we did still mana http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Cook-Islands/Rarotonga/blog-275201.html Life goal 132 Learn to shake my hips as swiftly and rhythmically as the dancing ladies on the Cook Islands. This ambition comes right after 131 which is teaching myself how to play the ukulele. Ahoy Rarotonga Another landing for Queequeg slapbang in the heart of the South Pacific ocean a startling sea side paradise and haven for the aspiring Jim Hawkinrsquos of the world two points http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Cook-Islands/Palmerston/blog-273970.html The Adventure BeginsFinally after flying from London via Los Angeles and Tahiti I land in the Cook Islands on Rarotonga. I had never been to the tropics before therefore the temperature on leaving the plane was fantastic after the dull cold of the English winter.... that combined with a whole load of flowers being popped on my head as part of a welcome by my driver... was a fantastic start to my http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Cook-Islands/Rarotonga/blog-272234.html Cook Islands Part 2So it's been a while since our last entry. It's only really been a few days but theres been so much going on it feels like foreverAfter we'd finished typing the entry on Thursday morning Charlotte threw in the towel and went back to bed at about 8.30am so I headed off down to the beach to take some pictures. It was a nice morning and the sea was getting much bigger slammin http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Cook-Islands/Rarotonga/blog-271313.html Here's the second instalment of my trip to Tokelau for their series of women's events in March. See the first instalment for the painful boat trip and an intro to the intriguing atolls of Tokelau.Day six SaturdayI rose early to get to the handicrafts market the main event of the economic summit. Tokelauan handicrafts are quite coveted several of my Samoan colleagues asked me to pick them up http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Cook-Islands/Tokelau/blog-270058.html HeyThis is the first entry so it might get pretty long but here goes...It's 6am and I've been up a bit... still not quite kicked the jet lag i thinkAlso I apologize for any crap spelling this keyboard sucks and I'm sat in the dark trying not to wake anyone.FlightsAfter a pretty boring trek to Heathrow and several McCrappy meals we were making our way through the vast city sized airport that is http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Cook-Islands/Rarotonga/blog-269685.html We arrived in Raratonga at 2.40am to be told by the pilot that we were now 23 hours behind Auckland.WOW We get to repeat the day all over again.That's the nearest we'll ever get to time travel.......As arranged Adrianne from Tiare Village picked us up on our arrival.She informed us that the double we had booked was being refurbished and that we would be staying in a pool side villa at no extra http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Cook-Islands/Rarotonga/blog-267873.html Kia Orana all Well the good news is that the Ana is off the reef. Not refloated but rather hauled up onto the hard. Surprisingly little damage and still no clear reason why she went up in the first place. Sadly our little cat was hit by a car and lost a back leg. He did not make it through the combined trauma and surgery. Damm He was a bloody good cat almost up to dog standard. In the vi http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Cook-Islands/Rarotonga/blog-267826.html Howdy folks not been in contact for a while so thought I'd drop you a line.I think we left you in Auckland which seems like an age ago now. We arrived safely in Rarotonga me with a chest infection and no voice but apart from that the clear blue sea and white sand outside our hostel was a welcome change. We spent the next week well...relaxing basically. Rarotonga is small enough to get round in http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Cook-Islands/Rarotonga/blog-263568.html Tokelau trip 3rd to 15th March 2008Hands up whorsquos heard of Tokelau. Didnrsquot think so. In fact it wasn't even one of the options for 'location' on this travelblog site I had to specially request that they add it. Tokelau is actually a country but the reason you probably havenrsquot heard of it is that itrsquos made up of three tiny coral atolls in the middle of the Pacific Ocea http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Cook-Islands/Tokelau/blog-262502.html I guess the biggest news here currently is that poor old Tapi has yet another boat on the reef. This time the Ana which went up Saturday afternoon in calm conditions. Rumours are rife as to what caused this calamity but until Taio Shipping makes some sort of statement it is all rumours. We had the Mercury Celebrity arrive on the 6th with 2200 passengers aboard but conditions on the day meant that http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Cook-Islands/Rarotonga/blog-258657.html HeeeyHabt ihrs auch so schoen wie wirBei uns scheint die Sonne seit Tagen und der Schnee ist bald weg JeehWie gehts euch allenSchreibt mal ein paar Kommentare damit ich auch weiss dass meine Eintraege gelesen werden...Ich erzaehl euch jetzt einen OsterwitzAn einem sonnigen Sonntagmorgen liegt auf dem Teller neben dem Spiegelei das Ruehrei und sagtIch weiss gar nicht was heute mit mir http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Cook-Islands/Manihiki/blog-258647.html I was missing Fiji leaving it behind on the way to Rarotonga the capital of Cook Islands. Arriving at the tiny airport was a new experience. It's like a bus terminal with all the shop closed. A nice thing about the pacific region is the welcome singing and ukuleleLooking out at the beach was nice but I didn't find it a paradise. After Fiji we have been really spoilt The water is a different co http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Cook-Islands/Aitutaki/blog-255986.html My Buddy Bill yapdiversmantaray.com warned me that writing a regular news letter was hard work and I laughed I owe you a beer buddy. The last few weeks we have been without all of our regular summer visitors and this is always a quieter time for us. Our two PADI Instructor candidates Fai and Meti are back from NZ and are now qualified Instructors well done men We have had some interesting fo http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Cook-Islands/Rarotonga/blog-253130.html Kia Orana everybodyAfter discussion with my mate Dale last week I have decided to revive the travel blog. Although it is not this time about travel but more about keeping my many buddyrsquos overseas up with what is happening here in Raro. Obviously with a four month delay the catching up will be a bit compressed as such a lot has happened in this time. I will cover these good times but a bit http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Cook-Islands/Rarotonga/blog-247794.html