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Published: March 29th 2009
Well, we’re finally in our first destination: Rarotonga. After spending a few great days in Vancouver with our wonderful hosts Jon, Suz, and Fable, we left for the sunny tropical Cook Islands. Our flight with Air New Zealand was great - spacious and comfortable, and the food was delicious as well. After a 3 hour flight from Vancouver, 6 LONG hours holed up in a tiny wing of the LA airport, and a 10 hour flight to get here, it was such a relief to feel the warm tropical air and light drizzle of the early morning rain as we disembarked the plane.
Rarotonga is the main and oldest island of the Cook Islands - a self-governing territory of New Zealand. Cook Islands is comprised of 15 islands in total, but due to budget constraints, we’ll only be enjoying the one. Ten days of nothing but relaxation and care-free exploration is alright with us though! Did I mention the island is only 32 km in diameter? It’s an incredibly lush and green oasis in the middle of the Pacific ocean. It felt like paradise from the moment we stepped off the plane. Beautiful, untouched tropical land, friendly locals, and that
laidback, ‘throw time out the window’ island vibe. In fact, we both lost sense of the day and time pretty much as soon as we landed. You really feel that you are on a tiny piece of land in the middle of the Pacific ocean. This is especially true at night, when you can look into the dark sky and see nothing but hundreds of twinkling stars. The major hum of the city life - streetlights, honking cars, brightly-lit shop windows - is absent here, and boy is it refreshingly welcome to us.
There is also an incredible strong and present Maori culture in the Cook Islands, and many of the people here are adorned with the most beautiful Polynesian ink I’ve ever seen. We’ve discovered a couple of the local Polynesian tattoo shops here, and the artistry is amazing.
Our first hostel here - Aremango Guesthouse - is great. The hostel is surrounded by beautiful flora and fauna, the outdoor seating area looks out onto the mountains, and it’s about 30 seconds walk up from the beach and lagoon area. Our room has a little garden patio and outdoor shower, which is amazing in this hot weather.
New friends
Alicia and EvanThere are also geckos everywhere! I love watching them scamper around, especially the babies in our room. I think we’ve got a maternity ward for geckos in our room.
The people we’ve met here are also all incredible, and I love listening to their travel stories. It inspires me to see the rest of the world. As much as we’re loving life here in Rarotonga, I can’t wait to explore Australia and then New Zealand!
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