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Published: January 6th 2010
Mystery hovering bird
If you can identify this bird, please let me knowDay 3 on Raratonga has started as any other - the sound of crashing waves on the reef, a tropical breakfast, and the application of generous portions of sun-burn cream. What a great life!
I have 4 goals for today. One involves some exercise, one the collection of colour, one the observation of a traditional activity carried out in an unconventional location, and last but not least, one involving my continued survival. I should mention that I also have a question for you later.
For my exercise, I decided to do the cross-island walk via Te Rua Manga (413m), otherwise known as The Needle. On my map, this looks a fairly easy ramble, and it shouldn’t take more than 4 hours. I have heard that the path is well signposted, and the views from the top are spectacular. So, leaving the scooter at the base car park, I head off along the wide grassy path in the direction of ‘up’.
Within 20 minutes, I came across a couple who warned me that things got overgrown shortly, so they had turned back. Sure enough, after another km or so, the nice wide grassy path came to an abrupt halt.
Red hibiscus
These flowers can be seen all over Raratonga, and add to the warmth of the place. It wasn’t at all obvious where to go next. The signposts didn’t seem to exist, but it became clear that there was a hint of a path going through the undergrowth, so knowing that there were no poisonous animals on the island, I dived in.
Very soon, I found myself inside the forest. This gave welcomed shade from the hot sun, and if you looked carefully, it was possible to determine where others had been before. Still no 'propper' signs, but a challenge can make these trips more fun, so I decided that all the while I was going up, I would be moving towards the summit. There were a couple of bigger challenges on the way, with the first being the incline. At times, it was necessary to scramble up gigantic tree roots on all fours, as this seemed the only way of moving forwards. The second challenge was linked to wildlife. I was completely alone on this ‘walk’, so initially could only hear the sounds of birds singing or the wind in the leaves. However, as I got higher, every two or three steps, I’d hear a scurrying sound below me, and realised that I was disturbing
Keith in the Jungle
As you can see, the path is not so clear, but I made it up to The Neddle the small (10cm long) black lizards. These were of course harmless, and in time, I became used to them. Near the top though, I got a bit of a shock when the scurrying sound seemed louder, and something 20 times bigger than a lizard jumped out of the bushes in front of me. It took one look at me, turned, and went straight back into the bushes. I still don’t know who was the most surprised, me or the chicken?
From the top of Te Rua Manga, the views are great. You can see the beaches on both the north and south sides of Raratonga, plus most of the other tree clad peaks on the island.
Once back at base, I took a much needed shower, and got changed for the afternoon event. On my flight from Los Angeles to Raratonga, I had sat in seat 56F next to Diana (56E) and Sean (56D) from Southern California. Diana was a teacher, so we spent a fair amount of time comparing notes, and as we arrived, they announced that they were getting married at one of the hotels on the island, and invited me to join the ceremony. So,
Stunning red flower
I can't be sure, but I think this is called a Hanging Lobster Claw. Whatever its name, it has rich colour and texture,and was very hard to find - I only came across one clump in good condition during my 4 days on Raratonga. wearing a clean pair of flip flops, I made my way to the Raratongan Beach Resort and Spa.
The setting for the wedding was a sand aisle flanked with pine trees and ferns, sprinkled with red rose petals. The bride kept to tradition, and arrived late, and when she reached the ‘alter’ I noticed that everyone except me, was bare footed. So much for the clean flip-flops! The ceremony was conducted in English by a local minister, and most of the hotel guests seemed to come along to see the spectacle. I discovered the reason for the bare feet after the couple were pronounced Man and Wife, as the official photographs were taken in the shallow lagoon.
So, having held the video camera for part of the event, and done my best to make sure that the newlyweds didn’t drink too much Champaign, it was time for challenge number 3 of the day.
I headed off to the quiet inner road in search of colour. Up until now, I had experienced difficulties taking reasonable colour photos as the sun seemed so overpowering, my camera couldn’t compensate for the bright light without making items either far too dark
Here comes the bride
Diana walks down the aisle to marry Sean in Paradise or too light. My target was to photograph red objects this afternoon in a way that produced red results.
Raratonga has some stunningly beautiful plants and flowers, so that’s what I photographed. You can see here the single hibiscus flower, the ‘flaming’ or ‘flamboyant’ tree, and a flower that I still have to identify, but I think is the most attractive (and hard to find) of them all. I may update this page when I discover this flower’s name.
As the day came to a close, the sun went down (as it so often does), and I experienced what is probably the most spectacular sunset of my life. My photo doesn’t show how completely covered the sky was with orange, red and purple, but there are no tricks used here, and what you see is what I saw - a truly memorable last evening on Raratonga.
Now, as promised, I have a question for you all. My last photo is of a very elegant bird I saw just twice during my stay on the island. As you can see, the bird is slim, completely white, and has a curved long black beak. What you don’t see in
Flaming Tree
These trees bloom around Christmas on Raratonga, and can be seen in a number of locations on the main island road (see how busy it isn't) the photo is the way the bird hovers by a tree before landing. If you know what this bird is, please let me know.
Ok, it’s been a long hot day, and I think I may be ‘a little over the 80’ so I am going to bed now. Goodnight.
PS, the 4th goal was to avoid getting sun burnt. Happily, I don’t look like a lobster tonight!
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raffa
non-member comment
mystery bird
Hi Keith, searched a bit and could not find info about the mystery bird. So I found a website with info about birds on Rarotonga and sent the expert there an email with photo. Will let you know what comes back! Enjoy the rest of the trip!