Advertisement
Published: February 7th 2010
Edit Blog Post
Wow...what a wonderful place! I have had a brilliant week...no phones, no internet or anything...just sun, sea, sand, a beautiful lagoon and lots and lots of coconuts! I must start this entry by quickly saying that in the security check at Auckland airport, the lead singer of the band Queens of the Stone Age was in front of me! No sure if it was him at first but after checking a photo it was defiantly him. Anyway...after that star struck moment we managed to blag premium check in so we didn't have to que at all. We boarded the plane, headed to the run way, then one of the engines went...so it was back to the terminal. Free food vouchers did however make up for the wait. The took off a few hours behind schedule and got into Rarotonga 3 and a half hours later. The whole flight was entirely over the ocean. the view at night was stunning as well as the moon reflected on the clouds and then the dark ocean was beneath it. We arrived to the small airport (the plane was bigger than the airport building) and a guy was playing a small guitar in proper island style. We checked in to the beach house and even though it was the early hours of the morning, the lagoon still looked great. I woke up at 7am the next day and headed straight outside to what can only be described as one of the most beautiful views ever! I have never seen sand so white, water so clear and palm trees so high in all my life! It really is a beautiful place. We chilled out on the beach for a bit then took the bus to the small shop with the most expensive food ever. It is because of this that we have lived off pasta, sauce and beans all week. Literally. Managed to save some money though which is good. the bus was pretty simple...clockwise bus and anticlockwise bus round the island. I had a go at hashing a coconut...I managed to do it and got to drink the water in side as well. I then proceeded to eat the entire thing, leaving me feeling quite funny after. But well worth it. We tried out windsurfing on the lagoon as well. Super difficult but great when you get the hang of it. i just can't turn left! I did pick up a lot of speed towards then end though. The weather was great but it is cyclone season so the winds were very strong all week. There was a category 4 storm heading towards the island on Wednesday and rumors of evacuation were circulating around but luckily it tailed of and headed passed instead sow e only got light rain and lots of wind for a few hours. The guys with money invested on the beach were worried because the storms surges can devastate the entire coast in just a few hours.We had another windsurfing session midweek as well as a go on some kayaks. We headed to the outer reef between the lagoon and the pacific and also stepped foot on the small island actually in the lagoon. There were hundred of little hermet crabs running around but not many fish. Although there was a small shark sighting on our last day! I made a point of jumping in the water every morning to wake up. It was pretty warm but he wind always made it colder. The sunsets in Rarotonga are fantastic. The sky turns completely red and the views are spectacular. I managed to get some great photos (now that the camera is just about working again!) I get the feeling it would be a completely different experience traveling to the islands in a couple or basically...with lots of money. Things were pretty expensive. There were so cool other people staying at the hostel and was great to chill out for a week. It felt like a small holiday within a bigger one! I read a lot, swam a lot, made some jewelery out of coconut shells and played my guitar out on the decking over looking the lagoon, accompanied by two singers, a bongo drum and a harmonica played by a super keen Canadian dude. I was really aware this week of just how far away I am from home. With no outside contact or anything, I felt truly in the middle of no where and it was a odd but great feeling. Knowing than for hundreds of miles around you there is only the Pacific Ocean is a startling thought. If you head north you hit Christmas Island then Hawaii and if you head south you hit Antarctica. On our last night the locals put on a coconut show...hashing coconuts open in 5 seconds (record is 3...took me 5 minutes! A local guy also climbed a coconut tree to get some more...so high up with no ropes or anything! We had a good night out as well (in the island's few bars) and that ended a brilliant week. There is probably a lot more I haven't mentioned but in sum, it was basically paradise. So after a great week we headed back to the world's smallest airport to catch the flight up to LA. Just like the flight out, the plane was pretty empty so I managed to get three seats all to myself and make a full on bed with all the blankets. I also managed to blag two meals and a free ice cream. Getting pretty good at doing that now! We flew out up over Tahiti, crossed the entire ocean then dropped down into LA. The flight was 8 and a half hours and...now I am in California! LAX is a huge airport and believe it or not, security and customs getting into the states was the smoothest process so far on the whole trip! We caught a cab with a couple form the plane and we are now down on Venice Beach with a dorm room that looks out over the beach and it is awesome. My first impressions of America are good...people are friendly and in a weird way, it feels like the most foreign place I have been to. Everything just seems...bigger! Looking forward to traveling around California and seeing what it has in store. That's all for now. have a nice day...as they say out there!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.068s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 15; qc: 22; dbt: 0.0318s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1mb