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Published: March 3rd 2011
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The Pink View I might be wrong, but I suspect that the Pink and Blue views are going to wildly vary this time. We'll see.
The island of Rarotonga is, without a doubt, stunningly beautiful. Sitting in a perfectly azure lagoon, surrounded by a coral reef, this is the type of island that dreams are made of and it is one that I feel very privileged to have visited.
The people are friendly and unobtrusive. The pace of life is slow and 'Island Time' is pretty much whatever you want it to be. Palm trees rule the roost, tuna is as cheap as chips and the paw paws (papaya to us Brits) seem to grow from nearly every tree (25p for one three times the size that ever make it to the UK).
It is a place however where it is both decidedly easy and difficult to stay all at the same time - if you are on a budget, that is. It is difficult to self cater, if of limited funds, and provide yourself with anywhere near a balanced diet which we have both found tremendously difficult - I have been dreaming of pasties (not exactly balanced, I know), roast dinners and tesco's fruit and vegetable aisle with alarming regularity.
I could, however, have stayed longer and, had we been here at the beginning of our trip or, indeed, on an annual holiday (with money to spend) I think that we would have had an entirely different experience full of glass bottomed boats, scuba diving and wonderful restaurant meals. That story is, perhaps, for another time.
The Blue View We arrived on Rarotonga used to our independence, having been traveling at a real pace around NZ in the camper-van. Going back to sitting still with no transport options was difficult.
This combined with the poor hostel really made it unenjoyable. Then we got mobile which helped a little. We then moved but even that had its drawbacks.
The rain that followed cooled things down and made it all more bearable. Whilst this happened I acclimatized to the slower pace of things (how it took so long who knows?) Eventually the place grew on me.
I would however say that this is not a backpacker destination - not given the other options out there.
Bali or Thailand or Vietnam all have the heat, but they all have aircon in decent hostels at a budget price. They are cheap to live and there is lots to do. Here there is little to do and it isn't cheap.
So for a honeymoon the place could really be paradise, for a holiday on the beach it is ideal, for backpacking it drains the pockets and slows you down.
On the plus side this means that paradise is still lost, at least in my view. That means we still have to find it, and the only way to do that is to keep looking! I guess the traveling can't be nearly finished but only just begun!
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