Blogs from Rarotonga, Cook Islands, Oceania - page 32

After Fiji we went to the Cook Islands. We had to cross the International Date Line to get here so we experienced Saturday 4th February twice! We are staying on Rarotonga which is the largest of the islands although it is still pretty small with a circumference of only 32km. It has great beaches and snorkelling; Laura has seen lots of cool fish. Luckily the weather has been nice. This time last year it got hit by three hurricanes so we can't complain! ... read more

We have gone back in time! We are now in the Cook Islands and we are experiencing our second Saturday 4th January. We crossed the International Date Line so we got an extra day. I have always wanted to do that! The Cook Islands are lovely. We are staying in Muri Beach on Rarotonga. It is a natural lagoon. The beach is about 20 seconds from where we are staying. The sea is warm, clear and very shallow. There is lots of reef and fish just off shore so we should be able to go snorkelling. The place we are staying has free kayaks so we have taken advantage of that and gone for a paddle. There are several small islands off shore so we kayaked around one of them. The water was so clear we ... read more

The Cook Islands are about 13 degrees east of the international date line. They are some of the last places on Earth to see the dawn of the new day, being 10 hours behind GMT. They are only four hours ahead of east coast Australia, though there it's tomorrow. We find it's best not to think about that too much - it frys our fun-sized brains. It seems appropriate that these islands should be out here at the end of time. We sensed the isolation when we flew in from Easter Island, through Tahiti. For hour upon hour there is nothing - not even a slither of land. The Cooks are tiny specs in the vast Pacific. However, the islands are connected to the rest of the world, having a few international airports, some satellite internet ... read more

... 17:55 Muri Beach, Rarotonga. I have been on the move now since 09:00 EST. Though the miles travelled, the time zones crossed and the jetlag accrued, nothing compares, nothing at all to the distance in emotion, and personal endeavour... ...The South Pacific Ocean. A seemingly endless stretch of turquoise blue - the sight and symbol of tranquility itself. And somewhere, just east of the international date line, rising up magestically through the clear waters is a volcanic island. Dense, deep...LUSH. Fringed and softened by a ribbon of white sands stands Rarotonga. The whitish colour sandwiched between the vibrant green of the island and turquoise blue of the sea is enough to indulge any artist. Still, if that were not enough, there is a passionate alluring, a teasing, of every other human sensory perception - hot ... read more

I will admit to having had some pretty low moments during my fortnight in the cooks. The first of these came on our first day there, it all looked so stunning that i felt like it would be criminal not to go swimming in the lagoon and to spend time sunbathing on the beach (incidently sunbathing really isn't my thing usually but it felt right on this occasion), anyway i ended up seriously catching the sun and getting seriously sunburnt (i had stupidly not used any suncream), that night i was burning up and felt in a lot of pain. I have to say though that i was treated really well by a number of the other residents of the hostel (several of whom were nurses) and i was given good advice on what to do ... read more