After two Intrepid tours in Indonesia, over three weeks on Java and Bali, I flew to Rarotonga of the Cook Islands via Auckland (from yesterday to tomorrow to today).
I got there a day before Heather’s birthday extravaganza and the arrival of my NZ fam. So after a nice taxi ride with a local dude, Panapa Katuke, I arrived at my Muri Beach Bungalow (Mama Tara’s #1), then eventually took a walk around town and had dinner at the Muri Night Market. Ate so much I had to sleep in the next day until Ron & Heather arrived. We had a nice dinner, and the next morning, I too moved into the Muri Beach Club Hotel…
Having to wait to check into my room, I rent a scooter and took an almost all day ride around Rarotonga, making several forays up roads that all dead-ended up the mountainous ancient volcano which graces the center of the island. In the process, I got to inspect a few water collection and treatment facilities. These batches also include some cemeteries, interesting signs, pretty vegetation, decaying vehicles, a ship, a butterfly, and some Cook Islands geology…
More of my scooter ride around Rarotonga…
After 4-5 hours non-stop scooting around Raro, I came back to the hotel for some champagne festivities, another trip to the night market, and an interesting evening event – first a clear kayak with disco lights paddle around the lagoon looking for turtles, then a dinner and a fire show.
The next morning I used the last of my scooter rental to take Heather to a bookstore on the other side of the island (looked at some shirts). Shortly after we got back, Ron, Peter, & I took a kayak ride out to the smallest sub-island and snorkeled around it. It proved to be a rainy day, but that didn’t really matter when it came to snorkeling…
After that, I hadn’t had enough, so I swam/walked out to the second largest sub-island and walked around it. These little promontories are made up of rocks, lava and/or fossilized corral, and covered with trees, so rather hard to walk across. But I wasn’t in a hurry and enjoyed the patterns, and of course the tree climbing hermit crabs! Note my location…
That evening we had a “Pig & Prawn” feast – so not kosher – and hit the sack. The next morning we were up early to meet Paul and go explore more of the Cook Islands…