Tales from the South Pacific
July 3, 1998
Well, it was a long and occasionally bumpy flight, but I made it! First stop, Rarotonga in the Cook Islands.
I am staying at a place called Vara's Villa which is up on a hill overlooking the Pacific. (Check out where I stayed! This is a pic of my very room!) The view from the porch is spectacular! And there are geckos of varying sizes clinging to the walls and ceiling inside. It's very cool! Huge windows along the front side allow for some beautiful scenery and, for $18NZ a night, you really can't beat it. Hot showers and everything!
Rarotonga, itself, is protected by a barrier reef and you can see the deep blue waves crash against it off in the distance, but close to the shore it is calm and shallow and amazingly blue.
Yesterday, an Aussie girl named Kirsty and I rented bikes and cycled around the entire island. 32km to be exact. Needless to say, my butt is so sore I can hardly sit down and I think I'll be walking much of the rest of the week.
Everyone on the island is really friendly! During our cycle yesterday, we stopped at a place called the Perfume Factory where I collapsed on a picnic table while Kirsty did some shopping. They made some very cool oils, soaps, and liqueurs, among other things. The owner (a very groovy-looking island dude named Nga - dreads and everything) came over to visit and shared loads of Cook Island history with me and, upon learning that I'd never had proper coconut, climbed a tree to get one, cracked that sucker open and let me try it! How cool is that? This guy has actually canoed (now stop and think about this for a minute - canoed!) from here to Fiji, Samoa, New Zealand and even Hawaii! Hello! How far is that? Complete insanity.
This is a very laid-back way of life and one I'm settling into quite nicely. I've got some cool roomies and am looking forward to taking the kayak out tomorrow and paddling around the Muri Lagoon as well as doing some hiking around the island.
Hope everyone is well and I will be in touch again soon!