Tropical - Cook Islands

[Ianab]

Checking in from 20,000 ft 🤓

 

 

 

 

Three hours of open ocean  now. 

[doc henderson]

Where ya headin?

[Ianab]

Where ya headin?

Rarotonga, as usual. Just about to land.

[Ianab]

Got through the airport, it's not very big and takes them a while to process a 787 load. Picked up the rental car, got to the house and done a supermarket / beer run. Think I'll put my feet up for a while. It's a heck of a lot easier getting here at 2 pm, vs 2am like last time.

Kids have already seen a whale just outside the reef.

 

[Ianab]

When we left home about 11:30 on Sat it was 5 °C with a hint of sleet. 23 hour time difference, it's still Sat evening, but we are here on the deck with 24C. 

Must keep fluids up  ;)

[Magicman]

Looking Good, 41°F to 75°F ain't bad.  Enjoy !!!

[Ianab]

Weather has been a little bit average to be honest. Overcast, a brisk breeze and heavy surf out on the reef has the lagoon a bit stirred up and a steady current. Just been out snorkeling and saw a few fish, but hard work in the current and choppy water. It's still pleasantly warm, compared to home anyway. 


We had seen a local "fabric art" deal on FB before we came, and the girls had put it on the short list to check out. As it turns out, they are actually based directly opposite our rental.


That's our driveway
 



 

 

 

Anyway it's a local family running it, and the girls had fun. Get to pick up their sarongs tomorrow.

Meanwhile I got to the brewery and got a refill on my flask.  8)



 

If anyone asks I'm officially whale watching ( we have seen them three times already), and there are turtles in the lagoon now too.

[thecfarm]

Good luck with the watching part.  ;)

[Ianab]

On my walk along the beach this morning. Might be Treebeard's long lost tropical cousin. :D

 

[Old Greenhorn]

Ents!? Really? Come back tomorrow and take another photo, then compare them to see if 'he' moved.  :D

[thecfarm]

Enjoy the family time.

[Ianab]

Lil and he Sister have gone on a day trip to Aitutaki, which is another Island in the group. It's your "classic" Atoll, with a large lagoon in the middle. Very scenic, and the Survivor Cook Islands was filmed there. But looking at the weather radar, they will be dodging thunderstorms, both on the flights and boat tour. Not the end of the world, and the locals will look after them.


Me and the kids have been having a lazy day. Went into "town" this morning, stocked up on chippies, beer and fudge and got some actual groceries. Some fresh chicken to cook  up for dinner when Lil gets home tonight etc. 


View from CITC (Cook Island Trading Company) looking up at the hills with the mist and cloud around them. We still have 24°C, humidity ~90%. So not hot enough to be unpleasant.



 

[Ianab]

Another rainy day, but I did get to edit some of the underwater shots from yesterday. This is in the lagoon in front of the house, Will try and get to one of the marine reserves tomorrow as the weather is supposed to be better. The camera tends to give a washed out blue image underwater, but a bit of colour balancing seems to balance the colours and help the contrast. 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Magicman]

Very Nice !!

[Stephen1]

Looks great! keep the pics coming

[WV Sawmiller]

I like the triggerfish and parrotfish. Thanks for posting. Enjoy.

[Ianab]

Had a nicer day today, less wind / more sun 

Went a mile or so down the road to one of the Rahui (marine reserves). 
Lets see how my fish ID skills are doing....


Blue Devil and Sunset Wrasse


 

Mystery wrasse, but he was a big boy

 
Parrotfish of course

 

Picasso Triggerfish

 Parrotfish again


 
Lowfin Chub

 
Bluefin Trevally,Sargent Major, Threadfin Butterflyfish and something else with stripes ???


 Closeup of the "something else with stripes"

 No idea, only saw one, and he was shy

Threadfin Buterflyfish 

 Sargent Major. Their main talent is photo-bombing the camera

 Convict Tangs

 

[Ianab]

Our humble abode on the beach

 
Comes with a random cat. Obviously not a stray, and was here last year as well.



 
Assorted dogs turn up as well.

 Looking up the beach at sunset. Not the epic tropical sunset we are waiting for though.

 

[thecfarm]

But it sure does look nice!!

[YellowHammer]

Tropical paradise.

[Ljohnsaw]

What currency do they use there? How's the prices for food? How long do you plan on staying? What's the rental cost? 

We use to go to the south west coast of Florida for a couple weeks and would rent a house. We would just do exploring things, not tourists things. That place looks amazing!

[Ianab]

What currency do they use there? How's the prices for food? How long do you plan on staying? What's the rental cost? 

They have Cook Island dollars, but they are interchangeable with NZ$. So no currency conversion needed for us. NZ$ is worth about US 60 cents the moment.

Food is a little more expensive than home as most is imported. But tropical fruit is cheap and plentiful. There is a local commercial bakery and chicken farm etc. There are a couple of small supermarkets in Avarua which have all the basics (and some luxuries). 10,000 locals live on the Island, and they can afford to eat, even if wages are relatively low.  

We are here 13 days this trip, so 2 more nights and then home. Gets a bit hard to track as we have a 23 hour time difference. So we left NZ on Sunday morning and arrived here on Sat afternoon, reverse on the way home.???

This is our rental. Not the cheapest, OR the most expensive. Accommodation ranges from backpackers to 5 star. We like this place as it's in a really nice area and is beachfront. I see it's already booked out for this time next year. 
https://www.experiencerarotongaaccommodation.com/package/titikaveka-beach-house


Cook Islands is kinda off the international tourist map because it's in the middle of nowhere, and mostly connected with NZ. As NZ is already considered the "End of the Earth', travelling to NZ, and then getting on a 4 hour flight to someplace even more remote isn't a common option. I think there are a couple of flights a week from the US now, possibly via Hawaii? But that is a tropical Island holiday destination already, so why fly another ~5 hours to another one? So I'd say 90% of tourists here are from NZ.

Cook Islands has always had close ties to NZ, as it's where the first Polynesian settlers set out from to colonise NZ, around 1300 AD. So the Cook Islanders identify as Maori, same as the original NZ locals, and their language / culture is very similar. Historically the Islands were never really "colonised", so the local tribes still own all the land on the Islands, and by law it can't be sold, only leased from the local tribe. So it hasn't sold out to wealthy developers. Missionaries basically converted the locals to Christianity (still very much so), and the Islands became part of the "British Empire", along with NZ at the time. As that basically dissolved the Islands first became a protectorate of NZ, and are now "Independent in association with NZ". Hence the shared currency.

Another local law says you can't build taller than a coconut tree, so no high rise resorts. Residence permits are pretty hard to come by, you basically have to buy or set up a business that employs locals. That seems to have kept the larger commercial operators out. You can get fried chicken, burgers or pizza from multiple places, just none of them are any of the International chains. 

Anyway, it's an interesting place from the cultural perspective. Very friendly, but also very independent. 

[Ianab]

Whale watch from the deck 10 mins ago. Had time to pick up the camera and Lil got some shots. That's a ~40 ton humpback whale breaching. 



 

[Ianab]

Last photo dump


Well we got home this morning. Flight out of Raro was good, but Auckland Airport is currently the pits. 2 hours from touchdown to clearing customs.  :-\  Then we had to get picked up by the shuttle and back to the motel where we left out car. No complaints with their service, but another 1/2 hour gone there. Then there was the issue with packing bags back into Lil's full size wagon. All the bags fitted into our rental Toyota in Raro, but think I could get them into the back of full size Commodore  (Chevy G8 ) wagon in the dark? Bags were a few inches fatter with souvenirs etc. Some quick repacking was needed in the carpark, but I had the back hatch shut, but it was ~9pm by then.  :

 Drive home was then a bit over 4 hours.



Yes I've had a "power nap" today  ;)

A few more random pics.

This is the courthouse. Note the step, if a cyclone storm surge hits, the ground level is only car parking




 

Main roundabout. Yeah, traffic is a problem  


 
Downtown Avarua
The 30 sign is in Km. Got to let the chickens and tourists time to get out of the way  ;)


 

From the road. Note the random rooster, noni bush, and trusty Toyota rental car. Basically a 7 seat JDM "Corolla" with a heap of space.


 

Island shirts for all.  ;D


 

We did get some fine days, waking up to this.



 


Lil and her Sister did the day trip out to Aitutaki


 

 

Girls even got local tattoos. 




787 landing to take us home :(






Taylor had the window seat and Lil's phone, as we turned and climbed out, but got pics. The Courthouse etc are in the lower right by the original harbour. 

[thecfarm]

Back to the real world.  ;D