I've been back almost four months so maybe about time I revealed what I got up to last winter!!! :-) First stop on my winter getaway this year was the beautiful Pacific Island of Rarotonga. It is the biggest of the Cook Islands but still a tiny place - only 32km to go round the island.
My place to stay for the week was Rarotonga Backpackers - not a bad little place to stay...
One of the must things to do in Rarotonga is the Sunday morning church service. The journey to Rarotonga had been a long one (30 hours) but I dragged myself up and was glad I did. It was a beautiful sunny morning, the church was stunning with it's whitewashed walls, wooden pews and flowers.
The local women do love a hat and it was a great sight to look down on them from the balcony. But the best bit was to come - the singing was absolutely amazing - no choirs just the congregation but the sound produced was stunning be it traditional hymns or songs in the local language.
Did I say the best bit was the singing...well maybe not - after the service we visitors received some true Cook Islands hospitality and were invited back for tea and cakes - those ladies with the hats can cook up a storm!
The next 3 days I spent doing some work at Esther Honey Foundation who have a clinic in Rarotonga - you can read about my time there in my veterinary blog right here
After that little stint helping out the island dogs I decided to do some roaming myself. Debbie the manager at EHF kindly lent me her scooter and I whizzed round the island taking in the sights..
But it wasn't all lazing around on beaches - I got my boots on to do the cross island trek - it was just 6km but gave great views over the islands amazing rainforest
But then it was back to taking it easy on a lagoon cruise!
The island has a great Saturday market - but I resisted getting the touristy Polynesian shirt!
Everywhere there are signs of the strong part that Christianity plays in islanders lives - there are many beautiful white churches. You can also see in the bottom left picture that people are not buried in cemeteries - they are buried at home!
It's not often you get the opportunity to tick "The Pacific Atoll" box and I was determined not to miss out. Aitutaki was a short hop by air away...
Spent most the day with my jaw hanging open... I think you can see why...
There was however a tiny bit of trouble in paradise - the weather is not always good and Aiutaki is in a cyclone area - in 2010 Cyclone Pat caused 14 million dollars worth of damage in a country with very limited resources.
You can see the damage to the house in the left picture has not been repaired. Another big issue in Aiutaki is Sunday tourist flights - the Islands are deeply religious and Sunday is still "special" here - nearly all shops and restaurants are closed and they don't want any flights either!
Like anywhere the Cook Islands has it's share of problems and domestic violence is one of the biggest - there are many posters about the subject. Obesity and diabetes are also big issues (they love sugar as I had found out at the tea and cakes after church!)
Other problems on the island are totally unique as I read about in the local paper!
Another unique activity is getting a "Jet Blast" It means hanging onto a fence near the airport and getting blasted by the engines as the jets prepare for take off!! Read about it here!!
After a great week here it was sadly time to leave - on the left is the waiting area for flight departures!! And on the right my last view of this amazing island Goodbye or Aere Ra!
