Rich and Cat's Travels: Cook Islands

We had 9 nights on Rarotonga which is the largest island in the Cook Island and the island was a good time to relax and rest.The island has one main road which goes around the island and is 32km long. There are two bueses on the island, one goes clockwise and one goes anti clockwise and everything on the island runs on island time. However the island does not do stuff by half so when it rained it poured (although it was still warm) and when it was sunny it was glorious.

We decided after getting the bus for one day that we needed to hire a car so we got a little Micra (called a March over there) which had a lot of quirks including the passenger window and central lock not working and the smell of wet dog that soon developed once the seats got a little wet.

The apartment we rented was large and about a 5 minute walk (which was scary, although i will explain more about this shortly) from the main road but it was right next to the airport and when i say right next to the airport I mean within spitting distance of the runway. This meant that we heard every plane take off and the large ones shook the house. The first one that took off was the plane we had arrived in so took off about 5 minutes after we got to the house and it scared us to death but we soon got used to it and there was only a couple of planes a day and most were small planes.

The main problem with the island was that the locals let their dogs roam free and you would often see them on the side of the road, on the beach and ready to bark at you if they are at home and you are walking past their house. For those of you who know me, you know that I am scared of dogs and this did nothing to alleviate my fears, instead I dreaded walking places.

Despite the weather we did managed to do lots including going diving, lots of snorkeling, paddle boarding, walking a trail and played mini golf. The diving was good, but the first attempt was cancelled due to thunder and lightening, and we did manage to see some cool fish. We managed to get some paddle boards for free from a hotel on the first sunny day and we took them out for a little explore and shortly after we started we managed to see an eagle ray in the water and we saw another one later in the day. As the water was crystal clear we also managed to see some other fish so we decided to get our snorkel gear and try snorkeling off the paddle board. While Rich went to get the snorkel gear he fussed one of the many dogs on the beach which was a BIG mistake. Having found a friend this dog was not letting Rich out of his sight so he came running on to the paddle board with us and despite all our attempts he was not getting off so he came out with us. First we went and visited one of the islands just off the main beach, which the dog loved as he got to get off and have a roll around then he jumped back on and we went to another island where he found some other dog friends and he decided to stay there, he could easily swim back to the main land, which another dog did as we were leaving. Having travelled so far we decided to call it a day and headed back home.

We also tried some snorkeling and there were many good places to explore and having failed on the paddle board we tried just snorkeling in that area and it was fairly good but there was an area that was supposed to be better. The first time we went it was a bit murky due to the recent bad weather so we decided to try again and we walked up the beach a little and started to get ready to go in when a dog approached and Rich fussed it, BIG mistake (you'd think he would have learnt!). The dog didn't want Rich out of his sight and after pacing up and down on the beach he joined us in the water, however as we were snorkeling he swam straight passed us and went too deep. We called him back and once we spotted us he came swimming back and by the time he reached Rich he was whining. we tried to swim back to shore so that he would follow us but it appeared that he was struggling and he kept trying to get on top of Rich so that he could have a ride back to shore. Rich did not appreciate this, especially as the dog had sharp nails that kept scratching him. Eventually the two of them came to shore, the dog was glad to be back on the ground and Rich was glad to be free of the dog, although he did have lots of scratches as a reminder of the little escapade,

We wanted to walk the cross island trail and as the weather seemed to be okay, after a couple of days of rain, we drove to the waterfall on one side of the island ready to start the trail. However after a quick viewing of the waterfall, the heavens opened and we decided to hide in the car. After an hour we were just about to head home when it stopped raining. we got out of the car and saw the difference in the waterfall, it had gone from a gentle flow to torrential flow which was mixed with lots of mud so had turned brown. Despite this we thought we would try the hike but as soon as we went a few steps up the path we saw there were branches covering the path meaning we couldn't get past so we decided to give in. On another day, a drier day, we tried one of the other trails which involved hiking up one of the many hills on the island and we managed to make it quite high before having to give in because the path was a bit too slippy and muddy to continue.

Overall its a beautifull Island which is very relaxing. Very sad we have to leave but excited for the USA!