Cook Islands, Tropical Paradise

I've just had to chase two mynah birds off the balcony, cheeky things! We arrived late in Rarotonga due to Air New Zealand wanting five volunteers to be bumped off the flight as they had weight issues with the plane. This delayed us by about an hour, but I suppose it's better than running out of fuel with nothing within 1000 miles. I had visions of being greeted by dusky eyed polynesian maidens (Sue had just poured cold water over me!) but in fact it was a sixty something man. Despite this we were given traditional eis which are necklaces of flowers, mainly frangipani. The journey to the cabins was in the Cook Islands equivalent of an air conditioned shuttle bus, an old Toyota pickup with open windows. It was two o'clock in the morning when we arrived and we flopped, not having seen anything on the way to the cabins as it was raining. Both of us had a disturbed night with strange noises and cockerels crowing from three o'clock. The latter is something we'll have to get used to.

Woke up the following morning to this view from the cabin:

Haven't really done much since we have been here, except acclimatise. After NZ we both wanted a flop. Sue, though, took advantage of a dive school, opposite to the cabins, offering a free intro

scuba session in a local hotel swimming pool. She was apprehensive but liked it so much she is about to book a lagoon dive, I'll go along to watch.

Rarotonga is a small islands, thirty km in circumference. Today we went to the capital, Avorua, which is like a tiny seaside town (except for the court of justice financed by the People's Republic of China, the Parliament and the civic offices). As the total population of the island is about 13,000 you can get some idea of scale.

There is limited internet access available so I don't intend another post until the USA .

Note from Sue:  

Just to add that we have both been in the lagoon, which only comes part way up our shins. We scared off the little fish and the black herons who were stalking along the edge. Our garden has multiple crab holes, rather than my more traditional moles and masses of exotic flowers, hibiscus, frangipni, together with the obligatory coconut and banana palms. Last night we went out to eat at about 7.30 only to find very little open. We went into one of the small residential complexes and sat outside on the beach with a cold bottle of white wine and some wonderfully sweet, unchewy calamaris. I have made friends with a number of mozzies and have their love bites to prove it.