Our prearranged ride to our accommodations did not show so the lady managing transports found another shuttle for our 20 minute ride. We had read about the people on Cook Islands and how friendly and good natured they are. She was our first of many encounters of genuinely friendly people. We arrived at our accommodations by 8:00 am local time. Check in was 2:00 pm but they had an early checkout and were able to clean and prepare the one room villa in time for us to check in and for them to go to church. Beverly gave us a ride to the nearest store so we could stock up on food. Not much of a selection for two vegans. We walked the 1/4-1/2 mile back home with our backpacks full of "goodies" or as good as you can get on Rarotonga for two vegans.
After eating some food we headed to the beach with the lounge chairs. Twice we were rained out and had to carry everything back to our villa.We eventually walked back to the store in order to break some large bills so we could ride the bus tomorrow. A one way pass is $5. We walked back to our residence in a refreshing rain and it turned into a downpour which continued for hours. We had dinner and settled in for the night. At 7:30 pm it was dark, windy, and wet outside. Movie time via the iPad! Oh, no. Ellen fell asleep. The movie will need to wait.
John
Getting off the plane via a staircase (also a new experience) we were hit with hot muggy air. It felt a little like a sauna. It had rained hard during the night, and the sun was just starting to break through the clouds when we arrived around 6:45 am. Customs took a really long time because we were at the back of the line. It was probably a good thing because our taxi was a no-show. The nice welcoming lady at the airport helped us out though and called our taxi service and villa. By 9:00 we had arrived at Te Ava Villas and were able to go right in. The onsite caretaker, Beverly, drove us up to the store so we could get some food to get us through the day.
We napped throughout the day, spending an hour or so on the beach reading and eating until the rain drove us inside. More napping. Later in the afternoon, we walked clockwise to the Yellow Hibiscus for a beer and fries (the only thing vegan on the menu). We finished our beers and just as we were going to get up and pay, our fries finally arrived. We're not sure if the cook just took a long time with our fries, waiting for another order to make cooking them worthwhile, or if an hour and a half is acceptable for "island time." Either way, we won't go back there.
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| John tries to rest up for a busy week of snorkeling, biking, and site seeing on the beach where we had our accommodations. |
Dinner was good: while wheat spaghetti with garlic and onions in a tomato sauce and some local bread toasted with garlic rubbed on it. It was our first proper meal since Friday night. After dinner, we read some more, and I fell sound asleep.
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| A lizard lived by the kitchen window and would come out at night. He must have been attracted to the light. |
Ellen
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