Rarotonga!

Fri 23rd we were leaving the US for the Cook Islands and Rarotonga - but to get there meant a jump down to LA, and then a connecting flight across the pacific, giving us a quick stop off in Tahiti, just long enough to feel the tropical air after all that snow...

Sat 24th we arrived in Rarotonga at 9am - the flight in was incredible views of cloudscapes over tropical islands, all with jungle covered peaks rising up through the mists. Rarotonga is a beautiful island, most of which is vertical jungle covered needle shaped mountains jutting out from the middle of the island. Surrounding this is amazing white sandy beaches with coral reefs forming a barrier to the surf, giving the beaches the feeling of tranquil lagoons.

We were staying in Vara's backpackers who picked us up from the airport and took us along the single road that loops the island to our hillside bungalow. We had heard a few horror stories about Varas before coming, but found that we were staying in a beautiful, clean apartment to oursleves sat up on the hilltops, over looking Muri Lagoon - so we were loving it from the moment we arrived. We spent the day lazing on the white sands at Muri Lagoon, and snorkelling in the shallows... we were rewarded with some great sights; spying a blowfish early on despite being chased around by some aggro trigger fish determined to give us a nip.







The Islands are incredible - and we tried to extend our planned 2 day stop off almost as soon as we got settled, but unfortunately all of the connecting flights were full for a long time, so we had to resign oursleves to having a short visit, but both decided we would be returning one day...



Our last day on the island was a Sunday - a very sleepy day on what is a very sleepy island at the best of times. We had been toying with the idea of hiring a moped so that we could see the whole island, and after a while we picked up the courage and took the plunge (it wasn't that brave - theres only one road, and only about 10 cars). It was the best decision we made... At first we were a little shaky, neither having driven one before, but before long we were buzzing down the road stopping off at all the beaches we could find to enjoy views from all round the island coastline. We rounded off the day by grabbing our snorkelling gear again and swimming our way between the small beach islands in Muri Lagoon.