May 15th Cook Islands

May 15^th 2006 Cook Islands

Did not do too much yesterday. Went up by the church to record the singing then biked up to the botanical gardens and took a bunch of photos. It was closed but you could still go in to see it they had an honor box there with a $3 charge. Then we brought our bikes back and went for a 4 km kayak around the islands and saw an octopus.

Later in the night, the irish couple we met dropped over for a bit to see our wedding photos and they were heading out today to New Zealand for a 11 days and then off to Sydney before heading back to Ireland.

Today we got up bright and early to catch our bus to the airport. We took Air Rarotonga to Aitutaki. Apparently, it was the English version of survivor that was filmed there (it is called ‘Shipwrecked’) and it is currently running over in the UK now.

When we got to Aitutaki our guide (who was also a dancer in the Island night we went to on Saturday – people do a little bit of everything here) took us around the town on the bus and then we went to our boat and began the lagoon cruise. We went to Shark Island, one of the islands the Brits are currently watching if they are a fan of Shipwreck, the other show was named Tiger. It was cool; we got to see their tribal council area, etc. Apparently they were all pretty much useless. The could not figure out how to open a coconut (which every island is full of). They also stocked the islands with chickens and pigs and they could not bring themselves to kill any of them. Pretty lame survivors.

From here we went snorkeling and saw loads of fish and some giant clams. By the way if you are dumb enough to touch a big clam and get an extremity stuck in it when it closes up quickly, you will not be able to free yourself and you will probably drown.

After snorkeling came the barbecued fish meal and then we were off to one-foot island where there is a little post office that opens up only with the tour boat. Here for $2.50 they will stamp your passport as well.

Finally we headed home and bet on some crab races along the way and stopped in the bar for a beer before going to the airport and heading back to Rarotonga. It was a great day. Aitutaki is a must see if visiting the Cook Islands. It is much quieter and slower than Rarotonga with population of just 1700.