It was great to sleep in Aitutaki. Woke at 830am to find another breakfast waiting for me on my balcony table wrapped in a tea towel. Two hard-boiled eggs, two slices of white bread, butter, peanut butter, sliced paw paw and a sugar banana. I added some cheese to the toast and egg and had my first hearty brekkie in a long time. I then commenced the Aitutaki blog post, which was huge. Approx 800 photos culled down to 150. Then it was off to the airport at noon so I could be first in line to get that seat 11F for my filming. I got it. First on the scene and happy to be holding 11F in my hot little hands !!! I continued blogging until we boarded.
I had my revenge and plenty of it. The main island and surrounding lagoon looked a treat from 11F but later I was to realise that my drone had taken better shots of the lagoon than I just did from 11F. Amazing. That DJI Mini 3 Pro is a lifesaver. My previous Kiikii hotel manager David was at the airport to take me to my palatial room. He was also good enough to take me to the local store to get hot food for this evening along with water and wine. Rarotonga is so good at this. All the local people cook up hot meals, package them and take them to the local supermarkets and petrol station convenience stores. So healthy and so cheap. $8-12AUD will be you a descent sized meal of meat/fish, veggies/rice. Once at the hotel I settled down to finish off my Aitutaki post. I was so please to publish that at 8pm and settle down to a delicious beef stew with rice alongside an NZ Chardonnay. Brilliant finish to a brilliant trip to Aitutaki.
Ran at 8am the next day (6JUL) to very cool and breezy conditions. A good run. After a quick shower I started walking the 4.4km to town to get my scooter when a local guy in a huge ute stopped in front of me and offered me a lift only 400m along. This is what makes island life so good and the locals such good people. Edward was originally born in NZ of a Rarotonga dad and a Tongan mum. He came back to Raro to attend Primary & High School then decided to study Accounting & Business at Penn-State Uni in the USA – a big deal. He worked for the Raro Local Council and a bank and now runs a B&B which is why he stopped to pick me up – wants tourists to be really happy with the level of service on the island. Ed dropped me off at Avis and I picked up my scooter for only $22NZD/day. Best way to get around. It was Saturday and the local markets were booming full of food, souvenirs, local music and of course hundreds of gringos !!! I visited for a while and then headed of to the major supermarket to find hot food. Scootered the food first all home and went back for the wine. The day was very cloudy with little sun and a blustery wind. The tide was low so I decided to head back to the motel with an almond flat white ($6AUD) in hand and catch up on emails. Went through them so quickly that I decided on two movies tonight – one now before dinner and one after dinner. That night I slept late because the forecast was for rain overnight and the next morning and high tide was at 10am so no point getting up earlier.
The forecast was spot on. It absolutely bucketed down overnight and was still raining when I stirred at 830am (7JUL) so kept on sleeping until it stopped. All that heavy loud rain (roof is sheet iron) did not stop the roosters. This island is full of them and they crow all bloody day. But they are no match for my Blu-Tac (putty for hanging things up on the wall) – I stuffed so much of it in my ears that I could not even hear my heartbeat !!! I walked outside and realised that my 2km swim today would be a challenge. But not to fear. I had driven around extensively all afternoon the day before sussing out venues for my swim. I now studied Google Earth to confirm the amount of coral on the coastline and picked a spot. The day was grey, it was sprinkling (only the second day of rain so far out of 26) and I was thankful since I had completed all my filing and photos of Raro in sunshine before I flew to Aitutaki. The only main disappointment of the wet weather today was that I missed out on trekking 7km across the middle of the island to see the famous NEEDLE or pillar of basalt. The interior was engulfed in cloud and I would not see anything as well as the treacherous wet track conditions. So I stuck to putting all my energy into making my swim work despite the wind and rain. I had to make today count. Typical me. I set out at close to 10am and headed for my previous swim spot. It was a no go. The current was fierce. I met a local fisherman and sailor who had travelled on a replica wooden Polynesian outrigger to Tahiti then the Marquesas and then to Hawaii. An amazing trip of 23 days !!! He told me to stay out of the water here and endorsed the spot I had viewed yesterday and cleared on Google Earth this morning. I returned home to get my wind jacket just in case of heavy rain and off I went again. I travelled 15km to a place known as TITIKAVEKA BEACH where I entered the water and swam hard. The wind was up and I swallowed a lot of salt water but not enough to turn me back. 2.1km later I crawled out completely happy that I had defied the weather and made this day count. The swim was through a lot of washed out coral and myriads of fish so it took my mind off the conditions. Rarotonga is good in this respect. It has a coral barrier that is enterable through many sandy beaches but for a distance swimmer like me it is always hard to find a one kilometre stretch (return trip) that will be free of obstacles. Nevertheless my scooter home was defiant and I could not wait for a hot shower and hot tea.
I got back at 130pm and spent the rest of the afternoon preparing for my next destination of Wallis & Futuna. The salt water and wind had taken its toll and I could not keep my head up so opted for a 60min nap before pre-dinner drinks. Woke, wined and completed posts for the last two days before turning my attention to the first of two more movies with my scallops wrapped in cheese, olives and bubbly. What a celebration.
How about 9am for a sleep-in on 8JUL. Unprecedented and rare for me but the weather was in control. I knew it was cool enough to run later while I waited on the clouds to lift on the interior so I could hike to the famous NEEDLE just waiting for me like cotton thread !!! Before the run I decided to scooter into town to take my pick of the hot meals – they come out at 9am and you have heaps of choice. Come at lunchtime and there is likely to be none left. I chose some pork chops with veggies and chips. Made my way back to the Kiikii Inn and set out on my 3rd run in Raro. Started hard but finished fast. My fastest 10km. I was now thrilled with a run-swim-run on my second visit in this place. My bet paid off. The clouds lifted on the interior and the sun came out. I was on my scooter and off to the start of the cross-island hike via the Needle…
I parked my scooter 2.2km inland from the coast and started trekking the 1.7km to the Needle. Little did I know that the bloody path WAS A NEEDLE !!! Straight up. Almost vertical in three sections. It was like climbing the truck of a tree. The tree roots themselves helped for grip and it is a good thing I did not come here yesterday when it was wet – I would be sliding down like a giant waterworld. The interior is steep and stunning, not to mention lush and green. The Needle is a huge basalt pillar rising 35m from a ridge and whose top pierces 400m. It actually looks like a giant crouched Lion as you may see in the pics below. Loved it but was covered in mud and sweat. Trekked up here in my TEVO SCANDALS and they did a fine job – there was no way I was wearing my joggers that have no grip as I painfully discovered on a volcano in Guatemala !!!
I touched the NEEDLE and began my descent, which was as expected much harder than climbing up due to the mud from the rain yesterday. Had to hold onto roots to make my way down without twisting an ankle. Once on the scooter I headed back to Kiikii to shower before bringing the scooter home to Avis in Avarua. It was 330pm when I dripped it off and caught the 4pm island bus back to my Motel. There are two buses called CLOCKWISE and ANTICLOCKWISE and circle the island every one hour in their respective directions. Cost is $4AUD per ride irrespective of distance. When I got back to my room it was time to celebrate my last night in Rarotonga and The Cook Islands with plenty of bubbly and some local cooked foods but this time no movie – just Faulty Towers so I could sleep at 830pm ahead of a 530am wake up for Sydney !!! Yes Sydney.
Please enjoy my last post of The Cook Islands – a place definitely worth visiting as an alternative to Bali or Fiji especially Aitutaki – an undiscovered paradise…
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Last minute photos taken from my Jetstar takeoff from Capital Avarua in Rarotonga...
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