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- Day trip to Mala Mala island
- Nice picnic
- Snorkeled - saw blue starfish (Dave touched one - surprisingly hard), seas slugs, tiny electric blue fish, and sunset wrasse
- Swam
- Highlight: sailing on traditional catamaran - sat on front edge, trailing our toes in brilliant blue water - we each also rode on a runner - got to sail twice b/c no one else wanted to - unbelievable!
- Ben, Gill, Irene, Elizabeth + Andrea left early this morning
- Ben invited us to his place in Wallsend
- More photos of our place outside the village
- Decided to head down the mountain a day early - rode down in the truck bed w/ Julia (California), Ryan (Canada), Sarah + Heather
- Others complaining about the price they paid - up to F$250 (we paid F$165)
- Enjoyed a relaxing dinner @ Traveler's Beach Resort
- Finished The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay - amazing
- Hiked to waterfall - long hard hike (7 hrs, up + down, up+ down) - cool trees
- Hiked with Ben (UK) - 68 years old w/ bad knees - no complaints - has a girlfriend @ home (she couldn't come because she isn't retired yet)
- Great swimming @ base of falls - long bamboo poles to float on - cool water felt amazing after hot, humid hike
- Guides caught freshwater prawns + steamed them in bamboo for lunch - yum!
- After hike, played cards + Yahtzee
- Church again - 2 hrs! - not as exciting as in Avarua - talked with more kids afterward
- Midday feast @ our hosts' place - no kava in sight :) - clockwise from lower left: Ben (UK), Irene (Canada), Gill (UK), 2 Mormon dudes on mission (USA), Shannon (USA), Andrea + Elizabeth (Austria)
- Three villagers loaded our stuff into a small twin-cab pickup to head up mountain for village stay
- Picked up 2 other travellers - Dave joked that it'd be funny if one was someone from the Cooks hostel, and it was - Gillian - had a good laugh
- Stopped for provisions - booze
- Roads muddy + slick from recent rains - extra villagers pushed + stood on rear bumper to gain traction - road crew w/ tractor pulled us uphill @ one point - Dave rode rest of way in back w/ villagers - they asked him if Gill + I were both his wives
- Stopped several times on way up so one of the village guys could puke - no alcohol allowed in village, so they were getting it in while they can
- Landscape not as lush as Rarotonga - grass, small shrubs, pines - some hilltops burned clear
- Village mix of old + new - cheap metal + wood shacks - well water - TVs - pretty chickens - various dogs
- Met a few local kids - the girl in the middle (w/ very short hair) was really curious about where we were from, why we were in Fiji, where we were going
- As visitors, we have to stay outside the fence that encloses the village - moved into a bure (hut of woven bamboo) - awesome!
- Open-sided communal area for chatting/gaming/eating - hibiscus bushes are in bloom
- Guide took us to meet the chief + drink kava - Dave had to wear skirtlike wrap - heh - we didn't bring kava, so we paid the suggested $4 tribute apiece - drank it with his wife b/c chief was busy watching World Cup in his house
- Kava ritual: on your turn, clap hands once, take kava bowl, say, "Bula" to group, drink kava in one go, clap hands 3 times, hand off bowl - kava gross, tastes like weird dirt - maybe a touchy gingery - numbs your mouth - 5 rounds of kava drinking tonight - Shan had three - 2 hours total
- Arrived in Nadi around 4 am - not ready for hawkers @ airport - chosen hotel not represented, so went with rep from Traveller's Beach Resort
- Good choice: he showed us to a room, said, "Get some sleep, and come to the office when you're awake." OK!
- Nice beachfront location on a small bay facing northwest
- Raj @ the hostel's tour desk helped us set up a village stay, a day trip to Mala Mala Island, and change our departure flight
- Walked around Nadi - kind of a dump, but good samosas - saw movie Sliding Doors - post-movie ice cream
- Great fiery sunset from beach
- Dinner @ hostel
- Flight from Rarotonga to Fiji (Nadi)
- Lost this day to the International Date Line
- Walked back to waterfall pool @ end of Cross-Island Walk
- Magnificent! - had it to ourselves - clear, cool, deep water - mossy rock surrounding - great massage from waterfall - great way to wind up our time in the Cooks
- Lazy day - late breakfast - reading @ chalet
- Explored Avarua's backroads
- Hiked Cross-Island Walk from Avarua to deserted Sheraton hotel project opposite - strenuous but good
- the beginning
- On the way back, there's a native bull tied to graze near a telephone pole - Shannon says, "Hi cow" and he charges - Dave's outta there - Shannon's running for a ditch hoping the bull's line holds - it does - much ribbing of Dave for leaving Shannon to die - will not greet any more cattle
- Church Day - we never go to church, but people have been telling us it's the one thing that must be done here - wish we had brought a tape recorder!
- Scootered down to Cook Islands Christian Church - took seats in the right balcony - ladies were already singing a welcome as people came in - sermon mostly in native language, but minister read alternately from Native + English bibles
- Music ruled the day - long strong waves of harmony - men answered by women - no printed music, just lyric sheets - native language - filled the building - amazing
- Hospitality afterward overwhelming - were shown into a building next door - greeted + welcomed again - then treated to punch, coffee, and cakes
- To market in Avarua
- Good live music by all-ages group
- Lots of visiting sailboats/yachts in harbor
- Dave got his Cook Islands driver's license so we could rent a scooter - circumnavigated the island - visited the fruit stand again - good smoothies + sandwiches - advice for making coconut scones
- Two buses around Rarotonga - 1 clockwise, 1 counter-clockwise - leave every 1/2 hour from Avarua
- Took bus to southeast coast to snorkel - borrowed equipment from stand called "Fruits of Rarotonga" as suggested by Mary
- Nice snorkeling - small rainbow-colored fish called sunset wrasse, sea slug, spiny urchins, blue starfish, bluish coral
- Almost better: the fruit stand's coconut scones, served w/ butter, jam, and whipped cream - yes please!
- Flight from Hawaii to Cook Islands (Rarotonga)
- Good exchange rate (NZ$)
- Met Lily from Tiare Village Dive Hostel @ airport - went w/ her for lodging
- Tiare Village great - checked into A-frame chalet - own kitchen, etc
- Fresh fruit on the grounds - kitten Cookie
- Tour of Avarua town by Mary + Lily
- Island Night @ Staircase Restaurant + Bar - first taste of taro root - blah
- Flight from L.A. to Honolulu
- Stayed 2 nights @ H.I. hostel across from University of Hawaii - OK, not great - bought H.I. cards
- Explored downtown - Dole Factory is becoming a mall - cool tree like the one in San Francisco
- Camped 3 nights @ Ho'omaluhia Botanical Gardens - much better!!! - no people, no noise - humid + buggy, but cool plants
- Circle Island bus route - #52 to north coast, #55 back down windward coast - took forever
- Dole Plantation is a tourist trap - but good pineapple ice cream - Shannon forgets to share
- To Sunset Beach for sunset + sand crab watching
- Fruit stand w/ ripe local bananas - next door gave us some raw marinated tuna to taste - yum - new texture
- Hike to Sacred Falls
- Found public access to beach near trailhead to Sacred Falls - took a reading break under a great tree - awesome time building a sandcastle - Dave swam, then we buried his legs + let the waves dig him out
- Stayed 2 nights @ hostel in Waikiki - roommate from Kenya studying @ Hawaii Pacific University
- Left plenty to do if we return to Hawaii - get off Oahu (!) - snorkel, dive, hike, etc
