We are also trying to get back in to the rhythm of things which is always hard after hols and Derek has a lot of stuff to do, re-arranging presentations etc so while he is busy doing that, I have been cooking, sorting the freezers and getting them ready to fill with cooked food for Derek to re-heat when he needs to while I am in the UK for six weeks (not until July I know but it will be here before I know it). He is so easy to feed it is not a hard task!
I have also finished my NZ themed quilt which is all aquas, lime greens and sandy colours which are the colours of this region in Spring and Summer and I am very pleased with it. It took about a month of hand quilting in the evenings but is worth the effort.
I finished piecing another one yesterday which is very bright and cheery and am starting to quilt another now, keeps me out of trouble in the evenings I suppose!
So for the brave amongst you, let me take you on holiday with us!
We left here a week on Friday, the 4th April I think, to fly from Queenstown to Auckland on their last flight of the day at 4.45 and got us there about 6.30pm. As we booked this through a Travel Company they booked us in to a hotel for the night as we couldn't fly out until 9.30 am the next day. So after a quick Kentucky burger at the airport we picked up our bags and walked out of the doors to the hotel right in front of us, the Novotel. And what a great hotel it is. In the foyer by the bar, it has one of those living walls about twenty foot high full of plants which was quite spectacular.
The flight to Rarotonga was good, about three hours forty five minutes so time to watch a couple of films. I watched 'The Book Thief' as I had read the book, a nice film but not brill and not true to the book entirely which always annoys me. Glad I saw it though as the children who are the stars in it were very good. I also watched 'The Railway Man' with Colin Firth, an absolute must and not what I thought it was going to be. It was so good but a harrowing so won't say anything else, you will have to make up your own minds. It certainly left an impression on me at 36,000 feet up in the sky!
Anyway, we landed to rain, not a good sign but then rain in the tropics never lasts that long and it didn't. It was just on and off showers. And it has to be said that the Cyclone season had not ended yet and it was proved with Cyclone Ita causing havoc over the Soloman Islands to the north west while we were there then in to Australian Northern Queensland, doing lots of damage in both places and over twenty deaths in the Solomans.
Because of the time of year, it was a little breezy while we were in the islands, very welcoming as the temperature was in the high 20's the whole time we were there. The down side was that the sea in the reef was choppy all day which meant we couldn't see the coral and fish unless you had a snorkel and mask on but that was OK. Did get a good photo of one of the lovely blue starfish though.
Derek got so comfy the first evening, he fell asleep on his chair!!
Next day we woke to the sound of the ocean crashing against the reef and bright sun, phew! So time to get on the bus, the clockwise one, and head in to town to get Derek's licence renewed at the Police Station so that we could hire a scooter again and for me to go round the Saturday market. Yes, we are doing Saturday again as the Cook Islands are 22 hours behind NZ as we crossed the International Date Line therefore arrived before we left!!!! and gained an afternoon of our five day holiday which is a bonus.
These little ones are so cute and must learn at a very early age. Trying to get our Western hips to move like theirs is nearly an impossibility! It must be good exercise too and keeps them fit but islanders love to eat, it is their favourite pass time and the majority of them are on the large side but then they think that is beautiful, why would you want to look at a skinny person!! Good place to go and live then for most of us, we would blend in nicely!! They are such nice people, not pushy or in your face as in some tourist places. It only started to get tourists here in the 1990's so was a late starter and they just let you be yourself which is lovely. |
We drove back in to town, Avarua, in the early evening to go to Trader Jacks to eat. It is such a nice place on the beach and the I had swordfish which was the fish of the day (we ate lots of fish) though Derek had pizza and it was huge!
TTFN xxx