Daily Travel Photo - Rarotonga, Cook Islands

I took this at the harbor in Rarotonga. While I was in Rarotonga, it was mostly overcast and raining so I didn’t get to take many photos. This photo gives you can idea how lush the island was and how small it is. You can drive around the entire island in about an hour on a scooter.

Daily Travel Photo - Rarotonga, Cook Islands

The parliament building of the Cook Islands. Located strategically across the street from the airport. Ample parking available.

Daily Travel Photo - Rarotonga, Cook Islands

The beach on the South East corner of the island of Rarotonga, Cook Islands

Episode 1: Tattoo

Buh Bye Cook Islands

I’m leaving Rarotonga in a few hours. I’ve enjoyed my time, but I’ve basically spent the last two weeks with overcast skies and rain. I leave here with a very sore right ass cheek (which I got from sitting in an inflatable dive boat going over rough seas), a cut on my right index finger (from diving), a sting from a small jellyfishy or something on the knuckle of my right index finger and my left arm, and a scrape on my right leg from falling over on my scooter (it wasn’t moving, I just fell over).

I’ve also lost my international drivers license. I don’t know what the hell happened to it. I’m pretty careful about my stuff because I don’t have much of it and losing anything is a big deal, but I can’t find it. I hope I’m not screwed when I land in Auckland.

I’m All Wet

What is the wettest thing in the world?

SCUBA diving in the rain.

It has rained almost non-stop for 2 days and it doesn’t appear to want to let up. Today we went out in the boat and the rain hitting my face hurt when the boat was moving. My body was in water for almost two and a half hours straight. My fingers are still like prunes.

I got to dive in a cave today which was interesting. I also finished my advanced open water certification. I don’t think I’ll be diving for a few weeks. I’ll wait till I’m in Fiji to dive again. Not many spots in NZ and the diving is Fiji should be much better and cheaper.

I hope tomorrow my internet situation is better in New Zealand. I have photos and such, but haven’t been able to upload.

Raro Winding Down

My time in Rarotonga is winding down. I’m ready to move on. I did two more dives today (Monday) and will do one more tomorrow to finish my advanced certification.

Thanks to all the advice I’ve gotten from everyone about New Zealand. I think I have a base plan of attack for NZ. I’ll have to rent a car obviously. Lots of Kiwis here and many of them suggest renting a camper van. I guess its cheap and common to do. Not like getting an RV in the US.

I’m becoming pretty good at driving on the left. I saw a dog killed about an hour ago while I was on my scooter. It wasn’t pretty. Like Easter Island, they are all over the island running free. It was raining and I pulled over to put on my raincoat when car came past me and hit the dog. I heard it more than saw it. If I hadn’t pulled over, I might have hit the dog on my scooter or maybe the dog might have moved. Who knows.

I’ve been eating in more and more preparing my own means. Its cheaper and more efficient. There really isn’t much in the way of local food. They have an equivalent of Poisson Cru that I tried. They call it Ika Matu. Same thing, still pretty good.

In NZ I think I’ll keep with making my own food. They eat a lot of lamb/mutton there, so I might take adavantage of that and grill my own. It’s not something you eat that often in the US.

My internet access has been spotty and will be till I hit NZ. I’ll have photos of my Rarotonga stay then.

Undar Zee Deep Blu Oshan

Yesterday I did two SCUBA dives. Unfortunately, I don’t have an underwater camera and I can’t take photos, which is a shame because its some of the most remarkable stuff I’ve seen so far.

We dove off of a boat, which was the first time I’ve done that. I got to fall backwards off the edge just like James Bond. Fun stuff.

My first dive was a deep dive at 30m (about 100 feet). I really go through air fast. I was the first one who had to get to the surface because of low air. The fish and inverts are so much larger than anything I’ve ever seen. I’m used to seeing sea cucumbers in aquariums that are about the size of a cucumber. These were the size of my legs (both combined). I saw a giant clam which was probably 4 feet across. Spiny sea urchins which were the size of a beach ball.

After going back to shore to get the second tanks, we dove down the wreck of the Maritime Reefer at about 20m. Inside the wreck is a giant moray eel known as King Toby. It was very cool to say the least. Once again, I had to surface first because I was low on air. What can I say, I likes me air.

The only sun I’ve seen since I’ve been here was while I was on the boat. Just my luck I’d be underwater for it. If it doesn’t clear up, I might do another two dives and I’ll have 4/5 of my dives for my Advanced Open Water Diver certification done. I did my dives with The Dive Center in Rarotonga. Its run by a German couple and they did an excellent job.