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.

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.

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.

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.

I think that Fiji is turning out the be the real hub of the Pacific and most of the places I want to go to in the Pacific seem to fly in and out of Fiji. However, to get from Rarotonga to Fiji, I have to fly through New Zealand. I’m not sure it would be worth it to land in New Zealand and go to Fiji only to have to go back to New Zealand again, especially if I don’t need to do any future routes via New Zealand.

The only problem with going to New Zealand is the weather. Its winter. I have no clue what winter in New Zealand means to be honest. (Perhaps someone out there could give me a clue and compare it to winter in Minnesota) I’m certainly not prepared for cold weather, but a jacket and some other purchases should make me good to go. I’d probably want to rent a car for most of my time in New Zealand, but I haven’t really done much research on New Zealand yet. Amy is trying to help me make an efficient travel route through the rest of the Pacific, which is not an easy thing to do. Time in New Zealand should make that easier.

Geology
Like all Pacific islands, Rarotonga was created via vulcanism. You can think of islands on a continuum from the Big Island of Hawaii down to coral atolls. The Big Island is an active volcano with new land being created. Because it’s a geologically young island, there has been very little erosion and very little coral reef formation. Mauna Loa, the most active, is a classic shield volcano. As you look at older and older islands, their peeks get smaller and smaller and erosion creates dramatic valleys. Look at the next island over in Hawaii, Maui, and you can see exactly that. Peeks second only to the Big Island, but much more erosion evident, and more reefs than you will find on the Big Island.

Rarotonga is a small island which still has some evidence of the volcano which once created the island. The erosion of the volcano is very evident here. Valleys, cliffs, and needle formations are the most prominent features on the middle of the island. Unlike any of the main Hawaiian islands, Rarotonga has a a reef which is well developed and surrounds the island. As a result, there is a beach which surrounds almost the entire island and a lagoon area of about 200 yards from the beach to the reef where the water is relatively calm. Most of the surf breaks out on the reef and not on the beach.

As a result, you get the classic south pacific island white sand beach with palm trees lining the sand.

Just looking at the island, you can see how this island will one day (maybe a million years) become an atoll. The volcano will erode away and sink, the reef will grow, and all that will be left is a ring of coral and sand.

*Fun Fact* The theory of how atolls were formed was developed by Charles Darwin on the same trip to the Gallapagos where he developed his theories of natural selection. The Gallapagos, like Hawaii, are volcanically active and he was able to observe how the islands changed at they went away from the volcanic activity.

Government

The Cook Islands issue their own passports and have their own currency and stamps. They are in a state of “free association” with New Zealand. This means that New Zealand is responsible for their defense and foreign policy, but they are not part of New Zealand per se. They are not 100% independent and do not have their own seat in the UN, like other Pacific nations like Samoa, Nauru, or Micronesia. I’m not totally sure what New Zealand gets out of the deal. The US also has a country that is in free association with us and most people probably don’t know it: The Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands. (CNMI) The US free association compact with CNMI is a total scam, but that’s another post for another time.

The Cook Islands parliament building is on Rarotonga across the street from the Airport. I think they only meet briefly a few times a year.

Their currency can be exchanged 1-to-1 with the New Zealand dollar and both currencies float around freely on the island. All of the cash I got from the ATM was New Zealand dollars. I don’t know if the Cook Islands have a paper bill over $3.

One interesting thing about their coins is that many of them appear to be non-circular. I have come across a $1 coin that is almost circular with a wavy edge, and a $2 coin that is a triangle.

The exchange rate is about NZ$1 = US$0.75, which is a historic low for the Dollar.

People

They drive on the left and use Australian/NZ electrical outlets. (imagine US plugs bent inward at 45 degrees).

Its a polynesian country. The people are culturally and linguistically similar to those I met on Hawaii, Tahiti and Easter Island. I know I’ve encountered “Kapu” in the same context and spelling as you see it in Hawaii.

Everyone seems really nice. No resentment towards tourists whatsoever. When I arrived, I had a problem with my reservation. I walked from the airport to town (not that far) and some random stranger stopped to give me a lift. Hitchhiking is legal and very safe.

Everyone speaks english, usually with a New Zealand accent mixed with a polynesian accent. The degree of mixing can vary considerably.

Favorite sport seems to be rugby. Higher obesity rates here than Tahiti and Easter Island, but not as high as Hawaii. (Polynesian obesity rates are something I’ll address in a separate post some other time)

My Diggs

I’m staying at Rarotonga Backpackers. They have two facilities, one on the beach and one just up the road on the hill. I’m currently staying on the hill. Its a bit cheaper and the beach was full. The couple that owns it is very nice and they had an excellent BBQ last night with lamb and swordfish. The other residents are from all over, but mostly New Zealand and Australia. This is their “cold” season now and I guess this is the busy time for the Cook Islands.

Its a very nice place with a great location and super cheap. Something is usually going on every night. Wednesday night is an organized trip to a local bar. Fun.

If you ever fly to New Zealand and get a chance to stop over on Rarotonga, for the love of God do it. From what some people have told me, its only $150 more to do a Rarotonga stay over, especially if the dollar should ever rebound in the future.

Slight problem with hotel, but shouldn’t be an issue.

The place looks lovely.