Aukland and Waihiki Island

Made it to NZ, and the city of Auckland. Kind of a blend between Seattle and San Francisco. Nice, clean waterfront city. The picture above is from our hotel window. We are staying in a neighborhood that I would equate to "NW 23rd Ave".....lot's of shops and good restaurants. 

Spent the first day getting oriented, and visiting with Dean's friend Sean..who now lives in Auckland with his wife and daughter. Had breakfast with them this morning.

Hopped on a ferry to Waihiki Island. The weather got rainy...but after a few glasses of vino all was well. The island reminds me of the San Juan/Napa/Willamette Valley all rolled into one.

 We tasted some amazing wines....Tomorrow we are off to the Bay of Islands- Coromandel and Waitomo.

Cyclone

A cyclone is on it's way to the Cook Islands..heading straight for Raro...which is where we are...sitting in the airport...all day. The good news is that our flight to Aukland, NZ is supposed to make it....Nothing like sitting out a Cyclone...It has been pouring rain and very windy. The schools were closed down, and the boats were literally picked up and moved out of the harbor. It is sort of like "Storm Watch 2009"...when snow comes to Portland. Big time panic. The last one they had was in 2005....and it apparently was a whopper.

On to NZ....for drier weather (we hope) and less humidity. Ready to see sheep instead of goats...and eat beef instead of tuna, tuna, tuna....and use napkins...whenever we want! (Napkins are like gold in the Cook Islands...you can never get one)...I also look forward to recovering from sun rash and swollen lips (allergy to tropical fruits) Not complaining mind you..but a few of you wanted to hear the bad parts..so there it is....See you in Auckland!

Teking lagoon tour....

Today we did a lagoon tour. Lot's of snorkeling....in an amazing lagoon. Saw purple and blue coral, another eel, a HUGE scary looking fish that we were told to "swim away from". Had an amazing lunch with all the local foods...taro, coconut, tropical fruits, tuna (I'm turning into a tuna)....and then the rain came. A true tropical storm....we are still drying out....but a good day...and our last in Aitutaki....off to New Zealand tomorrow.....

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Bar bill and a bit of scuba....

Last night we went out for drinks at the "fancy" place down the street....wow. Now, our place is fancy...but this is fancy on steroids. 

Not a single soul on the place...just Dean and I. We wracked up a $72 bar bill....four drinks = $72....yes....ouch. No more fancy pants for us. Had a great dinner after at Tupunu's Cafe....basically ate in someones yard. We like that much better! ;) 

Scuba dived this morning for the first time since our freezing cold open water...which was horrid. 

We saw turtles, barracuda  ghost coral....swam through a cave and a wreck..

Nobody looks "good" diving. Nobody...

Private Island

Hi from Aitutaki...yesterday we kayaked out to our own private island. It was quite a haul. Guess I have lost my paddling arms..dang it! 

On the island Dean decided to husk and crack open a coconut. Not an easy feat. The groundskeeper on Raro had shown us how to do it...but then he had a machete and years of experience! Dean had a sharp piece of wood and no experience. Nice to know we could at least survive off of coconuts if we had to! Last night we went to an island bbq...delicious. Sat right by the water and watched the fish jump. Today we hiked to the high point of the island...and plan to relax...Tomorrow is scuba...then lagoon cruise! We leave for NZ on Thursday....

Aitutaki

Yesterday we flew to the island of Aitutaki...on to the honeymoon portion of the trip!

We arrived into the lap of luxury, Etu Moana. It is amazingly beautiful....white sand beach, beautiful
pool...and we have views of each from our villa.

The villa is teak, with a thatched roof. It is fully equipped and even has a private outdoor shower. We may not ever leave the villa!

 We started our first night with a walk down the beach to dinner at a nearby resort and on the way found an eel thrashing around in the shallows (right by our bare feet)...it managed to swallow an entire fish whole- note the picture above. Fun. Immediately blew off the idea of an evening swim...:) We plan to kayak to some private islands this afternoon, and then have a BBQ on the beach. More to come- diving...hiking....lagoon cruise.

Cross Island Track

Yesterday we hiked across the island with "Pa"...a native of the Cook Islands...a jack of all trades... acupuncturist, speaks six languages, saves lives, hikes across the island 5-7 days/week with a huge pack on his back at age 70. Also makes the BEST sandwiches in the world. Yum. The hike was amazing. A little over 2 miles in length...but ugh....he's had 39 people collapse from heart attacks.

At the top was an amazing rock with face carvings on it. Dean and I were very tempted to start bouldering. I'm sure Pa could have carried us down had we fallen..:) He's climbed it without ropes numerous times. At the end of the hike we took a quick waterfall dip which felt amazing. Today I'm recovering from "stairmaster" legs...

Cook Islands- Fishing

On our way in... just a little sweaty.
Bill and I went fishing on Wednesday. We hired a guy to take us out to fish for tuna and wahoo. As you can see from the photos we had a good day. Bill caught 3 tuna, I caught 2 tuna and a wahoo, and our guide Moko caught one Tuna. At one point we had 3 tuna on all at once so we were all fighting fish at the same time. Moko was also steering the boat and took a phone call from his wife...it was pretty funny he said "um, honey we have 3 fish on right now, I need to call you back." I had no idea how much of a fight a huge tuna can put up. I'm still sore as I type this.

Cook Islands

0630 - Landed in Raro. Waited 45 minutes for shuttle- man on our shuttle lost baggage worth 20K (carry on for us!). Drove around island to Bill and Carolyn's resort. Bill and Carolyn greeted us with eggs scrambled with Gouda, fried potatoes, fresh mango/papaya/passion fruit.....yum! Girls walked beach...Kayaked out to island..snorkeled for hours...saw sea anemones, sea slugs, sting ray, flounder...Boys gathered mangoes, coconuts, papaya from the resort trees......ate Fish and Chips on beach...Finished the night with pineapple juice and rum by the pool......asleep....LONG DAY!

Had lunch at outdoor gardens...tried rose apple...cashew fruit...

Dean got Raro license and motorcycle! (yes..helmets for us..safety first)

Ran Raro Hash...from mountain to beach...no beer checks...ugh

Checked in to Makayla Palms

Got groundskeeper to cut open coconut...ate meat and drank the milk..

Things can be expensive here but they can be cheap if you know how to work it. There is amazing fruit that grows basically wild all around us. Bananas, mangoes, passion fruit, coconut (but those are a pain to open) papaya....to name a few. You just walk out to the trees, decide what you want to eat, and pick it.

Seafood is also relatively inexpensive. Trish and I decided that we can live on fresh fruit and seafood NO PROBLEM :)

Backpack before and after....

Here it all is....laid out on the bed...and magically it all fits! Tried it on, and it really isn't too bad. Have packed heavier for a 2 day backpacking trip!

Trish's stuff (minus Greta)

Dean's stuff

All packed and ready to go!

Travel Itinerary

1/17 Cook Islands

1/28 Aukland, New Zealand

2/28 Sydney, Australia

3/28 Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

4/9 Hong Kong

4/14 USA!

5/3 Tokyo, Japan

5/18 Bangkok, Thailand + Cambodia

6/30-7/5- Borneo for the World Interhash

7/5 Greece + Turkey + Croatia

9/18-9/28- Munich, Germany for Oktoberfest with Jessi and Tyler!

9/28 USA!

Octoberish- South Africa, Seychelle Islands, Victoria Falls, Safari

Decemberish- Back to USA for Christmas!