1. Managing to lie down and watch “Desperate Housewives” ( and half of “The IT Crowd” before I was made to go to sleep ) after many hours of queing in Wellington and Auckland airport. Our 6am connecting flight ( that we got up at quarter to five for ) was delayed because of stupid fog in Auckland. We got a flight at 11am, only to be sent back to Wellington when we got there because the fog had come back. Yay.
After standing in various lines to get ready for our new flight to Raro from Auckland, we were told that that flight was also delayed. Instead of departing at quarter to ten, it was now departing at quarter to one in the morning !
Viva and I decided to go to some crummily cheap airport hotel just so we could relax for a moment. Sure – it looked like a few people had been murdered, and the driver who picked us up smelt like he had been eating a bushel of raw garlic with a chaser of teargas … but at least we got out of the freaking departure lounge for a few hours !
2. Actually arriving in the Cook Islands ! When we got to the place we were staying we crashed and slept for a good five hours or so. Woken by the cleaner who thought we had gone out.
3. About five paces out of our villa was the beach. Very nice. You could borrow kayaks and paddle around in the lagoon. I had lofty plans of kayaking out to one of the small islands nearby, jogging around it and zapping back across the water as an exercise routine. It never eventuated, funnily enough. Though I did wade across to closer of the two mini-islands ( a lot faster than I kayaked too ).
4. Sitting our Cook Island drivers licence so we could legally drive scooters while there. It consisted of driving about two hundred meters up the man road, turning around in a supermarket car-park, and driving back. I’ve had more difficulty getting drunk ( and I’m one CHEAP drunk ! ).
I was listening to some American guy in line who had failed it once by driving on the wrong side of the road. He mentioned that he knew some guy who had failed it three times in a row. The mind boggles.
5. Driving scooters. The crazy bastards don’t wear helmets there ! It was awesome ! I had a great time hooning around at 40-60km’s. I saw some pretty mental balancing acts by some of the locals. I finally started to understand why the police station had a sign saying “DOGS AND BIKES DON’T MIX !”. Truer words have not been spoken.
6. Going on a cross island hike. Some parts were pretty insanely steep – but I managed okay. Our guide was pretty cool – though I began to question some of the stories he was telling us… I believe that he met the Dali Lama and all, but there is NO WAY that guy was sixty. NO way !
Got to try some of the native chestnut which our guide has prepared ( or, in other words, boiled ) earlier. It was sort of like a waxy potato which had been boiled in a pot along with a pile of lamb chops. If offered – decline politely.
7. Umbrella drinks ! I had an umbrella drink a day. Best one – a Venetian Lemonade ( hand-squeezed lemonade, Bacardi, lemoncello and mint leaves ) at the Portifino restaurant. Nice place – they did a good pizza too.
8. Snorkelling ! That was the most amazing thing. So many bright coloured fishes ! Giant freaking clams ! Clouds of tiny fish hiding in coral ! Managing NOT to choke to death when I inhaled sea-water !
9. Being vaguely near the filming of “Survivor” ! We went on a day trip to another one of the islands (Aitutaki). We couldn’t go to where the snorkelling trip usually went because the new series of Survivor was being filmed on that side of the island – and NO-ONE was allowed to go near the freaking place.
10. While hanging around in the sun, wearing t-shirts and shorts while everyone was freezing back in Wellington was nice – I was glad to get home again, see Shadow ( who had been pretty unfriendly to Hix during his third tour of house sitting at La Casa Seraph, weirdly enough. ) and have my lost luggage returned to me after only a few hours.
