Chemtrails not working in Raratonga

Day 5

<-----One of the Locals - just hanging about! :) 

The day started well enough.  We went to breakfast as usual and - I could possibly have it let slip to the staff - totally accidental of course -  that a certain female bear has her Birthday today! 'Wink wink nudge nudge'.  So it was a surprise to her that a public announcement was made and all the guests and staff sung yet another rendition of "Happy Birthday"!  Mamabear then informs me that this is enough (of a 'remembering' and 46 hours of celebrations) to wipe "that incident" from Paris from the collective memory of the Muller tribe!  Time to let it go! 

From there we decided to hire a car after all.  Eventually got that picked up at lunchtime (Island time again) and we headed straight away to the "Public Gardens".   The "Gardens" as such are still on private land - as is all land in a local Cook Islander hands (and it can never be sold to an "outsider".)  They certainly have done a lot of plantings since they had the land. The other attraction of course was that they also had a cafe (who doesn't there at the moment?!) and so we had lunch first before strolling through the plantings.  A new fruit was on my salad plate and we had a taste - it was very bitter.  We asked what it was and surprise surprise - it was the baby-coconut-palm-tree!  The fruit - once it falls to the ground does re-seed it self and as such "eats itself" for the new growth and taking root.  Ha - that was a first - eating a baby-fruit!
The Gardens itself are an interesting set-up - or should that be lay-out?!  They had a folder on the table that showed all the flowers via pics they have taken over the years.  Still - we are there at what is essentially winter time so very little of the flowers showed!  We did however see lots of different palm trees!













A couple of ponds with various fish in it and of course some Lilies!!  Had to snap a pic and show a friend of mine!!!

From there it was on towards the "Te Ara Cook Islands Museum of Cultural Enterprise".  Very informative and the Missionaries certainly have a lot of explaining to do!  Interesting that the national flag changed colors 4 times at least - this sample being the previous one! New Zealand could learn from that!!  Anyway - just saying - the place was a ton of information and mamabear learnt that the early sailors could tell where an Island 'might be' in the Pacific by dipping their hands in the ocean and working out the changes in current (that the land mass would create ) - a knowledge that was very specific to only one person (and could not be passed on as such) - with very sensitive skin on his hands!! 

So no GPS and they still can sail around 3000km (in 800BC no less) and find the land they are looking for - no mean feat!! The other thing we learned was (thanks to Mr Google and the staff who did not know either but wanted to find out ) what the "FOTS2" meant on the local map we were carrying.  Seems it is - drumm roll please - 'ratatatatatata'  Fibre-Optic-Transmission-Service - with the number indication its location - they had 9 in total.  Presumably it is a little cabinet from which the locals get their (internet) fiber service. 

From there - on towards the main town!  We can now claim to have been once around the whole island.  We stopped for groceries and some other "liquid" supplies and  then drove back home for a home cooked meal. Very nice pasta dish!! yummm!   Before that, we caught up with the young couple next door and eventually after some friendly chat, we all ended up on beach for nice sunset and celebratory drinks. (We had to explain our 'tradition' to them! )  They probably think we are nuts - so what - who cares?!?!?!?!   Post dinner we sat outside chatting and slurping till late ! Very relaxing!!

Mamabear bringing to an end her 46 Hours of Birthday celebrations with a nice hug!  :) 

 Have fun!

Chemtrails not working in Raratonga

Day 4


The day started with a dribble of rain - great! That kept the roosters at bay - so they crowed at 6 am instead the usual 4am!  By the time we went for breakfast it cleared however and the day promised to be - as Augie Auer used to say - a "BLUE-DOME day! 

 We had booked ourselves into the Captain Tama's Lagoon Cruise (with a glass bottom boat) and were expecting a pick up from the gate!  Looking east (post school run) and - yes it was an empty road - for once!  Must be rubbish day too!!

 Eventually got there - saw the sign post that seems to crop up everywhere.  Christchurch is xxxx km urm - wait readjusts the compass - yeah - that way!!! After a short head count that is or was so typical scouting - (you know - it starts with one and next person says two and third person says three and fourth person stuffs it up so we start again . . . ) we were on our way!!

 I can vouch for the color - it is what it is - deep rich blue and the water is so clear - you can see down to the sea floor - 2 - 3 meters!  Naturally that means you can see everything - fish included!

 There are a total of 3 boats going out every day! That's about 130 people! At $79 each - hmmmm wait - uses toes as well - urm yeah literally a boat load of Cash per day!   :)   Still - you get to cruise on the glass bottom boat to the marine reserve for some awesome snorkeling with giant clams and tropical fish in the crystal clear waters of the lagoon.  Or a perfect way to explore or view the marine life through the glass bottom of the boat without actually having to get wet! An Awesome day out with a fabulous fresh fish open fire BBQ lunch, coconut tree climbing and coconut husking show,  pareu tying demonstration and the sounds of the NSA string-band on Motu Koromiri. Ah you get the sales pitch - right?!

 The Food was tremendous! Fried Banana with sauteed onions and everyone got a fish-steak! Along with bread and 3 salads and some fresh fruit.
The Coconut husking/peeling demo was fun to watch and informative - oh and the urm pareu tying demo was kinda R18 - at times, perfectly innocent! Lots of laughter.

 On the way back they asked who is from where and eventually lastly - who has a birthday! So I made Mamabear put up her hand and she was lucky - one other person - so the whole boat sung to them "Happy Birthday" - she told me afterward it was a bit embarrassing! :P :)  Ha - little did she know what else was to come - hmm later! With regards to her Birthday - she had two wonderful days of 'birthdays' in Rarotonga! All of 46 hours!!!!!  Because it is on the other side of the international date line it was actually her birthday in NZ one day and then Rarotonga the next day!

One of the attraction for many is the snorkeling thing or should that be floating among the hungry fish?!?!?!  I flagged it, as without glasses I am half blind and with glasses my water-mask always fills up - so hmmm may have to get inventive if I want to take it up more seriously!

 Looking back to the main Island and Nuri - which seems to develop into its own little Tourist hub!

 The beach round the reef is pretty much the same - it looks sandy and in some ways it is - it is just very coarse or grainy. We did  not see many sea-shells lying around so figured it was more like smashed up parts of the old reef!!

 The only turtle we saw! We also missed the big eel - - - apparently it is  an ugly looking beast!

 Being one of her birthdays we decided to take it easy and chilled out in the sun in the late afternoon - then walked to Coco-put next door! A short stroll of no more then a few hundred meters - practically a next door section!  A good game of mini-golf was been had - we will not divulge the final score - suffice to say Mamabear lost - as expected!  Did have a few giggles though!  The meal was great and good choice and - yes - they also did Garlic bread (which I must rate and blog and so forth . . . .  .) 

Theoretically you can do the night Golf - under lights - as the place is open till late (which just means they close whenever they feel like)  and the sun does set by 6.25pm!




Night


PS - as mentioned before - no '0800sunnytourist'  program was engaged - so this is all natural perfectly normal sun-shine! yusssss


Have fun!

Chemtrails not working in Raratonga

Day 3

 <---- Our Bus stop!!

As you can see - the rain from the previous day washed away anything and everything in the atmosphere and Raratonga lived up to it's repudiation - Blue-skies!!! We were still without transportation - so figured (being Monday and all) that we would catch the local bus into town.  First we had to get our head around the fact there are two (only) buses - with one going clock (and the other going ) ANTI-clockwise round the Island.Then they come round only on the hour or so - at different times (remember Island times too) !  The trip into town itself took only about 20 minutes - and proofed to be eventful!  Christchurch people will understand when we mention POT-holes!  The road around the Island (apart from the actual main town) is in general bad repair!  We did actually see a road crew coming along and lay down a bit of grit! Anyhow - a small part was so bad the bus literally swung side-ways up and down - it almost made me sea-sick just looking out the front window.  We joked that the traffic speed limit (set at 50km/hr) is not so much a limit as a safety net - any faster and the road would catapult you out - sideways! :) The funny part was that on that very same day the local Raratonga'n News Paper run a comic strip commenting in a rather funny way on the quality of the road! Well done!!!

We stomped round town - found souvenir shops (and YUSSSS two badges for me) and other supplies and goodies.  We worked out were the Sat market will be and found one of the locals running a carving shop there - so stopped there and had a good chat about local timbers and woodwork (yes he had a rather very very very nice Coconut-tree bowl which was sadly beyond our price range) and also about importing things to NZ - as well as general stuff concerning the Cook Islanders (water and electricity etc)! From there we found a local Mum & Pop shop for lunch - very lovely meal!  After that it was back to the Lagoon Breeze Lodge via the Bus- and hopefully for a swim in the lagoon.  Sadly the tide was out so very low water - so ended up in the pool instead (and were surprised -filled with sea-water as fresh water is being a rare commodity)




No breeze so a good time to experiment with the reflections!  Still got that Blue Sky!!!

Happy hour proofed to be - lonely.  We were the only two people there - with everyone taking advantage of the sun-shine!!! No matter - we enjoyed the cocktails, just do not ask me what exactly we had!

As you can see - the old girl did enjoy her drink!!


















With the clear sky in sight - we decided that after dinner we head to the beach and see what it is like in terms of stars etc.  Sadly, during transit, our airline seemed to have busted my tri-pod in two places,  - even though it was wrapped up well in my suitcase. Luckily for me I always carry some rope with me these days (old scouting thing) for any emergency or whatever! Thus I found out that my scouting skills in lashings and whippings and tie things-up etc are still current and I managed to stabilize the broken three-legs! Although I could no longer extend the legs! Still not bad for an old geezer?!?!?!

Off to the beach we went and settled in for the evening - local dogs are everywhere and are friendly enough.  This one took an exceptional interest in my setup - and his head mimicked mine - going from side to side!! So funny!!!

The sun is setting - so we did our usual thing - saluted with a glass of 'special' drink! You can see the reef being exposed still from low tide!

It is dark by 6.30pm and being a small Island there is not much light pollution - THUS the stars are out in full force - perfect! One can understand how the early Polynesian sea-seafarers did all their navigating!
 I had a great time mucking round with exposures and time-lapses and framing up and getting it just so . . . .  (although just noticed that the Southern Cross is partly blocked by the Coconut tree - hmmmmm)

 Night all!

Have fun!

Chemtrails not working in Raratonga

Day 2

Surprise surprise - the local Rooster decided to crow at around 4 am - and promptly failed to stop and kept going nonstop till 8am!  This would turn out to be a recurring theme! Sighs.  The chooks do seem to roam freely. Eventually we worked out that there must be more chicken then humans on the island - no small feat given that the road around the outside is only 32km long.  Cut a long story short - we eventually left our nice comfy if somewhat large bed and headed of to the "common" room under the eaves and settled for breakfast - lots of cereals to choose from as well as tropical fruits!  Always added a sliver or two of freshly cut Coconut!! Seeing it was Sunday and we still did need a few supplies, we did find out, that there was ONE Super market on the Island that was going to be open - all of 5km walking distance away! So on came my walking shoes and off we went after the usual clean up etc. 
Part of the reason for visiting the Cook Islands for us was, that it seemed to be the favorite haunt for Mamabears parents, certainly her Dad! I think he went there 15 times.  Lol - I should go and count his shirts - one from each year he visited!

Still - seeing that Mamabear decided to follow the old geezers footsteps she promptly took a fall (to Terra firma) - and ever so slowly laid herself on the ground (nothing to do with the fact she could not heck a 5km hike - rather she ought to have worn PROPER shoes!!!)  She was suitably embarrassed, thankfully tough not to bruised - just a few skin grazes! Since then she is known as my 'fallen woman' ! !   :)
Anyhow - we got there - got our supplies and then - you guessed it 5 km back! Pleased to say her grandad impression was a one off!!! The weather forecast was true to form -  It looked like rain.  It started to drizzle by the time we got back to our Cave - so decided (Sunday and all) to take things easy and catch up on rest and sleep and book reading! A N D   down the rain came! Almost made me wish to have rung the "0800sunnytourist" number.  Readers from previous blogs will recall that I am part of a very secret hush hush NZ sanctioned and testing program that uses regular Air NZ flights to spray "ANTI-cloud" material high up into the local atmosphere, so that we have perfect blue skies - perfect for our Tourists.  Only problem with the Cook Islands is that it is a end destination for Air New Zealand in-itself, thus no overflight occurs!  Thus no point in starting the process as they cannot spray 'stuff' sufficiently high enough.  Ah well - the weather will be what it will be! It meant that we did have a semi-cool walk back! The promised thunder and lightning however were disappointing - only heard a faint rumble once or twice.  Probably more on the other side of the Island and shielded by the hills in the middle.   

Mamabear requested a certain amount of meals out - so we booked ourselves into a nice place.  We were told that they would pick us up and to be at reception by 6.30pm - so we turned up 6.17pm - and waited and waited. We came to appreciate "Island Time"!  By 7 pm still no sign of anyone.  Eventually a couple of folks came  to reception too - turns out they were also booked into same Restaurant (for 7.30pm) - so we figured about wires crossed and we would eventually get there - which we did - at 7.50pm!  Ha- Island time - hmmmmm  Not funny!!!  Meal was nice though and filling.  Mamabear wanted a dessert - so she got it - and as you can see did not want her picture taken as 'evidence'.  It still rained on and off so no late night strolling along the beach.  We fell into our super-super sized bed by 10pm - hoping that the Roosters stay quiet for once . . . .






Have fun!

Chemtrails not working in Raratonga

Day one

We were a bit lucky, in that Mamabear received a travel voucher for up to a certain amount from her place of work ( a 'reward' for long service)  - which enabled us (with a bit of our own $$$'s added to it ) to book a weeks leave in the Cook Islands.
We have never been there before! Mamabears parents have been there 2 or 3 times and then after Mum passed away Dad used to go on its own there many times - like every second year!  He bought a new shirt every year - so If I go and count those we would know for sure how often he managed to part with his savings!!

It certainly seemed to be a nice and relaxing place - and - surprisingly - a place for firsts.  Mamabear astounded that they would hire a scooter and explore the Island on those.  (And in those days N O helmets were required!!!) There is also an image of Mum "frolicking" in the sea - something the girls have never seen her doing!!

The Last trip Dad made was on his 80th Birthday and he seemed to have a good time celebrating with the staff and guests.  Rachel bought him the Tee-shirt and it should prove to be prophetic! It was indeed his last trip. 
So in a way - it was a trip for us as much as in finding out what the attraction for them was as well as for us to be relaxing and taking opportunity of a leg up to get there. 





Planning started in earnest a while ago and eventually the big day came.  Y a w n  - a 3.30 am start to catch a flight from Christchurch to Auckland. Once there, there was not a lot of time to muck around and we walked to the International Terminal briskly in order to not miss the connecting flight! Though myself managed to catch a very quick pancake at Macca's for my brekkie, before boarding the flight to Rarotonga.

4 hours flight time - and I forgotten how to sit still that long, eventually feeling my back going stiff and sore! Still - blue sky all the way.  Mamabear was a bit worried if and how the plane can find this  tiny island in this huge and mostly empty ocean!!! No worries if you are having a GPS!
We got greeted like royalty and picked up and delivered to our new home for a week all ok.  Noticed the heat compared with Christchurch - a 25 degree difference! Oh and the Sun and blue sky so rich in color!   We unpacked and headed for "happy hour"  followed with an evening stroll, to find the local beach and also  a local diary and takeaway.

Arriving on a Saturday, we found that all shops had closed by late afternoon and of course were going to be shut on Sunday as well and we needed some supplies, which proved to be a bit of a challenge.   Luckily there was a Takeaway / Petrol station and Diary 1km down the road that was open so we strolled there.  Found  no one in the Takeaway to take orders for a meal.  While Mamabear waited for someone to show - I strolled into the nearby diary to see what food can be bought - eventually got 2 bottles of wine and also found a roasted chicken (sealed in a bag)  so flagged our takeaway and bought that instead - to have it consumed along with a bit of bread on the beach across the shops - along with a romantic sunset setting (need good camera to take decent pics).

Al Fresco  Dinning at it's best - yuss!

Early-ish to bed after the early morning.  It gets dark by 6.30pm and we had a starry night initially with the promised clouds rolling in blanking out the Milky way!!  The bed was large enough for aircraft carrier landings - and you need to send telegram to MB if I want to talk with her.

 :P
 :)
good night!

 The Cellphone did struggle to take a decent shot of the sunset!!










 

 The outdoor BBQ area - should we want to do the outdoor cooking thing!

PS. Before we left for our trip - I did think about dialing into the "0800sunnytourist" system - but flagged it - more on that later!!

Have fun!

Luck and Mythical Chemtrails

I count myself as being very lucky!

Lucky - that I found and was able to marry my Kiwi Girl!
Lucky - that I am able to travel a bit and see the rest of New Zealand!
Lucky - that my guardian angle looks after me (my brother Manfred who passed away far to soon)
Lucky - that I was able to participate in the "0800sunnytourist" NZ Government program!  (sshhhhh - it is still a secret!)

Recently we had a long weekend away in Tekapo and while the weather forecast was for mixed weather - it ended up with a clear sky and very sunny - even though I had deliberately  N O T  dialed the '0800sunnytourist' number and requested a NZ developed ANTI-cloud spraying program to be used on this day!
Result - we see Mount Cook in all its glory and as is longstanding tradition - we 'saluted' the Mountain with a glass of bubbly - for being such a good sport.

Local folks will tell you it is rather a rarity - normally it is either fully or often just the top part covered with clouds, thus you can only see the lake and perhaps the bottom part - IF at all!  So we added up the trips I have made passed here with various people at various times and got past 18 events. And every time - I have seen Mount Cook.  Not every time as glorious as this one, - once even very lucky that the thick fog lifted just at the time we were there - an hour earlier it was still a white out! Still - yet to see it shrouded.  So yeah I feel very lucky and special in that regard! Moral of the story - hmmm I should be a bus tour driver - I could make lots of $$ from happy tourists . . . . .

Have fun!