Rarotonga, Cook Islands

Waiting at LAX for our flight

Wow, what a pleasure to arrive on the island after our last long haul flight of 9.45 hrs.  The tropical heat that hits you as you step out of the plane and onto the run way is great.  Justin and I came here a few years ago and it was just the same, welcomed with flowers and an old guy singing to a ukulele – BRILLIANT.

Justin organised the accommodation for this part so I was quite interested to see how it was going to turn out (he doesn’t have a great track record for things working out to plan….).  Our shuttle dropped us off at this beautiful two bed roomed villa right on the beach which was fantastic.  We couldn’t believe our luck for getting something at such a great price.  I told Justin he had totally redeemed himself in my eyes and we settled in quickly, went for a swim, had a sleep and geared  up to start our first BBQ ……when the owner arrived and told us we were in the wrong house!  We were supposed to be in the studio next door! 

Running of the jet lag in the back yard

First evening on beach

Our patch of beach

Paradise

It wasn’t so bad, still a lovely studio and although we had less room (lets be honest anything is going to be the Hilton after our camper hahah!) we had a better view of the sea, more lawn for the kids to play on and more importantly AIR CON.

The snorkelling in Rarotonga is fabulous but we felt we were on such a great part of the lagoon (you can see the reef and waves pounding on it in the distance) because the snorkelling was great but it was also so kid friendly and we had our own little walk way down to the sand.  Spencer and Leo were in absolute heaven and it was great to watch them unwind and enjoy the sun and water.

Snorkelling

Spencer on watch

kayaking with mummy

Justin contemplating the world in his sarong on the deck

It's a hard life

Lunch!

Trying on Daddy's flippers

Leo in action

No, YOU eat it!

Telly before bed

Our Villa

Justin did a lot more snorkelling than me and saw sting ray (the first time he saw one he had to perch on some coral to get his breathing under control), moray eel, sea turtle, parrot fish, needle fish, lobster, sea horse…the list goes on.  The villa provided all snorkelling gear and wave ski’s so it was just great.  If you are planning on staying there I fully recommend you use www.vaivillas.com , very reasonable and there is a supermarket and internet hotspot right across the road so you don’t even have to hire a car/scooter. 

Waiting patiently for the bus

Trader Jacks

Leo snoozing on the way home, some poor guy holding his legs

We went into town one of the days, you can catch the bus for $4.  There is only one road around the whole island so you either catch the “clockwise bus” or the “anti-clockwise bus” depending on where on the island you are.

We had a great lunch at Trader Jacks which has only changed a little bit since it was washed away in that hurricane and did a bit of browsing.  Things are slightly more expensive on the island but I must say it was nice to start seeing some NZ brands again.

Leo doing his thing

Leo made friends with some local boys who lived next door.  Temuera and Ropati (3 and 6 yrs old) were gorgeous and the toy swapping that went on was wonderful for Leo.  They had a great time on the beach and at each other’s houses for most of our trip.  We also had some great kiwi neighbours named Sovita and Jeremy on the other side of us visiting on holiday (staying in what we thought was our palace!) with a lovely wee 2 year old girl Kennedy so we spent a great few afternoons on the beach with all the kids having a yarn about life.

Contemplating life

Playing at dusk

Leo and Temuera have fun with the palms

Time to wash the sand off

Spencer and her babies

View from our villa

View from the deck

Paddling with Daddy

Leo's sand angels

Spencer after a swim

Off for an adventure

Mmmmm...yoghurt!

Stealing Daddy's possie

Spencer doing the dishes

Leo and his bud Temuera

Neighbourhood kids (Kennedy, Ropati, Temuera, Spencer, Leo)

Each day consisted of swimming, playing in the sand and eating and of course the obligatory wines so it was such a great way to decompress after our travels.  It went by all to fast though and before we knew it we were packing our bags and looking to board our last international flight of the trip back to Aotearoa.

Our last sunset

Although we are sad to say goodbye to our holiday we are refreshed and ready to get home and see everyone and also to kick start our lives again.  Leo can’t wait to start Daycare again and see his mates and poor old Spencer needs her immunisation jabs.  A few days after we are back we fly to Wellington for my Aunty Ali’s 60^th so we have that to look forward to.

Thank you Rarotonga for being such a great place to unwind and finish off our world trip, we will definitely be back!

Vancouver, Canada

Because of our extra luggage we had the choice of paying for the luggage or upgrading to First Class where our luggage would be free.  The difference in cost was minimal so we travelled First Class to Vancouver…it was brilliant.  It’s only a 3 hour flight but we were so comfortable.  The kids did really well especially with all the room we had and Spencer made a little friend in the girl the seat ahead of us so they played quite happily with stickers and such.

We got a great view of Vancouver on the way in, a lovely city that sits between mountains and sea and the autumn colours were breath-taking.  Pure reds and yellows.  We stayed in an airport hotel but the Sky Train goes straight from the airport into the city so we planned on taking a look around.  We had been invited to stay at John and Debbie’s in Victoria (the great couple we met in San Francisco) but the kids were just getting over colds and Spencer especially was still miserable.  The weather turned nasty and although we can handle rain, when it is combined with the cold temperatures and sick kids we decided that sticking around the immediate vicinity was better than trying to trek with the kids so we reluctantly turned the offer down.  It was a shame because we were looking forward to seeing them again and having a look around Victoria which sounds lovely.  It’s another reason for us to return one day.

Downtown Vancouver

We took the train into the city and tried to have look around the waterfront but the weather was atrocious.  We noticed on the subway (Vancouver only has two lines) that lots of people were wearing work clothes etc with GUMBOOTS and that should have been our first clue.  The streets were sodden and the rain was incessant it just didn’t stop.  So we ran from shelter to shelter trying to keep the kids dry and in the end gave up and headed home.  It was hard to get an idea of down town, seems a lot like Auckland actually.

Gumboot capital

Harbour and ferries

The next day was slightly better and we headed for uptown, this was a short ride on the Sky Train and then a nice walk through David Lam Park up towards Granville Island.  Crossing the Granville Bridge gives you a great view of the city, the harbour and the mountains beyond and then on Granville Island they have great markets.  The first one is a Kids Market which has playgrounds and toy shops for Africa.  Leo had earned his 10 stickers so he chose a cool robot for his toy and Spencer got a funny hour glass toy that she was fascinated with.  We had a great lunch and then headed to the other market which is in a huge warehouse and has everything you can think of…cheese, deli, veggies, coffee, wines, crafts, spices, icecreams, biscuits, fish, chocolate…the senses are almost overwhelmed and it was awesome to look around and get some ideas for what Auckland doesn’t have.

Wrapped up for day ahead..

Autumn colours in David Lam Park

View of harbour from Granville Bridge

Uptown apartments

Mummy and Leo keep warm

Granville Island markets

Looking back at city

We caught a cute little ferry back to the train station, it’s only big enough for about 6 people and the kids had a brilliant time hanging over the side and touching the water which was FREEZING.  It was a great day and gave us much more of a feel for Vancouver for sure.

Leo and Mr Robot who lasted 5 minutes

Hanging off the ferry

Uptown marina

The Sky Train is a driverless train so we sat up the front so Leo “could drive” and he had a blast thinking he was in control, taking the train up and down hills and into tunnels.  Unfortunately however he was on such a high that he raced off the train without his treasured robot…bye bye robot.  He was very upset but forgot about it all pretty quickly when he got home to his other toys, life is so simple for a 3 year old. 

Leo the train driver

It’s a bit disappointing not to see more of Canada as we had first planned but seeing how cold it is here (and wet) it was absolutely the right decision not to bring the kids up here with the camper.  We vow to come back!

Airport action - Justin catching up on important news