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| 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!
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| Running of the jet lag in the back yard |
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| First evening on beach |
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| Our patch of beach |
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| 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.
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| Snorkelling |
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| Spencer on watch |
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| kayaking with mummy |
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| Justin contemplating the world in his sarong on the deck |
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| It's a hard life |
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| Lunch! |
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| Trying on Daddy's flippers |
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| Leo in action |
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| No, YOU eat it! |
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| Telly before bed |
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| 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.
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| Waiting patiently for the bus |
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| Trader Jacks |
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| Contemplating life |
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| Playing at dusk |
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| Leo and Temuera have fun with the palms |
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| Time to wash the sand off |
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| Spencer and her babies |
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| View from our villa |
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| View from the deck |
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| Paddling with Daddy |
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| Leo's sand angels |
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| Spencer after a swim |
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| Off for an adventure |
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| Mmmmm...yoghurt! |
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| Stealing Daddy's possie |
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| Spencer doing the dishes |
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| Leo and his bud Temuera |
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| 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.
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| 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 60th 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!
