Rarotonga, Cook Islands

Welcome to paradise. After a lovely stop at home, we are back out and at it. Our flight from L.A to the Cook Islands went very well. The boys slept for most of the 9.5 hour flight and we have 2 extra sets of hands on deck. Stepping off of that plane into the sticky hot heat of the island was a bit of a shock.

With our bags out quick and a taxi transfer waiting for us in the arrivals (name on a sign and everything), we quickly made it to our Airbnb and settled in. The house is lovely with its high ceilings and the view couldn’t be better. We have the ocean at our doorstep.

We are here in rainy season, but it was only a quick downpour or 2 and sun in between. Sunday is a fairly quiet day here, so we explored our new digs, the beach and scouted out a convenience store down the road and picked up a few, pricey supplies. For dinner, we settled on the only option….the burger joint at the SuperBrown convenience store. Lucky for us it was cheap and tasty.

We have chickens, a couple of cats and a dog that saunters in and out of the yard throughout the day. The boys have been given chicken watch and are in charge of “shoo-ing” the chickens from the deck. They take this job very seriously.

Everyone seems a little put out by the heat and the time change (only 5 hours back from home). The boys have been sick and not sleeping well, plus they share a room with us and think they should be able to climb in bed with us at will. All this compounded by no air conditioning and no wifi makes for a rough period of adjustment, but everyone has done well.

We did a massive grocery shop and have been getting into the grove of taking turns cooking again. The island is only 32km around, so we have taken the bus and also gone for a nice long run to get the lay of the land.

Luke and I have managed to get away for a little adult time. We spent the morning diving with Pacific divers. The experience was so, so and I wouldn’t recommend them to anyone diving here. Overall, they just seemed disinterested. We spent the next 2 nights at a resort on the other side of the island called the Rarotongan. It felt great to come and go as we pleased and not share a room with 2 crazy small people. We snorkeled the beautiful lagoon and went to the famous Shipwreck bar for beers and music.

Mack and Isa completed their dive course while they were here. Now we are planning some diving up in Vietnam next month. Luke and I decided to dive again, but with another outfitter called The Dive Center - Big Fish. They were so much more enthusiastic and our experience and knowledge of the area is so much better. We expected Bali like diving, but the reefs here in Rarotonga are made of hard coral and so much different. Lots of fish though. We were pretty parched after diving all morning and decided to visit the Cook Islands brewery out by the airport. The brew a lager, it’s quite refreshing.

 It has been raining a lot lately and quite hard. We had wanted to do the cross island trek, but the trails are washed out and from what we hear, closed. We took the boys out swimming at Muri beach in the lagoon. The water in front of our place is too rough for them. They loved spotting the fish and playing in the sand. We made it downtown to the market Saturday. We weren't early enough to get fish, but we picked up some produce and trinkets.

 We returned to the Rarotongan with everyone for dinner this week. We brought the boys swimming in the pool while we were waiting for Mack and Isa to arrive. They both loved it, but Van has started to get really comfortable in the water and was “jumping” into Luke’s arms by the end.

We decided to go to the Te Vera Nui cultural village dinner and show. It was touristy as hell, but the food was great and the show was amazing. The dancers were phenomenal! It was well worth the money.

We decided to pack our last day in Raro to the brim. Luke and Mack went on a fishing charter and Isa and I spent the morning paddle boarding in the lagoon. There was a strong current and a storm on the horizon, it was gorgeous!

We made it home to greet the boys who had caught a Skipjack tuna. It was the perfect last meal here on the island and so fresh we were able to have a filet of it sashimi style.

In the afternoon, Luke left to get a little souvenir, his first tattoo. It turned out really well.

Rarotonga has been amazing to us. It was hard to get motivated thanks to the heavy humidity and heat, but we don't want to complain considering the winter vortex that has descended on friends and family at home. The island is incredibly clean and beautiful and the people are super lovely. Many times we were walking to the Superbrown or into town and were offered rides by locals. The Polynesian folklore and history is incredibly interesting. We would love to come back and explore more of the south pacific islands....maybe if Luke can manage an exchange to NZ ;)