Author: michaelb119

The City of Sails

My first full day in Auckland was getting a lay of the land.

The main street through town is Queens Street and the place where I’m staying is a couple of blocks off it, up a slight incline, called the Waldorf Bankside Apartments.  Slight, unless you have luggage and packages!  It’s not palatial but is decent apartment-style accomodations with a kitchenette and washer/dryer (and since I am traveling light is great!).  The view from the balcony is pretty sweet:

After getting a few groceries, I checked out the pier area…
Ferry Building
I took a harbour cruise.  This 90-minute cruise takes you through the harbor and past several islands, some inhabited and others kept preserved.  The islands and Auckland itself were formed out of underground volcanic eruptions and the volcanic rock is evident along the shoreline of the islands.

Here are some highlights of the cruise, including a whale sighting:

View from under the Harbour Bridge

After walking around town, I did the obligatory tourist thing and went up the Sky Tower for more views of the city.  You can do a skywalk on the outer perimeter of the tower.  Uh, not feeling that adventurous.

Yes, there are glass floors

jumpboobs.com

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Day 3 – Last Full Day in the Cook Islands

For my last full day on Rarotonga, I thought I would venture into the main part of town where most of the shopping and restaurants are.  Trust me when I say if you ever come to the Cook Islands, this would probably not be your highlight of the trip.

Cook Islands is known for its black pearls and there are quite a few that sell them.  They range in pricing depending on the quality, from the most expensive being about $500 each to the bottom of the barrel deformed pearls that go for about $20-30 each.  Suffice it to say, the cheap ones do not resemble what you think of pearls in any way, shape, or form.  Other than that, lots of crap.  So I started the excursion with a…

fruit shake overlooking a lagoon and ended it with…
a Cooks beer at the famous Trader Jack’s overlooking another part of the lagoon.

For the evening, I had booked “Island Night” with several other guests at the Aroa.

It’s a dinner with native dishes, cultural information, dances and music.  It was really fascinating learning about the culture prior to the “discovery” by Captain Cook and the changes brought about by the missionaries, and eventually tourism.  I highly recommend this if you ever come here as they really put on an excellent show.

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Day 2 – Hang On, This is Gonna Be a Bumpy Ride

This morning I got up earlier (fortunately, the alarm clock on my new phone works because I need a manual to figure out the alarm clock in the room) as I had booked a 4×4 tour of the island.  Good day to stay off the beach as sunburn had set in on my back and shoulders (I know how you all feel so sorry for me!)

The all-terrain vehicle picked me and another guest up at the hotel around 8:45 for what would be a half day tour of Rarotonga – around the perimeter and up through center of the island – followed by lunch.

The first stop was the only waterfall on the island.

Aside from the historical aspects of the tour, the 4×4 was definitely needed as we traversed some of the bumpiest, ditch-laden roads that you literally bounced in and out of your seat.  I haven’t been on a road this bumpy since my street in North Hollywood (and those of you who have driven on my street know exactly what I’m talking about).  Here are some of the highlights:

Agriculture used to be the prime source of revenue for the Cook Islands.  Now it is tourism.  But the local fruits are in abundance as is beautiful flora.

 Down by one of the lagoons:

There are several churches around the islands:

The Cook Island flag resembles the New Zealand flag but has 15 stars to represent the 15 islands of the Cook Islands:

Other misc photos of the tour before they served us lunch:

Later in the afternoon, time for cocktails at the Shipwreck Hut, the bar at the Aroa, followed by a BBQ dinner of short ribs, chicken on a beer can, and fish on skewers.  Entertainment was provided by Jake, who is always at the airport to greet arrivals with his ukelele.  Nona and Memory of the Aroa staff also provided singing and dancing:

widestass.com

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First Pictures

Rarotonga, Cook Islands

Aroa Beachside

My Cottage

Aroa Beachside Beach

Coconuts!

More Beach

Underwater

Underwater Again

Underwater Again Again

More Underwater

Finally, I got a shot of marine life

Sunset (the obligatory shot)

Local Beer
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Day One (Actually Day Two Since I Technically Left Yesterday)

First, I will try to upload pictures as soon as possible. Internet here is so freaking expensive – $NZD15 for only 50MB. Yes, by the MB! I used that in, like, a half hour.

That aside, this place is amazing! I was upgraded so I just look outside and see the beach and the ocean. As I type this, the water is only feet away from me.

My flight arrive around 6:10AM and everyone had smiles on their faces. Even the passport control people. I mean, passport control?! Have you ever seen any of those people smile in any country? Live music and leis with real flowers awaited our plane’s arrival.

I got to the Aroa Beachside and was immediately taken to my cottage. Unless you are used to the lap of luxury, I couldn’t recommend a place more. Breakfast was already being served on the outdoor bar area on the beach. The freshest fruit ever! Everyone here already knew my name before I even got here. It’s more of a family atmosphere with the staff rather than a hotel feel where you are forgotten the minute you leave. There were some returnees who immediately got hugs from the staff. The bar area is a great hangout to meet and chat with all the guests. Did I mention how friendly people are?

After checking in with work, I made today an easy beach day. The water is crystal clear and calm as the breakfront holding back waves was pretty far out. Snorkling gear is included, so I was able to see lots of different marine life. Of course, not being on a beach for a long time left my a bit sunburnt despite my best efforts to use sunscreen. The evening included a welcome drink at the bar and more good conversation. All in all, couldn’t ask for a better start to this.

Again, pictures to come (have to make them a small upload size so I don’t have to keep buying access cards).

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Paradise Found

Arrived in the Cook Islands around 6AM local time (same time zone as Hawaii). Just got online. This place is paradise. More later, with pictures.

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One Week To Go

Exactly one week from now I will be sitting on the plane about 15 minutes from takeoff to the Cook Islands. Can’t believe it’s almost here!

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