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Rachie and Joey's Round The World Adventure!
Kia Orana! Greetings from the Cook Islands :)
Well we're coming to the end of our time here now, just over two weeks. Been a very lazy two weeks I have to say, quite a difference from Toronto!! Arriving in Rarotonga was pretty over whelming, I couldnt believe how small the island really was! We were greeted at the airport with a guy singing on his guitar too which was really sweet!
Our accomodation has been great! We've stayed at a place called Vara's which is right on Muri beach - the views are amazing! We are in the middle of a lagoon and the water is so clear, paradise! Cant complain for 7 pound a night! Bargain! We've had some really cool room mates too - we've moved rooms twice so we've had the company of Olivia, Lisa, Fred, Julia, Rachel, Bart to name a few - they're all great! Had a lot of fun with them over the past few weeks! We've had a really nice room right on the beach which has wicked views! Unfortunately its also been quite a popular room for people to walk into randomly...our friends from The OC Adam and Jordan were very keen to get us up at 6.30am to watch the sunrise...they were not made to feel welcome at that time in the morning hehe!! :) Finchy - we have solar powered showers here!! Are you impressed? hehe!! They're great when its actually sunny, but we've had a fair few cold showers!! Not so great! :)
So what have we been up to....well when the sun has been shining we've hit the beach and tried to top up our tans! The weather hasnt quite been as good as the UK, but i think we're getting a bit of colour in our cheeks! One day me and Joey hired a bike and cycled around the island - its 30k in total which is about 18 miles! It was painful but fun! Mum - if you think the seat on our bike is uncomfortable, its 5* compared to the bikes over here! We were in agony by the end of it, hehe! And Dad, you'd be proud - I had it in 24th gear all the way around just to get a bit of a workout, my knees were killing me by the end of it! :)) The weather was really good though and we got to see lots of hidden beaches along the island - gorgeous scenery!
Another day we took a trip to a Cultural Village where we wanted to learn a little about the culture of Rarotonga. We were taken around lots of different huts and talked to about how they make their skirts, the fishing industry here, medicine, ancestors - lots of info to take in when my brain hasnt been used much lately! I did get the chance to have a go at playing their drums though with a couple of other tourists - we were rubbish! Had no rhythm at all!! We were given lunch which consisted of lots of local fruits and vegetables, and things made out of trees....i have to say, i enjoyed the spinach but felt quite sick eating the rest of it and ended up downing each mouthful with orange juice! Yummy :) We even joined in with some local dancing - as long as you can shake those hips you're pretty much a certified dancer in Rarotonga!
Every Saturday is the local market so we've been there twice since we arrived. Lots of locals gather together with food stalls and jewlery stalls (my fav!). We really pushed the boat out and tried a local dish - belgian waffles and chocolate sauce - yum!! :)) The local town itself is really small but we've made several trips in to have a look around - our favourite place has to be Mamas Cafe which serves gorgeous food!! Notice everything still revolves around food with me...! :)
Of course we couldnt come to Rarotonga without experiencing the local night life! The taxi rides are an experience in themselves! In a 8 seater taxi we've always had around 20 people crammed in, its hilarious!! One night i was practically sitting on the drivers lap!
Twice we've headed to the Cultural night where we get to watch lots of local dancing (again, shake those hips!). They've been good fun as there is one guy who obviously really loves what he does, and the smile on his face is just massive the whole time!! Jo, Olivia and Lisa all got up to learn how to dance which was funny, I was quite happy to take photos of them rather than do it myself :))
Another night we hit a club called TJs. Unfortunately I was feeling quite rough that night (not alcohol induced I must add!) but it was still fun. The locals, shall we say, were a little too friendly at times. Skirts above the knees are not recommended! :) Unfortunately, due to not feeling too well, one local got a piece of my mind - I even shocked myself!
We've also been to a local club (or shall i say village hall!!) called RSL. Both nights have been good fun, playing drinking games and then boogying the night away! There was even a dance competition at one point, hilarious! Jo was most surprised one night when I suggested we went and danced before she had a chance to, i suddenly like dancing which is very random!! All those that normally have to drag me onto the dance floor at home would be so proud!! :))
Another night out has been at the Banana Court - free vodka from 8pm onwards until it runs out! It ran out about 8.03pm which was a shame, but worth it! We had a good night there dancing away, and then me Jo and Fred thought we'd try and find some food in the town....not quite as easy as it is in Southampton, we walked for ages and nothing was open! It was also tipping it down with rain so we were well and truly soaked by the time we met up with the others again! Was quite funny :)
One of the highlights (again related to food!) was a night out at a local restaurant called The Flame Tree. We decided to ditch the standard jam on toast and noodles, and push the boat out with a proper meal! It was GORGEOUS! Vege lasagne (with enough spinach in it to turn me into popeye!), garlic bread and chips...im dribbling just thinking about it! hehe. Was a great night, although we all got eaten alive! Mosquitoes love me out here :)
Well now we're heading out to Fiji, very excited!! We've had lots of people tell us different places to go, what to do, what not to do. We've met a couple called Chris and Claire who left on the same day as us, are doing exactly the same route as us, and are even on our flight home on the 22nd December!! Hopefully we're going to meet up with them along the way somewhere!!
Lots of photos will soon be downloaded, cant do much about them at the moment as technology isnt on our side, but hopefully you'll like them once you see them :)
Ciao for now bellas! :)
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