It’s the Cook Islands so it must be Xmas Day. I know that because the pilot told us both the time and the date as we landed… It was odd to arrive at 3.30am on a Xmas Day, having spent Xmas Day in Auckland……. Oh dear, I think I am stuck in the blog version of the film set of Groundhog Day! But no, it’s real - a warm, rainy night and greeted at the airport with Polynesian songs and lei’s (lovely floral garlands). Get to the Puaikura Reef Lodges to a big room with huge terrace (much needed as shelter from the rain – more of that later) and right in front of the small blue pool. The lagoon is just across the road – the island is 32kms around, and a road (or should I say the road - there aren’t many more as the interior of the island is very mountainous) runs right the way around the edge, so most properties are just across the road from the narrow, white, palm lined beach – a walk that takes all of 20 seconds depending on traffic. I am making the effort to more backpack than flash pack so have opted for this “studio unit” – which means self catering (as opposed to the resort hotels which on these islands are extortionate even for me!). I think they’ve also put me in the wrong room – I can’t find the dishwasher anywhere. Note to self, if you are going to do self catering, and plan to arrive on Xmas Day when everything is shut, don’t expect to be able to eat…… So it was no cooking in the Cook Islands for me. Venturing into the tiny mini mart which was open for a few hours, I was able to buy essential supplies (i.e. tonic water for the duty free gin), but the nearest I could get to some turkey was chicken flavoured pot noodles – now there’s an opportunity for someone, Xmas dinner flavoured pot noodles… They did have millions of tins of corned beef, but given the discussion we had at the Estancia about corned beef, I decided to pass on that one. But the generosity of the Cook Islanders shone through too. I was just about to parcel up my laundry to send out, and then decided, no, I can do this – all I need is some soap powder and a pair of rubber gloves. But rubber gloves are not high in the stock list of your local mini mart and they didn’t have any, but the guy behind the counter went to the back room and found me a pair of his own – they had a hole in, but any port in a storm… Having worked in an industry where GWP’s (Gift with Purchase) are so common, I have to say this was the most unusual GWP I have ever been given, but on balance, think I still prefer Clinique’s little mini bottles.
Global warming seems to having a bit of an effect here – it is the rainy season, but this would normally mean sunny mornings and heavy rain for a while in the afternoon. But at the moment and it’s been like this for some time apparently, it’s continuous rain and rather grey, but warm. Light showers with the odd heavy bit thrown in, so the big terrace is really welcome, I can sit out here, read and do “blogging in the rain”. Wifi isn’t too common here, so these rainy blogs may be delayed in getting uploaded… Am thinking of Ant and Derek today – they fly to Ushuaia to embark on their Antarctic adventure tomorrow, but for me, on balance, I’ll stick with the rain!
Global warming seems to having a bit of an effect here – it is the rainy season, but this would normally mean sunny mornings and heavy rain for a while in the afternoon. But at the moment and it’s been like this for some time apparently, it’s continuous rain and rather grey, but warm. Light showers with the odd heavy bit thrown in, so the big terrace is really welcome, I can sit out here, read and do “blogging in the rain”. Wifi isn’t too common here, so these rainy blogs may be delayed in getting uploaded… Am thinking of Ant and Derek today – they fly to Ushuaia to embark on their Antarctic adventure tomorrow, but for me, on balance, I’ll stick with the rain!
