Those of you who know me well and my love of reality TV will not be surprised by my excitement today. But let me start at the beginning. It was a rather strange morn on Aitutaki – I awoke to a strange sky – a yellow thing, little white fluffy things, and rather large patches of blue and no pitter patter of raindrops on the roof – yes, sunshine had arrived, and it looked like staying that way. In fact it was a picture perfect South Pacific day – the colours of the lagoon more turquoise than ever, the huge sky melting into it, and those lovely cloud formations that seem so much a part of the picture you have in your mind of what the South Pacific should be. The perfect day to be out on the lagoon. I was recommended to go on the Vaka Titi-ai-Tonga, a 70ft double hulled traditional Polynesian boat. It was these Vaka’s or boats that sailed 1000 years ago to populate these spread out islands, navigating only by the stars. Frankly, they must have had a few down days not going very far, the weather and cloud cover means that there aren’t too many stars out most nights, so navigation must have been a touch difficult at times. And at first sight, the Titi-ai-Tonga looked like it had been built and sailed 1000 years ago too. But telling myself that it was very calm, we were staying within the lagoon and there was a good lunch on offer, I decided to go for it. I walked around the beach to where it started from – and was accompanied at the water’s edge by schools of small white fish swimming along purposefully in line, looking for all the world like commuters crossing London Bridge on the way to work. After travelling to the southernmost point of the lagoon through amazing waters, the captain announced that we were making our first stop of 2 islands before lunch. When he told us that these were the 2 islands used in Channel 4’s “Shipwrecked – Battle of the Islands” 2007 I was beside myself with this unexpected bonus! I watched this religiously for 3 months this summer, making sure it was on Sky+, including the Sunday night repeat in case Sky+ failed. In fact the beauty of the islands that I had seen on the tv was a contributing factor to my coming to the Cook Islands in the first place. So off I stepped onto Shark Island (originally the boy’s one at the beginning of the series). There are still a few remnants left, and the attached pic is me sitting proudly on the little bench used for the necklace ceremony when the Saturday beach party was on Shark. For me an even better “seat” picture than sitting on “Diana’s seat” at the Taj Mahal. Sad really, but there you are. Then onto Tiger Island (these aren’t the actual island names, but the team island names used in the series – never did find out their real ones). I always wanted to be a Tiger (their necklaces were better…) and here I was, living my dream. And I was not disappointed – this island was even prettier, with a little baby island on one end. But I understood now how they all seemed to suffer so badly from insect bites, as I remain the food capital of the South Pacific mozzie world, despite my approaching Deet poisoning from the amounts I am using! But at least I came away with a true Tiger souvenir, a few more mozzie bites. Since being here I also have a fuller understanding of their culinary issues whilst they were shipwrecked here – I thought that the tins of tuna, lambs tongues, rice and sweetcorn supplemented by the fish they could catch and the coconuts they could collect were just a ploy by the production team to make life difficult for them – but now I know better – they seem to be the only things in the shops. So after such excitement, how could my day get better? A little later we moored in the middle of the lagoon for snorkelling, whilst some real tuna (not out of a tin, what a novelty) was cooked on the on board barbie, and that together with salads, doughnuts and bananas (I know, an odd combination, but it worked) was prepared. As we ate, we were transported to One Foot Island, another amazing tropical Paradise with warm seas for a 2 hour stop and a chance to snooze on the beach. Not sure why, but you can have your passport stamped here. I chose to leave mine safely behind in case it got dropped in the sea – and god knows what sort of questioning you would get from US immigration in the future with such an odd stamp… So finally back to base and an early meal at Samade on the beach – another Cinderella moment – I had to get back before dark as without any scooter lights to guide me in the dark, I may never have found my way home.
