Get Lost On Purpose

Month: July 2009

  • Reroute to Rarotonga

    Well thanks to our engine, and Drew’s willingness to motor instead of sitting still like a duck in water, we were able to arrive in Rarotonga in a little over a day. There were absolutely NO WINDS to aide in our journey here but of course southerly winds hit us head on early Tuesday morning. So instead of only having four more hours left to the trip we had barely 4 knots pushing us along and another two hours or so tacked onto the trip. Funny, as quickly as we can change our plans and add another island onto our list, the weather can change just as fast. You can follow all the weather charts you want but sometimes, oftentimes, out here you get some stuff you’re not expecting, and all you can do is adjust and push on. We did just that and pulled into Rarotonga, a.k.a. Raro, around 3:30 Tuesday afternoon.

    What did prove dead on was the anchorage here in Raro. Exactly as we had expected, we came in, dropped anchor, and then butt wedged Dosia into a spot. We are tied up to a concrete wharf and could literally reach out and high five our neighbors. Needless to say, there are fenders and lines EVERYWHERE! Two other boats have come in after us so right now there are ten, one of which is a 60+ foot massive catamaran. There isn’t much room left for any more boats and we’ve all got our fingers crossed that no northerly winds or swells come ripping through here or this harbor is likely to turn into a big mess of bumper boats. On a positive note, no outboard dinghy engines are necessary as you can just pull yourself back and forth from your boat to the wharf by all the lines from the boats.

    Instantly once you pull in, your nose is tantalized by the gourmet burger joint across the street and the fish-n-chips hole in the wall off to the right of the harbor. We got Dosia settled, made sure she wasn’t going to be doing the two step with any of our neighbors, and set off to follow our noses to get something to eat. Within half a mile from the boat there are more restaurants than we could possibly eat at in the week we plan to be here, along with several grocery stores, and plenty of shopping. For Tuesday night we chose Trader Jacks, which appears to be a very popular bar and grill here on the island, large enough to possibly entertain the entire population of Aitutaki! Grilled wahoo, seafood pasta, calamari….scrumptious!

    First thing yesterday we rented Junior, our new scooter, and were off to tackle the 32 km that makes up the coastal road around Raro. The largest island, and capital, of the Cooks, Raro is home to more than half the population that makes up this group of islands. Driving here will prove to be a bit more of a test with a lot more traffic than in Aitutaki so we’ll let Drew do most of it. The wharf offers a hot water shower to cruisers (for $10NZ w/a $20NZ deposit) so yesterday I was able to take a LONG shower and didn’t have to worry about turning the water off! So nice. We’ll be able to provision our fridge while here and restock the freezer with fresh chicken and beef and the best part…there is a small movie theater here so tomorrow night we’ll be able to check out the new Transformers movie! Heck yeah!

  • Change of Plans – Sailing to Rarotonga

    The best thing about this lifestyle is that short of weather and boat capability, we have complete freedom to direct ourselves and change our plans. After 10+ days in Aitutaki we decided to do just that. We like Cook Islanders, we like the food, the atmosphere. We like all the Kiwi and Aussie tourists hanging around. So we decided to not cut ourselves short here in the Cooks and head south to see what the nation’s “city life” is like in Rarotonga, the capital island. It’s only 140 miles due south from here…an overnight sail. We’ll be able to do a good restocking there and get some needed laundry done. Plus, if we stick with our plan to head up to Swarrow, we’ll also add in a stop at Palmerston Island putting one more Cook Island under our belt.
     
    So far we’ve only heard of two boats heading to Raro. Some years it’s a popular stop while in other years yachts stick to a more northerly route through Aitutaki and Swarrow. It seems this is one of those more northerly years. There’s seven boats in Swarrow right now with 5-6 more on the way. On the 17th, a cruise ship (the first ever) is pulling into the island with 350 passengers. Now that’s a crowd. It’s not surprising Raro is becoming less popular. The harbor is tiny and offers no protection from a northerly wind and swell. We’ll be Tahiti-moored to a concrete wharf meaning we’ll drop anchor, back up, and tie stern lines ashore. This way they are guaranteed to squeeze 15 boats into a space meant for 12! In years past the harbor runs completely out of space and the port captain is forced to turn boats away. Hopefully it won’t be an issue for us this early in the season.
     
    Aitutaki remains one of our favorite stops ever. The only regret I have is not getting down into the main part of the lagoon on our dinghy. We tried yesterday but with the wind blowing steady out of the east the waves were up and the ride was miserable. I hoped to try again today but the trades aren’t letting up. At least we were able to do that lagoon tour with Zen (Bishop’s Cruises was great) so we have an idea of what we missed. Here’s a list of some of the highlights from the past week and a half.
    -One Foot Island was absolutely gorgeous and deserves its spot as one of the world’s most beautiful beaches.
    -For an animal that doesn’t move much, giant clams are pretty damn cool
    -being sick sucked but watching the first two seasons of Entourage did not (thanks Tom and Monique)
    -The Pacific Resort is still my fav. Voted Best Island Boutique Resort 2008 in the World Travel Awards
    -Margie can and will dance for an hour by herself at the Blue Nun Cafe and not care cause she’ll “never see ANY of these people again!”
    -Goodbye Scoot-Scoot…we will miss you
    -we found the best candy store on the island. email us for details
    -the fire dancing at the Tamanu Resort on Thursday nights is killer! not to be missed.
    -Margie loves her some banana pancakes at Cafe Koru and they make bacon here just how I like it…fatty and greasy!
    -And we love the international cruising community. Last night we joined Brits Neil and Jackie from Camelot for some fish burgers and rum punch aboard the Austrian catamaran, September, with Hans and Gaby. There’s 5 Norwegian guys on a boat anchored outside the pass. This morning an Italian boat left and a New Zealand boat showed up. We really do know people all over the world!
     
    So long Aitutaki. Thanks for the great introduction to a new country!

  • Not up to par in Aitutaki

    Unfortunately even the greatest of islands cannot fend off sickness and we’ve both fallen victim to something here in Aitutaki. For three or four days Drew and I have been battling on and off symptoms of fever, headaches, sore throats, and this morning we added ear aches to the list. It wasn’t until last night that I started to run fever and it was very low grade but for two nights straight Drew’s was well above a hundred. Once the ears started hurting this morning Drew began to think we may have gotten ear infections because both the water and air temperature here are significantly cooler than in Bora Bora but we’re not sure. Lucky for us we have antibiotics on board that we’ve had stashed away which we brought from back home. We’d been putting off using them thinking “what if we need them down the road” but then realize that situations like the present are exactly what we have them for.

    We’ve already missed one dinner and a show this week that we had planned to attend and have resos for another one tonight. We’re hoping we both feel up to going as it is supposedly the best show on the island and we had to make the reservations a week ago to get in! The one thing our illnesses haven’t affected is our appetites, go figure, so we’ll have to feel pretty crappy to miss out on the great food! Fingers crossed that we’ll have nipped this thing soon.

  • The Cost of Paradise – Polynesia and Bora Bora

    Legally we could have stayed in French Polynesia till September. Back in the states this winter we went through the P.I.T.A. of getting our long stay visas giving us 6 months to relax and meander through the country at an “island pace.” It involved a quick trip to Atlanta, a short interview, and about hundred pieces of paper from banks, police offices, and insurance companies. We had to prove we had enough money and coverage to afford our stay and cover our asses. Thanks to Photoshop, a scanner, and some artful and creative productions on my part, we passed muster with flying colors. Once we arrived, it seemed our visas also canceled out the process of posting a bond; something everyone does when entering the country by boat. Basically you put enough money in some sort of escrow account to cover a plane ticket out of the country so they could put you on a plane and throw you out if they so choose. Everyone complains because you lose money on both banking fees and the currency conversion. I’ve heard of boats losing up to $300 per person not to mention you have well over a thousand dollars each tied up in some foreign bank. The guys at immigration never mentioned a bond to me so I certainly never said a word to them! All in all, the visa was probably worth it even though we chose not to stay for the entire duration. Why didn’t we stay? I hate to keep talking about it but, as Margie mentioned in her last post, cost was a limiting factor for us in French Polynesia. We aren’t paupers living out here in a floating trailer park but my keel is still full of lead ballast…not gold. Cost and value are important to us. And it seems we aren’t the only ones. With the exception of the brand new Four Seasons (where a cheeseburger at the pool will run you $30), the resorts in Bora Bora were operating on less than 30% occupancy. Here in Aitutaki, the Pacific Resort is booked solid for the next two months. This is the first week since January that the resort we visited this morning, the Aitutaki Lagoon Resort and Spa, isn’t full. They’re back to full occupancy next week. And we didn’t even think it was a nice place! Obviously people are starting to figure it out. The same experience, same beauty, similar culture, and better food (in our opinion)…half the cost. On Bora Bora, if you’re staying at one of the island resorts (on the motus) and you want to eat at one of the three or four restaurants on the main island it can cost you $100+ to get there and back not including the meal. It’s just a boat ride away! Don’t believe me? Check out the reviews at Tripadvisor (www.tripadvisor.com) Here on Aitutaki, you jump on your $12 a day scooter and head off. And let me go ahead and put this out there. OVERWATER BUNGALOWS ARE OVERRATED AND OVERPRICED. I know people are finding our site by googling Bora Bora so if this helps just one honeymooning couple make up their mind, I’m satisfied. If money is no object, head to the Societies, get yourself a bungalow, and relax to your heart’s content…if not check out some other places. Start here. I’m in love with it and I’ve seen some fascinating places. www.pacificresort.com