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!
Blog
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Change of Plans – Sailing to Rarotonga
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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.
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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
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Happy Birthday America!
We haven’t sat still much since our arrival here in the Cooks and don’t plan on slowing down anytime soon. We have officially met and checked in with customs, agriculture, and health inspectors and are “free to roam about the island”…even though we already had been : )
I hit my two month mark on the trip back in June and shortly after became a little homesick which is fairly routine for me. I was an unexplainable, emotional wreck and Drew could barely talk to me without me crying. Such a girl. As crappy as I feel for saying this, French Poly had begun to feel a little routine and I was aching for something new, as was Drew. While I could have certainly done without the harshness of the passage, what was waiting for us, in the Cooks, has been an incredible mood lifter and Drew and I have done a complete 180 since our arrival. Neither of us can begin to explain how wonderful it is to be amongst English speaking people again as it knocks down the language barrier we’ve had up against us for both our trip this year and last year. It’s my fault, I should have studied and learned French but I didn’t, and so I am glad to have that part of the trip behind me.
Then there is the financial aspect of being in a new place and for us things are reasonable again which means that we are really able to appreciate and enjoy the culture without as many limitations and it is making a world of difference. The scooter rental has made getting around the island not only easy but FUN! Some afternoons we just go out and ride around with no intentions of doing anything but sight seeing and feeling the wind in our face. And the food, oh the wonderful food! There are so many restaurants here so it’s been fantastic to get off Dosia and be served instead of having to cook all the time. There is a wonderful restaurant on the oppo side of the island from us called the Boatshed Bar & Grill, right on the lagoon, where we had an amazing lunch of local fish & chips and a thai beef salad. Highly recommend this to future visitors of the island but TAKE BUG SPRAY! Mosquitos are present all over the island but everywhere on the eastern side.
Of course we’re tag teaming it with Zen and will probably end up sharing many meals and adventures with them throughout our time here. They are an absolutely wonderful family to be around and the mom, Monique, has become my “girlfriend” of the trip. It’s great to see a family experiencing this together and there is such a respect level between Tom & Monique and their children, Cammi & Cole. You feel it within minutes of being around them and I just love it as it can be rare to find that these days. Thursday we ate dinner with them at Cafe Tupuna’s which sits up in the hills of Arutanga. Drew & I split a bowl of seafood chowder that would have made my dad cry (he LOVES chowders) and then both licked our plates clean of the fantastic tuna and wahoo dishes we ordered as our meals. Lemon and passion fruit cheesecake for dessert, stick a fork in me I was done! Last night we attended our first buffet and dance show at the Pacific Resort. For about $45 a person there was an amazing buffet of sushi, sashimi, clams, mussels, lobster salads, pork, ribs, fresh salad, a pumpkin au gratin that was to die for, and tropical dessert plates. It was perfect and after Drew, Monique, Cammi, Tom, and I all participated in the dance show, we were all full, spent, and ready for bed.
Being in another country makes it difficult to celebrate our nation’s birthday so it’s going to be a low key 4th of July for us. Tomorrow is Miss Cammi’s birthday and I am being given the pleasure of making her a birthday cake so we’ll be joining them in the b-day festivities and on Monday we are going on an island lagoon tour which will take us to four of the remote atolls and we’ll be able to snorkel. So we are going to have PLENTY to keep us busy and lots of food to keep our bellies full! So if you’ll excuse me I need to go on a walk now to try and work off these desserts I’ve been eating lately. HAPPY 4TH OF JULY EVERYBODY!!!