There are a few activites that one can take part in at the resort, but the activities' staff did not do a very good job of promoting them; unlike my last stay in Cuba. People tended to do their own thing at this resort, which is fine. But they have activities like tennis, beach volleyball, foose-ball, table games including two big chess boards, a pool table and of course ping pong. Ziad doesn't believe me when I say I haven't played since Cuba. He thinks I've been secretly practising because he thinks that I'm pretty good. Though I have still yet to win an actual game against him.
When the sun finally did co-operate on our last three days in the Cooks, we hung out at the beach the entire time and spent time snorkelling to cool off from the sun. Yes, I mustered up the courage to go snorkelling and it was amazing. The water is so clear and was at times a little cool, but once you get under it's fine. So with Ziad protecting me through the mazes of coral, we set off to find some colourful fish. It didn't take long at all before seeing them. Actually all you had to do was stick your head under water and they were all around. Yellow, blue, big, little, striped, bright coloured and some not so bright, sea cucumber, parrot fish, trumpet fish, puffer fish...you get the idea. I did even see some purple and pink coral, but very little. There were a few blue starfish hanging on some coral as well. It was just absolutely stunning. Nothing like I've ever experienced before. There was a small school of yellow with black strips fish that kept following us. I think they were rainbow fish. After my initial feeling of panic each time I stuck my head under water, I quite enjoyed myself. The water wasn't deep enough to drown either. Reef shoes are a must though as you can cut your feet open if you're not careful and the shoreline is a little rough with broken shells.
Ziad had an underwater camera, so I really hope the pictures will turn out and hopefully do all the beauty in the water justice. The snorkelling was a lot of fun and a must for anyone who visits this area.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
So the resort internet is quite slow and I was trying to use Ziad's iPhone to keep this blog up and for some reason that wasn't working.
Back to Rarotonga...the resort as I mentioned in located on a protected marine habitat. Unfortunately the activity manager, who gave us an orientation tour at the resort doesn't educate the guests much on protecting this habitat. They basically tell you that you are not allowed to fish, but don't say anything about not stepping on the coral. As a result, the coral is all pretty much dead which is really sad because it would be so beautiful. Instead it's all black, and for me, considering I have a fear of drowning, it was scary looking. For some reason I kept thinking that it would attack me or something would swim out of it and attack me. Neither happened thankfully.
The sun decided to play hide and seek for the first few days we were there, so my tan isn't as dark as I would like, but it's a start at least. Cloudy days in the Cooks, just like Cuba, are still much better than a day at the office. On our second day, we rented a scooter and Ziad had to go to the police station and get a Cook Island driver's licence. The cost was $20 and because he already has his class 6 back home he avoided having to take a driving test. His licence is good for one year, so it would make sense to head back here before it expires to get his money's worth. :) Afterwards, because the sun was not co-operating, we decided to scooter around the island after having lunch on the wharf at Trader Jack's. The food was good and reasonably priced. We ended up at some much better restaurants through our stay, which I'll get to later.
Driving around the island doesn't take very long, about 45 to 60 minutes depending on the speed you drive. If you don't wear a helmet you are supposed to maintain a speed of no more than 40 km/h, which of course is difficult to do...so I'll let you try and figure out whether Ziad was able to keep at that speed. Ziad told me we were breaking every safety rule he's every been taught while riding this scooter....we didn't have helmets, wore flip-flops mostly, shorts, t-shirts and of course, no gloves. It wasn't that dangerous though, there is only one road around the entire island which is one-way in either direction and once you figure out which side to drive on, not the side we're accustomed to, then you're fine. Only important thing was to keep your mouth shut, especially during the 6 o'clock hour when the bugs are out or you'd get a little appetizer/protein before dinner. There aren't any traffic lights on the island either, so you don't really get any traffic hold ups unless someone is driving slow and you just end up passing them anyway.
We were searching for a particular beach called Muri beach, which was supposed to be really nice. We ended up finding a really sandy beach and the others at this beach said the snorkelling was really good here. We were trying to figure out exactly where we were and it turns out it was located right next to our resort. We drove all the way around the island in search of a really nice beach and it turns out to be right next door. We could have walked...even funnier we never did go back to it once we figured out the beach right in front of the building we were staying in was sandy, unlike the other half of the resort.
Back to Rarotonga...the resort as I mentioned in located on a protected marine habitat. Unfortunately the activity manager, who gave us an orientation tour at the resort doesn't educate the guests much on protecting this habitat. They basically tell you that you are not allowed to fish, but don't say anything about not stepping on the coral. As a result, the coral is all pretty much dead which is really sad because it would be so beautiful. Instead it's all black, and for me, considering I have a fear of drowning, it was scary looking. For some reason I kept thinking that it would attack me or something would swim out of it and attack me. Neither happened thankfully.
The sun decided to play hide and seek for the first few days we were there, so my tan isn't as dark as I would like, but it's a start at least. Cloudy days in the Cooks, just like Cuba, are still much better than a day at the office. On our second day, we rented a scooter and Ziad had to go to the police station and get a Cook Island driver's licence. The cost was $20 and because he already has his class 6 back home he avoided having to take a driving test. His licence is good for one year, so it would make sense to head back here before it expires to get his money's worth. :) Afterwards, because the sun was not co-operating, we decided to scooter around the island after having lunch on the wharf at Trader Jack's. The food was good and reasonably priced. We ended up at some much better restaurants through our stay, which I'll get to later.
Driving around the island doesn't take very long, about 45 to 60 minutes depending on the speed you drive. If you don't wear a helmet you are supposed to maintain a speed of no more than 40 km/h, which of course is difficult to do...so I'll let you try and figure out whether Ziad was able to keep at that speed. Ziad told me we were breaking every safety rule he's every been taught while riding this scooter....we didn't have helmets, wore flip-flops mostly, shorts, t-shirts and of course, no gloves. It wasn't that dangerous though, there is only one road around the entire island which is one-way in either direction and once you figure out which side to drive on, not the side we're accustomed to, then you're fine. Only important thing was to keep your mouth shut, especially during the 6 o'clock hour when the bugs are out or you'd get a little appetizer/protein before dinner. There aren't any traffic lights on the island either, so you don't really get any traffic hold ups unless someone is driving slow and you just end up passing them anyway.
We were searching for a particular beach called Muri beach, which was supposed to be really nice. We ended up finding a really sandy beach and the others at this beach said the snorkelling was really good here. We were trying to figure out exactly where we were and it turns out it was located right next to our resort. We drove all the way around the island in search of a really nice beach and it turns out to be right next door. We could have walked...even funnier we never did go back to it once we figured out the beach right in front of the building we were staying in was sandy, unlike the other half of the resort.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
We landed in Rarotonga Int'l airport at 6am after a 9 hour flight. This airport is quite small and can only handle one commercial airplane at one time. The Cookies are quite concerned about the swine flu so we were greeted by the immigration officers wearing masks.
Our resort is quite nice. There are alot of Kiwi's here and I don't mean the fruit! Our first day was full of relaxing on the beach.It's not a sandy beach though. It's more shell-like. The island is surrounded by a reef so the water is quite shallow. I found it a little on the cold side but Ziad went out snorkelling and said it was amazing. Lots of really colourful fishes swimming around. The resort is part of a protected marine habitat, but they don't tell you not to step on the coral.
Our resort is quite nice. There are alot of Kiwi's here and I don't mean the fruit! Our first day was full of relaxing on the beach.It's not a sandy beach though. It's more shell-like. The island is surrounded by a reef so the water is quite shallow. I found it a little on the cold side but Ziad went out snorkelling and said it was amazing. Lots of really colourful fishes swimming around. The resort is part of a protected marine habitat, but they don't tell you not to step on the coral.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Rockin' LAX
Well, just hanging out in the lounge trying to catch some zzzzz's before the flight when all of a sudden the entire building shook...never experienced an earthquake before, but LAX got hit by one this evening around 8:40pm...it felt quite powerful with the building shaking for about 10-12 seconds, with a small after shock about 5 minutes later. No time to duck and cover either, it took me a bit to realize what was going on. No one panicked here and everyone is talking about it now...early reports say it was a 5.0 magnitude, nothing on where the epicentre was yet. Not sure at this point what the effect is on flights departing and arriving, but I think I just heard a flight arrive. Not much information on the internet as of yet....
Today is flight day. As everyone always asks me "Where are you off to now?"
Well this trip sees me heading to Rarotonga, Cook Islands for one week and then Auckland and Wellington, New Zealand for another week. I feel so fortunate to have the opportunity to travel so much. In the last four years I've been to Germany, France, Cuba twice, Ireland, Disneyland, London and now this! And I'm so fortunate that Vancouver and the west coast is where I get to live.
Today started earlier than I had hoped, 4:30am wake up all because I had to go to the bathroom. I managed to fall asleep again, but woke up at 7:30am, probably from the anticipation. I stayed in bed until my alram went off at 8:45am and then all I wanted to do was stay in bed. Mornings just really aren't my thing.
It's a beautiful sunny day today, but I get to spend my day waiting at airports and sitting in airplanes! Let the adventure begin....
Mom and Dad drove Ziad and me to the airport and once we checked in, we walked around the U.S. departures area for a bit. It has been re-done with a bunch of great shops since I was last there. Next stop was the Air canada lounge where we had lunch. It pays to travel with Ziad!! :) Not only is he fun to travel with and explore things with, he has connections. We boarded our non-eventful flight to LAX. I watched "The Reader" and was glad I watched it on a plane because that would have been 92 minutes of my life I couldn't get back. It was a good movie overall, but quite slow at times and probably at least 30 minutues longer than needed to be. We landed in smoggy LAX and as we were about to leave the plane, Ziad was paged by Air Canada and told to meet a personal concierge outside the plane. Rita, the personal concierge, then took us to the Air New Zealand lounge were we get to spend the next 5 hours!! It's a really nice lounge and we're going to get escorted back to the gate when we need to leave. Don't I feel special. Now the waiting begins.....
Well this trip sees me heading to Rarotonga, Cook Islands for one week and then Auckland and Wellington, New Zealand for another week. I feel so fortunate to have the opportunity to travel so much. In the last four years I've been to Germany, France, Cuba twice, Ireland, Disneyland, London and now this! And I'm so fortunate that Vancouver and the west coast is where I get to live.
Today started earlier than I had hoped, 4:30am wake up all because I had to go to the bathroom. I managed to fall asleep again, but woke up at 7:30am, probably from the anticipation. I stayed in bed until my alram went off at 8:45am and then all I wanted to do was stay in bed. Mornings just really aren't my thing.
It's a beautiful sunny day today, but I get to spend my day waiting at airports and sitting in airplanes! Let the adventure begin....
Mom and Dad drove Ziad and me to the airport and once we checked in, we walked around the U.S. departures area for a bit. It has been re-done with a bunch of great shops since I was last there. Next stop was the Air canada lounge where we had lunch. It pays to travel with Ziad!! :) Not only is he fun to travel with and explore things with, he has connections. We boarded our non-eventful flight to LAX. I watched "The Reader" and was glad I watched it on a plane because that would have been 92 minutes of my life I couldn't get back. It was a good movie overall, but quite slow at times and probably at least 30 minutues longer than needed to be. We landed in smoggy LAX and as we were about to leave the plane, Ziad was paged by Air Canada and told to meet a personal concierge outside the plane. Rita, the personal concierge, then took us to the Air New Zealand lounge were we get to spend the next 5 hours!! It's a really nice lounge and we're going to get escorted back to the gate when we need to leave. Don't I feel special. Now the waiting begins.....
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