I'm no wordsmith, and do struggle trying to get across just how amazing this place is which is a real shame! So, if I describe the last few days to you, you'll have to imagine its much better than it sounds, because it really is.
So last night we went out for Chris's last few hours on the island before he flew home to the US for Christmas. 10 or so of us went to an Indian Restaurant for Dinner, they were having an all you can eat buffet for NZ$15 which sounded like a great idea, the food was very nice but hot food in a hot country, I don't think anyone got past a plate and a half. Once finished we said our goodbyes to Chris, he went off to the Airport and we went off to Whatever! bar. Now this bar is very cool, its on a platform maybe 20 foot up in the air overlooking the sea to one side and the harbour to another, they play very interesting dancy remixes of 80's/90's songs, we liked it. Because there are no street lights there is very little light pollution, so the stars are amazing! We stayed there for a while, watched Chris's plane fly overhead and went to find Bill in the hostel bus to go home, lovely evening, the rest of the day was taken up by swimming in the sea, chatting on the beach, the usual...
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The day before, Friday was Beckys Birthday, so as a special treat we had our washing washed in a proper washing machine! First time on the trip, and it made a refreshing change to hand washing in the sink. I took Becky out in the evening to the nicest restaurant we could find on the island, the Windjammer, we dressed up (shirt and shorts instead of a tshirt) and caught the bus around to the restaurant. It really was very very nice, we had drinks, meals, deserts and it still only came to NZ$80 (which is about 28 quid). Its very hard to spend money out here. We then went on into town, actually we didn't have a choice, after 4pm the buses only go one way around the island, so you have to go all the way around to get back home, bus routes are easy, you either get on the clockwise or anti-clockwise bus, and they both go to the same places for the same price. The bus company's called Cooks Transport, just like home. Anyway we went into town had a few quiet drinks and headed back.
What else, well I've been SCUBA diving a few times, Becky's not to keen so she stays on the beach while I've been out on Dive Rarotonga's boat. I went to a places called Paradise and Crocodile Alley both of which are a little way out from the harbour. They're both about 18 meters down and you get about 50 meters visibility, which is amazing, hundreds of fish, Parrot Fish, Picasso Fish, Sea Cucumbers, Spanish Dancers, I cant remember any more names, beats diving in the UK.
Big news out here at the moment is that an illegal Chinese Fishing Boat 'Tim Tom' has been caught and impounded, the police force (which is 8 strong) has been very busy. Ironically the Police Station (which is massive for those 8 policemen) and the Court House were both gifts from China.
We tried to walk back from the airport, walking along the road is hard, not because of the heat, or the traffic, or the pot holes, but because you cant walk 10 metres without someone offering you a lift, a lovely Canadian couple drove us back.
The Christmas decorations are going up on the Island. You've already seen the inflatable snow man and there's much more of that, Budget Car Rentals have been putting a huge neon sign up on top of their building all week so we're excited for the big switch on. The Christmas message this year in the Cook Islands is "If you drink and drive, drive carefully"
Nope... no proposal on Beckys birthday.
The Moons is upside down! Could someone remind me which way the toilet flushes in the UK? I want to have a look here!