Daily Blog
By David Lowe
Day 1 San Francisco - Palomar Hotel http://www.hotelpalomar-sf.com/ Cold Photos uploaded to facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dglowe#!/media/set/?set=a.10151575066785558.610023.585330557&type=1
After 22 hours without much sleep we have arrived at our hotel; checked in and were given tokens for daily Continental Breakfasts and key cards for our room: They confirmed that the room came with wireless internet. Unpacked and connected to the internet! Palomar Hotel is smack bang in the middle of town so we can easily explore… Our room is very nice with an enormous bed (Queen Size or is it super King??) Unfortunately no Tea making facilities in room – damn – it is only available in the UK hotels? We will get a giant bottle of orange juice (£5) and bottled water (£2.50) Although very weary we decided to have a quick look around Downtown SF: the place is jumping with Xmas shoppers and the stores are decorated for Xmas trade. The exchange rate in UK was stated as 1.56 At Heathrow it was 1.45 In SF Airport it was 1.20?? ATM machines charge $3 per transaction (plus bank handling/commission charges) So best withdraw min $100! Café meals are about £10 each and Restaurant meals £20 – 30 each. Dollars don’t last very long…. Grabbed Thai meals, I had Tom Yum Chicken and Margaret had Green Curry: both tasty… in a Mall in Market Street (with ATMs) Grabbed the drinks at Walgreens supermarket Did a quick walkabout around the stores Had to hit the sack at 7pm dog tired… Cheers for now David & Margaret
Day 2 San Francisco - Palomar Hotel http://www.hotelpalomar-sf.com/ Surprisingly Cold but later Warm and Sunny! (every one caught out and were carrying their coats underarm!) Photos uploaded to facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dglowe#!/media/set/?set=a.10151575066785558.610023.585330557&type=1 Great night’s sleep: we awoke at 5am and hit the orange juice and water… Played with our electronic ‘toys’ then dressed for breakfast down one floor: Croissant, Orange juice, Coffee and Fruit Salad: Surprisingly the coffee was nice enough to drink straight black!... But I had half & half (Cream & Milk) and sweeteners anyway. I challenged the huge glass of Orange juice as smelling strange and tasting off: they replaced it with an equally huge glass of Grey-Black Apple Juice which actually tasted great? Everyone is so friendly and helpful in SF. We got Tourist Maps from reception and ventured out: first stop Maceys… Very Xmassy and very big… I grabbed a Hot Dog ($5) off of stall … then we made our way up to Union Square where they had a FREE Sunday Ice Skating Rink (courtesy of Microsoft) then through the park where there was an open air art exhibition: some great art there but, speaking to a few of the artists sales were not good!... Onwards up to China Town – which was huge, very malodorous – to put it mildly – but everything was plentiful and cheap! By now we were starting to get hot so we removed our Puffer Coats and slid into an Italian Pasticceria - Scoffed Veggie Pizza (M) and an Almond and Fruit pastry (D) delicious . Got chatting with an Irish/English Sunday Father-with-Child – He married a sweet-heart he met in his first week in the US and later divorced (plus Green Card and US Citizenship!) - and made our way 20 blocks to Fishermans Wharf, Boudins and on to Fishermans Wharf and Pier 39. Loads of tourist shops and the whole area was jumping – Boudins have a very nice Loo on the upper floor which was sorely needed… There was a Crab Fayre in full swing – although the Crabbers were on strike over market rates for crab boat catches… so everything was from defrosted stockpiles!! Decided to get a nice Hawaiian shirt and a couple of huge shopping bags to carry our coats and stuff in. Fishermans Wharf area featured a bunch of pavement entertainers: musicians, circus performers, artists and general foodies. We climbed the stairs to Fog Harbour for a very posh Fish & Chips, an Orange Juice and a Bud (for $48 – they thoughtfully provided calculations for tips to be added at 16%, 18% and 20% - forget offering a measly 10%) Strangely enough they still SIGN for credit cards!!! And this is America… I did notice a shop refused to accept larger than $20 notes. An annoying thing is that all US currency notes are the same size so one has to be very careful with not mixing in higher value notes with $1’s. After a careful study of the map we caught Street Car F back to our hotel for a Senior rate of 75c each – except the driver waved us off saying that his machine was broken! So back into our room – we are feeling a bit weary (7pm) but not too bad so I can type this! And then out again to sample the night scene and, to get some more juices. Cheers for now David & Margaret
Day 3 San Francisco - Palomar Hotel http://www.hotelpalomar-sf.com/ Cold start but later Warm and Sunny! Photos uploaded to facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dglowe#!/media/set/?set=a.10151575066785558.610023.585330557&type=1 Today I donned one of my brightly coloured “I love SF” T shirts – actually bright orange… Margaret was complaining that her white fur lining of her puffer jacket was moulting over her… and was too warm (so she reverted to her trusty fleece…) Off we went for our continental breakfast (with added yoghurt) and a free New York Times. We packed one of our large bags into my pocket and took off for the wilds of ‘Frisco. We are now old hands at handling the Street Cars and navigation around the city and suburbs helped by a trusty paper map and the Nexus7 GPS in my pocket. We took a quick walk around town then jumped on an ‘F’ car for the Waterfront area. Two Senior tickets, which were valid until 1:30 pm for the return journey. You paid by feeding $1 US bills through a slot in the (working) cash machine and the driver handed out the tickets (ripped off at the appropriate time-graduation on the ticket). We heard that the Street Cars have been purchased from many countries including the UK and Italy: The external livery is maintained in the incoming original colour scheme but the inside is painted SF colours! We walked the length of the bay and waterfront – I could feel the grams falling away…. Then stopped for coffees and a square of fruit tart to restock our energy bank and went off again in search of a new wireless mouse – Margaret gave me so much grief over my natty little one .. just cos it was a bit dodgey…. And we picked up a nice one in Walgreens ($17!) and a few gifts for NZ… There weren’t as many grockles around as yesterday but the restaurants and Crab / Clam Chowder joints were still very busy. But we decided to use our tickets for a return to town … We were accosted on the S.Car by a beggar lady complete with cup….. (there seemed to be quite a few poor souls with cardboard signs (no dogs) around the streets in town saying Hungry etc) We both noticed the clouds of steam in the road emanating from the District Heating Systems underground vents – just like on the movies… and the gigantic road trucks – very butch – I especially liked the Bullion/Cash delivery trucks with their obvious amour plating, little windows, and massive tyres. It was time for a serious meal so we went down to the mall in Market Street: there are about 8 different food outlets… the busiest seemed to be the Thai and Korean stands. We went for Thai (M) food and Korean (D) food. Again about $11 each. I had to keep stopping the server from piling food on my plate…. I still had a mountain of Spicy BBQ Chicken and Lemon Chicken with Rice and Noodles to eat…. I noticed that many of the diners requested food doggy-boxes to take-out their remaining food … strange that it was a normal practice in SF! Margaret decided that she desperately needed a slide-out keyboard phone and a Microsoft Surface laptop….. so we whiled away an hour on a Microsft stand going through the pros and cons with a very nice man who was trying to get us both to bite… at about $500 - $600 each plus an accessory pack for another $150 each..– we left with the promise to think about it overnight! Neither of their keyboards had £ signs… and the software included was a trial version at present… Windows RT as well??? Win 8 is soon to be provided on a new model which should run previous Office software … apparently… Anyway they have non-replaceable batteries inside!!! Like Apple stuff… The salesman said that in 2 years time they would be obsolete so might as well trash them anyway!!! Yeah OK mate… Dipstick! On returning to our hotel I learned that the machine is soon to be trumped by a better model and was selling in UK from £299 for the basic model. Damn, we missed the free wine tasting get together in the Hotel Reception… so we took a stroll and hit a Starbucks for coffee and a bit of surfin’ with all the other dudes… man it was cool. We checked out a Storage and Gift Warp Warehouse! The had a huge wall with at a million mixed designs of kitsch coat-hangers.. Wow. … with 100 trolleys and 6 checkouts, open from 8am – 10pm… Amazing… how on earth could they be making a profit? Anyway, my new mouse is working well (and I had a delicious fruit slice with my coffee – yum) Now washed and PJ’d ready to catch some TV adverts before bed (8:45..) Cheers for now David & Margaret
Day 4 San Francisco - Palomar Hotel http://www.hotelpalomar-sf.com/ Cold and cloudy Photos uploaded to Facebook:-https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151576882755558.610263.585330557&type=1 Today being cooler we decided to have a look around the Downtown shops and have a stroll around town. SF seems to have stores that specialise heavily into one range of commodities – big time: I guess they service a big customer base so shift a lot of product. Clothes are about the same price as UK. Jumped the F Street Car to the waterfront and cruised the rest of the strip. Today was market day so there were lots of stalls along the front. Decided to try a new restaurant today: ’Bangkok Noodles’: delicious and cheap – listed in Trip Advisor! ($10 with coke. Managed to catch the F back using same ticket! Took another look around stores – some lovely bright clothes – Margaret says she has too many already! actually… so have I. Hotel had a Wine tasting night Gratis so we supped some Pinot and crudities. Chatted about our next stop, Vegas, with fellow travellers. Sounds really good! Packed up: Booked in for next trip, arranged morning Shuttle Taxi ($30), settled hotel bill ($0). Cheers for now David & Margaret
Day 5 Las Vegas – The Signature at MGM Grand Hotel http://www.signaturemgmgrand.com/suites/signature-deluxe-suite.aspx Cold and cloudy Photos uploaded to Facebook:- https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151578816485558.610490.585330557&type=1 Well up at 6 and ready by 8:10 am we set off for the airport for Las Vegas. The flight was only 1.1/2hrs so nothing: On arrival we caught a shuttle to our hotel and made our way to our penthouse DeLuxe Suite! And WOW, was it great: we were gobsmacked at the luxurious layout and facilities. And, the triple-glazed gold plated window glass is clear when viewed from inside! We couldn’t hear LV airport nearby. I’m not sure we would be swimming in the foaming tub but might be having a party in the shower house! The bathroom TV did seem a bit on the small side though. It was like our luxurious Bangkok Suite 2 years before but grander. Of course having the Coffee Perker/hot water boiler, Fruit Juicer, Toaster, Microwave and hob unit would only be useful if we had some provisions! We tried the supplied Dark Roast Coffee and almost removed our mouth lining… So our outing of discovery down the Strip had to conclude with a trip to Walgreens to provision-up.. I was ravenously hungry by this time 3pm that I grabbed some cheesy pasta & meatballs with tomato sauce and a coke Margaret settled on a Choc Chip cookie and a Starbucks Capuchino…. ($24) We walked the Strip, taking advantage of the escalators and high level walkways and as night started to fall, eased ourselves into the Vegas experience, through the myriad of illuminations, Moving Billboards and vast structures of Stucco’d and painted lumber modelling the many wonders of the world and famous locations. There is a whole gamut of ‘Cirque de Soliel’ shows – which was a little confusing – which one do we pick? The slots and gaming tables were in evidence everywhere with patrons feeding endless $1’s at phenomenal rates into the various machines: the tickling noises and typical cacophony was everywhere… actually we didn’t hear one Jackpot bell the whole time. The electronic ‘bandits’ were a maze of lights and buttons – God only knows how to operate them all: there didn’t seem to be any instructions. And no, we didn’t see any clocks and there were no tell tale windows! There are shows everywhere! We found a Walgreens and bought the essentials for snacks and breakfast - the Diners were a L O N G walk away and seemed to specialise in junk food. £70 later - we struggled with our heavy bags back through the myriad of lifts, moving walkways, casinos, food halls, wedding crowds (yes there is a wedding chapel in the MGM Grand depths – with lots of willing maidens in their whites lining up - and the general gamut of cowboys complete with hats, boots and sequinned gals at their sides. Back in our pad we knocked up Tea and toast with a cereal and yoghurt side and nice cup of Lipton’s Yellow label Tea! Oh, did I mention that we are in a Penthouse Suite – Deluxe!.... Ha ha. Cheers for now David & Margaret
Day 6 Las Vegas – The Signature at MGM Grand Hotel http://www.signaturemgmgrand.com/suites/signature-deluxe-suite.aspx Mild, slight drizzle mid-day Photos uploaded to Facebook:- https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151580763945558.610707.585330557&type So today we travelled the whole length of the strip, taking photos en-route, to arrive at The Venetian: which is modelled on Venice and its waterways and various memorable sights; see pics… As it had started to drizzle we decided to catch the Monorail back to MGM (2x$5). After chicken at MacD’s we decided to try the SLOTS! As it is the 13th today (13 being our lucky number) we thought it was an omen… and we WON, cashed up and left. Phew. On the way back to our Suite we were netted in by a recruiter to ‘Television City’: they wanted us to do an audience critique on a rough for a new show called ‘The Job’. Unfortunately we were the only takers for this performance….. We were wheeled into the test room, sat behind a computer; given a gadget to register interest between 1 & 100 on a rotary dial and the after 45mins answer a load of questions on the show and other shows on TV. We were rewarded with vouchers for another show .. CSI and other offer vouchers… and a paperback book. It’s now time to pick a Spectacular for tomorrow night. We are feeling exhausted tonight after a lot of walking. Cheers for now David & Margaret
Day 7 Las Vegas – The Signature at MGM Grand Hotel http://www.signaturemgmgrand.com/suites/signature-deluxe-suite.aspx Mild, cloudy Photos uploaded to Facebook:- None today! Today I decided to take a turn in the Gym: we are paying for it so I best to use it. The machines were all brand new with the bonus of cold wet towels, headsets and apples. We then went around the back streets to get to Walgreens for some more milk, bread etc. The Strip is now beginning to become a ‘plastic paradise’ with shallow intentions! There are only so much cardboard towers that one can take - but the lights are pretty: like a really souped-up Blackpool - It is incredibly big scale though! The rodeos, slots, shows, helicopter flights around the Grand Canyon and Falls are special to Vegas. Las Vegas is actually a vast amusement area settled into the Navada desert surrounded by a huge residential area. The Casinos are huge and well attended every night in the majority of hotels. It’s a great place to dress up and party; get married: go to the rodeo in cowboy rig and put on the sequins. Watching the airport from our hotel the flights are nearly every 5 minutes with helicopters flying a circular route every 10-15 mins or so! This is big business! Cheers for now David & Margaret
Day 8 Las Vegas – The Signature at MGM Grand Hotel http://www.signaturemgmgrand.com/suites/signature-deluxe-suite.aspx Mild, cloudy Photos uploaded to Facebook:- https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151584165765558.611149.585330557&type=1 This is our last full day in LV so we had a last walkabout: Took the rear exit route to avoid all the overpass and escalators across the roads. Checked out the ‘Miracle Mile’ - Shopping Mall’; picked up some more food in Walgreens (Margaret - Cadburys chocolate!) and stopped for coffee and an iced chocolate (for me!) in The Coffee Bean. There seems to be no end of contests in the various venues: Cheerleaders seem to be appearing dressed for action, everywhere: There is the National Final Rodeos all week? Makes great viewing on the TV: bucking horses, bucking bulls ($1m in prizes), post racing, etc. These Cowboys, and Cowgirls can really pull out the stops and are very brave bordering on crazy! Being flipped up in the air and gored by the raging bulls seemed fairly common…. And the audiences are huge. We noticed that there are at least 6 versions of Cirque du Soleil? Spend another 45mins in the Gym… Cooked our meal in the microwave and watched a series of Law & Order on the TV! Cheers for now David & Margaret
Day 9/10 LV –> LA -> Rarotonga (Cook Islands) – Moana Sands Beechfront Hotel http://www.h-rez.com/a370185/index.htm?lbl=ggl-en&gclid=CIDr2a-Go7QCFQVcpQodSQYAsQ Sunny, hot and humid Photos uploaded to Facebook:- https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151587856605558.611754.585330557&type=1 Our last task yesterday was to log into United Airlines and confirm our seats on our next flight (within 24 hours of flight departure – earliest): the hotel Signature had a Business Office available to guests to book in and print a seat confirmation. This was important as UA overbook their available seats to prevent empty seats from ‘no-shows.’ So I made up a couple of sandwiches from our stock of cheese and turkey slices; and packed the box of tea bags, coffee etc in my case for our next stay. We packed and checked out of our room at 11am and parked in the Lobby. Our Shuttle pickup was booked for 2:40pm.. There was quite a few of us camping there! Sandwiches, apple juice and orange juice all finished we boarded the shuttle for our flight to LA and on to Rarotonga in the Cook Islands (NZ Currency.) Arrining at LV aiport I changed up £40 into NZ Dollars for minor travel expenses in Rarotonga. Not too much as the airport rates are always a Rip-Off! I would get some real money from an ATM later using my Nationwide Debit card – much better rates! We asked for Air NZ to check our bags through to Raratonga to save us messing about through customs etc in LA: 30 mins later, after 3 attendants had inputted data into the computerised booking system we could check in! (I had serious doubts whether we would ever see our checked-through bags again.) There has been a lot of hassle with carry on bags these past flights – with size and weight restrictions and veiled threats if bags and the ’one personal item’ did not comply (test frame at check-in.) By now we were used to stripping our selves and our carry-on bag into 3 or four containers for the X-Ray machine to review and reconstituting everything back together: It is such a palaver and seems to be jobs for the boys… they now also swap around everything and submit the swab to a chemical analysis test before passing your stuff through. (This took me 30mins in HTHRW.) And the queues at Security grow longer and longer…. It would be a terrific boost to morale if they showed video casts of ‘terrorists’ actually getting caught so we all new it was really paying off! The ‘terrorists’ must be really laughing at the extreme inconvenience they have caused, not less the millions of pounds added to air ticket prices to pay for it all! No sooner had the plane taken off from LV, handed-out free soda when it started its decent into LA! The flight from LA to Rarotonga was very long and bumpy but when we finally arrived at the tiny airport we were stunned at the palm lined tropical-ness of it all. In true fashion each of us was bedecked with a flower wreath and shown to our transport, an island hopper bus to our hotel: we travelled halfway around the island, the driver giving us a continuous commentary: the views were fantastic: white beaches going into beautiful light blue seas out to the encircling white foam at the reef line and further out to the deep blue sea outside. The beaches are white coral sand: there is good scuba and snorkelling all around the island with excellent line fishing. We were surprised at how small the hotels were as we travelled to each drop-off. When we finally arrived at our ‘Moana Sands Beechfront Hotel’ we were shown into a clean and well-equipped Studio room: a bit basic in decorations – after the luxurious Las Vegas standards…. but, none the less, very comfortable and well appointed with kitchen, microwave, fridge etc nice shower wet-room and…. the bed area patio door opened straight onto a boarded patio and the beach! WOW. The view was gob-smackingly amazing. Beautiful. Just like the Holiday adverts: sun, Palm trees, empty beaches, light blue sea and private serenity. The pictures hardly do it justice. I took a series of panned photos to join together later. The sound of the breeze through the palm trees and the surf at the coral. This trip was going to start with a bang: for tomorrow, Tuesday we booked up a day long sea trip with Koka Lagoon Cruises: in a glass bottomed boat with swimming and snorkelling and food thrown in – with coconut tree climbing too! On Wednesday, a Maori day of history, tours, feasting, Maori dancers, music, theatre and fun! We bundled up our washing for the laundry and caught the round island hopper bus into town for a look around. The ‘town’ was ‘compact’ (only 15,000 inhabitants…) but had the essentials: I needed to buy some swimming shorts for our boat trip… amazingly difficult to find ($20) … no end of ladies bikinis… I took this up with the various shop-keepers who were unable to explain: all that lovely water and no cossies???? I eventually found a pair of bright orange Maui ‘Boardies’ shorts which had to do! The hotel said that the local boys used a sarong type thing around their midriff??? We were also warned that we must wear high factor sun-screen at all times – even inside the buses! Anyway tonight it will be local fish dinner! (apparently big flat blue fish or tuna flash cooked in lemon? Cheers for now David & Margaret
Day 11 Rarotonga (Cook Islands) – Moana Sands Beechfront Hotel http://www.h-rez.com/a370185/index.htm?lbl=ggl-en&gclid=CIDr2a-Go7QCFQVcpQodSQYAsQ Sunny, hot and humid with a lovely breeze Photos uploaded to Facebook:- https://www.facebook.com/doogleboy?ref=tn_tnmn We had been told that our hotel’s attached restaurant, the Sands Beachfront Restaurant, has a great reputation on the island so we strolled in at 6pm for our dinner… “Have you booked she said” … every table has a RESERVED sign on it! “NO! Sorry should we have?” Luckily we were very early and were able to get a shaded table, out of the sun: you need factor 30 sunscreen on here ‘cos of the strong UV rays…. The meal was epic.. Michelin Star worthy! Beautifuly presented and very tasty. We both ordered the Dakkah crusted Tuna fillet served over BBQ new potatoes topped with a basil tomato salsa and grilled banana ($28.50 each) … delicious, followed by chocolate bread & butter pudding with soft cream and vanilla ice cream ($10) with fruit coulis (me) and Margaret finished with hot sticky date pudding served with butterscotch sauce and vanilla ice cream ($10) etc…. and a nice Pinot Grigio and Tui to wash it down (NZ$ 92.70). We plan to eat there again tonight at 7pm… this time we have booked! We crashed at about 8pm… totally exhausted after 24 hours of restless sleep….. Again, a Queen sized… Giant bed with thin covers.. it was warm but with the netted louvered windows open full we were just right. The breaking surf over the reef barrier and the breeze rustling through the Coconut palms soothed us off to a deep sleep. We awoke this morning at 7am refreshed and ready to enjoy the day. After a nice relaxing breakfast (super continental style) and chatting with fellow residents we finished our packed provisions bag ready for our day on the Glass bottomed boat cruise with Koka Lagoon Cruises (www.kokalagooncruises.co.uk) : they picked us up from our hotel at 9:30am in their shuttle bus to the other side of the island where we paid our NZ$75 (for 2) collected our masks and snorkels – just in case, and made our way onto the boat: the centre section of which was walled around a glass bottom over which one could peer and take pics! We were warned not to put bags on the chequer-plated floor as this would get wet! The boat was full to capacity (40 or so) and off we sailed. It seemed, apart from a newly married Russian beauty and her not so pretty husband, most of the travellers had a heavy tan…. From NZ, Oz, UK and all over. The boat had a five man crew: 1 Captain (who skilfully plied his way around the many shallow coral reefs); a general mate; and three musicians; one on tom tom drums; one on 8 string UKe and one on 4 string Uke. Before we set off the mate sounded off a ritual on a large conch shell: the Captain blessed the boat off we went. The water was iridescent light blue with the occasional darting of fishes: we motored on for about 20 minutes passing around one of the 15 islands, and along the palm sprinkled beaches: when we arrived at a ‘conservation area’ where we moored. The kids quickly leapt into the water, some with life jackets followed by their parents: the crew were kindly on hand in the water to help those who needed it – or needed their courage bolstering: the Russian beauty stripped off her pink fluffy hot pants and top……. (phew!) And allowed a willing crew member to fit her into a life jacket (my help was refused… luckily I guess as they had trouble pulling it over her balcony….) and she was gently lowered into the blue water… Ooooh “It’s freezing” she said…. Well that was enough for me!.. I would swim later in the day after the sun had heated up the Pacific Ocean shallows for a while! After 30mins or so we packed back into the boat and made for their tucker – Koromiri island BBQ site when after 20 mins prep on their ‘range gas-powered BBQ; the food was blessed - we closed our eyes for prayer.. and then we tucked into the ‘feast’ comprising: seared tuna- fish, sausage, rice, coleslaw, grilled plantain, chopped fruit mess(?), paw paw, bread with orange or water to wash it down. Lovely. Then the entertainment/educational/ethnic studies started: our tutor a very tasty well built young Maori man in grass skirt and leggings, taught us the salient facts about coconuts and palm trees: there are 3 types of seasonal coconuts which drop after 2-3 months onwards: one filled with the coconut water and white flesh for shredding and eating: one which had a tastier milk and rich creamy white flesh which could be squeezed to obtain coconut milk, good for staunching cuts and protecting skin and staving off insects: and one with a white pulpy fibre centre with a sprouting shoot for planting to grow another palm. The guide then showed how to husk the nut by removing its protective thick smooth external husk shell with a sharp pointed stick revealing what we would then recognise as a coconut inside. Our guide, apparently is the Hawaiian coconut tree climbing champion: After climbing the tree and retrieving three types of coconut and demoing a couple of volunteers with the loop of rope ankle-shackle he did a timed climb (his set record was 10 secs) he shimmied up and back down a 30 year old Coconut tree in 6 secs!!! Amazing. Then we assembled on the beach outside a double circle when each of us was given a tiny hermit crab in a shell for a Crab race: we each had to name our crab (mine was Geronimo!) and we then placed the crabs in the inner circle: he then blew on his conch shell which got all the crabs crabbing along towards the outer ring… my crab came second so I didn’t get the prize of a coconut. We then all boarded the boat and were again serenaded back to base camp for the bus ride home. Well worth our $75 for the 4.1/2 hours of fun in the sun, and food, and education. Having felt a bit of a wimp, I decided to borrow a mask, snorkel and flippers from reception and venture across our beach into the sea. I forgot how difficult it is to walk on soft sand with flippers, but, as I gently lowered myself into the water I couldn’t believe how warm it was … lovely. I snorkelled my way around the bay seeing al manner of fish and sea things in the coral hidey holes… eyeing me up for dinner? (Unfortunately there are no pictures of this interlude as Margaret misread ‘pushing in the camera button fully until it clicked….. Grrrr!) Although the water was nice and warm it actually tasted ‘orrible as I found out a few times when the wind driven wavelets overpowered the height of the snorkel nearly drowning me many times – I was careful to keep within standing up depth so I survived. What happened to the ping-pong ball to stop one breathing sea water?? Any way I had a nice shower, first with cosy and tea shirt to rinse them off for hanging out to dry: and then to revitalise my bod. Time to get ready for tonight’s nourishment. Cheers for now David & Margaret
Day 12 Rarotonga (Cook Islands) – Moana Sands Beechfront Hotel http://www.h-rez.com/a370185/index.htm?lbl=ggl-en&gclid=CIDr2a-Go7QCFQVcpQodSQYAsQ Sunny, hot and humid with a lovely breeze Photos uploaded to Facebook:- Last night we again dined at the Sands restaurant at 7pm – a little too late as it was very dark when we received our food…. Although I got a nice series of pics as the sun sank down to sunset. We both went for medium Sirloin Steak: and it was beautifully cooked, tender, juicy and well presented. We both had the Sticky date pudding! Yum. We met up with Linda & John, Dave & Chris and Geraldine & Nicola. Linda & John are scheduled to get married at 4:30pm outside on the beach today, after 20 years together – they jointly have 5 kids. They have asked me to shoot the video for them: they have a photographer to take the stills. Dave & Chris have mastered the snorkel diving and have swum way out to the reefs and report seeing beautifully colourful fish in abundance – and have a Panasonic HD underwater camera which takes really cool movies! I said that I would join them but seemed to always be swallowing the Ocean… as the waves overran the snorkel tube… way to short for me…. Need much calmer water to use them. Perhaps tomorrow early before the wavelets become waves. We have ordered a scooter to be delivered for Thursday & Friday so we can do a bit of Island exploring: to visit the Secret Garden, lovely ‘fish & chips’ restaurant down the road and some roadside stops on the island circuit – 32 km in circumference (about 1.1/4 hour to complete) the island speed limit is 30km/hr in town and 50 km/h in a vehicle. The roads are a little bumpy in places. Our day trip ‘Highland Paradise – Cultural Centre’ was cancelled so we rebooked for this evening straight after the wedding at 4:15pm. So to correctly review the three types of coconut; Noo - Drinking type, thin coconut layer : Uton (pronounced ooooton) – Thick coconut layer, Squeezing shredded coconut for cream type; and Uckery - Sprouting planting type, centre of coconut filled with white pulp and coconut layer thin. The wedding planner had the flower arch built on the beech which was a surprisingly long job (pics): the Celebrant arrived and took charge of the couple who were married under the arch and duly signed the register. The coach picked us up at 5:15am and we were taken to the ‘Highland paradise’ Cultural centre: I volunteered to become the Warrior for our Green Vakka (Maori Boat) – and was duly clothed with the warriors garland and ensconced at the front of the bus. When we arrived at the Sacred Place (actually up a mountain in a cloud!.. ) we were given cans of aerosol to spray our skin against mossies… then after a quick instruction to us 4 Warriors and taught the special words “I MeiTukka” shown around by the chief warrior(?) followed by the 4 Vakka Warriors who presented palm baskets of paw-paws and oranges to the local Mucka.. (I was the green Vakka) and their followers. We had a feast of local produce and were then treated to tribal/traditional dances backed by a sextet of drums and Ukes. Interestingly, our bottle of iced wine cost $45 but the accompanying jug of iced water was free! The finale required the 4 Warriors to dance with the local beauties on stage… I got the really nice one who presented me with the trad garland (Ei) of jasmine, gave her the trad kiss on the right cheek and danced the male part whilst she did the sensuous hips bit…. Nice. The winning Warrior got to take his girl home… Unfortunately I lost but got another kiss… Actually I lied about the taking home bit … the girls were the chief Mukka’s daughters…. And it would have probably restarted the Maori wars! We boarded the bus home to return at 11:30 ready for bed. Cheers for now David & Margaret
Day 13 Rarotonga (Cook Islands) – Moana Sands Beechfront Hotel http://www.h-rez.com/a370185/index.htm?lbl=ggl-en&gclid=CIDr2a-Go7QCFQVcpQodSQYAsQ Sunny, hot and very humid with a light breeze Photos uploaded to Facebook:- https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151593604380558.612518.585330557&type=1 Today was Scooter Day and we were collected at 9:30am after breakfast to be taken to the Island Hire where we signed up for a temporary Driving Licence at $20 and took charge of a yellow Suzuki Scooter: first was a quick familiarisation course and test ride to prove proficiency – I didn’t fall off it so was cleared to ride! Margaret was a little nervous at first and found the seat a little wide and uncomfortable – but after a few miles got the hang of it, leaning in the corners as required… and we made it to town at the other side of the island in one piece at 40k/h. The wind was cool in our faces and the ride exhilarating! We tracked round the Roto shops, bought yet another T-shirt and a nice necklace for Mog. A cooling Iced Chocolate for me and a Cappuccino for Mog hit the spot. We then made our way to the local supermarket and purchased bread, butter, ham, milk, orange juice, crisps and Garibaldi biscuits to go with our stock of cheese, tea and coffee. If you have a kitchen one may as well have the provisions to use it for snacks! Later I asked the hotel if we could use the big gas BBQ in the beach shelter: “Yes” they said “Just ask when you want the tools.” Enough said, Margaret stuffed a towel down the back of her trousers for extra seat padding jumped back on the scooter for the ride back to the ‘Foodstore’ supermarket. We bought some tomatoes, coloured peppers, lamb & mint sausages, two rib eye steaks, five large chicken thighs, small bottles of tomato sauce, mayonnaise and sweet chilli sauce – couldn’t find any lettuce! Total cost NZ$60: about the same price as the Sands restaurant for one! Called down Nicola, Geraldine, John & Linda to join us for a BBQ: John & Linda were out for a visit at 7 so we were just 4: N & C brought the extra salad and G&Ts…. We all set too preparing the food helped along by a Gin & Lemon Lift. We wrapped up at 8pm when it was too dark to sit outside and the micro-ants were out in force! STOP PRESS… Margaret has got Panda Eyes from wearing sunglasses – at least it proves that they work! Cheers for now David & Margaret
