It’s weird to leave NZ. As I was packing my stuff it felt like only 2 weeks ago I was going over everything in Toronto and heading off to the airport. I was just starting to get comfortable with things. I am starting to look the proper ways before crossing the street, without triple taking both ways. And so now when I get back to Canada I will most likely look the wrong way. Being accident prone I will get honked fiercely at or tapped by a car. Oh well.
My flight to Rarotonga was on a Monday morning and so instead of staying at a hostel 1 extra night and trying to get a cab/shuttle to the airport for 3am. I went there late Sunday afternoon. I had over 12hrs here and there was no internet or carpeted floors for me to sleep on.
It is now Monday 5:30am. I found a carpeted area to sleep on after getting kicked out of the departures building. Unfortunately it was in the international arrivals building. I got a little bit of rest but not as much as I would have like to. I have checked in for my flight and am waiting at my gate. I went into the Air New Zealand private lounge and talked to one of the concierges about becoming a member etc etc. She told me to have a look around. I did and BAM found the user name and password for the wifi’s!!! I have a few torrents on my computer that still need downloading and right now I’m getting 1Mb/s AMAZING. Plus I’m the only person here. Time to DL as much stuff as possible ahahah.
Our flight to Rarotonga was about 3 hours. Unfortunately I had an aisle seat and wasn’t able to see the whole island as we were approaching and landing on it. When we landed it was 430pm and about 30C outside. The sun was shining and it was hot. For my first night I relaxed on the beach and gazed at the night sky. I know I said the New Zealand sky was amazing but when you’re on a remote island in the middle of the Pacific and there are literally no light around, the stars shine plentiful and bright. Probably one of the best night sky’s I’ve ever seen. 
On Monday I went into town and go my drivers license. Best idea ever! For the rest of my stay I had a scooter to drive around on and it has definitely been worth it. After driving back to the hostel I spent the day at the beach opening coconuts, working on my base tan, and catching hermit crabs. Now that I can open a coconut I have planned on husking and opening everyday I’m here. On Monday night we went out for dinner. Once we were back the rain started, and as the saying goes, when it rains, it pours. 
Tuesday I went snorkeling on the reef. INCREDIBLE!!! The water is ridiculously clear and there is sea life everywhere! It was another relaxing day. Tuesday night a group of us from the hostel went out for a sunset BBQ. I met 3 girls from England at the BBQ each with pretty sweet stories. I initially met girl #1 on the beach at the backpackers. She asked me how I got my scar. We ended up swapping stories and hers is more intense than mine. She was diagnosed with breast cancer and had a mastectomy. A little while later they found the cancer had spread to her liver and it is terminal. The doctors gave her 3 months to live. That was this January. She had another operation to remove her ovaries and so now she has approx 1-3 years left. Even though all these horrible things have happened to her recently she is probably one of the coolest most energetic, live life to the fullest (literally) people I’ve ever met. Inspirational. The other two are 23 year old doctors who were working here and also on vacation. Also really cool but not as interesting a stories.
Back to the main events. Tuesday night was a fantastic BBQ. We all got to know each other and had a good time. The BBQ was kinda a buffet style and no one else there was going up for seconds so I figured why waste this food when I can just eat it all. I took every last piece of teriyaki steak and probably ate 4 corn on the cobs. I was hungry. People sitting near the food area actually asked me if i had worms. I had to say no just a fast metabolism and large appetite.
Back at the hostel after the BBQ we decided to have a fire on the beach. I mean you can’t not have a fire on the beach when your in the middle of the Pacific. We ended up catching running around catching crabs and putting them into a cup. I slowly got over my mini fear of them and picked a few up. One managed to pinch the tip of my finger and draw blood. I wasn’t impressed so I threw him in the fire.
Wednesday was just another relaxing island day. I went for a ride of my scooter, tanned on the beach, husked and opened another coconut. I might add I’m getting quite good at it. Wednesday night we went out for mini putt and dancing (island clubbing). Again no cover charge at the bars or clubs here. At the dance was the a german guy, myself, and the 3 english girls. The german young blood didn’t dance though so it was pretty much just me and the ladies. As I was dancing with the girls so A HOLE Australia came up and pushed me as hard as he could. RATTLED!!! I was the bigger man and just walked to the bar while the girls tore him to shreds. They told me later that he asked them why they were dancing around, and with me, like I was so sort of king. He was obv. jeal. He continuously followed me around and when I was at the bar getting drinks he would just stare at me. It was weird and he was being kind of a dick. I may also mention that’s the first time I’ve been pushed at a club. After dancing the night away we got in the back of some guys truck and have gave us a ride back. Again we made another fire on the beach but instead of chasing crabs we just sat and chatted with one another. Another beautiful night. Im really loving Rarotonga.
All the friends I have made here at Raro Backpackers are leaving today (Thursday). We went into town for some milkshakes and souvenir shopping. We spent most of the day there and when we got back everyone was packing while I husked another coconut.
I don’t think I did anything on Friday... everyone was gone. I just husked and tanned. Saturday was the Rarotonga farmers market. I headed to that with a family that was staying at the hostel. The market was really cool and had the freshest of fruits. They taste much different from back home. They are fresh and delicious and just...ahh nothing like it. Fresh banana, pineapple, coconut, passionfruit, etc. On our way back to the hostel we got pulled over by the police for having 3 people on a scooter. I had to hitch the rest of the way. It wasn’t very difficult. The people on the island are very friendly.
After a few bumps in the road I made it to the airport. I was the first in line and as I was checking in the system crashed. There was a power outage on the island. The flight was delayed by 1 hour. After 9 hours of flying I landed in L.A.
I’m officially on my way home now. My stories here aren’t as good as the ones you’ll hear in person.
No comments:
Post a Comment