Away from it all....

After the Superbowl, Tracy and Jeremy arrived at LAX. A short while later, we took off for Rarotonga. The flight was almost 10 hours but seemed longer.

The weather in Raro was a mixed bag for our trip. Which I really like since I'm not much into constant 40 degree heat with humidity.

This is what we got off the plane to at around 7am.

 

There is nothing quite like for your first day in Rarotonga. Within 2 hours of arriving we had rented scooters, gotten our Raro drivers licences and had gone for a swim on the near by beach. Nic didn't want to drive so I was her Chauffeur for the trip. I learned how to drive within a few minutes, and had a big grin on my face as I zipped around the Island.

 This is our first shot of the Beach near where we were staying.

 On our way to the Beach, we found the local Brewery. What a great find this place it. Right down the road from one of the better beaches in the area is the Mutata Brewery. Fresh beer in 4 flavors, each well designed for island consumption. Thumbs way up from Karate Monkey.

Just a few beach shots.

 Our first night we cabbed our way to one of the Restaurants.

 I don't want to get into what these daiquiri's cost, or the whole meal plus cab ride.

   But lets just say our subsequent 2 dinners were done on the BBQ at our villa. I should also send out a big thumbs up to our Hosts, Eric and Roselle at the Cook Islands Oasis. Very friendly and helpful and a nice little Mom and Pop establishment.

Nic finds herself relaxing in the water during Captain Tama's boat and snorkel tour. Which to me was pretty funny. We each paid $75 for a tour, basically to be loaded onto a boat and taken back to pretty much the exact same location we did our first days snorkeling at. Haha!

Lunch was done for us at the end of the tour. Fresh Tuna and BBQ Bananas. Yum!

 Just a few odds and sods from Muri beach. Nic and I got up early on Tuesday to catch the Sunrise.

Yep. A little bit more than a little bit hammered that evening. Good times for sure. 

 Our last day Nic and I tried to do a round up of all the Photo's we wanted to get.

 On our journey, we walked into the local bike shop. Its a new business here on the island that opened its doors a few weeks before Xmas. They had already moved roughly 250 bikes, mostly to young riders. Thats Lee in the blue shirt who also spent some time living in Vancouver.

 
Asking about Mtn bike trails on the island, they pointed out that they had been given a 2 million dollar grant from the pacific development fund. Once some land issues get sorta we may expect to see some trail building happening on Rarotonga.

Can you imagine what Digger could do with 2 Mil???

The proposed 38km of trail would make Raro a great vacation destination  indeed!

Not that it isn't already.

3 days on the island was the perfect amount of time to untie our knots. We had our 2nd BBQ at the villa. Then, fully relaxed, Nic and I got picked up and taken to the Airport.

Next stop, Wellington!