Last Day in the Cook Islands

We thought it was a simple as walking across the street to Tik-E Bikes and renting e-bikes for the day. Of course, being the ultra-prepared travelers we are, the day had to first start with packing for the flight home and checking out of the room, so we got a bit of a later start than was ideal.

Over at Tik-E bikes we learned that all bikes had been rented already and that most of the bikes on the island were in the same state. Yikes!

The owner was sooo nice though. She offered us bikes for next week and when she learned that we flew home at midnight, she had an even more creative solution:

There was a tourist group coming in tomorrow (early) and they had bikes reserved already. The owner pinched two from that reservation for us to borrow today, since there was no way we'd keep them through tomorrow and told us that we could simply lock them up tonight at the Resort and she'd grab them either later tonight or tomorrow. Problem solved.

We got a quick lesson about battery life, gears, throttle and such, then snapped helmets into place and rode off. The plan was to ride clockwise around the whole island, stopping at will along the way.  About 32km total.

First stop: Tuoro.  Black Rock beach. Pretty nice, right?

Then a stop at the local port before heading into downtown, where there was shopping and a cake stop! I acquired myself another charm for my bracelet. A sweet little starfish with a local pearl in the center.

We were fast getting used to E-bikes. Well, Mark was. He have me pointers such as using the throttle to get a faster start than pedaling. Each bike weighs about 23kg, so can be slow to build momentum and that isn't ideal when crossing a busy street.

About a half way, he had also pushed his throttle to its limit and reported that 29km/hr was it. Apparently Im a tad competitive. I used pedal-assist mode to get my bike upwards of 35km/hr shortly thereafter. Hahaha!

Needless to say we were enjoying the wind in our faces, the stunning scenery and beautiful day. 

We stopped for a ceviche type lunch (the locals called it Tuna Salad) in Muri and for a couple of beach breaks during the second half of the circuit.

Reaching the resort by 4pm, we just had 5-6 more hours to kill before the taxi to the airport showed up.  Another sunset... another dinner outdoors... a nap on a pool lounger...  It's a good life!

But then, I was really ready to go home and looking forward to a sleep as we jetted across the Pacific to LAX and across the Rockies to Denver. :-)

Welcome home to us!!!!

Reunited with the fur-baby!

Rarotonga Cross Island Walk and more...

January 2nd... It's a public holiday in the Cook Islands. And that made it hard to do almost anything from booking dinner reservations to hiring bikes.

Plan B for today was to do the Cross Island Walk. A relatively new feature of Rarotonga, this walk was supposed to take about 2.5 hours. We taxied to the trail head.

NOTE: Taxi's are pretty much NZ $15/person if you go less than half around the island. There is a bus for $5/person, but it comes clockwise or anticlockwise about once an hour and it seems Mark and I are destined to just miss the thing!

Due to the recent cyclone the trail was wet and covered in downed green leaves straight from the jungle itself. Slippery is an understatement. This was one long, overgrown, tripping hazard too.

The peak is called the needle. It offers an amazing view over the island is totally worth the hike - which is not for the faint-hearted, FYI. It took us a vigorous 2 hours to reach the top - of the trail, not the needle itself. You'll never get me up there!

The hike down was just as hard, involving a steep trail over jungle roots, frequent river crossings and not insignificant portions by which one has to absail using the attached knotty rope!

We were DRENCHED in sweat and 100% humidity. Falling was part and parcel of the journey and so was being incredibly proud of our efforts, at the end.  :-)

Speaking of the end... with no cell reception and having once again missed the bus, you might be asking how we made it back to our hotel in time to shower and change for the cultural performance and impressive dinner we had reservations for?

We hitch-hiked. Yep. Met a lady near the trail head who told us to "stick out a thumb". For the quickest way around Rarotonga is by friendly local transit, we were told. It took all of 1 minute for someone to pick us up. Mauna was her name and I cannot tell you how grateful (and surprised) we were that anyone would offer stinky, wet us, a place in their personal vehicle. Thanks, Mauna!!!

Now there was a bit of time to relax before dinner too.

Later on... Oh dear God! The dinner and show was so great, but man did sitting front and center end badly for us. We were called on stage not once but twice to participate in island dancing!  Arrgghhhh.