Rusty the cat, Cameron, and book
Rusty the cat, Cameron, and book
One of the great things that Gail did was to book a vacation as the first adventure of our world trip. Even better, she found an amazing, perfect house right on the beach (rare) on the sunny western side.
As Cam put it, "Things are so different here. You get up... play at the beach... come have breakfast... drive around a little... play at the beach some more... have dinner... walk on the beach."
"At home, it's get up have breakfast go to school have dinner go to bed."
Actually, Cam's idea of a perfect day is to stay in bed (under his mosquito netting) all day reading.
Joss' idea of a perfect day is to get up and go down to the beach (skip the getting dressed part) or play with Rusty the cat (he's already teaching him tricks).
Life in Rarotonga is definitely relaxing. The people take their time and are always ready to have a conversation. There are Maori with Maori accents (very difficult), New Zealanders with NZ accents, and Maori with NZ accents.
We heard that one of the best ways to learn a culture is to go to the barber. So the three guys got their hair cut.
The three guys, after their haircut
We read at the beach, collect shells and coral, and take walks at sunset. Rarotonga is surrounded by a reef, which creates a wonderful wall of waves and coral structures. You can walk out 100 yards into the water and still be up to your waist.
Joss, Gail, and Cameron reef walking
We rented a car for the first two days (mainly to grocery shop), with Gail driving and Russell navigating the left-hand roads. We only nearly sideswiped one other car before we had to return ours.
Life is like paradise here. It will be very sad and difficult to leave Rarotonga. But if we can say that about every place that we visit, then we will have a very good trip indeed...
Joss and Gail with starfish
Yes, the starfish are blue!
