Sunday 25 October 2009

Holiday on Rarotonga - Cook Islands

After 2 years in New Zealand it was time for a quick holiday abroad. We spent last week on a pacific island called Rarotonga, the biggest of the 15 Cook Islands. It's only a convenient 5h direct flight from Christchurch.
George enjoyed snorkeling and I walked miles on the beach with my eyes fixed to the ground scanning for rocks, coral and shells. Unfortunately I couldn't take any of my findings back with me due to the strict custom regulations of New Zealand, so I had to take pictures. I'm sure my dad wishes there were some similar strict regulations in the Swiss mountains as he must remember all the kilos of stones I used to gather when I was little but than he had to carry them downhill for me.


One day, we hired some bikes to explore the island. There is one main road along the coast and it's only 32km until you're back at your starting point, that gives you an idea how small the island is. As it is all flat along the coast, this is the perfect way of sightseeing and getting some exercise.

We also joined two organized tours: The first one was sort of a safari with Landrovers taking us inland and up the mountains, very informative with a BBQ on the beach at the end. The other one was on a Glass Bottom Boat (so even I could see some of the beautiful fish) with plenty of time for snorkeling, again a BBQ lunch on the beach and a very funny demonstration about what you need to know about coconuts.
We hired kayaks twice to explore the lagoon. It's very relaxing to float above the coral reef and look for Nemo and his friends.

1 comment:

FilmFan67 said...

Great pics Esther & George glad things are going well for you over there. Im off to Belgium in 3 weeks with my dad, cant wait.