Rarotonga, Cook Islands

Kia Orana! It's our last day here on Rarotonga (pop. 10,000) Cy and I have burned backs (i blame the parents) and we stopped counting the bug bites (Mum and Dad seem to be immune as Kiwis) but what a stunningly beautiful island and lovely people. The seas are ridonculously azure, the crushed-coral beaches bridal white.

Mum at the botanical gardens, not to be missed

We went to a music festival

Quite a lot of lying down

Cultural extravaganza

More lying down

We hired bikes, it takes two and a half hours to get round the island. Mum, 76, did well because she got on,, fell off and got back on again. 

Mum, 76, and Dad, 78 leading the way

We took a small plane across to Aitutaki and boated around its outer islands which the Australian passengers said was the most idyllic islands they's seen, just like Bora Bora apparently. 

Our hotel, the Pacific Resort, is small and private and beautifully landscaped, like staying with that rich friend with good taste that you havent met yet. ( where is that jolly friend? Im tired of paying for hotels..) 

We ate loads of fruit but we also ate loads of burgers done kiwi style ( kiwis use loads of beetroot, grated carrot and pineapple and fried eggs on burgers). The fries here were the best i've ever tasted - crunchy on the outer, softy on the inner. 

Tallulah serenaded us everynight with tunes like Valerie and Lucky while Dad expertly measured out the Gin and Tonics.

Most everyone goes to church here. Went to Easter Sunday church and the congregation invited us back for their pot-luck brunch:  baked bananas, taro cakes, raw fish and pork and carrot cake to die for. 

The swimsuits all turned out well, specially liked the swimsuit and cover-up trou by Helen Jon and cover-up by Elif. For health and safety purposes you will be spared swimsuit shots.

We met some lovely people. The Beach Hut boys laughed more in one day at work than most people do In a  lifetime. 

They are grateful for what they have. And gracious. It's very humbling. No tipping here. Still, many here only earn $5 an hour and they live very simply ( though health and education are paid for ) and sometimes it must be hard to reconcile that with prices and what visitors spend  - one day we paid NZ $8 for pot of tea.

Hope you're all well? I'll post more snaps when I get back in two days. Until then will be a day on the plane trying to practise gratefulness and scratching my itchy bites...