Yes, only 2 days to go until I board that big bird and I am sorry to be leaving.

Darryl arrived safely after his marathon journey to get here. He flew Jacksonville – Atlanta – Los Angeles – Auckland (NZ) – Rarotonga, crossing the date line twice. He had an unexpected passenger, Stanley the State farm bear.

The weather on the island has been lovely right up until the day he took off, since then we have only had strong winds and showers, I hope this is not a taste of things to come??

Anyway, once he had dropped his gear off and had a few welcome beers we all headed off to Raviz for a curry. Once again it was superb, so I can say their standards are consistent.

Breakfast the next morning was once again at Mama’s Hut and the rest of the day is spent doing odd chores and sorting things out.

I decided to go drive about by myself to give the guys some time to get sorted. The weather started to clear and I thought about going back to see if they wanted to go snorkelling, but then I thought again, they were waiting for a refrigeration engineer, so I decided against it.

I found a gorgeous beach (with talcum soft sand), called Muri beach, then a little further along the road I came across a deli, so stopped and bought some goodies for the guys.

Driving back I saw a sign for free beer! It is one of the 2 local breweries, Cook Island Brewery.

So I drove back to the wharf, honked the horn and shouted ‘would you like some free beer?’ Quick as a flash Roger was ashore and Darryl followed (though he thought I was winding them up). We drove to the brewery where the lovely Gaynor was serving samples of their 3 brews, Blonde, Lager and Darkie.

The boys were so impressed they then ordered a mug of the stuff and another and another..... Gaynor and her husband, Tea Riki (or Bill) had taken over the brewery 18 months ago. Neither had been in the brewery business before, but they have certainly climbed that steep learning curve.

You can buy a mug for $3 or you can get a litre bottle for $5 (you can bring your own jugs and bottles and they will fill them for you). Anyway, it appears it is also a bit of a local watering hole as locals dropped in for a quick one after work.

We met Luther, a local chef, Grant, the butcher next door, Chris & Christy who were holidaying from California.

 Well as you know I don’t partake of alcohol very often, but I was thirsty, so I nipped next door and bought a can of sprite and Gaynor kindly made me a couple of shandys, which were wonderful. But after a couple I knew this was going to be a long night, so I nipped down to the little Spa and had Adi give me a deluxe facial and massage.

 By the time I got back the boys were well oiled so to speak (which was more than they could do by that time). It was almost 7pm and time to let Gaynor get home to here lovely new baby (I think she was called Elvie and was 3 months old).

We needed food and I made the mistake of taking the guys to Trader Jacks, on a Friday, without a reservation. So we ended up on a table outside under a gazebo, normally quite romantic, but when it is blowing a hoolie and pouring down with rain it is anything but.

 Anyway, to cut a long story short it was not the best experience.

Saturday morning was market day and I was looking forward to it, having heard so much about it. I managed to find a hula skirt and Stanley went native.

We were not disappointed and had an added bonus of the official opening of the Constitution day celebrations.

Everybody from the island was there and the buzz was great. Terrific food stalls and wonderful smells filled the market, local crafts were on display and everyone was happy, despite the liquid sun (rain).

We took off for a round island sightseeing trip and hopefully some snorkelling.

The weather was very changeable and the surf was up, so the snorkelling was out, but we found a neat little 18 hole mini golf course and cafe so had lunch and passed an hour or so and there.

I took the guys to Muri beach and couldn’t resist a swim. However, the current was so strong, it was a short swim. On the way back home we dropped in to the brewery for a quick one and to pick up the chicken I had bought the previous day (but a last minute change of plans meant leaving it in Gaynor’s fridge).

Then it was a quick trip back to Beaujolais for dinner and a change before going to the International Opening night of the Constitution celebrations.

The event while interesting, was a little disappointing. As they do this each year we had expected it to be well organised, but as Darryl said, it was like a high school production. The performers were excellent, but the stage management was poor and the MC was awful. Plus they did not allow any photography, which was another disappointment.

However, the community had done an excellent job, providing food stalls of all sorts and types. It was excellent and showed the wonderful community spirit that is all over the island.

 We are expecting strong winds tonight so it would seem that Rarotonga is as sad that I am leaving as I am.

However, I will be back for  a brief visit in Fiji (the guys are just picking Dirk’s brains on the best places to visit, as I type). So it is ta ta for now.