Ground hog day

Well the 3rd May the first time round involved a lot of time in airports and on airplanes, leading to my arriving in Rarotonga the day before I left.

Second time round was much better. As I had a room to myself (a bit of an extravagance, but as I am here for 23 nights I just wanted to have my own space) I actually got to unpack my stuff, and really settle in. I slept through to 10am, which was a good lie in for me, before heading for the 3km walk to the main beach house on Muri beach. I officially checked in and didn't waste any time before hitting the beach..

How lovely it was to laze around, reading a book and splashing in to the lagoon every time that I needed to cool down. The water is so clear you can see all the fish swim past in the distance, and it is so still because of the distant reefs that break the waves further out, you feel like you are swimming in a giant, exotic pool.

Ummmm heaven for my lazy, sun drenched bones

As the afternoon wore on I decided to pop in the little shops along the way to buy some food for dinner. I had had plans of trying to make a stir fry but Rarotonga is not a mecca for stir fry ingredients (unlike you want an onion, potato and paw paw stir fry) and I settled for pasta and sauce. Rarotonga does not offer a great variety of vegetables as while anything that is grown on the island is cheap and readily available, anything that has to be flown in from New Zealand, is more on the expensive side (4.5 for a small packet of cherry tomatoes, but boy did they taste good!). I have adjusted my expectations food wise accordingly and am living on a steady diet of pasta or noodles (well I did manage to make a pretty good chilli last night if I say so myself).

When I made it back to Ariki (the house I am staying in, has an overgrown puppy there of the same name, likes to try and chew my fingers) I found that my housemates had got out a dvd. So once I was full of pasta I settled on the sofa to giggle along to American Pie the Wedding. Silly but satisfying.

So that was the 3rd May second time round. Not sure when I will have a chance to do the same day back to back again, but I did enjoy the novelty of it.