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Part 3 -
EASTER ISLAND TO TAHITI and RAROTONGA
26.2.97
We hear it calling …
”
bali
ha'i will whisper
on the wind of the sea
"here am I, your special island!
come to me,
come to me." ”
This is the first time on the trip that we have pre-arranged transport
from airport to hotel. In the airport there is a band playing local
music, and even at 3am it is bustling and lively. We are greeted with
flower garlands, and the coach is filled with the scent of frangipani
which I love. I decide that if Heaven has a scent, it must be
frangipani. Is the converse true: if the place smells of frangipani, it
must be heaven? Wait and see....
The result of last nights delay means that we don’t arrive at our
hotel in Tahiti until well
after 3am local time, 12 hours after we should have left
Easter Island
. We are pretty tired. I’d kept going much longer than anticipated on
Easter Island
, and glad I did, but it is catching up now.
In the morning we have a superb breakfast served by a waiter with an
amazing display of flowers in his hair. Not so unexpected in the women,
but two of the male waiters have long hair bound up with floral
ornaments so spectacular they have to keep their heads straight to avoid
dislodging the flowers. It’s
hot, 36-37 degrees already. The view is magnificent. Beyond the reef is
another island – Moorea - almost in misty silhouette. It’s reputed
to be the island which inspired Bali Hai in the book and film. By chance
we have fallen into the best hotel with the best view on Tahiti Nui [Big
Tahiti].
We find one of the hotel swimming pools is an infinity pool, beautifully
landscaped with a sandy floor, rocks and palm trees, and with a jacuzzi
hidden in the rocks. Fantastic way to spend a day, haven’t enjoyed
swimming like I do here for many years. It really is bliss, with that
view and wonderful water temperature.
27.2.07
Harvey
away on round the island trip till 3.30. I’m content to sit under my
palm tree, read, swim and have lunch in the cool of the room.
28.2.07
Decided against the trip to Moorea, however much I can hear it calling, as it is an early start and a long
day in the heat, plus we have to be up at 4.am. tomorrow.
Harvey
goes alone.
Enjoyable hour and a half in the Business Centre, catching up with
correspondence on internet. Not sure if Harvey
confirmed our flights, go down to the desk to check. Discover that our
flight is delayed from 7a.m. until 6.15pm tomorrow. Annoyed that if
I’d know I had a full day tomorrow to recover and pack, I could have
managed Moorea.
Luckily the receptionist I am dealing with has only started today, and
she is keen. She phones Air New
Zealand
on my behalf and gets them to pay for breakfast, lunch and room until we
leave tomorrow. A good deal.
Good buffet dinner when Harvey
gets back, and a local dance show way above the usual standard of hotel
shows. Excellent male and female dancers. The food is not quite up to my
benchmark,
Sugar
Beach
in
Mauritius, but pretty good, and the pretty waiters with flowers in their hair are
again in attendance. The head waiter is French, a young Robson Green
look-alike with a French accent. A pleasure to eat dinner served by him,
once I’ve picked my jaw up from the floor.
Part way through dinner, a strange blue light appears in the sky, a long
wide streak. No one here has seen anything like it, the waiters stop
waiting and photograph it with their phones.
1st March 2007
Wake in the night with a bad sore throat, more sinus pain and swollen
glands all on the right side. Probably needs antibiotics but can’t
face the travelling and waiting at a clinic in the heat. Take homeopathy
which worked with this a few years ago.
Morning under palm tree and swimming, last chance to look at this
idyllic view. Lunch in room, then packing and getting ready for off.
Again. Getting to feel a bit like that. There is so much waiting around
at airports, so much form-filling.
Check emails to find that last batch have failed, no one got any
content. Disappointing. Since I’ve had no phone signal since Brazil
either, feeling a bit out of touch. Expensive to phone from hotel, £3
per minute. Will wait and phone from next one, whatever the cost; Dad
will be wondering what’s happening.
Pick-up at the hotel is 4.10 in the afternoon, and then we have an hour
sweltering wait in the airport. No airconditioning, sun so low it fills
the building and there is no escape. I buy a small hand fan for more
than it’s worth, but it proves to be worth every penny before the end
of the trip. Feel even worse, nose like a tap and face aching. We find
out eventually that the delay was due to a bird strike, the plane having
to be thoroughly checked before being allowed to come and pick us up.
It’s a short flight, we arrive at the Hotel Pacific Resort Rarotonga
on the Cook Island of Rarotonga
around 9pm. We are presented with more flower garlands and photograph
each other wearing them. I love that custom, though sad that the flowers
are dead by morning.
Harvey
also has a cold and his ears were painful during the flight. More or
less straight to bed, exhausted by the heat.
2.3.07
We have a huge beach front room on the first floor of a small block of 3
apartments. We have another enormous bed, a large comfy cane 3 piece
suite, a kitchenette and a balcony. And we have both airconditioning and
a ceiling fan. One wall is a complete picture window overlooking sea and
islands. Lucky again in our choice of hotel, these are the only islands
off the coast of
Rarotonga
, both inside the reef.
The hotel is set in lush gardens with waterways and rustic bridges, just
my sort of thing. Chenille plants, ginger and tropical lily types grow
to around 15feet. I imagine the problem here is not getting things to
grow, but having to keep cutting them back. Strangely the swimming pool
is lined with navy blue tiles which makes the water look inky black and
uninviting. I don’t go in.
We walk along the edge of the ocean after an orientation talk that must
have been a nightmare for the cheerful young man giving it. No one
laughs at his jokes. No high rise to spoil the shore, a few bungalows
hidden in shrubbery. Temperature is again hot, mid 30’s and humid, the
sea breeze helps a bit.
Our hotel has a marquee and a few tables set up on the beach; this is
where we lunch. I’m not feeling up to par still, but appreciate the
wonderful setting. The effect is rather marred by a spoilt little
Australian girl at the next table, who refuses to eat sitting down.
Between mouthful she stands, hands splayed like starfish before stuffing
the next thing in with her fingers. She keeps adding more and more
ketchup to her plate, and when neither parent is looking, slurps it
direct from the nozzle of the squeezy bottle. Make a note not to use
ketchup while I’m here.
Harvey
takes a kayak out into the lagoon, as far as the reef. I sit on a beach
bed for a while, reading, watching another Australian family playing
beach cricket with a little boy about 9 years old. They play with
enormous gusto, calling each other Warnie and Gillie. The little boy has
a lot of fun, but they aren’t soft with him, when he’s out he’s
out.
Special evening buffet and dancing which has been well praised. I’m
feeling rotten, shivery, but Harvey likes these things, so off we go. We find we are at a table with two
other couples [worst nightmare]. Couple from
Essex
is the worst kind, he jolly and boozy, she quiet and sugar-sweet but
barbed. The other people are Dutch and rather nice. The food is
disappointing and I retire before the pudding, leaving poor Harvey
to watch the dancing and suffer the jolliness. He comes back to the room
to see how I’m doing, but feels he has to go back to pay his share of
the bill at the end of the evening.
3.3.07
Raining but take the local bus into the market in the main town of Avarua. Very hot and humid, sweat pouring down my back and front. I’m
feeling better but my temperature gauge appears to be out of order. The
market is loud and not very interesting. We try for fresh coconuts which
always help but we’re too late, they have run out before lunch.
We
have lunch next to the sea at Trader Jack’s, apparently the place to
be seen, but since we know no one else there, it probably doesn’t
matter. Enjoyable anyway.
On the bus coming back to the hotel, the driver switches on local radio
and gives us a bit of boogie before getting into his seat and driving
off, singing. Once we pass a couple walking, obviously tourists. He
pulls up and asked them to get aboard. They have no money with them and
say no. He says I can tell you are
tired, just get on board. They get off at our stop, it would have
been a long hot walk for them if it wasn’t for his kindness. That
seems to sum up the islanders friendliness and kindness. Twice waiters
have asked me if I’m ok when it seemed I might not be.
When we return to the hotel, I’m too whacked to do anything other than
read until dinner time. We eat again in the marquee on the beach, it
really is the most beautiful setting and at night, a nice temperature.
Still have a cough, making my head hurt, but cold not as streaming and
more importantly, I no longer feel shivery. Amazingly, I’m sleeping
very well indeed – 7, 8, 9, even 10 hours per night. Not sure if
it’s the homeopathy or just being on holiday, but it’s like a
miracle. Feel so much more able to cope.
4.3.07
Take the bus in the opposite direction today, all along the coast right
round the island for only $4 each. Again we have the entertaining driver
who tells us this is not his only job. I think he does some farming as
well. Probably how it is in a small community like this. Once again he
stops to pick up people who don’t pay.
We notice many houses have graves in front of them. I have heard that
land is owned by families and can never be sold, so that may explain how
you can bury your folks on your land – I wondered what would happen
when you wanted to move. The danger is that some front yards appear to
be pretty full of graves, leaving not much space for the living. The
airport runway needs extending but the land either end is owned by two
families. The authorities could rent it, but I suppose it’s a big
investment on rented land and so far they haven’t done it.
Lunch once more on the beach. The forecast for today is showers, but it
rains so hard after lunch that we can’t see the reef or even the
islands. When it fines up, we take a couple of kayaks and go to the
nearest island. We are the only people there, a little bit of bliss.
There are another couple of islands we might visit, but the sea even
within the reef is rough and too choppy crossing the open water for me.
I’m well outside my comfort zone when I try. It’s a long time since
I went in a canoe.
I’m now using Harvey’s hotmail account as my madasafish email has completely packed up
sending, though can receive on it. I love getting a little touch of home
via email.
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Intercontinental Hotel, Tahiti
View from our room at sunset
Under my palm tree,
Infinity Pool and Moorea in the distance
Tahitian dancers
strange blue light in the sky
There will be more pictures of Tahiti on Harvey's
website which is under construction
arriving at Rarotonga, the Cook Islands
Ocean front room, Pacific Resort Rarotonga
Harvey on our balcony
view from our room towards the island
view of garden from our room
Hotel gardens and waterways
from dining room
Kayaking to the island
staking a claim, no one in sight
rain doesn't stop us
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