Rarotonga

My friend Sherri came here many years ago as a backpacker, while studying abroad in Australia.  Rarotonga was an exotic-sounding name place that lodged itself in my memory. I had planned to come here in September 2016 with my friend Kevin McWilliams, but a rescheduled Business Plan presentation got in the way, and he came without me. On Cyber Monday 2017, I found a deal on Air New Zealand direct flight from LAX, and booked a trip for Christmas week without consulting Mike.  Luckily, he is an easy-going kind of guy.  "Sure.  Where is that?" he asked. 

The Cook Islands

A former British colony since 1888, the Cook Islands gained independence in 1965, and is now in free association with New Zealand.  All Cook Islanders hold New Zealand passports and six times as many of them live in NZ than in the Cook islands (population 17,000).  English is widely spoken.  Captain Cook arrived at the islands by 1777, but native Maori inhabitants had been here for centuries prior.  Everyone is super friendly, and their every day greeting of "Kia Orana" means "Wish you a long life".  

Little Polynesian Resort

The front and back doors of the villa opened for ocean air flow, and it kept the villa cool. On our first afternoon, an elderly man walked in our (open) front door before realizing he had missed his own room by one.  I'm sure he must have been wondering why there was an Asian girl reading on his sofa.  The property only has 14 rooms, and most of the staff are Cook Islanders.  Mike enjoyed the view from our front porch...

Chillin'

This is the first off-line leisure activity I've seen Mike doing this. entire. year.  The reef kept the water calm near the shore, and is a marine reserve.  We saw lots of colorful fish while snorkeling in the clear waters.  

We met some interesting people on this trip, including a ghost writer for Tom Clancy who spends 3 months a year writing in the Cook islands, and a film and commercial producer from Manhattan Beach and his family.

• I was fascinated by the many cemeteries on the island; clearly Cook Islanders seek to honor the lives of their loved ones.  The photo (above, left) is the scenic final resting place of some former inhabitants, directly next to the ocean; eg Manuela Fortes, who was born in 1873.  I later learned that every time there was a cyclone, some additional graves were claimed by the sea.  Alternatively, families can bury their loved ones in the front our side yard of their house, tombstones and all.
• "I've never seen snow, but I dream of having a white (winter) wedding, since everyone else comes here to get married at the beach" - H, at the front desk of our resort
• The local women wear their hair in a bun at the top of the head.  They greet each other warmly with a kiss to the cheek, and are generally short, round, tanned and friendly.  In my mind, skinny and pale is not the model of beauty here.  Mike used to joke that we should to Tonga, where we would be a size Medium.