chickens

Just outside the hostel i was staying at
Bloody Chickens
The beach near the hostel at Sunset
A 767 heading right for us.
Another one of the sunset
One of the cloudy mountains at Dusk
View of the interior of the island

Muir Beach - the island (No touchy-touchy) is where we had a BBQ
Boat used for the Crisue - it had a glass bottom and wet floors
Another of the islands within walking distance of Rarotonga

Another Sunset pic - dont ask me what happened to the ordering of these photos!!

Sunset - again
Hermit Crab on no touchy-touchy Island
The captain feeding the fish
Giant eel
Giant Claims used for breeding in the Pearl farms

Well I'm halfway through my time on the cook-ing islands. Its so humid here. I still haven't got used to it. There are chickens everywhere. They roam free. Walking around the island, you see at least a hen every few yards. If bird flu hit the island would be in trouble!!! The locals don't eat them as they are too boney. They are a real pain in the morning as the cockrels cockadoodle-do to each other.

My first week here has to be one of the best I've had so far. The Weather was quite cloudy and stormy and so I was playing cards with the other "youngsters" in the hostel. We'd also go

to the beach when there was a break in the weather. The hostel runs some social stuff and we have all been doing that stuff together. It has been quite social and far more than i've seen anywhere else. I've learnt three new card games and swapped email addresses a good few times!!! Its now the second week and all of the group has gone but me. The last two girl survivors left last night. I am now the youngest (with the exception of two 18 year olds who i'm not sure can talk as they don't say a word to anyone!!). Its a real shame as most of the group went to FIJI together as their itineraries all matched in the cook islands.

The last week: We went to the local club together where there was a dance competition. Needless to say i didn't enter!!! That night descended into total drunken anarchy. One of the blokes was so drunk he got out of bed stark naked and was walking around the hostel while others looked on in drunken stupor. He then went upstairs to one of the dorms and found an open door. He climbed into one of the girl's beds whilst she was cleaning her teeth and started to fall asleep. The girl then came back to find a naked man in her bed. She told him to get out to which he replied "I mean you no harm, i mean you no harm". He then took her sheet and walked down the stairs. He then tried to get in his bedroom by taking apart the window (which has horizontal glass slats. After managing to remove two, breaking through the bug mesh and sitting on one of the pieces of glass naked, he was spotted by someone in the dorm who got him into bed. Now this bloke only had three drinks and was as quiet as anyone in the hostel. It's true what they say the quiet ones...That story kept people laughing for the next day and Chris will now and forever be known as naked Chris. After the nightclub we went Jet blasting. The airport is on the northern tip of the island and the runway is particularly short. So we get the bus to the end of the runway - next to the road by the sea. We wait in pitch black until we see a light in the distance. We then stand there as a 737 comes into land and passes mere feet over our heads. You felt the heat of the engine and the sea was parted as the jet came closer. It was an amazing experience and at one point it got quite scary as it felt the jet was coming right for us!!! We finished the night off with an all you can eat curry at the only indian restaurant on the island. It was actually really good and some people that had already eaten even had a fair wack at the curry!!! It was 20 litres of vodka give away on Wednesday night at the local club. We were keeping count on our hands as to how many everyone had as we where trying to beat the record set by someone last year of 15 vodkas before they passed out. I won the competition and managed about 8 before the vodka ran out. There was never any doubt really. This night turned out to be even more messy than the other and there are some dodgy photos circulating.....

Friday we went on a glass bottom lagoon cruiser around the south of the island. We passed over a giant clam reserve. Which is where they breed the giant clams for the black pearls the islands are famous for. The boat headed over to a small island (you could walk around it in 15 minutes) that was owned by the captain of the boat. We lay in the shallow lagoon (more like a warm bath than the sea). After the barbecue on the island we had the sarong tying show. For some reason Ryan, one of the group, picked me to be volunteer. Now there is no saying no on the lslands and so i had to strip to my shorts and be manhandled as the man showed everyone how to tie a g-sting with a floppy front used by the islanders when climbing coconut trees. I was horrified as he then made me close my eyes and stuck a rock in the baggy material in the front whilst making me dance Cook Island style and chant!!!! I felt like a performing monkey. The chant turned out to be "i look stupid". Nice. Needless to say i dont have any photos of the experience and i'm trying to wipe the memory from my brain. The Shame.

The hostel i'm staying at is fairly dirty and i dont think the toilets have been cleaned since i have been here. There are bugs and lizards and a few cockroaches around. Under my bed is an insect graveyard!!! The manager has a three year old daughter and she runs havoc around the place The the family think it's funny. If you leave stuff on the side she'll throw is over the balcony. She threw bleach over the washing line, emptied the girls sanitary bin on the floor and threw someone's food all over the corridor!!!

The beach is lovely here though and its a 2 minute walk at the end of the road. I have to be careful when i go there though as i was caught by an old local man who chatted to me for around half an hour about God and how Jesus loves me. He said a little prayer for me. He didnt mean any harm though.

There are so many churches on the island. They have a Mormon church, seventh day Adventist (is that right?), Catholic, Protestant, Jehovah Witnesses, etc. I spotted all these within 20 minutes of the hostel!!!

I have a few more days here left and i'm going to spend them on the beach. The internet is quite expensive here and so i'm going to wait till Auckland before i add all the photos missing from earlier posts. The computers i tried in Las Vegas and Hollywood didn't had USB connectors.