The Cook Islands tl;dr (Pt. 2)
Part 1 is about arriving in the Cook Islands.
May 8th
We started class later than usual today because we had a guest lecturer coming. I guess the lecture was coming to talk to us about the preservation of the Maori language. We learned about the steps that were being taken to preserve the language through the creation of dictionaries and through oral records taken from elders.
In the afternoon we started our lectures with Gerald McCormick. These are our science lectures. It was nice because he started with the basics and today’s lecture was on plate tectonics and the formation of the islands in the South Pacific.
We got back to the hotel we did some reading, played some games, made dinner, and then did summer reading after dinner until it was time for bed.
May 9th
We had another lazy day. We went to the bank before class today because the bank closes at 3 so we cannot make it after classes. From the bank, we headed to the university
Marjorie Crocombe was our lecturer today. She talked to us a little bit about language and education in the South Pacific and then started to talk to us about women’s rights. In the afternoon Professor McCormick returned and he continued his lecture on tectonic theory and hot spots. When he was finished, we had an hour before our art class was set to begin.
Alex and I ran back to the hotel to put our books away we grabbed a snack and some water and then headed back to campus. I started designing the pattern I wanted to be cut into a piece of cardboard. When it is cut out you paint the cardboard to make a stamp you can use to make multiple copies of your design.
I finished early so I went back to the hotel and started to make dinner. I made fried rice with a bunch of veggies. After dinner, we all sat in the lounge together and watched the movie. Then we hung out and play games before bed.
May 10th
We had to get up early today, to be on campus at 8:30 so we could do some photocopying. We made copies of our passports and tickets. Then we filled in the necessary documents for immigration.
Then we all followed Gary and he took us to the local television station. We split into two groups. Alex and I went with the first group we were shown the newsroom and the editing room, as well as the newspapers space and the radio booth. It is a very relaxed atmosphere and a very interesting one. One of the ladies who worked at the station but also had a side business. She sold dresses at the back of the TV studio. I bought two of them.
Our group finished earlier than the other group. Gary let us know that we had class at 11 but we were free until then. Alex and I went for lunch and then went back to the hotel to drop off our of new dresses and then we went back to school.
Our lecture was on the plants and animals of the island. We learned what species were native, what species were alien, and what species were invasive to the islands. We talked about how different plants and animals travelled from island to island. Some islands have species of animals and plants that are completely unique to that island. Evolution at its finest.
After the lecture, we relaxed around the hotel until dinner. Afterward, some of the people decided that they wanted to go out for the night. We went back to Whatever Bar, the rooftop bar. The music wasn’t very good that night but we still had an okay time. There was a stag party there that night. The groom was in his briefs, a coconut bra, and a grass skirt. We had a good laugh as we watched them. The bar closed at midnight and I thought that was a perfect time to head back to the hotel because we still had to be up for a class in the morning. Some of the others were talking to some locals and we decided to split up because they wanted to stay out a little bit longer and I really didn’t.
I made it back to the hotel and went to bed but apparently, the others didn’t make it back until about 2:30 am. I don’t think they’re going to have a good day in class tomorrow.
May 11th
I woke up late today, even Alex was up before I was. I did not have time for much of a morning routine but I got up and made it to class on time. So happy that it is Friday.
In the morning we had a guest speaker. Angie is on the Women’s Council and is working towards women’s rights. After the lecture, we had a break and I went on to the university computers to send Mom and Grandma an email wishing them a happy Mother’s Day.
Professor McCormick lectured on plants and their diversity in the Cook Islands in the afternoon. After the lecture, we had a bit of time before our art class. We decided to go back to the hotel and drop off our books and Jessica wanted to run into town quickly to buy a dress from the TV station because she hadn’t bought the day before.
But when we got to the hotel Jessica put water on for tea and we had to wait for that. Then she had to find things. We’re finally ready to get going Jessica asked if we have time to stop at the bank. I told her not if we wanted to be on time for class. Jessica wanted to go anyways so Alex and I let her go on alone and we went back to school.
We had our final art class of the week. I already finished my artwork and didn’t have to attend but we were presenting our gift to the teacher that day and I felt it was respectful to be there for the presentation of the gift. Because I didn’t have any art to do during class, I went into the computer room to go online and send emails until the end of class. My classmates decided to give the gift early so they came and got me.
At the hotel, we relaxed and got ready for the weekend. After dinner, a bunch of people decided that they were going to go out. They were headed to Whatever Bar and I wasn’t really interested in going back there. So instead I stayed at the hotel reading and then I went to bed.
May 12th
We had a plan for this Saturday, it involved hiking up to Te Rua Manga and over the island and swimming. Alex and I wanted to go to the market so we woke up early so that we would have time before we went hiking. On our way back to the hotel we passed Chris going towards the market. He said he wanted a bit of time. We told them that the group was leaving at 10 with or without people. He was free to come or go as he pleased. Alex and I got back to the hotel, we packed our bags, and we went to round up the others. Most of them were in the process of getting their own bags packed. Chris came back from the market and was quickly ready to go.
The group was ready to go shortly after 10. Jessica C was not going to go for the hike. Alex stayed with her and they went swimming at the Fruits of Rarotonga. Naomi decided to stay behind with a guy that she had met. She told us that he was going to take her up later.
The first part of the trail was a paved road, it was very easy. As we got into the cover the forest and off the road, the hike began to get harder. There’s a lot of uphill climbing, pulling yourself up with your arms over logs and rocks and everything else it was a lot of hard work.
After a while, our large group began to break into smaller groups as people found their pace on the rough terrain. I began to fall behind the first group. Walking on flat ground I could do but all the climbing made me slow down. I was tired, so I stopped and rested. I realized I hadn’t been drinking enough water to keep myself hydrated in the humidity. So, I drank one of the bottles of water while I rested.
Another group of hikers we’re catching up to me, so I decided to start climbing again with them. I keep climbing making sure to rest and drink more water.
I reached the top of the hike, the others who had been climbing in front of me were waiting at the top. After about 20 minutes the last of our group caught up. We left our bags on the path and went up the small Trail to see The Needle. It was just a short five-minute hike to the clearing at the top of the mountain. It was amazing so we took a lot of pictures.
When we got back to the main trail the fast group was already ready to set out. The slower group wanted to take a little bit more time to rest recover and eat. I decided to stay with the second group. We started to go back down the trail. It was slippery with mud and it was very narrow. We got to a clearing and the path diverged into two different trails. There was no clear marking so we weren’t sure where to go. We could follow a water pipe that we had been following for a little bit down the mountain or follow a trail heading down. We thought of why there would be a path at all if we were supposed to follow the pipe. Then Mike noticed an arrow carved into a tree that pointed down the path without the water pipe. We decided to follow it.
We got to another fork in the road, either straight or down a very steep hill. I wanted to keep going straight but I was outvoted. We decided to go down the very steep hill. We decided that we would go one at a time because we noticed that the rocks came loose after the first person went down.
However, people were relatively impatient in waiting for others to get to the bottom of the hill. When I was climbing down the people behind me started climbing down as well and I was hit by quite a few rocks at they ended up kicking loose. The trailer resumed at the bottom of the hill, across the river. The trail took us back across the river twice before it disappeared.
We stopped and tried to find the trail, but we couldn’t. We wondered if we should have followed the straight trail or even the pipe. With no knowledge of the trail, we wondered if we could just follow the river or if we should turn back. When it was clear that we couldn’t come to a decision as a group I decided to turn around and walk back.
Just as we were getting back to where the trail split with the pipe we ran into another couple. They told us that their friends had done this hike the day before with a local guide. They thought we had been on the right path. We went down with them to the spot where we had gotten stuck the first time.
The couple managed to find the trailhead. After crossing the river twice you crossed a third time and scaled up an unmarked rock face to get to the trailhead. After that, it was following the slippery muddy slim Trail down the side of the mountain. I slipped quite a few times. Once I had to catch myself in a tree branch and hurt my shoulder quite severely. I was covered in bumps and bruises and scratches by the time we were done. I had decided to pack hydrogen peroxide for the hike and used it to clean a few of the more grievous wounds.
When we finally left the tree cover, we were at a waterfall. I was disappointed. I was expecting something more, something bigger, after all that time and effort. But it was a small waterfall the kind of like you see running beside the roads on the highways in B.C.
The pool of water at the bottom was cold and it was refreshing. We went in and tried to wash some of the mud off ourselves I even scrubbed myself with my nails, but I still didn’t get it all off. Once we got some of the mud off though we noticed the number of mosquitoes. And they seemed like they were feasting on us, so we didn’t stay long. Later Alex counted over 100 bites on my back.
We walk down the path until we found a road. From there, we followed the road. We came across as a tourist on a scooter and we talked to him. He had done the hike the day before but had followed the pipe. He ended up having to climb down cliffs clinging on tree roots for dear life. We were glad that we hadn’t gone that way.
We were supposed to meet everybody at the Fruits of Rarotonga, so we started walking in that direction. But we got tired and we wanted to swim. So we walked off the road a little bit and had a short swim in the ocean.
We checked the time and it was about 4:30. The route had taken us about 6 hours. It was only supposed to take about half of that but we had stopped at the needle and we had turned back a few times so we figured it wasn’t too far out of expectations.
We swam until shortly before 6 and then we got out to wait for the bus. We got to the bus stop I sat down I couldn’t wait to rest my feet, but I ended up putting my feet in a red ant nest. I didn’t know that until they bit me. Adrian kindly beat them off my feet with a piece of cloth. But a few had gotten me.
The bus came, and we got on. After a few stops, we recognized the people getting on the bus. It was the other half of our hiking group all present and accounted for. We sat together and they told us how they had followed the pipe and the troubles that they’d had getting down.
Again we were glad we hadn’t gone that way. We got back to the hotel just after 7. We had to rotate who was getting showers so we decided that while one person was in the shower the others will cook dinner. Some people started making plans to go out for dinner. I was happy that we decided to start cooking already because I was starving. We could eat soon and not have to wait for everyone to clean up and walk to town and order and wait.
I was happy we stayed at the hotel because Alex rubbed my sore shoulder. Adrian had some muscle relaxants to help with the pain my shoulder was still in. I ended up sleeping poorly, waking up multiple times during the night. It wasn’t until after the alarm went off at 7 in the morning that I was able to get any real sleep I ended up sleeping in until noon.
May 13th
I slept until noon. Adrian thought I’d had a poor reaction to the pill that he’s given me. Even after waking up late, I lazed around in bed I was so sore from the climb and my shoulder was absolute agony to move. I got out of bed for a bit to prove that I was fine. I sat on the porch to be social with everybody but eventually I went back to my room to read. That was about all that I did that day.
However, we did have a slight problem with one of the members of our group. Naomi spent the previous day with local people that she had just met. She has been drinking with them and she came home sometime around 11 pm. Shortly after that one of the guys that she’s been with came back to the hotel dropped off money, her debit card, and her spare room key.
That was what made it a problem for the whole group. The key had the hotel address and the room number on it. If Naomi wants to take risks for herself that is her business. But leaving her key behind is a threat to her roommate who didn’t make that choice. As a group, we decided that we had to deal with it because that had been the third guy coming around looking for Naomi.
Naomi was in no condition for us to be talking to her. We did let Jessica, her roommate, know that Naomi had given out the spare key. If she wanted to sleep somewhere else, she could sleep in another room with some of us. At that time there was nothing else we could do so we went to bed
May 14th
We got up just before 7 and went through our morning routine. We went to campus early so that we could use the computer lab to send emails and things like that. Then we had lectures until 1. After lectures, we went into town to go to the bank, the grocery store, and to mail postcards. Back at the hotel, we did laundry getting everything organized for our trip to Mangaia.
It was a nice and sunny day, so I put on my swimsuit and went out to study in the sun. I studied until dinner time and then after dinner I stayed in my room and read until bed it was a nice lazy relaxing day.
May 15th
We sat through class. The novelty of having class at the University of the South Pacific is beginning to wear off. The classes are still interesting, but they were interesting at home. It’s a little sad to say we’ve kind of become numb to the amazing opportunity we’ve been given.
After class Alex and I put on our swimsuits and went to the beach we read for a bit. We played in the water when we became bored and then went back to the hotel to make dinner. After dinner, Adrian came into our room and we studied and studied and studied.
I was in a pretty bad mood and was generally short-tempered and snappy. I was reading as much as I could and studying as much as I could until I wanted to throw my book across the room. The stress of something was getting to me. Adrian kept trying to get me to go for a walk or breathe but didn’t want to. I wanted to be angry.
Eventually, I stepped out of the room for a moment. I went to the porch. Casey and Kevin were studying out there. I sat with them for a bit thinking maybe a different setting would help me. And it did, Kevin’s method of studying was to put it all the information into interconnected bubbles and it made everything make more sense to me. It helped me order my thoughts a lot better.
The second thing that made me feel better was if they could be that drunk before a test, I must be putting to much value into it. I went back to my room and studied with Alex and Adrian a little bit more. I tried to organize my thoughts for the test and I tried to get started on an outline for my essay. Eventually, I got tired and frustrated again so I stopped for the night and went to bed.
May 16th
Test day.
We had our final exam in the second period. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be. I had really stressed myself out over it too much. I finished the test early and went back to the hotel to get rid of my stuff.
Professor McCormick met us at the hotel at 11:30 so that we could go on a nature walk for the day. We looked at a lot of the local plants and Professor McCormick has us put bird peppers on our tongue. The peppers are very spicy but birds can’t taste the spice and it doesn’t bother them.
After the nature walk, I grabbed my laptop and went into town with Jessica. She went to the bank and I went to Telecom. I was finally able to send an email that had pictures attached. Everybody at home better stop complaining. Jessica and I also stopped by Storm’s shop, she’s a tattoo artist. She was busy with a client at the time so we looked through her portfolio to get an idea of what kind of tattoos she could offer.
We got back to the hotel and made an early dinner because we were going to go to the library that evening for a community presentation. We got to the library a little bit early and were able to visit with the local people. The speaker was very engaging and interesting. He was also staying at our hotel.
After the talk, we were invited to stay and join an informal talk and snack session. This gave us a great opportunity to talk with different locals who were knowledgable in a variety of topics.
When the talk was done there was a ton of food left. We were invited to take it, so we loaded up plastic trays and took it back to the hotel. Those of us who’d gone to the talk at the library took what we wanted off the tray, then we took the rest out onto the porch for everyone who hadn’t gone to enjoy. The lecturer joined us at the hotel some people talked to him and others acted like drunken idiots. I brought my book out onto the porch too to be alone but near everybody else, some made fun of me but I just let it wash over me. Just after 11 some of them decided to head to the bar and I decided to head to bed.
May 17th
Sleep was not easy that night. Thunder woke me up and there was lightning. I waited for a while and I watched the next few flashes of lightning strikes just to make sure that I hadn’t been dreaming it. And then I tried to go back to sleep but that didn’t happen easily.
I must have gone back to sleep because woke up cold in the middle of the night, so I went and got an extra blanket and tried to go back to sleep. It didn’t work very well then either. I drifted off at some point because I ended up waking up to Jessica’s alarm.
I spent the morning sitting through class, but I only paid it half a mind. Being near everyone constantly is starting to grate on my nerves. Not getting time alone is starting to get to me. I would love an hour by myself. A time that I could just get away from everybody for my sanity’s sake.
After class, I returned to the hotel. I tried to find a quiet spot alone to write in my journal. The spot I found didn’t let me be alone for very long before I was found. I went to find Alex. She was trying to make potato pancakes for dinner, but the propane was off in our room. We went over to Natasha’s room to see if their propane worked, but the stove was off in her room as well.
We weren’t really hungry for dinner yet so we decided to wait and see if the propane would come back on. I once again tried to find a quiet space to write my journal. On my way, I ran into Zach, Gary’s son. He was just gotten back from getting a new tattoo. We all stopped to admire it. He got a turtle on one of his pectoral muscles I had a lot of local Polynesian symbology on it. I thought it was neat. I couldn’t wait until I got one of my own. Maybe a gecko.
Since I couldn’t find a quiet space away from everybody I went out onto the deck to study for a while. I was out on the deck some of the others decided that they wanted to walk along the shore and out into the water to see what they could see at low tide. I decided to go with them.
There were sea urchins everywhere. We were a little worried that we might step on one while we were walking. We’re able to walk out to the end of the reef. Where the reef ended there was a sharp drop off. You could go swimming out past the reef, but we had only been prepared to go for a walk so we turned around and went back to the hotel.
I went and found Kayla and Alex in our room. We studied for a little bit and then we put that aside to watch The Office. There was an attempt to cook dinner again and we were able to. We had dinner and then a late-night study session in the lounge with a bunch of people. I thought it really helped to study with the group there were lots of different points of view and lots of ways that people study that I found helpful.
We managed to get through the entire question sheet at least one time. Then Carl came in and kept asking us questions about the Latin name of something or the Maori name of something else. We didn’t know what it was and it wasn’t something that we are being tested on. We weren’t particularly interested in finding out. Carl was slightly upset by our lack of interest in something that he was interested in.
We were going over the questions on the test. Everybody decided that we could just make one large answer to each question. That everybody who knew something would add to the answer. When completed it gave us all a nice study guide to look at when we weren’t able to all study together.
May 18th
We slept in a bit today waking up just before 7 am. But we didn’t really get up. We just laid around until we really, really had to get up at about quarter to 8 and we hurriedly got ready and went to class.
During the class breaks, I went into the university’s computer lab. I talked with a couple of my friends who were online on MSN (that is how long ago this happened). I got to spend a little bit of extra time on the computer because our guest lecturer Ron Crocombe was late coming into the lecture. The lesson we were getting was on selling sovereignty.
After that, we had another course exam. I walked away feeling confident so either we’d studied well and been successful in the test or I’d completely misunderstood everything and bombed. I’m really hoping it’s the prior.
We headed back to the hotel after class to begin getting ready for the island night that we were having. Many of the people from the island were invited to this event. They were going to show us traditional foods and dances and other sorts of things so that we could learn. The little kids teaching us tried very hard and were cute.
After everyone left, we went back to our rooms. I finish reading my book before going out on the porch to meet up with the others and talk about what we’d seen and what we’d learned. We sat around for quite a bit before some of the others decided that they were going to go out for the night, that was my cue to turn in for the evening.
May 19th
We got up this morning around 8 and headed for the market. We only bought what we needed because our food is quickly going bad. Unlike the produce at home, local produce here has no chemical preservatives to create a longer shelf life. The food here is not meant to be kept for long periods times.
We also began looking at souvenirs to buy for the people at home. I couldn’t find anything for my dad or brother, but I found a nice pearl necklace for my mom, with a local black pearl.
On our way back from the market we rented bikes for the day. The bikes were useful to take the groceries back to the hotel. We packed a quick lunch and set out to ride our bikes around the island. About halfway around the island before we stopped to eat our lunch. Jessica was complaining about how fast we were riding and how her butt was hurting. We stopped more frequently after that to let people rest and to explore small coves and beaches on the island.
When we got back to the hotel I changed to spend the rest of the afternoon reading on the beach. I read through most of a book before I needed to go inside for dinner. After dinner, I spent some time with Alex and then retired to our room to finish my book. I fell asleep before I could finish.
May 20th
This morning and had a small breakfast before we returned the bikes. We returned to the hotel and found that Gary had rented a van. We filled the van with rented snorkel gear and went to Fruits of Rarotonga to snorkel. The weather was dark, but the rain didn’t come. We snorkelled for about an hour before we dried off and got back into the van to do some sightseeing.
Gary took us to the beach where the Vaka (canoes) had set off to begin their journey to New Zealand. We went to see the hospital, way up the mountainside. I hoped I never get hurt, I don’t have a car. But the view of the island from up high is beautiful.
Once we returned to the hotel, we had a lazy evening as a group.
May 21st
Days of short classes have begun. We start class at 8 am and are finished by lunch. I bought scones to eat in class. I ate one and put the other under my seat. That was a mistake. When I looked down to grab my second scone later the bag was infested with ants. That was my snack gone.
At the end of class, we got our tests back. I had been worried about my marks, but I received an A and A+. Then we headed downtown. Jess and I booked tattoo appointments for June 8th, which is the last day of our trip. Then we headed to the bank. Alex wanted to change money, but they wouldn’t change her money without her passport even though she had other ID and other people have changed money without their passports before.
We did want to go to the hotel and then back to the bank so we went to meet Adrien for a curry lunch. The curry at Rake’s Curry Hut was very good. The lunch special is 7$ and comes in a fairly large portion for the price. If you get it to go it comes in a nice plastic tupperware you can use again.
After lunch, we rented bikes for the week and headed back to the hotel. A downpour started and we were soaked by the time we made it back to the hotel. The rain turned in to a thunderstorm but thankfully we made it back to the hotel before it got too bad.
We decided since the storm was warm, and we were already wet that we would sit and watch the storm in the rain on the porch. We watched the lightning flash far away over the ocean. The rain came harder and harder. A group of us, stupidly, decided to go swimming in the ocean while the storm was going on. As the lightning moved closer and closer to us, we decided that in the water was not the safest spot and we moved back on the porch. When we were finished watching the storm we went back to our rooms for warm showers.
Later in the evening Kevin came by and let us know that they were having a few drinks over in the other rooms. Alex and I decided to join them. We had fun visiting for a while before we went to bed. Apparently, after we went to bed some of the others went out. Casey got into a fight with some stairs and lost.
May 22/23/24
This was a very lazy set of days that followed the same routine. I woke up late. Just enough time to get up and go to class. Then it was a wet and rainy walk back to the hotel after school. On the 24th we went to the parliament building for class. That was our only big shake-up from our routine.
When we got back, we went to the room turned on music and picked up our books. I finished the trilogy I’d been reading and passed it on to Alex. People would come and visit the room from time to time. The hotel’s cat came to visit for a few hours each day. We got up and made dinner and then went back to our room to read. I enjoyed the isolation on those days.
May 25th
Today was our last day of class at the University of the South Pacific. We had our final lecture with Ron, and we wrote our final test. After class, we went into town to use the internet cafe and send home pictures and write emails. When we were done, we went to get curry for lunch.
Back at the hotel, I used the last of my calling card to talk to my mom at home. After I met everyone on the porch, and we celebrated the end of class. We decided to go to see a movie at the theatre. The movie showing was Pirates of the Caribbean 3. I’m glad the movie was something I wanted to see. They had ice cream at the concession. It was already in pre-scooped balls of ice-cream. I found this strange but was still happy to eat the ice cream. After the movie, we went back to the hotel and enjoyed not having any more classes to worry about.
May 26th
Alex and I skipped the market this morning. We had everything we needed. Some of us decided to take our bikes around the island again. I decided to head to the market before our trip so that I didn’t have to make myself something to eat.
Adrian, Mike, and I set out for a bike ride around the island. We decided to go in the opposite direction that we usually go on. We did this because I wanted to stop to the golf course. Of course, when we got to the golf course there is a dress code and I wasn’t prepared for it. I had to borrow one of the boy’s shirt so that I could go into the pro shop and buy something for my dad. I found a shirt that I hope my dad likes and I bought my brother a hat.
We stopped at other times on the bike ride to swim and to eat. We also stopped once at the Sailing Club. They had a pony on the beach, and they were giving out rides to some of the local kids.
I was a little bit sore after but it was a good sore from exercise. The whole ride took us about 3 hours, so we were getting faster. After we rested for a bit laying out in the sun reading. Then we went into our rooms and got ready for dinner.
Being poor university students, we cleaned out the Tupperware that we had from curry lunches. We went to the all-you-can-eat buffet for dinner. The food is good and since we were sitting outside away from other people, we were able to fill three of our Tupperware containers with food. After dinner, we went back to the hotel enjoyed some movies and hung out with everybody before we go to bed.
May 27th
Alex and I had been convinced to go with Adrian to church. It was my first time ever attending a service at church. I had a bit of culture shock. But it was definitely very interesting. It did not convert me and is not something that I’m going to do regularly in the future but it is some things I can respect people who do. After church, we went out for lunch and then we went back to the hotel to get change into something more casual.
I wanted to try using up my Wi-Fi card. I bought a card that had 300 megabytes of data it lasted 30 days and it cost me $36. When I bought it I thought it was a pretty terrible deal. However, since I’ve been in the Cook Islands I’ve used it to send photos home twice and I’ve also downloaded a number books to read while I was there and I still have about a hundred megabytes left. If I don’t use it all in the next few days, I will end up using it when we come back from Manaia.
At the hotel, I decided that I had way too many things to pack and I had to rearrange my bag. We weighed all the bags we were taking to Mangaia, both of my bags were overweight. I had also packed my purse and a camera case I was going to have to choose a bag of things to leave at the hotel on Rarotonga. After I finish packing and rearranging I went to bed.
The adventure continues in the finale. Part 3
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