Kia Orana, Cook Islands

Cook Islands are an archipelago of 15 islands in the South Pacific, about 3 hours by plane from New Zealand. Famous for their clear blue lagoons, white sand beaches and friendly locals, it is a popular holidays destination for Kiwis and Aussies alike. We knew that after traveling in New Zealand we would need warming up, so we chose Cook Islands as our stopover before flying to Los Angeles.

We had been moving constantly in the past two months and were getting tired of driving and changing hostels every night, so staying an entire week in just one place was a welcome change. We had quite a few plans for the week in Rarotonga, the main island, to rent a scooter and drive around, do some of the hikes in the hilly interior, explore Avarua, the capital of Cook Islands... But the truth is, we did very very little in the end. First we simply were tired and needed to sleep and rest, and second, the weather betrayed us again. Our bad luck of the last weeks in NZ continued in Rarotonga as well!

Cloudy paradise

Tropical storm

It was hard to believe that we came to paradise and got nothing but wind, clouds and rain. But there was very little we could do about it, so we spent a lot of time inside, really immersing ourselves into learning German and chatting with the people staying in our guesthouse. We were lucky to meet very nice and interesting travelers, so at least we never got bored! And we still tried to get outside as much as we could, playing catch on the beach, befriending local dogs, discovering the fruits of Rarotonga or kayaking.

The coconut looked great

But there was no way to open it

Teddy, aka Mr. President (as in Theodor Roosevelt)

And Crazy lady

Then on Friday, after the heaviest downpour of the week, the sun came out at last and the clouds started to disappear. And we did more that afternoon than in the whole week - rode around the island with the bus to see the mountains, snorkeled, went to see the sunset... It was about time!

The sun setting amongst the waves crushing against the reef

Rarotonga waited long to show us that it indeed can be a paradise. But it was worth the wait. On Saturday, our very last day, we woke up to clear skies and finally got to see the famous light blue of the lagoon our guide book was craving about. How different it was from the grey days before! The pictures describe better how thoroughly we enjoyed this last minute change in weather.

Crossing to a desert island

With our companion for the day - meet miss Betty!

To top off a great day we went out for dinner just before heading to the airport, sad to be leaving now that we discovered the island's beauty. But LA won't wait!