With a little help from our friends

LA was an interesting but very exhausting stop, and we were looking forward to slow down a little. We already went to see our friends Ema and Travis in Dallas in 2009, so there was no pressure to go sightseeing, and our plan was to just enjoy their company.

Last day in LA

The next day we got up as husband and wife, although only in the US until we do the paperwork in our countries as well. For the last half day in LA we hadn't planned much, so we could afford the luxury of taking it easy. We both called home to describe the wedding in details to the families, then packed our things and joined once again the traffic of LA's freeways and highways. Without a GPS navigator it was slightly harder, but we managed to orient ourselves well enough. Thanks to Victor's suggestion we were able to get much closer to the Hollywood sign!

Just married

Yes, we got married! All of you know by now, but we are still getting used to the idea... It wasn't anything we had planned before starting this trip, but we'd talked about it for some time. And when D took me on that flight over Mt. Cook, he was so glad he survived the flight that he proposed to me up there on the glaciers! And not too long after, we said why not get married during the trip! And where else to do it than in LA...

City of Angels

The flight from Rarotonga to Los Angeles takes about 9 hours and a half. We spent most of the time either sleeping or eating. I accepted and happily swallowed the midnight dinner, even though I was still full from our first island dinner. Perhaps I should find a scale at some point.

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.