Chilling out in Cook Islands Paradise

June sometime, 2013 we think!

Getting used to this staying in  one place lark. We are in the Cook Islands in our delightful bungalow near the sea for 14 days. That's the longest we've stayed anywhere since we left home in January!It's made us recall two week holidays from the past where the first week seems to go on for ever but the second week just gallops away. 

But then we've been busy. Every day brings a new challenge.  Do we need to go to the delightful bakery three doors down to get some of their splendid bread? Do we cook dinner or go out? If we cook do we eat indoors or outdoors? Should we go to the local beach (about 3 minutes slow walk away) or another one? Do we swim, snorkel, walk or lie on the beach/sunbed first?

So a really taxing time here in Paradise! We have been exploring the island too, popping into a number of little art and craft and clothing shops. Lots of beautifully coloured fabrics which reflect the positivity here in the Cook Islands. Most local people go around with a big smile on their face which in turn makes us all smile. 

We have of course been spending a lot of time with our heads down in the gorgeous azure sea. 
 

Live Coral is abundant here

 

A blue starfish

 Snorkeling is so easy here as you can walk off the beach and wade out to coral and fish or at higher tide, catch a water taxi, paddle a kayak or take a treddlecat. The latter are an excellent example of a barman with imagination. Designed, built and constantly refined locally they are a cross between a pedalo and a catamaran. They range in size from a twosome to a larger family unit and depending on how fast you peddle, they can get up quite a decent speed! We easily navigated our way out to and around the neighbouring islands on one. More practical for snorkeling than a kayak as they have an anchor so you can anchor up and go swimming for a while. 

The treddlecat Swift

 The attitude amongst locals here is summed up by this notice:

Fantastic attitude!

Our local beach, Muri, has a large lagoon which is surrounded by a reef. The lagoon is generally very calm and often very shallow while large waves can be seen breaking over the reef.

Top end of Muri beach. Our favourite!

Boating within the lagoon

Large waves breaking over the reef

The weather here has generally been very good but like any tropical climate it can change very quickly. When we were out on our treddlecat, we had bright sunshine, cloud and even a rainbow!

A rainbow over the reef

One of the joys of Roatonga is it's lack of commerciality. Of course tourism is hugely important to its economy but it's all local and generally small businesses. No buildings are allowed to be above Palm Tree height (mind you we have seen some pretty tall palms) and the nearest McDonald's is more than 2,800 kms away!

 Highly recommended!