Free Show

This Saturday past an entertaining show of dance and drums was put on in the carpark of CITC where Chris works to launch a new cultural dance DVD.

Funny Money

While I knew on coming here that Rarotonga used our NZ currency I didn’t realise they also have some coins of their own (which of course have the same value as ours).

They are quite interesting to look at and must be very easy for visually impaired people to distinguish between. There’s a scalloped-edged $1, a triangular $2 and whopping great big 12-sided $5 coin. (I put the NZ 20cent in to give an idea of size)

I haven’t seen the legendary $3 note yet, apparently they are quite hard to come by as tourists take them home for souvenirs.

Weekend Pastimes

We went for a swim at a beach called Black Rock recently. It’s popular with locals and body-boarders because it has a good swell beyond the reef. We didn’t go very far into the lagoon, only to about chest height. Although I think maybe it doesn’t get much deeper anyway. Black Rock is a nice area for a swim & to go watch the sunsets and as it is just beyond the airport there is good plane spotting for Chris also.Plane watching here is a popular past time for tourists and locals alike is. Or more to the point, people gather when a plane is about to take off so they can stand in the Jet-blast zone.

Cocktail Of The Week – The Tragic Slapper

I was planning to unleash the Raro Sling this week but it didn’t work out. Fortunately the Tragic Slapper (after a few false starts) saved the day.
This is a really nice sweet drink – but don’t make my mistake and use lime as a garnish, just use 3 whole glace cherries.

The Tragic Slapper
- Fresh pawpaw
- Gingerale
- Cherry Brandy Liqueur (I used Continental Cherry Brandy Liqueur)
- Glace cherries to garnish

Pulp the pawpaw and leave in the freezer until it becomes a nice icy slush. Spoon the icy pawpaw into a wineglass to about ¾ full. Top up the glass with gingerale. Don’t stir. Gently pour over the top one dessertspoon of cherry brandy liqueur. Add the glace cherry garnish. Drink ASAP.

[Acknowledgement: I saw the of combination pawpaw juice and gingerale in the Cook Islands Cook Book.]

Amusement of the Week – Homemade Pirate Ship

Last night when Chris and I went for a walk along Muri beach at sunset we spied this awesome little homemade boat. And they say Kiwis have ingenuity!

This vessel has been bound together with inner tubes and check out the stabiliser/float things – they’re rainwater down pipes – so clever!

The Waterline – Restaurant of the Week

Avast me wannebe pirates! Sail down to the western side where a suitable piratical dining experience awaits. Watch the sunset from the unique vestige that is the Waterline Restaurant and Bar.

Cosy up with good company in this compelling setting (that I think of as a pirates treehouse), complete with hurricane lanterns, shipping paraphernalia and look out across the moonlit ocean as it crashes over yonder reef.

Highly recommended: Raro Taro (vegetarian special made with local vegetables like Rukau, the stalks from the Taro plants) and the Pineapple and Coconut cake for dessert.

Baby Trees – So cute!

I never thought about coconuts actually being a seed until I saw people gathering these sprouting baby coconuts palms from the beach.

Sealife

Over the weekend when the tide was out we went exploring the shallow pools of the reef. We saw heaps of sea urchins, (we had to be very careful of our footing even with protective reef-shoes) some with 2cm long orange spines, others with 10cm long blue/blk spines. There were clams as big as a fist, they were an intense blue colour. There were orange and black sea slugs and sea cucumbers. Crabs and shrimps. A lion fish. A squid. And a large blue starfish.

Later when we were safely out of the water we saw these white with black spotted things gliding through the water that looked like sea-snakes—but with our handy sea creature chart we were able to identify them as eels. Phew! There were also a couple of stone-fish.

I’m not sure if I will go out there again too often. All the spiny things freaked me out but Chris had a great time.

Pillars of the Community

We had an eventful day yesterday. I spent the morning doing my first volunteering at the library.

The library here is tiny. About the size of a living room, although it connects through to the museum, which makes it seem larger. It also has a nice big garden and it’s located behind the historic chief’s palace and just up from the grand old CICC church. So it’s a very picturesque street to walk down. (But Chickens and roosters still wander around the palace grounds – they have no sense of decorum.)

And in he evening Chris appeared on the local news as he was interviewed to give his advice on the Kericare baby food recall that has occurred in NZ.

Tropical Bounty

Finally a coconut dropped from one of our palms. (The trees are very tall so we can’t climb them. Also one of the palms is very close to the house so I hope they don’t take the guttering off when they fall. I’m bracing myself for a gut-wrenching crash on the roof at 2am – still, if I’m lucky it will bounce off and take out a pesky rooster as well.)

We had an opening ceremony – which basically meant Chris hit it with a machete until it opened. I made the flesh into Pina Colada based on a recipe Jenny sent me.
Ahhh the good life…

A Fishy Story

I was sitting having a coffee this morning when I saw a splash out to sea and then a plume of salt spray and I thought aha! The whales are here!

Sure enough a mother & calf have been frolicking straight in front of our place about 50m past the reef. I tried to get some photos but the zoom on my camera is pathetic so I only have some black blurs that are vaguely whale-shaped.

Cyclones and Household Chores

I was bemused by the large quantity of stout nylon rope I found in our toolshed.

At first I thought it must be for lynching roosters but then I came across the “Steps to take in case of a cyclone” in the civil defence section of the phone book.

Step 1: Tie your roof down.

Ah.

You looking at me?

Anyone planning to visit us - bring earplugs! There are heaps of roosters, and dogs, and we are on the main road, which is very busy for such a tiny place.
It’s a myth that roosters only crow at dawn – they crow all night and you can hear their rooster friends answering back up and down the island. I’ve decided they aren’t saying “Cock-a-doodle-doo” but actually challenging each other “You come over here” to which the neighbouring roosters reply “No, you come over here” and so it goes back and forth.
The one pictured here hangs out at the hospital carpark.

Cocktail Of The Week - The Jack Sparrow

With Chris working I’m going to have a lot of time on my hands. And while I laze on the deck, daydreaming of writing novels, I’ve decided I can best augment that experience by inventing my own Tropical Cocktails. Here’s my first attempt (a big thanks to Han for supplying the decorations):

The Jack Sparrow
- 1/3 of a fresh lime (skin on) per glass, blended with 3/4 of a cup crushed ice.
- Coca Cola
- Vanilla flavoured light rum (I used Cruzan Vanilla Rum) to taste
- Tropical themed Decorations

Apart from having to spit out the lime peel blended up with the ice I think this drink was a great success – refreshing and very tasty. Maybe next time I’ll just use plain lime juice. Live and learn. ; ) Next week’s cocktail, “The Raro Sling”…

Life’s a Beach

Our backyard leads down to the lagoon. The beach is quite narrow except at low tide when there is a bit of sand. Mostly it’s rocky with coral. The lagoon is very shallow and rocky and not very suitable for swimming but there is a sandy patch that allows for a bit of a paddle.
The patterns and textures of the coral are amazing. The shells (many of them occupied!) aren’t half bad too. Although despite my best efforts I can’t get the hermit crabs to race each other.

He works hard for the money

Chris was put straight to work. His new workplace is in the CITC department store located in the main township of Avarua.

His uniform consists of: shorts, sandals and a Hawaiian shirt. All the staff have matching Hawaiian shirts – each one handmade.

Room with a View

Our house is located in Tupapa and 4 minutes out of Avarua the main township on the north of the island.

This is the view of the back garden. The white line in the ocean is where the lagoon and ocean meet at the reef.

Apparently you can see Humpback whales swim past from here Aug - Sept.