Catch-Up

I’ve been a bit slack posting to the blog and things have been happening. The well-respected former Cook Island Prime Minister Sir Thomas Davis, affectionately known as Papa Tom, has passed away at the grand old age of 90. He was given a state funeral and I was fortunate enough to see some of the procession and glimpsed the casket, bedecked in beautiful flowers, as it was driven by in the back of a Ute.

This month marks the islands independence and the “Constitution” celebrations are in full swing. Last night we went off to see a cultural dance/performance contest. And last Friday we saw the Constitution parade.

This year’s parade theme was based around Christianity coming to the islands. In keeping with the Rarotongan’s quirky sense of humour, some of the floats harked back to pre-Christian days of cannibalism and they had one guy tied to a spit and giggling tourist volunteers sitting in a giant cooking pot.
Not quite sure how the replica of the pirate ship the “Black Pearl” fit into the scheme of things…