Hanging out with Chicks

Cool Again

I thought working for 7 hours in 30 degrees was hot, but last week peaked at a staggering 34 degrees. (Inside where I work, I mean, not just outside in the sun). I think I only managed to survive the entire day as it happened to be pay day. (Old fashioned pay packets here, folks).

But the searing heat is in the past. The aircon was fixed this week, praise be. Work is now a mild, I might even say, chilly, 24 degrees. Long may it continue.

One Drama over while another Saga continues

Well the ship on the reef has been rescued * Huzzah * How? A temporary gravel road was built out into the lagoon, then the ship was craned onto a big truck and towed away. OK, my construction jargon is a little fuzzy on the details, what am I? A dude?

More important to me is the air con won't be fixed for at least a week as they have to "send away for parts". Yeah, they all say that. That's jargon for "Stop phoning me! I can't fix it. You're annoying. I want you to suffer in the heat! Hot HOT HOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!" well, maybe not.

It was 30.8 degrees at work yesterday I was so HOT - and I had even brought my own fan! And my thermometer, that's how I knew the temperature. What am I, a nerd?

...Well... yes.

News Flash

Last night another ship was stranded on the reef - barely 300 metres from the other one, and as misfortune would have it, owned by the same guy. Despite the crew's valiant efforts today at high tide they were unable to get her off the rocks.

Working Hard or hardly Working?

Well at last, I am a lady in uniform and I can feel like a real local in my Pareu (flowery) shirt, my CI News work shirt having been altered now fits perfectly. How I chuckled and dished out many Magnum PI quips when we first arrived and Chris was presented with a Hawaiian style shirt for a work shirt... I should have known karma would give to back to me. The bonus with my shirt is it's also handy camouflage should I ever require it, see below.

Picture 1: All Unformed up and working studiously at my CI News desk (can you see my feet tucked under the desk - I'm wearing jandals. And sometimes, sometimes I even kick off the J's and go barefoot. Ahhh the good life) Picture 2: Where am I? Where am I? Work shirt / Camo gear.

Spoke too Soon

The air con at work conked out again. Poot!

Winter on its Way?

Currently it's 9.42pm at night and we are sitting on a mild 25.6 degrees with 77 percent humidity.

Today was the lowest recorded temperature since records began - which was last week when we brought back a shiny new thermometer from our recent NZ trip - a chilly 24.7 degrees, with the high not going over 27 degrees.

Most of last week the temperature hovered around 30 degrees during the day, with our hottest day reaching 31.2 degrees. Oh & did I tell you the air-con broke down at work last week? Thank goodness it was fixed promptly.

Oh, & I have worked out that Cat Hot is roughly 30 degrees.

Tonight's Sunset

Click on Image to see them at a bigger size

Frangipani

My favourite flower on the island - the Frangipani. I didn't know until I came here the frangipani is a flowering tree (you know, like magnolias). I walk past these ones in the evening on my way to volunteer at the the Cook Islands Library.

Meet the Crew

The new uniforms at work have been delivered. Here is a photo of the CI news team in their lovely new shirts. Mine didn't fit :( but it's being fixed.

Near Miss

We have just come back to Rarotonga after a 2 week holiday in Dunedin on Saturday. Chris and I realised something odd had happened while we were away when we drove past the Met station on the Sunday and saw a few trees shredded and a large piece of roofing iron impaled into the above branches. We thought WTF?

The mystery was solved when we watched the local news. While we were flying home to Raro the weather was leaving its small but dramatic mark on the landscape and lives of several Raro families. A very localised storm, possibly a twister, struck the island (next to the Meteorological centre- ha!) and proceeded inland and ripped the roofs off three homes in a ten minute blast.
Fortunately no one was hurt.

Picture copyright the CI News