Countdown

Just 2 more weeks at work for me, 3 for Chris, then we will be heading back to NZ on the 4th of July. (cue the fireworks) Save some frost/slow/sleet/hail for us - we're gearing up!!!

Bey tinking bout actin', Mon?

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.

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

High Tide

Well the tropical depression has now passed us by and did not develop into a cyclone. But the seas are still fierce, and quite a bit of damage occurred to the wharf around Trader Jack’s at last night’s high tide. At our place the sea has reshaped the beach and managed to sweep up on to the fringes of our lawn.
Pictured: 7.30 last night. The waves surge over the decks of Trader Jack’s and litter the car park with chunks of concrete and coral.

It was a dark and Stormy Night

It was quite stormy last night, very windy and for about half an hour the rain was belting down with wind of 30 knots. A reassuring message posted on the TV during Shortland Street (we are still waiting for the killer to be revealed) assured us it was NOT a cyclone, just bad weather.

Bad enough at one stage to strand a ship on the break water in the harbour (pictured below), and to rip the roof off one of our neighbour's home, and to knock over the Christmas Nativity outside the Catholic church. Baby Jesus last seen heading south-west.

Current Events

Cook Islands flag at half-mast outside the courthouse after Sir Ed’s passing is announced earlier this week.

No Watery Grave Just Yet

Due to rain and high seas on Monday the Miss Mataroa wasn’t sunk as planned – which ‘gave them more time’ to carry out other ‘extra’ operations like remove the 500 litres of lube oil, along with about 8000 litres of oily water still on board her. Uh yeah. Probably a good thing they removed that, but I’m no expert.

Certainly this whole event is the main topic of conversation about town and has been making the newspaper’s frontpage for the past days and keeping the letters to the editor well stocked. Apparently Greenpeace has been called in, and on today’s frontpage a protestor was pictured waving a placard that said “Whale sanctuary – Yeah right”. Only in Raro could they use a beer slogan to push environmental concerns…

Horrors from the Deep and other News Stories

Let’s see, it must be time for a round-up of recent Raro events:

The 30th annual Round Raro Road Race took place earlier this month. While I am no slave to the temple of fitness, I quite like the idea of running around a whole island…

A Muumuu Fashion Competition was held last week at the National Auditorium. While I don’t know the results I am sure flounces and flowery prints were the winners on the day.

The Cook Islands Government has taken a blugeon-2-birds-with-one-stone approach to some trickery items they have been dealing with.
Firstly the problem of the Miss Mataroa, what to do with this once proud vessel that is now a rusting hulk in the harbour?

Secondly, what to do with several tonnes of asbestos roofing left out in the open, gradually disintegrating in an unsecured pile out in the jungle?

Solution = sail the Miss Mataroa out into deep water and sink her. But then they thought aha, we’ll wrap the asbestos loosely in black plastic with brown parcel tape, load it up on the Miss Mataroa and sink both our problems.

This Final Solution was supposed to take place today, but anyone wandering down by the harbour as we did over the weekend couldn’t help but notice that the Miss Mataroa had developed a rather pronounced list to the starboard side. So apparently the asbestos is being repacked as I type and the big event will take place tomorrow.

Er…. Am I the only one having seconds thoughts about this plan?




Pictured (far left): The Miss Mataroa in Avarua Harbour when she as just an eyesore, not an eco-terrorist.