The heavy winds from last night continued into this morning. We decided a beach day was not to be had, so we decided we'd sample some more of the island culture. We stopped by the local coffee shop called Miro, where we ran into our dune buggy person from the day before. She recommended we go to the weekend market and see if there was anything good to buy, as well as the fact that they had local music and shows. We had a two day car rental included in our package, and figured today was as good of a day as any to use it. I went around to the left side of the vehicle, and quickly realized this driving on the wrong side of the road was going to take some getting used to (the driver's wheel is on the right side of the car). Rae was disappointed because she thought I was opening her door for her, but she is not that lucky. We drove a safe 10km/h below the speed limit (approx 20mph) and made our way towards town. With a deep sigh of relief, we found the market and a parking space fairly quickly. We spent about 45 minutes walking around at the local wares. Most of it was island masks, lotions/soaps, or sarongs. Rae found a particular dress she really liked that was similar to a sarong but a bit more formal in terms of tying it as an actual dress. We thought they might be willing to negotiate, but either they are really tough cookies or they really don't lower their price. We tried to get a hair flower for Rae that was regularly $5 at a 2 for $7 deal, but the person wasn't interested. In fact, she wasn't interested in selling one for $5 since I only had a $20 and she didn't want to make change.
After the market, we continued around the island in our minivan looking for a place to eat, finally stopping at The Rarotongan Resort on the west side of the island. The food was average and service poor, but they did have sangria which was a plus. We were also treated to a 15% surcharge since it was a national holiday. We were a bit skeptical it wasn't a non-resident fee, but later found out it was Anzac Day.
Piecing a couple pieces of data together, we discovered Anzac Day celebrates the Aussies and Kiwis participation in WWI at the battle of Gallipolli. Rae and I actually had seen a movie at the Rialto in Raleigh on the topic (Mel Gibson's first feature film if you're interested), and it was about a year ago, so we felt that was reasonable enough evidence of a holiday.
Inspired by the instantaneous sense of courage and honor brought by the memories of Gallipolli, we decided to get me an official Cook Islands driver's license. For a small fee of $20NZD and 10 minutes time filling in a form, I was approved. I'm certain the strenuous testing leads to fewer deaths, particularly from Gringos driving on the right side of the road. As you can see from my raised eyebrow in the photo, I was quite skeptical myself.
Tonight, we go to Tamarind restaurant, which we had a chance to check out on our drive today. Looks like it's quite the view, so we're hoping to get there before sunset and catch the views. We also picked up a few DVDs from the office, so it looks like a lovely night in for Rae and I.
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