Day 3 and 4

Day 3 ~ Lagoon Cruise

Kurko and Tom Hanks a la Castaway would be proud: we ventured out on a kayak today. It was a great experience to be able to get a better view both of the reef as well as a perspective on the island. We spent a little over an hour paddling out and about, taking a dip in the turquoise waters, seeing fish swim underneath our boat. The reef is fairly impressive, it's made of coral and rock and completely stops the waves as they come in off the ocean.

We raced back in from our morning adventure in time to make it to Tamas's Glass Bottom Snorkeling Tour. The crew took us around one of the closer motus to the local state marine park, replete with lots of fish and coral. Most of the fish looked like infants, we're curious and might investigate more why there were so many smaller fish but no larger sizes.

We did learn in 2005 that they suffered 5 hurricanes in 3 weeks, which devastated much of the island, perhaps that's what it is attributed to. Regardless, we snorkeled for a bit (Rae hated it, so it was abbreviated) before hopping on the boat and going to another motu (island) for a bbq lunch and show. Food was delicious, and the show was entertaining as well. They did a special recognition for us honeymooners. We also discovered in a crowd of 50 people, we were the only Americans, and the vast majority of folks were Kiwis. (New Zealanders) The crew showed us the proper way to husk a coconut, including a demonstration of utilizing the interior coconut flesh and squeezing it for the milk that can be utilized as a moisturizer. We also learned there are 375 ways to tying a sarong, and a handful of popular methods for tying it. Rae doesn't particularly care for them, but I'm excited to try out the MC Hammer method for tying. Afterwards, we made it back to the main island of Rarotonga around 3pm.

For dinner we ventured down to The Point, a large white hotel right behind the main motu outside Muri Beach. I saw a banana+chicken pizza and had to sample it. I have to say, it was pretty decent, a mixture of sweetness with the traditional pizza taste. Rae loved her Asian fusion dish. The food in general has been above average here, especially given what I would guess is a challenge of shipping some items from outside the islands. The walk back along the shore showed an amazing number of stars, an incredible number given we are at sea level. The closest comparison would be Tahoe, with it's advantage of being 8,000 miles above sea level.

Day 4 ~ Bike Ride Circumnavigating Rarotonga

Today we rented bikes to take the challenge of going around the entire island. I'll kill the suspense: we made it! It's about 20 miles around the island best we can tell from our experience and from the web. We stopped for a great lunch at Oceans, right on the beach. As you get to the other side of the island, the reef is much closer to the actual island, so the waves are crashing maybe 100 yards from the shore. They were quite friendly, giving us a tour of the facility including some of the empty villas. Nice stuff, with clawfoot tubs and individual pools, but less luxury than our current residence. Again, the food superceded our expectations. We continued our adventure around the island, stopping off at the local police station to get me a local driver's license. Having failed to bring my own U.S. license, they declined my $20 ($12 U.S.) With our hands and knees sore, we arrived back at our rental location. Now, we're off to dinner at a local restaurant we visited on our tour, the Little Polynesian. Fingers crossed it holds with past precedent of the island.

Snafus thus far: we thought it odd that our dishwasher ran for 24 hours, apparently it was jammed. The fuse also blew on our iPod dock, requiring some help.