Ahhhhhh...... heaven ........ Aitutaki

February 1
Left Rarogona on the 10:30am flight. It was sunny when the plane left Raro but it was raining cats and dogs when the plane arrived in Aitutaki. The resort sent a car to pick me up. She was kind enough to stop at a store so that I could get some food and water.

The bungalow is bare bones....nothing much just a hot plate, small fridge, beds, bathroom, a deck, and a beautiful view of the beach.

I walked the beach in the rain and saw this family catching fish, called Korma, they use as bait. It was certainly a family affair.

It poured the whole day, everything was wet! I had almost all my stuff hung out to dry because my backpack was soaked. I headed out to a small restaurant next door called “Puffy’s fish and chips” for dinner and it belonged to the family that was fishing.

February 2
Went to breakfast, resort supplies it every morning. I rented a car because I thought it would rain.

Had lunch at the boat shed

Went to Tupina Restaurant for dinner....pre birthday celebration. The food was so good.

My uninvited dinner guest

February 3
Today is my 60th birthday. I booked the Aitutaki Lagoon tour with Teking Lagoon Tour. The van picked two ladies and I up, Lynn and Ingvild from Norway. There were two other people in the van, Patrick and Roland. We got our snorkel gear and boarded the boat.

Our crew, Captain Shaq, his wife and his daughter got us heading off to Mania Island. We dropped his wife and daughter off so that they could prepare lunch for us. Off we went to snorkel with the giant trevallies. Sorry, I forgot to take my GoPro with me! Then off to the second spot to snorkel and see the giant clams. After that we headed back to Mania Island for lunch.

After a delicious lunch of fresh tuna, chicken, and lots of salads, we went to Honeymoon Island.

Final snorkelling for the day was to see the purple coral.

A quick boat ride brought us to One Foot Island bank where we walked across to One Foot Island. Some people say it is called One foot island because it is shaped like a foot. But it isn't shaped like a foot. The legend starts with a man and his son fishing on a canoe illegibly in the Lagoon. They know the warriors have spotted them so the father turns and paddles the canoe to the closest island to get up on and run or hide from their enemy's.

The warriors paddled to this island. As the father and son parted from their canoe, the father walked on his sons foot prints, making sure it only looked like there were only one set of foot prints. When the warriors reached the island they were confused to see only one pair of foot prints. They thought there were two people. Forgetting their confusion, they boarded the island. The boy's father told his son to climb a tree. The boy did as he was told. The warriors reached them, and thinking there was only one person they killed the man and left. The boy then knew his father had saved his life. That is how this island got its name!!!

We all walked around One Foot then swam in the beautiful blue water for about 40 minutes. We all got our passports stamped.

Back at the resort we all decided to meet at Puffy’s for dinner, it it was closed. So we walked to Pacific Resort for a wonderful dinner. I will always remember my 60th birthday. It was an amazing day!

My birthday sunset

Here is a map,of the motus (Islands) in Aitutaki Lagoon.

February 4
I went to church this morning. The singing was amazing.....

Spent the day exploring and swimming

Another amazing sunset

February 5
Spent my days exploring and swimming at Ootu beach and Amuri beach (right outside my door).

February 6
Sitting in the water at Ootu beach , I could see a trail up a mountain.... I tried to find the road but couldn’t. Well today, with some 4 wheeling I found it. Walked up to Maungapu Lookout.

My little bungalow

Ootu beach.....one of 5r most beautiful beach in the world.

Being away from home for my 60th was difficult....missing my family. But it will be a Birthday I will never forget!
The beauty of the Cook Islands never cease to amaze me. The people are warm and ir beaches and landscape is breathtaking. Tomorrow I leave Aitutaki for Sydney. An overnight stop, then home via Taipei. I’ll do one more post when I get home. See you all at home!