On my birthday this year, the question was asked, what is my favorite, sunrise or sunset? People assume morning sunrise because I wake up early but i actually miss the sunrise because I am busy getting ready or already even at work. So typically I get to enjoy sunsets. The moons I enjoy though.

In the mornings on Raro, I tried to catch the sunrise because the view was so good of it.

In Fāaa, it was the morning moonsets that I saw each morning and the view of it … ridiculous.

And then finally, on our last night in New Zealand as we were going to the airport after we found out our flight was delayed to see about next steps, I saw this or of the Uber window …. My last local sunset. It was pretty perfect and the right way to cap off this trip I think for me.

This feels like a fishing community. They still spear fish and drop it in containers or vaka (wa’a or canoe, boat). The locals keep their land, they may give 60 year leases but after that time any businesses would automatically revert bcak to the family. Must of the outer rims around the island is where you find the churches and the marae is located on the inner rim. The marae = heiau = sacred site. I missed this word in Rarotongan but it is most like ahupua’a, land division, and it is still true that the land ‘slice’ stays with the legacy family. Piko started at mid point/center and slices were given to the families so the whole family lived in that marae from mauna to mauka previously.

15 separate islands make up Kuki Airani (Cook Islands) and depending on which side you came from your influence and language was colored by it (Tahiti, French Polynesia or New Zealand).

A lot of Aussies and Kiwis visit. Fijians were also very prominent.

We met a pair on honeymoon from Norway. They were so much fun.  A teacher and businessman. He was a romantic planner and did some amazing things to make her honeymoon and birthday special.

We met a father and son from New Zealand and the wife/mother had left to return home the day before owns a bespoke Māori experience business. They offer Māori dining and natural tour experiences.

I love that everyone knows Hawai’i here. There are a lot of local and aboriginal connections.

• By the way, I sprinkle Hawaiian and English also into my blog when describing certain language connections because they make more sense to me. It is very general but if I were to explain it these were the closest comparisons I would see or felt like was contextually similar. No disservice or over simplification was meant to any population. And please forgive any misinterpretation, it was my attempt at understanding the meanings translated.

We went to eat brunch and saw the Te Vara Nui show.

Main takeaway: Three days is enough to run into people you have seen in the days prior.

The person I sat next to in the airplane was walking on the sidewalk a little way from the Palace Takeaway One location we ate at the day before.

A husband and wife who worked in a boutique where I had bought the shorts I was wearing that day was at the bakery we stopped at.

Jenna’s server from dinner the night before at Cafe Ariki was at the brunch spot.

And at Te Vara Nui, one of the woman who cleaned our villa and brought us our complimentary stay breakfast also sat us at the show.

Observations and learnings: Many ‘olelo hawai’i are closely related to words here. Here are two examples off-the-cuff.

Nu = Niu = coconut

Muumuu = Mu’umu’u = dress

My companion wanted to rent a car because she really wanted to go around the island, before that, from our hotel, we only traveled 5-6 minutes away for the past two days and that was by foot.

Personally, this is my speed, coming in with no expectations and no plans or car made me assume we weren’t going to do much. I may have to recalibrate.

Observations:

Rental car license plates start with RC. Locals have no letters in license plates, only numbers

Tomato sauce = ketchup

Lolly = lollipop

Poke = sweet treat

Sort out = tough love

To my ear, the word taro sounds a lot like turtle when said by locals. People are confused by our accent and our look. Hawai’i is an obvious guess for many, which I like.

Phone plans are limited text and talk in general here, and a lot of people use WhatsApp because of it or viber(?). Also, there are a lot of different networks here.

Petrol = unleaded. Gas stations are full-service and you have to walk in to pay. When driving, the driver sits on the right side of car, center line should be on your right at all times.

It takes only about 40-45 minutes to get around the island, 20 kmph in school zones, 30 in busy ‘town’ areas, 50 every where else.

Observations:

I got in an animal fix!

Walking on the beach hit the spot. I also met a dog. They are pretty prevalent here and super friendly. He wanted to play, but he was a little rough. Now I have to look up rabies here … it didn’t quite break skin but a little welt. Enough for me to tell him no bite and spray it with hand sanitizer 😁 AND do a little research ….

Updated: Cook Island is considered no-risk country for rabies in terrestrial animals (e.g., dogs). Also, they would exhibit certain rabid behaviors, if you need to be concerned about that. There are bacterial infection concerns, wash hands well as soon as possible, and a strong hand sanitizer would be a good choice.

For rabies, definitely be wary of the bats 🦇. 👀

Early morning due to leg cramps from dehydration. The rooster didn’t help either.

Shucks, it meant I had to go and look outside instead at this … can I say not really complaining?

Words of the day:

Meitaki Ma’ata

Kia Orana

Ka kite

Food and drink of the day:

Ika Mata

Coconut Water

Baked Banana treat

Random insight:

Very local feel, like Hawai’i down to words and ambiance. Main difference is obviously the accent. You can hear the New Zealander sound when they use their language so the cadence and emphasis is slightly different.

So life is different.

I am writing as I travel with a friend to visit three countries in the next two weeks. Rarotonga, Cook Island; Papeete, Tahiti; Auckland, New Zealand.

Sitting in the airplane, I finally feel like I am on vacation.

Updated:

First leg, arrival to Cook Island (Kuki Airani) was very interesting. They opened the carry on bins above us and sprayed a pesticide disinfectant from back to front to back (left-side then right-side) in the top section. At first, I was sure it must be safe because we were all still aboard and the door was closed but two things gave me doubt, 1. The person spraying was wearing gloves and a mask, and 2. My eyes starting stinging. Part of me still doubts they would have left us on board if it was truly bad for us ….