After sacking out hard for a few hours, Ro had a fitful night's sleep and kept wanting Sherry to sleep in his bed. Apparently, the furniture in the room looked like a monster. Sherry finally gave up and pushed Ro's twin bed up against our queen to make one big bed so that she wasn't completely squished. As the sunlight filtered into our room, Ro got up for good and started watching cartoons on one of the three channels we got on our TV. We made our way down to breakfast at The Brasserie; you could pay to upgrade to a cooked breakfast, but the "Tropical Breakfast" included with the room was plenty. It was basically what you'd get at a continental breakfast in the States, but with fresh paw paw (i.e. papaya), coconut, and starfruit.
Sherry enjoying some coconut seaside
Waiting in line to get our licenses
With our newly minted permanent licenses in our wallets, we set about exploring Avarua, the capital city of the Cook Islands. It's the only thing approaching a real town on the island, as most of the other "towns" are just a cluster of a few buildings along the road. The whole island has a population just over 14,000, with well over a third in Avarua. Figuring this would be our best chance to pick up some souvenirs, we stopped in a few of the stores on the main street. While Sherry shopped, Ro played on the jungle gyms for sale outside a variety store.
Our hunger soon got the better of us, so we stopped at Cafe Salsa. Like everywhere else on the island, most of the seating was outdoors. Mark had the Eggs Avarua [poached eggs over focaccia toast with rukau (local spinach) and smoked marlin with hashbrown and hollandaise] which was excellent, Sherry had a Greek Salad, and Ro a cheese pizza. Any crumbs he dropped were quickly scarfed up by a roving rooster. There was a large outrigger canoe mounted right next to our table, which we had to shoo Ro away from as it didn't look too sturdy and we presumed it was just for decoration. Fortunately, the cafe had a small play area for children, where Ro met a couple of little girls wearing faux coconut bras and tropical skirts, who even gave him a little show like real Polynesian dancers would. He was entranced, to say the least!
Sherry in Avarua; Mark was secretly grateful she stayed out of the black pearl shops
A tired Ro rests in Sherry's lap while waiting for lunch
Ro gets an eyeful. Don't tell Kelsea!
After lunch, we stopped by the post office to pick up some stamps and postcards. While waiting for Sherry to do a little clothes shopping, Ro got into a spot of trouble - certainly the most exasperating of our vacation, or since we've been in NZ for that matter. There was a wood carving shop nextdoor, and Ro was looking at some of the ornate carvings on the patio outside. He accidentally knocked one over just a few seconds after Mark had told him not to touch it; fortunately there wasn't any damage to it, but as Mark apologized to the shopgirl and started to go after him, Ro darted into the shop Sherry was in. Calling out "Mommy, where are you?", he apparently didn't see her or hear Sherry say "over here" from the side of the store, because he frantically raced straight for the dressing rooms at the back, checking them systematically. The older lady he burst in on was none too pleased. Mark reached him just in time to grab him out from behind the curtain after a second or two, carrying him screaming and crying out of the store as a stunned Sherry looked on, mortified. The older lady didn't even want to hear an apology from Sherry, just turning away in a huff. On the bright side, Sherry had found some nice linen pants...lol. There's a controversial anti-smacking law in New Zealand, designed to prevent child abuse, but it has resulted in more than a few convictions of well-meaning parents for seemingly trivial disciplinary actions. Since Cook Islands is closely related to New Zealand (CI citizens are NZ citizens by default), we weren't sure if the law was in effect here, too, which is the only thing that prevented Ro from getting a swift spanking. Mark carried him across the street to the shoreline for a few choice words and a chance to calm down.
Ro & Sherry beside the small harbour in Avarua, near Trader Jack's
Ro took this pic
Hopping back on our scooters, we did make one last stop in Avarua at a T-shirt shop, where Mark picked up a Pacific Islands Rugby jersey, and Sherry got a souvenir shirt for Ro to grow into. As we were getting back on our bikes, who should show up on their scooters but Kelsea and her family! While we had gone to Avarua by the shorter clockwise route, they had started off exploring anti-clockwise and eventually made their way to the same T-shirt shop. Watching Kelsea wave goodbye from the store as Ro peeled away was so sweet.
Kelsea waving to Ro from across the street
A word about getting around in Raro. There's a 50kmh speed limit for the whole island, which drops down to 30kmh in town. If you're on a motorcycle or scooter, and you're not wearing a helmet, the max speed you can go is 40kmh. Essentially nobody wears a helmet. The roads aren't exactly in top condition. Even the Ara Tapu (main road) is littered with potholes, so riding a scooter can be a somewhat unnerving experience, especially along the sparsely populated northeast coast. Since non-helmeted (i.e. virtually all) scooter riders are going slower than the cars, you are constantly getting passed. We tried riding near the edge of the road to be nice to drivers behind us, but the edge was so rough and potholed, it was less dangerous to just ride near the center line and take your chances with the traffic.
Mark had wanted to stop at Muri Beach and the Matutu Brewery, both on the southeast part of the island, but Sherry & Ro were in the lead and they didn't notice the small signs, whizzing past them blissfully from Mark's perspective. Sherry later told Mark that she was, in fact, a white-knuckled and petrified mother who was too busy looking for potholes to notice any roadside signs! Sherry didn't realize how fast we were circling the island, and we finally pulled over on the side of the road to consult the map and get our bearings. We took the opportunity to check out a beach on the southern side of the island, which was even more picturesque than the one at our hotel.
Sherry trying to figure out where the heck we are
Ro & Mark on a random southern beach
Sherry enjoying the warm South Pacific sea breeze. Note the linen pants
The self-proclaimed "old man" with his walking stick
Fortunately, we hadn't yet passed the side road leading up to Wigmore's Waterfall. The falls are located at the southern end of the Across The Island Trek (a strenuous 4.5 hour hike); we had to stop at a petrol station to ask directions, as the road signs are not very well marked. Calling the way up to the waterfall a road is generous, to say the least. It was basically one big pothole, with an occasional smooth patch. At the end of the road, there were a few picnic tables, a large swimming hole below the falls that looked pretty inviting if a bit chilly, and a trickle of water coming down the hill. Apparently during the dry season, it should be called Wigmore's Dribble...lol. The flip side is that during the rainy season when the waterfall is more impressive, the mozzies (i.e. mosquitoes) there are allegedly pretty bad.
Sherry at Papua (Wigmore's) Waterfall
Ro checking out a banana plantation along the waterfall road
We got back to The Edgewater just in time for Happy Hour. Woo-Hoo! Kelsea and her family were there already, so we watched the kids play as we tried different umbrella drinks and gazed at the spectacular sunset. Simply gorgeous! Kim (Kelsea's mom) confided to Sherry that Kelsea was just as infatuated with Ro as he was with her, reportedly saying when asked about him, "[Sigh] He's soooo cute!" Ro was sad when Kelsea had to leave to go out to dinner, but he consoled himself by playing in the lagoon.
Follow the leader
What were they talking about? Nobody knows, and Ro wasn't telling
Ro was fascinated by this drink umbrella
Ro enjoying a bird's eye view of the sunset
Sunset Friday evening
Ro never misses an opportunity to get wet
The Edgewater has an added benefit of being within walking distance of a few good restaurants, and we walked over to Alberto's, a steakhouse less than a hundred meters down the road. Although it looked nearly deserted when we got there, it filled up fast, and for good reason. The steaks were the best we've had in a long time. Mark had a ribeye with shrimp skewers, Sherry had the Sirloin Special, which included garlic bread and a Pavlova topped with Hokey Pokey ice cream for dessert (which we all shared), and Ro had hot dogs (i.e. mini sausage corn dogs) and chips with about half the bottle of tomato sauce (i.e. ketchup). With dinner, we had a bottle of pinot noir from NZ (fast becoming our favorite type of wine). Ro did pretty well, despite being tired, engaging in some friendly small-talk with the waitress.
Sherry enjoying a relaxed dinner at Alberto's
After walking back to our hotel room (Ro was afraid of the dark road), Sherry put Ro in a bath while Mark walked outside to stargaze on the beach. Mark's dad Carver had gotten him a southern hemisphere star chart as a stocking stuffer last Christmas, and it came in handy tonight. With no big city lights around, the stars were brighter than any we've seen since the deserts of the American Southwest. With the chart in hand it was easy to see constellations like Scorpius and the Southern Cross (although that one's pretty unmistakable once you know what it looks like). Mark finally made the connection that the Southern Cross is the stars on the New Zealand flag...duhhh. After putting Ro to bed, we relaxed on the patio, drinking our bottle of free Italian white wine, eating the coconut and paw paw from the fruit basket, and writing postcards.
A sleepy Ro winding down after a busy day
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