Boarding the plane in Auckland went rather smooth with a (for me perfect) temperature of 20 degrees. How enormous the contrast when leaving the plane in Rarotonga, Cook Islands. Although it was almost midnight when I arrived, I still had loads of trouble swimming my way through the humidity to the arrival terminal. Desperately thinking how I ever was going to manage this climate when I already had serious trouble with it during the night, I headed for the hostel.

One of the highlights of staying at this hostel was the bbq on Saturday night. The hostess enjoys the local food, which was clearly seen in her appearance, and was more than happy to share this passion with all of those who stayed with her. During this bbq there was the opportunity to taste multiple local fruits and more important, as far as the hostess was concerned, the potatoes. I have seen many different types, even one kind which was sort of mixed with beetroots or something. However, the best part was the raw fish salad, in Cook Islands dialect: 'Ika Mata' (http://www.ck/food/0110.htm)

The traffic on this isle is a very interesting feature. The maximum speed on the whole island is 50 km/hr (yes, they drive left but count in km instead of miles... don't ask me..) and I think there are more scooters on the island than cars. Probably the main reason is that driving scooters is by far the easiest way of getting air-conditioned and it is more fun of course! A connected interesting question concerns the 'slow down' signs which tell you obviously to slow down when driving on the island. Clearly these signs are purely meant for tourists as every local seems to take it very easy, also when driving around. However, still I wonder whether the message for the tourists is to slow their cars or scooters down or their lifestyle..

Besides this I have enjoyed the company of one of my (French) buddies from Auckland who spend the first two days with me on the island. Lots of fun, discussion, games and among others seeing the miles of beautiful beaches etc. Only thing I can't remember is who eventually won the yellow car game...

After crossing the date-line (which was a rather weird experience) again when flying back to Auckland, I had officially left the paradise of the Cook Islands. Next stop: Sydney, Australia.