This morning it rained and rained and rained. I checked my email frequently but there was definitely no cancellation notification for Captain Tama's Lagoon Cruise that we had planned to do today. At the appointed time we set out in the van to the drop off point. There was no parking right there, just people trying to squeeze under the verandah, so Peter took the hit and went to park it on the street while the rest of us squeezed under the verandah too. He arrived a few minutes later looking like he'd already had a quick dip. We were a little uncertain about how the day would go, with the weather being pretty miserable (and in fact it barely stopped raining all day) but we all agreed at the end that it was a really fun activity that may well have been the highlight of the week if the weather had been slightly kinder. Our 'captains' included Captain Smack Sparrow, Captain Tarzan, Captain Smoothie, Captain Absolut (like the vodka), and a couple of others... perhaps those weren't their real names. They were great fun, cheeky and funny, and looked to be having a great time themselves. They entertained us on the cruise out to the snorkelling spot with drums, ukuleles and songs. The snorkelling spot was in the lagoon in about 2 metres of water with lots of trevally swimming around, along with the usual fishy lagoon suspects. The surface of the water was a wee bit rough with the wind and rain, but in general the weather didn't make too much of an impact at that point, though the trip out was a bit chilly. The end of the snorkelling time was signalled by a few honks on the conch shell and we all climbed back on board. The boat then took us over to Motutapu Island where more of Captain Tama's crew had been busy cooking a delicious lunch for us over a fire. The island location was well set up with tables under permanent shelters, and by the time some windbreak sheeting was added, it was easy to forget the weather. After lunch we were entertained by more musical items, then a coconut demonstration and a show about how to wear pareu (wraps). Amelie got to star in one of the items, about using coconut cream as a sun lotion, and hers was by far the least scary of the crowd 'volunteer' items.
At one of our earlier activities, we had been told that the stray dogs have learned to swim over to the island to meet up with the tours because they get fed, either by the tourists, or, today, by eating out of the scrap bucket. How clever! The most clever thing though was, at the end, when the doggo came onto the boat for a ride back to the mainland. He obviously does this on the regular, because none of the staff even batted an eyelid. He even lined up at the step to be first off at the other end!
I think in better weather, we would have had a bit more time on the island after lunch to swim or walk, or play volleyball on the court which is set up there, but the decision was made to head back slightly early. The captain managed to find us some turtles in the lagoon to look at on the way back, and we all arrived back on Rarotonga feeling like we'd had a great experience and been really well entertained and looked after.
There were a lot of naps in the afternoon, then we had our last dinner at the house which was a wee bit of a mishmash of all the things we had left in the fridge to get rid of. Peter and I were today's chefs. Third course was a bread and butter pudding to use up some coconut buns - was not too bad if I do say so myself.
After dinner was the final compulsory cannonbomb event - was definitely the briefest we've had with most bombers getting out as soon as they were in. It seems that rainwater filling up a pool cools it down quite a bit. We are now aiming to get everything as dry as we can manage ahead of packing our bags up tomorrow.
We have had a think about things we are still keen to fit in tomorrow - our last day! Tomorrow night we will head to the airport and say farewell and meitaki (thank you) to this beautiful island.
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| Breakfast of champions |
So much fun, even in the rain. Looks like you will leave just before the cyclone approaches the island. Good timing!
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