Around the World #01 (03/18/03-03/20/03, Rarotonga)

Hi, all.

I'm back on the road again, so here come the travelogues. Several people requested to be added to the list, but as always, if anyone wants to be removed, please let me know.

I just spent the last 20 minutes composing the travelogue, and when I hit the send button, the network crashed and everything went down the toilet.

I've started traveling again and am now in Rarotonga--one of the Cook Islands in the South Pacific between Tahiti and Fiji. (I did do a little international travel since New Zealand, but it was just Canada, and I didn't think people would be interested in hearing about my trip to "America Junior". I can see James Tien bristling at that statement already.)

My trip got off to a rocky start--due to misticketing, I started a day later than scheduled. I left San Francisco yesterday afternoon, flew to LA, and from there to Tahiti where we stopped for an hour and a half at 2AM, and on to Rarotonga, arriving at about 5:30 this morning. Aside from an hour on the plane, I have not slept since yesterday morning.

The guy in the seat next to me on the plane (who travels here often for work) connected me with a friend of his who owns a hostel. The hostel owner, Piri, is a local entertainer who shows people how to cook in an earth oven, weave plates, and then finishes by scrambling up a palm tree. He's over 60. And a bit of a kook, but a really nice guy. His hostel is a dump, but right on the beach. But hey, for $8, what do you expect?

The island is beautiful--about 20 miles in circumference, it is surrounded by a reef enclosing a shallow lagoon. The waves crash up against the reef and the water is calm beyond that point. This morning, as I was watching the sun come up over coffee outside, I saw some rays about a yard wide swimming a few feet offshore. The tips of their wings came out of the water.

The interior of the island is a series of green crags. No road go to the interior--the road system consists of a ring road around the island and a few small offshoots.

The people here are laid-back. To get on a bus, wave it down from the side of the street. To get a drivers license, take your rented vehicle to the police department and have them follow you around the block.

The weather is very nice, but a bit humid. A brief sprinkling of rain cooled things off a bit.

Yes, I do know there is a war on, but found out quite by accident. We got off the plane, got into the truck taking us to the hostel, and one of the guys saw the headline in the paper on the seat. It is not the talk of the town.

Gotta go. There is a palm tree calling my name. (And I want to get this sent before the network crashes again.)

Later,

Sid