Rarotonga Trip

Well, it's nearly a year since I posted something on my blog, but I knew when I started it that that would probably happen. You would think that I had nothing to write about and that the last year must have been boring, but when I look back it has actually been quite exciting.

My new little niece, Faith, was born in March last year, but I've already mentioned that! At the beginning of June, my sister brought her new boyfriend down to meet the family. I think we were all very pleased for her that she had met someone who was such a lovely Christian guy.

At the end of August I got a new car! See photo above :)

At the end of October I took my little red car for a trip up to stay with my sister for a few days near Christchurch. I did some shopping while I was up there (more about that later!) and sat in the sun!

Then, on the Sunday before Christmas, my sister's boyfriend proposed to her in front of all the people at their church. They contacted their families in the afternoon via webcam to show us the ring and to tell us that they were getting married in March in Rarotonga and that they wanted us to be there!

For someone like me, living with a chronic illness that leaves me with very little energy (my trip up to Chch had been exhausting!) the idea of travelling to the Cook Islands seemed a bit overwhelming.

But God is good and thanks to Him and my doctor, by the time the trip came around I was fine. God had given me Isaiah 41:10 as a promise which says: "So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand". So, it was pretty obvious that God wanted me to go and that was a huge relief because I wouldn't have wanted to miss my sister's wedding! And I have always wanted to go to a tropical island for a holiday!

Also God had been getting me ready for the trip before I even knew about it! When I was up near Chch visiting my sister I went shopping. The 2 main things I bought were a new pair of gold strappy sandals and a new summer skirt. When I found out about the wedding, I was quite blown away, because the sandals were perfect for a wedding on the beach and the skirt was perfect for wearing in Rarotonga. I was thinking that I probably wouldn't find a dress in town here to wear to the wedding, especially one that would fit me, and that I might have to get someone to make me one. Well, I walked into a shop in the week between Christmas & New Year (when the shops had their sales on) and there it was! I couldn't quite believe it. It fit me perfectly without even needing to be shortened. I was so stunned that I asked the shop assistant if I could bring it back if I changed my mind! Then after I got it home and was thinking about what jewellery I could wear with it, I realised that the necklace and earrings that my sister had given me for my birthday last year went with it really really well! Thank you soooo much God!!!!

So, about 3 months later I was about as ready to go as I could be. I had no trouble going to sleep the night before the trip, but I woke up about 2.30am and never really went back to sleep - I was just too excited!

My other sister & bro-in-law & 1 yr-old niece picked me up about 8am and off we went! It was about a 3 hour drive to the airport, but we allowed plenty of time in case there were road works (which there were) and in case we needed to stop for Faith (which we did). We arrived at the airport with plenty of time to spare and met my Dad and his wife there. We had time to have some lunch after we checked in for our flight to Auckland.

It had been at least 12 years since I was last in a plane and I was sooo pleased to be flying again. The weather over NZ was perfect that day without any clouds and so we had wonderful views all the way to Auckland.

When we arrived in Auckland, the stroller for the baby was nowhere to be seen and so my sister went to sort that out. It took them a while to find it, but eventually we had it and were on our way over to the international terminal. The family decided to take the 10 minute walk, following the blue line, over to international. I was in a wheelchair to save my energy that day, so I didn't mind, although there was quite a cold wind.

At the international terminal I met up with my boss and his family who came all the way out to the airport to meet me. I have been working for him for over a year, and although we have communicated by email and phone calls, we had never met in person. So that was good!

Then we grabbed some Subway for dinner, before going through the security checks. Being in a wheelchair and carrying an infant, we got special treatment. We didn't have to queue with everyone else - we went through with the pilot and flight crew. My brother-in-law had metal in his shoes, so he set off the beeper everytime! On the way home, he put them in his luggage, but that still set the thing off when they scanned his bag!

We eventually got on the plane for our flight to Raro. The flight attendants were very friendly and had a great sense of humour. The one in charge told us things like "smoking is not permitted in the terminal or anywhere else in the Cook Islands" - all with a straight face! And she got us all to say "Kia Orana!" before we left the plane. As we walked into the terminal we were greeted with a man singing songs and playing his guitar. The customs lady wasn't very happy when we couldn't tell her where we were staying! My sister had booked the holiday houses and had not given us any details except that they were near Muri Beach. Anyway, we explained to her that our sister would be meeting us and she would know! So it all worked out okay.

We arrived just after midnight Cook Island time. They are 23 hours behind NZ which really means they are a day behind and an hour ahead! We had another Tuesday when we arrived and lost nearly all of Sunday on the way home! I don't think I've ever had a week without a Sunday in it before! It would have actually been nice to have been there on a Sunday and attended a church service on the island.

Anyway, it was hot and very humid when we arrived and that didn't change much the whole time we were there. It rained on and off every day too.

We arrived at the house where we were staying to find that there was only a rugby field between the house and the beach. So, not too far for me to go for a dip! The water in the lagoon was clear and there were lots of little fish swimming around you.

And my sister's friends who had booked their own accommodation and who didn't know where any of the others were staying, were all at the Muri Beach Club Hotel which was just at the opposite corner of the rugby field!

I was a bit of a write-off the first day there so I didn't go anywhere. My sister came around though and we saw quite a bit of her that day and the next. Everyone else went around to the house where her fiance's family were staying that night for a barbeque, but I stayed put because I was so tired and wanted to have some energy for the wedding.

The next day was Wednesday and I was feeling much better and Dad (who had decided to hire a car instead of a scooter) took me to have a look in some gift shops nearby. I bought myself some plastic tumblers with fish all over them and Rarotonga written on them. That afternoon we all went down to the lagoon for a swim/dip/paddle. My 2 sisters and Dad were snorkelling, but there wasn't very much to see there. Apparently the snorkelling was much better around near the other house.

The next day was the wedding! We spent the morning getting ready and went down to the restaurant from where the glass-bottomed boat was taking us across to a little island called Motu Koromiri for the wedding. (If you google the name of the island you will find some videos of weddings on the island.) The boat was going too fast to see any fish! Someone said the rain stopped 5 minutes before the wedding. It didn't start again until we were back inside the restaurant for the reception. My niece enjoyed playing in the puddles during the speeches!

On Motu Koromiri it was very hot and sunny! I felt like the makeup was running off my face! We were greeted by the wedding co-ordinator and the music trio playing and singing Cook Island songs. The guys - groom, best man, groomsman, father & brothers were dancing to the music while we were waiting for the bride to arrive. We could see across the lagoon to the Muri Beach Club Hotel where my sister & her bridesmaids were getting ready. They came over on a boat manned by a couple of Rarotongans who carried the bridesmaids and brides off the boat onto the sand. I don't think they carried Dad!

The bridesmaids came first, walking up a path of petals, followed by Dad and my sister. They all looked absolutely beautiful. An AOG pastor from the other side of Rarotonga (the musicians were from there too) took the ceremony. He was quite funny saying "so far, so good" after each question. After they were married, the groom's father prayed for them and blessed them.

The wedding party went further down the beach to have photos taken (because there were tourists hanging around) while we were taken back to the restaurant, where we were served fruit punch and nibbles which consisted of papaya, banana, star fruit, water melon and other things.

We all sat at a long table (I think there were 22 of us) and the speeches took place and they opened it up for anyone who wanted to say anything which was nice. The meal was nice - I had a yummy chocolate almond parfait for dessert :)

When it was all over the bride and groom took off on a motorbike to a resort on the other side of the island and we returned to the house where we were staying to get changed. I put my togs on and my other sister and I went down to the lagoon a bit later and sat in the water and talked for a while. The water in the lagoon was warm, and it was the best way to cool down!

I really liked the wedding. I liked that we felt that we were more a part of it than we would have if it had been held in a church. And I liked that it didn't drag on all day like some weddings do.

The day after the wedding Dad took me up to Avarua, the main town on the island, to get a sarong and some souvenirs for myself and Mum (who couldn't go to Raro because she is housebound). I was planning to get a sarong like one of the ones my sister had bought for her girls, but when I got to the shop I saw some up on the wall that I thought were even nicer. They had Cook Islands written on them and also had glitter which made them look nicer. I didn't think anything of it, but both my sisters said they would have thought twice about the glitter. I found out that it was quite difficult to wear the sarong without the glitter rubbing against my skin. After wearing it for a while I was covered in glitter and so was everyone else because it was all over the house! I also bought a matching mug and tea-towel for my Mum, a skirt thingy with tassles on it that I could wear to the beach over my togs, a necklace and fridge magnet and a postcard to send to a friend.

I wore the sarong (like a skirt) and the necklace to the Island Night we went to that night. We got a meal and the show for $30. Most of us ordered the Island Meal which was huge but yummy. I think I probably only ate about half of mine! The show began with a man singing old songs like "After the Loving, I'm still in love with you", followed by a dance group doing a range of Cook Island dances, including a demonstration of pulling a coconut apart with your teeth!

The Saturday was spent very quietly, although we had netball and rugby games being played all day nearby. We were planning to go down to the lagoon for another dip before having a shower and getting changed to leave that night, but the rugby went on for quite some time and there was a huge amount of spectators around the field. In the end I decided it might be better to save my energy since we had a whole night of travelling ahead of us, so I just settled for the shower instead and it was finally hot for me! Thanks heavens I had plenty of time to cool down afterwards before we had to leave for the airport.

The hot water where we were staying wasn't constant! It seemed to like Dad - he seemed to always have hot water for his shower and I didn't! We didn't really mind the cool showers though. If you had a hot or warm shower it just made you hotter! We also shared the house with some geckos and ants. I couldn't quite believe my eyes on the last night there when I saw a gecko eat a little one! They must be cannibals!

We flew out of Raro at 1.20am, arriving in Auckland at 4.45am. By time we went through customs and immigration and got over to the domestic terminal, we didn't have any time to spare before our flight at 6.45am. So when we finally arrived in Chch at 9am we were pretty hungry and tired. I had managed to get some sleep on the flight from Raro, but not on the 2 domestic flights in NZ. So after collecting our vehicle, we stopped for breakfast before heading home. My sister and I managed to get some sleep on the way home. She & my bro-in-law kept swapping the driving because they were feeling so sleepy. After arriving home I was asleep by 7pm that night!

The next morning when I woke up there were no palm trees outside my window, no roosters crowing and no sound of the fans that had been going constantly in the house we stayed in.

I loved spending time with my little niece while we were away and getting to know her better. I didn't see a lot of her in her first year because she was sick a lot of the time.
She is a real character and had me cracking up laughing at her dancing!

We felt like we had been away for more than a week and that we'd had a really good break. It was a wonderful relaxing holiday and the wedding was lovely. I didn't want to come home in spite of the humidity and the mozzies that nearly ate me alive at the Island Night! I could have stayed there. I think the lady who did my sister's hair for the wedding was a kiwi who had gone over there for a holiday and literally stayed there. It would be a really relaxing place to live and I would love to go back there some day!