The South Pacific

I arrived on Monday morning in Rarotonga, the largest of the Cook Islands, to blazing hot sun and humid breezes: exactly what I expected. My sister, having flown in the day before, was there to meet me.

It was a bumpy flight on the way down: almost 10 hours from LAX, 1/2 with the seat belt sign illuminated. Nonetheless, I managed to get some sleep and arrived on the island fairly fresh. For those of you who don't know where the Cook Islands are, they are a group of 15 islands in the Southern Hemisphere 3,000 miles due south of Hawaii (same time zone as Hawaii). Since they are in the south, it was only about 4 hours for my sister to come from Auckland, and there seems to be a large contingent of Kiwis here due to the proximity.

My sister had organized a beach cottage for our 13 day stay here, and it is perfect! We are right on the sand, with 100 meters of protected coral reef right in front, giving us immediate access to snorkeling. At the edge of the reef there is one of the few surf breaks on the island - a heaving, thumping, messy left. The Kiwi proprietor of the cottage said that I might try it if I was feeling "courageous", which I interpret to mean "insane" in Kiwi-speak.

While the first day was hot and sunny, our second broke with howling winds, horizontal rain and cloudy skies. Only then did my sister mention that yes, this is cyclone season. So for mow we are staying in, honing our Scrabble skills, and hoping the weather breaks soon!