On the same day at 4:40 am we landed on the main island Rarotonga. Despite 22 hours of time difference our arrival time is before our departure time for the first time during our trip – and so April 27th started anew. ?… However, it was not really so much of a paradise in the beginning. Heavy clouds lay over the island and it was raining cats and dogs. We just adapted to island time and ventured to our apartment. Tony, the manager of our accommodation, took us on a tour around the island. The coastal road is 35 km around the island and takes us past many small houses, some corner shops and once in a while past a super market. There is not much business here and everything is rather slow – just island life! In the middle of the island mountains with a dense lush green jungle landscape rise up. Also we could get several peaks of the sandy beaches and the beautiful lagoon. Even though viewing sea and beach through heavy rain does not give you the real beach feeling – we were really excited about the coming days. The weather remained unsettled but once the sun came through the sea gleamed in brilliant turquoise. It was no problem at all to spend our 10 days on this small island – we could have even stayed much longer!!  With Tony‘s bikes we went along the coastal road, we let our new Phantom 4 pro fly over the apartments he manages, we explored the beaches and ate many tuna dishes. No matter if as the national dish Ika Mata stir-fried or deep-fried, the Yellowfin Tuna was on our menu every day. After a walk on the beach or a kayak in the lagoon our day was perfect. Muri Beach is best known and also said to be the nicest beach on Rarotonga and really, the lagoon beams in a nice turquoise in the sun. During our bike excursions we also saw some not so known places on the island and we actually soon had our own little private beach we favoured – including the adjacent bungalow! It was Ann’s Beachfront Bungalow in the South of the island right opposite of Wigmores Supermarket. This bungalow is just perfectly situated. It is not far from a well-equipped supermarket and it had direct access to a private white sandy beach with many palm trees and you can check-out the corals in the sea from the balcony. Oh yes, this is where we wanted to live! ?

Ann’s Beachfront Bungalow was built only a couple months earlier and no-one has stayed there so far.  Actually we were supposed to take some pictures of the bungalow for Tony’s website to make sure some tourists would see the place. But then it would be a shame if this place would remain empty and so we asked if we could stay there until someone came!? ? Tony agreed and we stayed at Ann’s Beachfront Bungalow for our last nights on Rarotonga! ? On our last day we were even able to do the island walk and „The Needle“ with bright sunshine. We were happy to have planned some more days than the average tourist stayed on the island – like this we could still see the nicest spots of the island with the sun shining even though the weather was generally not so good. We really enjoyed Rarotonga. This island is really beautiful and – in May – it is not crowded with tourists. And even though many New Zealanders had warned us about the high prices on the island we realized that sometimes food in restaurants was cheaper than in New Zealand. You should stay away from yoghurt for breakfast though – if you don’t want to pay 13 NZD (8,50 €) for a little cup… ?

Our South Pacific dream had started! Already in our next destination we realized that there was definitely even more to it – and this was AITUTAKI!!!! ?

Much love from paradise. ?? F&N

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