Cook Islands - Day 2
We're up early and feeling fresh, as we should be after averaging about 11 hours sleep each.
We want to get to the markets around 9, so we tuck into some coffee, toast and eggs. Just as we're fishing our hosts drop off our breakfast. Whoops. It was pancakes yesterday and today it's eggs benny. Deciding it won't reheat well, we scoff that down too.
We arrive at the markets just after 9 as planned (which is amazing considering there's 7 of us to be corralled at any given time). It is muggy and the sun is hot. We've quickly learned the island is lousy with chickens and dogs and the markets are no different. The local animal rescue shelter has a stall and inform us that the dogs aren't strays but they pretty much have free reign of the island as no one has fencing and they don't get much attention at home. They're very happy and friendly puppies, always ready with a tail wag.
It's an outdoor market with your usual fair; clothes, jewellery, food etc. Courts has managed to find a savoury scone like the ones we scoffed all through NZ and Jeff buys a singlet.
It's back in the car and Jeff's driving so we must not go back the way we came. We detour off the main road and get to see how the islanders live. Houses in differing sizes on biggish land, usually with a dog, sometimes a goat or cow and always a chicken.
Back to the house and we're all out for a snorkel. More fish and turtle! Swimming is hard work so it's time for lunch. A short drive down the road and we find an outdoor restaurant. Picnic tables on the sand, water peeking through the palms trees, icy cold coronas... Bliss. We order salads, fish and chips and chow meins.
We've booked in dinner for 7:30 tonight which is still a few hours away so it's time for a cocktail. We wile away the afternoon ruining our friendship over Monopoly Deal and Aperol Spritz.
Finally it's time to hop in the van and head to dinner. We've picked a restaurant called Trader Jack that leans heavily into the fish. Being an island we figure they must do fish well and they do. We have fish curries, fish and chips, fish tacos and it's all great.
We arrive back at the house and it's time for a pina colada and a dip in the spa, which has become a nightly routine. We go between the sweltering spa and the cold pool and we're thinking there's something to this Bondi bullshit cold plunge thing.
Sufficiently dehydrated, we head to bed.
