Cook Islands - Day 4
As promised we're up early for our sunrise paddle. We slam down a quick brekkie for some fuel and hit the lagoon. Sadly, she's a bit windy this morning but we get out there anyway and see what we can see.
We paddle out to the small island across from our villa and try and find a good spot for snorkeling. It's pretty rocky and the wind isn't helping any but we moor the boat on the sand and hop in. We see a massive blue starfish, lots of pretty fish (big and small) and an anemone with a whole family of black and white striped fish, including some tiny tiny ones! And sea cumber. So many cucumbers. The floor is lousy with them to the point you can't/don't want to put your feet down. After nearly 2 hours Courts decides she's inhaled enough sea water and we paddle back in.
We devour the English brekky that's been delivered then mooch about for a bit, reading and testing our friendship over Bananagrams this time.
It's time for lunch, so head to the bakery down the road for pies. Mince and cheese for Courts and butter chicken for the others. They pass the pie test. Next we head to the supermarket for meats for our BBQ dinner tonight. A good selection and the meat looks quality.
It's been 10 minutes since our last snorkel and Cat suggests a new location called Black Rock on the north west side of the island. Apparently it's the best place for snorkeling on the island plus good sunset viewing. In theory.
In reality, we manage to dislodge the spare wheel from the bottom of the van (why is it there?) and then reverse the van into a tree, shattering the back windscreen. The snorkeling was a bust with nothing to see and we missed the sunset due to having to swap our van for a new one with a functioning back window. We did vaguely see a whale in the distance, so not a totally wasted trip. And Courts is gleefully telling anyone who'll listen this is why you get insurance (which we all have).
After all that excitement it's back to the villa for BBQ night. We have sausages, chicken, salads and roasted and BBQ'd veg. The meat tasted as good quality as it looked (the sausages being the best she's had, according to Courts). We finish the night with a few games of Impostor where we only call each other a few names but discover some friends are better liars than others. We head to bed early-ish, as a few of us are up early for a hike to The Needle tomorrow.
