Cook Islands - Day 5
It's hike day! Up to The Needle.
We've convinced most of the crew to come, although Jack has been a bit sick and sits it out.
We set off to the North of the island where it's recommended to start the trek. You can either go up to the Needle and back, or carry on through to the other side of the island. Logistically it's better for us to do the former.
The trek starts out still within some residential and then past a water treatment facility. Before long it's thick though, and we are into the darkness of the tropical rainforest. They say not to trek if it's been wet and we can see why. Most of the footing is exposed tree roots which would be incredibly slippery when wet. Luckily it's pretty dry for us, but it's still a pretty technical climb. Needing to use hands and feet for lots of it. Not to mention that the track is up a ridge, so it's a decent drop off on either side.
We stop for a few water breaks but soon enough we are within striking distance. We have a resident rooster to guide us some of the way. I'm pretty sure it was demanding payment for its services but I wanted to keep a museli bar up my sleeve.
We get to the Needle and have a decision to make about if we go to the actual top. Not a hard decision when we see that you'd need to be hanging off a rusty chain to avoid a sheer drop to certain death. Callum did it. The rest of us lived vicariously through his experience.
Back down we go and it's pretty sketchy. We go slow though and scramble on the bum where needed.
We pass by a group who have 3 dogs in-tow. They followed them up from the town and might have bitten off more than they can chew. Or maybe they do it every day, who knows.
We get down safely and reward ourselves with mango smoothies and iced lattes from the same spot we had them on day one.
We have about an hour before checkout. We slam down the pancakes that were delivered with some home cooked scrambled eggs. We stack the Mystery Machine (our "new" replacement van) and head to the new accommodation.
We drop our bags off at the villa. It's set back about a 5 minute walk from the ring road, so it has a different, more mountainous vibe. We can only drop our bags so we keep moving and decide to go and see the Wigmore Waterfall.
The Wigmore Waterfall is in theory an attraction and also where the cross-island hike ends. There is no one manning the toll both for the $5 entry. Maybe that's a sign.
It was a sign. There's no water flowing. It's not very attractive. We jump back in the van and head for somewhere for lunch.
We find a small cafe by a gorgeous stretch of beach. We have some toasted sandwiches and a NZ style scone and try not to get sun burnt again.
We can check in now so we do. The place is cool! Not fancy, but it's well designed. It even has a private pool, albeit a small one.
We get settled but pretty quickly some of the team get itchy feet and want to get in the ocean despite it being a bit windy. They take off, Courts and Jeff stay.
We go for a walk up the beach and then pick up some matches for the mozzie coil from the local corner store. We've been bitten a few times and there is a dengue outbreak, so we are trying to avoid anymore of that.
Half the gang have head off for a happy hour drink somewhere. The rest of us hang and play a game or 2 of bananagrams.
It's time for dinner. We've decided on a few options up the west coast so off we go. It's twighlight now and it's beautiful on the island. It's a shame about the odd rubbish fire we drive past. You can frequently smell smoke on Rarotonga, unfortunately.
We settle on the first option for dinner: Shipwreck Hut. The setup is brilliant with tables on the beach. There is a guy playing covers. The weather is still decent, but it's starting to turn. Courts has a cocktail in a Nu (coconut). Life's good!
Jeff tries the Ita Mata, the local dish of raw fish bathed in coconut. It was OK, but a very small portion. We head past a convenience store and grab some supplies on the way home and a Mrs Macs pie for Jeff.
A few games and a nightcap and we call it a night.
