We have so enjoyed Rarotonga, but it's time for us to move on! We will be leaving tomorrow morning for a place called Beveridge Reef. There is nothing there, but we hear the diving and snorkeling are incredible. It's about 455 miles from here, so will take 4-5 days to get there. We are (okay, I am!) very much hoping for a much smoother passage than what we had getting here! From the reef, we will then head to an island called Niue - another 130 miles or so.

Our time in Rarotonga has just flown! We have been around the island almost every day on the scooter and have explored just about every part. Our favorite area is definitely a place called Muri Lagoon. The water is so incredibly turquoise, it almost hurts your eyes! The beach is white coral sand and is perfect for nice romantic walks or throwing a towel down and reading. We've done both! The motus (little tiny islands on the reef) are so pretty with their palm trees swaying that you would swear you were in the middle of some advertisement for paradise! I added a few more pictures to the gallery to try to show how pretty this area is - none of them really do it justice though.

The picture for this entry is showing the inland part of the island. The deep greens of the lush vegetation on the mountains are in such contrast to the bright blues surrounding the island. Renting the scooter was so wonderful because it let us explore these areas as well. It was fun trying out all the back roads - some were a little bumpy, but the beauty was worth the sore bottoms! Thankfully, the gas mileage on the scooter was great as well because the couple of times we did have to fill it, it cost us $15. for 5 liters (that's about $14. a gallon). We had originally rented it for a week, then extended for 3 more days, then added yet another day. We had to return it this morning though, and we are feeling a little down right now. It was such a nice feeling knowing we could hop on and take off at any time and Glen had finally gotten used to driving on the "wrong" side of the road! Now, our last trip to the supermarket will be on foot!

The harbor area where the boat has been tied to the quay is called Avarua. It is a lovely little town with lots of conveniences. I was so thrilled - we had our laundry picked up right here at the boat, washed and dried (in machines - not a bucket and line!) and returned to us back at dockside. I can't begin to explain how awesome it is to use a towel that is soft and fluffy - not hard and crispy! It cost $10. a load, but we splurged... sheets, shirts, shorts, and all! We even had the guest bed sheets done, so whoever visits next won't have to sleep on bucket laundered fabric! There are several big grocery stores here, a marketplace where locals sell freshly picked produce, several nice restaurants, and lots of little "take away" places (their idea of fast food). We have enjoyed trying out the two "hot spots" - Trader Jacks and The Whatever Bar, had a scrumptious dinner at a beautiful lagoon-side restaurant called the Tamarind House (a very romantic dinner for what we call our anniversary!), and tried to browse most of the souvenir shops. There is also a big liquor store here with really, really nice people. When we first got here, they had a "case sale" going on - we bought a few cases of diet coke and a case of tonic and they delivered it right to the boat. They also let us buy liquor and beer duty free (a huge savings), did all the customs paperwork at the local airport, and then delivered it all to us and helped us load the dinghy. Couldn't ask for better service! (If you ever make it here, shop at CITC and NOT the Bond liquor store!)

We're using a combination of New Zealand and Cook Island money. We're on the right side of the exchange rate this time - each of our 76 US cents buys a dollar here. We love just looking at all the different coins - the CI coins all have different tikis on them. The $1. coin has the fertility tiki on it - check out the gallery photo of the tiki from the CI Cultural Center to see a picture! The tiki on the coin has all the same parts! We're saving one to bring home! The shape of the coins are all interesting as well - triangles, hexigon, flower-shaped, etc! They also have a $3. bill!

Very exciting news... we got to watch a movie aboard The Dorothy Marie last night! Dionne, from Orca III, was a doll and brought us back a new TV set from her trip to Canada! Bless her heart... she lugged stuff back for 7 different boats! We're sure happy to have a working set back on board and the boat kids had a great time dissecting our old one.

As we leave in the morning, we will be losing internet again (another great thing about Avarua - the best wi/fi we've had so far!), so will be back to the SSB and HAM e-mails. Don't worry if you don't hear from us for a couple of days - if its rough like the last passage, we won't be able to get the computer out! We're also sending out our most positive thoughts to Glen's niece, Laurie. She is having surgery in the morning for her cervical cancer. We hope it goes well and they find less than what they're expecting.