All good things…

It’s been almost two weeks now, and I’m simultaneously in “scroll through the vacation pics” mode and “on to the next thing” mode.

On the last day, my souvenir swim cap fell off the drying rack onto the front porch. Someone or something thought it was tasty!

Even though there aren’t a lot of people on the island, and it’s less developed than other vacation islands we’ve been to, we found everything we needed without any real trouble. Everything felt slow, but also everything happened, and with hardly any actual problems.

All in all a great trip. The most beautiful swimming / snorkeling water I’ve ever experienced… even better than St Croix (sorry STX).

Yesterday I got to have a magical moment with some very distant relatives, a couple of humpback whales. I didn’t take this video, but it’s the same encounter…

We were told this is a mom and calf… but I don’t really have any idea. We were in with them for maybe 20 minutes.

It’s definitely a wow, once in a lifetime thing, although in fact they hang out around the island for months each year so if you live there it’s more of an everyday thing.

Thinking back, I’m most struck by how not scared I was. They’re really big, and they weigh 20 or 30 tons. But they certainly knew we were there, and they never moved fast or threateningly. The energy was calm, except when a couple of overeager spectators got too close and got yelled at by the boat captains.

I’m really glad I got to do this. It’s not exactly last chance tourism, but I’ve grown up so steeped in the idea that whales are in dire trouble that it sort of feels more amazing.

Our trip has included a fair number of silly cocktails.

And beers…

Back to sobriety today.

The service at the Cook Islands Christian Church did not disappoint…

The service was mostly in the local Māori dialect, but every now and then we got a little explainer so we could sort of keep up. The church, built in the 1820s, was the standard rectangle shape. But the altar was in the middle of the long side… religion in the round.

The best was the singing. Here’s a couple of snippets:

The choir / congregation was always led out by a startlingly beautiful, keening soprano voice. Then everyone else joined in, one part at a time. Magic. And they sang every verse of every hymn, so you really got the experience. I never saw a conductor, but there may have been one around the other side.

We got our money’s worth… a full hour and a half. The sermon was about David, and how even when the world is against you, God is still with you. Seems like a good philosophy… although I can’t help thinking that the ruling class would really really like the workers to buy into it.