In which we find ourselves in another part of the world
Here are two pictures that instantly tell my fellow Americans in NZ that I am in the US…
Coffee in a giant urn is somewhat unusual in NZ, and decaf is nearly unknown. A whole urn of decaf? You’re in the US.
And a big basket of free chips? Even if a restaurant was willing or able to serve this, it would be prohibitively expensive.
Just a few days after getting home from Aitutaki, it was back to the airport.
First stop Houston, for a visit with Lee’s clan. I had a great 3-day stay. Above, a spectacular sunset. It was hot, and hotter because someone ran into a gas pipeline, causing a multi-day fire that apparently went over 1,000 feet in the air.
The newest addition to the team. Welcome to earth!
Breakfast with Frank and Monique including a free bowl of chips that woulda been $20 in NZ. Did I mention this was breakfast? I love this country. Or at least I love chips and salsa.
Taking the Waverunner out on Clear Creek, near where Lee lived as a teenager. Sooo fun.
A synchronized drone display as we drove down the freeway. I’ve seen internet videos of drone fireworks shows on the internet that I always thought were fake. But now that I’ve seen one in person… wow!
I had a really nice visit!
Pictures of basketball courts viewed through a chain-link fence are nothing special.
But the lack of a backboard on these netball goals really jars me somehow.
These poppies brightened up Browns Bay on a recent dreary day.
(I did fiddle with this photo a bit)
Very shortly after returning from Aitutaki, I played in the first day of interclub pétanque. Summer is coming!
Midday, we were overflown by the old fighter plane squadron. They usually turn up on holidays, but none of us could figure out what holiday it was.
It turned out that there was a commemoration of the Battle of Britain. Since we in America were mostly focused on staying out of the conflict at that point, in school we didn’t learn as much about the Blitz as we did about the post-Pearl Harbor parts of the war.
As we confront – or try not to confront – the awful reality of shooting wars in Ukraine and Israel, it’s even more important to remember what happens when you drop bombs.
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).
This short week in Aitutaki was focused on swimming. We had seven swims in four days, plus the whales on Day 5.
Our routine was to head out in the boat at 10 AM and drop off somewhere in the water…
Then we’d swim toward one of the small outer islands, maybe an hour in the water. Then island lunch. The lagoon around Aitutaki is really shallow… often we had to weave through coral heads and once or twice it was easier to get up and walk. But the water is crystalline, the fish abundant.
One day, Captain Ned (below) told us more about coconuts than we would’ve thought possible. Really interesting!
After coconuts begin to sprout, the inside turns all spongy, but you can still eat it.
Then, back in the boat for the afternoon swim. It was usually shorter and had a theme… outside the reef in deeper water one day, giant clams the next. The tame’ish giant trevally are a hit…
I didn’t bring an underwater camera this time. Good and bad… it’s nice to live in the moment instead of fiddling with the gear, but some pictures not taken. The whole place is basically the most perfect tropical aquarium you could possibly imagine.
And then back home by about 4 pm. Happy hour, then dinner.
That was plenty of water time and I’m tired. But compared to how much we ate and drank… more exercise needed!
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.
It’s not actually Bali, but “Aitutaki hai” doesn’t have the same ring to it.
We are joining a dozen other ocean swimmers, three of whom we know, for a week in this particular version of paradise.
How do you know you’re on a tropical island? Roosters everywhere! However, for reasons shrouded in legend, there are no dogs allowed on Aitutaki. This is a good thing.
Aitutaki is part of the Cook Islands, which is technically a country but very tied to NZ. We flew 3 1/2 hours to the main island, Rarotonga, and then another 40 minutes to Aitutaki. There are about 2,000 residents, and something like 40,000 visitors per year.
Our bungalow is about where the yellow dot is. Here’s our view…
Today I’ll start with attending a service at the Arurangi Cook Islands Christian Church, the oldest church in the Pacific apparently, renowned for its singing and the ladies with their flowery hats. Then a short afternoon swim.
We had a few minor snafus getting in and settled last night. But they helped speed up our mental adjustment to being on island time. As our tour leader explained… everything works out here, but almost nothing goes according to plan.
Tell me your super power without telling me your super power…
This white-faced heron was hanging out on a footbridge we crossed on our morning walk today. Startlingly close! They very kindly sat around while we gawked and took pictures, not fazed even by a passing jogger.
I often think about how to describe the benefits of living in and/or visiting Auckland. Nature- and climate-related things feature prominently in the list. It’s hard to say if “conveniently accessible walks through nice parks” (which we’ve had in all three houses here) is worth flying around the world for, but it sure is nice once you’re here.
Our new house is on a street where the power lines haven’t been buried yet. But this kereru makes the best of the situation.
You’ve seen this view before on this site, but normally there’s a hillside covered with houses and trees and stuff. The other morning’s fog was thick as.
And… did you know the title before? I vaguely thought it was from Charge of the Light Brigade or Gunga Din or some such. And therefore it would have been “through” instead of “thru”. But the first several Google hits point me in a very different direction…
Brattleboro Adventure – the Auckland Edition 