Anyway, on the down side, the weather is poor. Stormy and cold, I'm wearing trousers and a jumper. We're riding around on our scooters. That's right, we had to sit a driving test with the local police officer and I am now the proud owner of a Cook Islands Driving Licence which is valid for another year and a half, car and motorbike. Quite a novelty!

Aitutaki

Tomorrow we're flying to Aitutaki with Air Rarotonga in search of better weather. It's meant to be absolutely classical island paradise if you can dodge the honeymooners.

Photos to follow I'm afraid...

In conducting my research on avian influenza I was stunned to learn how great a possibility it is that we will experience a global pandemic and how unprepared much of the world is for such an occurrence. If this novel achieves nothing else, I hope it will alert people to the very real risks that exist and motivate them to contact their local governments to make sure that they have pandemic plans tested and in place.

To see a synopsis of this novel as well as the humorous non-fiction "Beer In The Bilges", just click on the About page above.

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Spanish ships visited the islands in the late sixteenth century; the first written record of contact with the Islands came with the sighting of Pukapuka by Spanish sailor Álvaro de Mendaña in 1595 who called it San Bernardo ("Saint Bernard"). Another Spaniard, Pedro Fernández de Quirós, made the first recorded European landing in the islands when he set foot on Rakahanga in 1606, calling it Gente Hermosa ("Beautiful People").

British navigator Captain James Cook arrived in 1773 and 1779 and named the islands the Hervey Islands; the name "Cook Islands", in honour of Cook, appeared on a Russian naval chart published in the 1820s.^[5]

In 1813, John Williams, a missionary on the Endeavour (not the same ship as that of Cook), made the first official sighting of the island of Rarotonga.

The first recorded landing on Rarotonga by Europeans was in 1814 by the Cumberland; trouble broke out between the sailors and the Islanders and many were killed on both sides.

The islands saw no more Europeans until missionaries arrived from England in 1821. Christianity quickly took hold in the culture and many islanders continue to be Christian believers today.

The Cook Islands became a British protectorate at their own request in 1888, mainly to thwart French expansionism. They were transferred to New Zealand in 1901. They remained a New Zealand protectorate until 1965, at which point they became a self-governing territory in free association with New Zealand. In that year, Albert Henry of the Cook Islands Party was elected as the first Prime Minister. Sir Albert Henry led the country until he was accused of vote-rigging. He was succeeded in 1978 by Tom Davis of the Democratic Party.

Today, the Cook Islands are essentially independent ("self-governing in free association with New Zealand") but New Zealand is tasked with overseeing the country's defence.

On June 11, 1980, the United States signed a treaty with New Zealand specifying the maritime border between the Cook Islands and American Samoa and also relinquishing its claim to the islands of Penrhyn Island, Pukapuka (Danger), Manihiki, and Rakahanga.

As I strolled through the clear (and I mean crystal-clear-like-it-were-your-bath-at-home clear) I felt a little pinch on my leg. Thinking nothing of it, I barely paused before I took my next step. Chomp! A little fish, a fellow about 10 inches long, took a bite out of my leg. I hopped and jumped back to the beach, not from pain so much but so as to avoid being the bitten again. Upon examination of my mid-calf, you could actually see the little teeth marks--two rows of blood-filled marks. I was overcome with a very unexpected emotion: Pride. I have survived the bite of the beast! Images of the Great White filled my imagination.
Here I had come to the South Pacific, filled with all the charm, mystery and ease as might be possible, but in the midst of that idyllic moment I had an encounter with nature. A sharped-tooth, bleeding encounter.
Beach, snorkeling, hiking, serious relaxing, teeth marks... It was a fabulous trip.

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            There was a boy steering a really small boat around.  It was all powered by wind and first he nearly ran into us and then when mom started to snorkel toward the island, he ran over her.  Just over her legs, so she’s okay.  He really reminded me of a younger version of the character the flight attendant inspired.

            Then we all started snorkeling.  It wasn’t very interesting because it’s all dead coral and algae, so there’s no fish.  But, we did some a couple trigger fish and another eel and some box fish.  Then we got to the island and tried to persuade dad to tell a story because he use to all the time and they were really good stories, but he didn’t.  Then we snorkeled around again.  There were a lot of fish.  It was kind of cool.

            Walked home (long walk) and showered and ate and the pigs attacked. There’s a pig farm next to us (you can hear them every night) and they got out and were wandering around on our porch.  My dad thought they were cute. Then my mom wanted to snorkel again so we did.  Well, mom and dad did while I read.  There were two golden retrievers that followed us from our house to the snorkeling area, where they lost interest in us.  Then we went home and my parents spent forever packing while I read.  Then we walked all the way to this pasta place, which we ended up not eating at because it was full.

            So, we kept walking and ate at the Flame Tree, which was pretty good.  Only, we didn’t have dessert because it was late.  That was sad, but oh well.  Got home and went to bed (without typing…)

            Got up and saw the sunrise again.  Only this time we actually saw it rise.  By the way, no one woke me up, so I just barley caught them before they left.  Went out and watched.  There weren’t really any interesting colors today, but we were attacked by flea ridden dogs.  And when I say attacked, I mean it.  They were jumping all over us while I tried to hold them back with a towel.

            Came back and waited for the bus.  Went to a really hot beach, where there was like a lot of sun.  Parents went snorkeling while I built a fairly cool sandcastle.  It had walls and ramps up to the walls.  That was my favorite part.  Then I went snorkeling.  Saw a cool blue starfish, some flounders and that was about it.  The waves were kind of strong and it was a little hard to swim, but not to bad.

            I kind of napped when we got back, but not exactly.  I never went to sleep.  Oh, by the way.  When we got back from the beach, we went back to sleep for a while (after the sunrise).  Then my parents went snorkeling again while I sat in the water.  I was covered in sand and it was all icky.

            Then we waited for like an hour for the bus (reading the whole time) until we realized that the bus didn’t go counterclockwise at this time of the day on Saturday.  Then we figured out that the clockwise bus wasn’t running either.  So, we went to the Black Rock hotel and called a taxi.  By the way, Black Rock was really cool.  They had a great pool and the rooms were really big and nice.

            The women who drove the taxi talked the whole time.  She talked about going to the US, how it was really cold (here in Rarotunga because it’s winter [it’s like 75 degrees]), what the islands used to be like and this other island that she was born.  Apparently, cars are relatively new.  Then we got home, I showered, now I’m typing and going to work on visuals for Puzzle Pieces.

            After that we walked down to Sandals and had an actually pretty decent meal.  We did the question thing again, but not so much.  We talked a lot about books and movies, although not books turning into movies.  Had dessert again.  I feel like I just keep eating and eating on this island.  It’s ridiculous.  So, really tired.  Mom didn’t read.  I’m going to work on Puzzle Pieces visuals, but I want to go to bed.
            Oh, and two other things.  First, dad wants to go to church tomorrow.  Blech.  The reason I’d consider it is because of the cultural experience, so I don’t know.  Other thing is, people of the world, if anyone can come up with another possible title Puzzle Pieces, I would love to hear your ideas.  I know not all of you know even the plot of the story, but just generic titles are welcomed.  If you want to ask questions about the plot of give suggestions of what the title should be centered around, I would love to hear your opinions.  I need to think of at least possible different titles.

            And now I’m sitting at my computer staring at two disgusting dead bugs.  And it took my dad forever to finally clear them out.  So, I typed until like nine and then we walked out to the supposed really good snorkeling area.  It was still morning so I didn’t want to go because the water was cold.  My parents snorkeled while I tried to build a strong enough wall to survive the killer high tied waves coming in.

            I spent about two, three hours doing that.  It didn’t work.  Parents came in and spent the afternoon complaining that it was cold.  My dad started building a sandcastle and I joined.  It didn’t start as a sand castle.  See, okay this is going to take some explaining.  My dad’s an architect and you should see the models he does.  They’re impressive.  So, earlier when I was building my sandcastles, which were more walls.  I never got to the castle bit.  And I was thinking, I don’t know if I want to keep building castles.  This is boring.

            I guess I just forget that you have to build castles where they won’t be killed by waves.  I thought you needed wet sand, but you don’t necessarily. The other thing is that they aren’t usually castles.  Well, I guess they are sometimes.  We’ve gone through phases.  For a while we did castles, then he did an Egyptian thing, but it still had walls.  Then we started building islands and he did this really cool one where he dug a deep hole and built a town at the bottom.

            Currently, as of now, we’re doing landscape basically.  We just did this whole landscape of roads and moats.  I build a little town, but it wasn’t much.  That was fun, but then my parents wanted to snorkel again.  So, I finished as much as one can finish a sandcastle and followed them.  The water was cold and choppy.  I didn’t want to get pushed into the rocks and coral.  Then my mom went really far out and my dad went to get her.  It wasn’t a whole lot of fun.  But, my parents said I had to see the sea stars, so my dad took forever to find one.

            Then he found it, motioned to us and swam off, but we didn’t see him.  So he had to find it again.  He did though and it was pretty cool.  It was really big, bigger then my hand.  And it was blue.  We had some grief with the camera and I started getting water in my snorkel, so I quick swam back.

            After that we came home, showered and went out to read.  Dad and I built separate castles while mom read, but it started to rain.  So, we started to head back, but it stopped raining.  We stopped and stared reading again.  We built much bigger castles that time.

            Finally went home and went back to Sails, which is the restaurant we went to three nights ago (we went to Viamos two nights ago).  It’s pretty good.  Then we decided to walk back by beach, which I knew would scare me.  But, I got lucky.  I figured out that if I didn’t look at the shore, I just looked at the sky, I was okay.

            Then, there were these crabs about the size of my big toe (a little bigger) everywhere.  I’m not kidding.  And I was barefoot, so I really didn’t want to step on one.  I spent the whole walk back concentrating on missing those crabs (my dad did carry me for a short distance.  It was probably the most crab infested part oddly enough).  We saw a guy taking pictures of the crabs too.  Anyway, I was so concentrated on missing the crabs that I wasn’t scared.  And this wasn’t just that I forgot to be scared.  I was thinking the whole time about how I wasn’t scared.  But, if I looked up at the shore, I freaked out, so I didn’t do that.

            We stopped and looked at the sky in front of the area we use to go back to our house (it took us a bit to find it).  Finally my head started to spin from standing and craning my neck back.  My head was actually spinning, but I was kind of looking for an excuse.  What’s weird is that I wasn’t really that scared, it’s like those things soldiers talk about, where they lose an arm and complain that it hurts.  I wasn’t scared, but I remembered being scared.

            Well, we’re back now and my head still hurts a little.  By the way, we spent all dinner asking questions like, What’s the coolest restaurant you’ve been to?  What’s your worst carnival experience?  Fav. carnival ride/food/restaurant/article of clothing?  What’s your fav. full outfit?  Etc.  We got off on a lot of random topics.
            I am so tired. (wrote postcard to Michael).

            Okay, so maybe I was overreacting.  But then again, maybe I wasn’t.  So, we got up earlyish to go and see the sunset.  The sun had already started to rise by the time we got to the beach (which is like a one minute walk away I might add) and it was light.  But, we did watch it come up with lots of pretty colors.  But, it was kind of cloudy, so we didn’t actually see the sun, just the colors.

            The clouds were a really pretty pink and blue, but they looked painted.  It was funny because mom was saying that if someone had painted a sunrise and painted those clouds people would think that the person had never seen a sunrise because the clouds obviously don’t look that way.   Well.

            The sky that was a bit farther from the sun was a really soft pink and blue.  It looked like cotton candy.  It was pretty.  So, after that, we went back to the house and I slept some.  We had breakfast (same as yesterday) and then caught the bus to the other side of the island where we started the hike.

            So, we started on the road because the bus didn’t stop right in front of where the hike started.  The hike was for the first mile (about) actually road.  So, no worries there.  Then we ran into a couple on their honeymoon and we actually ended up following each other up the mountain.  At first, we went the wrong way because they don’t have anything marked and the maps are all lies.  Because they want you to hire a guide because then they got money.

            But we weren’t lost for long, so we just went back and then started up the correct way.  We didn’t know it was the right way at first because the river was on the wrong side according to the map (cheap, false maps.  Grrrr).   Then we ran into another couple that said we were going the wrong way.  But we didn’t know where else to go, so we kept going.

            Then we ran into a section that became a little bit more jungle.  It was pretty thick at first, but then it was fine again.  So, we walked for a long time with the first couple right behind us.  It was cool.  Forest, cool rocks etc.  No snakes :).  The only problem with having the couple behind us is that I had this serious competition thing, so we only ever stopped to break when we couldn’t see them.  Then, when they came around the corner, I would stand and start walking again.

            Which means, we got to the top a lot faster then we would have usually.  But, let me back up for just a second.  The path, about halfway up, started to get REALLY steep.  Okay, maybe not REALLY steep, but it was steep and exhausting.  It was a bit like climbing a ladder because we were grabbing tree roots the whole time.  Only, it wasn’t that bad.

            We ran into another couple who had gone up and then started to come down.  Originally they were going to go down the opposite side of the mountain, but they got lost because there’s this conjecture with four paths.  One was the way we were hiking currently, one led up to the top of the mountain (the needle).  Then there were the other two.  One, they walked for forty-five minutes before it dead ended.  So, they said that we should take the other.

            As a note, we never went down that path, so I don’t know if it really ends or if they were just wimps.  Anyway, we walked to the top and the couple that we had met who said we were going the wrong way showed up.  We sat for a while, watched the chickens (that were on top of the mountain!).  Then we walked up to the needle and oohed and ahhed.  There was a little path, but it was really scary, so we didn’t go that way.

            Went back down and took the supposed right path.  We walked for a long time and I’m pretty sure we eventually lost the path.  It was following the map at first, but then we ended up walking through the river, so I don’t think that was it.

            But, everything was fine until I stepped on the bee (I was barefoot).  So, it started hurting at first, which really wasn’t too much of a problem and the pain went away quickly.  The problem was that my head started to spin and I got really dizzy.  I’ll tell you why in a sec.  So, I basically got us to move as fast as I could out of the jungle, because I was freaking out.

            Ran into a couple people, slipped, went across the river, etc.  And made it out.  I napped while we waited for the bus.  Then we had some problems as to figuring out which bus was the bus, so we went to a bus stop.  Finally found the right bus and went home.  I napped and am now typing.

            As to the bee (by the way, I’m still dizzy).  My uncles on both sides are allergic to bee stings.  And my dad is possibly too because he once got stung on top of his head and then he totally blanked out and basically turned into a zombie.  My mom was with him out in the boundary waters of Minnesota.  Dad could do simple tasks when order, so my mom got him to carry the canoe and then they started paddling back to the main land.  But half way there my dad just came back.  So, who knows?  I just hope I start feeling better soon.

            We ended up staying here and making pasta.  It was actually really good.  My dad even made toast, which definitely worked as a sort of garlic bread.  While we were eating Eddie (he’s the guy that owns the busing system that initially took us to our house) showed up.  We hadn’t fully paid him yet.  We spent like an hour talking before he actually left.  Not that I’m saying I mind.

            Then we went down on the beach to look at the stars where I got really freaked out.  Just as a side note, the stars here are amazing because it’s really dark so you can see thousands of stars.  But there was this one weird star that was wiggling and turning weird colors.  It was sort of low on the horizon, but it was out in the middle of the ocean.  And then there was another light flashing out on the water and I’m not sure why.

            We went back inside pretty quickly.  I read while my parents went back to go find constellations.  When they came back we played Quidditich (which is a card game, not like the actually flying around on brooms game.  Jtlyk, it’s usually a bad idea to play with me because me and my family have made of a lot of rules for the game because it was really confusing otherwise.  Last time I tried to play with someone else, we all got really mad at each other), then read and went to sleep.  Oh, and I saw a lizard on our wall and we’re not sure how to get rid of it.  It was a big lizard.

            Cooked breakfast (that would be my mom not me).  I had scrambled eggs, but we didn’t have ketchup, so I used pizza sauce.  It was actually pretty good.  I like ketchup better, but it wasn’t bad.

            Then we walked out onto the beach and I tried to convince my parents that we should wait before we went snorkeling because the water was really cold, but they wouldn’t listen.  We waded out to the island again and sat there for a while.  My parents finally went snorkeling, but I didn’t want to because the water was really cold.

            I did eventually wade in, but it was sooooo cold.  I basically spent an hour arguing with my dad about whether or not I should get in.  While we were arguing, I slowly got deeper into the water until I was up to about my waist.  I was still unwilling t just jump into the water, so eventually what we did was put our masks on and leaned over and looked that way.

            We did that for a while before going back onto the beach.  We read The Host for a little bit and I really hope none of us got sunburned, especially not mom because she gets really miserable when she’s sunburned.

            Decided to go snorkeling again.  I did basically the same thing with wading in and leaning over.  Eventually, I did actually start swimming.  So, I must admit defeat.  I snorkeled.  The thing is, I’m not totally wowed by it.  My parents say it’s really great, but I don’t know.  I mean, I saw fish and coral, which is cool, but it’s still like eh.

            I liked it because I like to swim and that’s what I got to do.  I don’t really like breathing through a snorkel.  I wasn’t made to breath underwater.  I was made to swim and put my head up when I needed a breath.  I did eventually figure out how to use the snorkel, but it’s still not my fav.  Also, I was made for being able to stand.  Toward the end of that snorkeling venture, we swam over a patch of coral and I started to panic because I couldn’t stand unless I wanted to stand on the coral, which I didn’t.

            So, I’d snorkel again, but I don’t find it that amazing.  Did I mention that we have reef shoes so we can wade and stuff without cutting up our feet?  Mom got seasick, which is really sad.  I don’t mean like that is so sad as in sarcastic.  I mean, I know she loves to snorkel and it would be horrible if just a little bit of waves makes her seasick.  So, I hope it won’t be a problem in the future.

            As to what I saw.  I saw lots of coral, flutemouth, piper fish, puffer fish, angel fish, butterflyfish, lots of small black and silver and blue and yellow fish and trigger fish.  There were a lot of other fish that I don’t know the name of.

            We went back to the house and mom slept while I typed my story.  We were picked up by a taxi thing to go to a restaurant.  It was okay.  It was seafood, so not so much for me (I’m a vegetarian if you didn’t know).  We were/are really tried when we got back home (we were driven back), so mom didn’t read any.  And now here I am, typing.  Mom wants me to go to bed because we’re hoping we can get up to see the sunrise tomorrow.

            By the way, if anyone should read this in the very near future, which I doubt.  We’re going to cross over the island tomorrow without a guide.  If we don’t come back.  Come and find us, please.

            Hello, here I am again.  Now, where was I?  Oh, yeah.  So, after that we finally decided to walk the beach (I had promised like seven times by now that we would walk the beach and we didn’t).  There’s a couple islands that you can actually walk out to, so we decided to do that.  We had seen a couple people walking back yesterday and what was weird is they didn’t take the shortest route.  They took a long diagonal one to the beach.  We decided to walk straight out to the island.  Bad idea.

            Turns out, the reason the group had walked the other way was because it was shallow over there.  The way we walked got pretty deep.  And it’s not really cold, but it’s still cold and I wasn’t wearing a swim suit.  Finally got to the islands, sopping wet and miserable on my part.

            We walked the island a little bit, but it’s basically a forest and rather thick and with no trail.  But it was really cool because there were all these branches hanging down everywhere and it looked like a maze or something (a bit like Totoro’s den if you know what that is).  My parents wanted to go snorkeling, even though I didn’t and don’t really want to.

            But my dad went and he said he saw some puffer fish.  I finally got out the camera and started taking pictures.  Oh and through most of this we had been talking about that story idea I mentioned earlier.  Because once I finish Puzzle Pieces, I want to work on that.  Mom went snorkeling after that and I sat on a rock and watched them.  I want to make it clear that I am not complaining in the least.  I really don’t mind sitting and thinking.

            Sorry, I have to veer off on a random topic because I think it’s interesting.  Apparently, introverts (like me) have a lot of internal dialog.  Like, they’re always talking to themselves in their head.  (My mom told me this by the way) and I’m think yeah, of course.  However, extraverts don’t talk to themselves nearly as much.  Sometimes, they might not even be thinking anything at all because they’re use to talking to people out loud, not to themselves in their head.  Isn’t that weird?

            Back to snorkeling.  On the way back from the islands, we went the diagonal way so that we would stay dryer.  Well, my mom and I did, but my dad didn’t.  And I forgot to mention, there were sea cucumbers everywhere.  It was almost impossible not to step on them.  We thought they were sea slugs in the first place, but I guess not.

            So, after walking diagonal for quite a ways, my mom and I decided to turn and walk straight because it didn’t look so deep.  We were almost to shore when I saw something that I thought looked like a snake right in front of us.  I pointed it and my mom flipped.  So I quickly backed us up a couple steps and we started running for shore away from the snake thing.  And there’s this chain reaction thing that when my mom freaks out, I freak out.  We were both shaking when we got to the shore.

            Turns out the ‘snake’ was most likely a moray eel, in other words, not dangerous.  But wait, there’s more excitement.  When we got back to our room, we couldn’t find dad’s wallet.  We were looking for a half an hour and my parents decided that someone had stolen it.  So, I start freaking out again.  I mean, really.  Isn’t that just a little scary?  That someone broke into our house?  Well, we eventually found the wallet in one of our bags.

            Walked for a half hour to find a restaurant and believe me, it’s pitch black.  The sun sets at 6:30 here because it’s the middle of winter (and still in the 70s).  By the time we were walking the sun had set and I was already really tense and this didn’t help.  Well, we got to the restaurant alive, had a decent meal, although it wasn’t brilliant.  My stomach started hurting.  Fun.  But, they did have really good Pink Ladies (it’s a drink).

            Walked home, read, blah, blah, blah.  This is so boring.  So, I think we’re going to snorkel today.  I’m not excited. L

            It is day two, the first real day of vacation.  I might add that the first day was really screwed up because it was actually like two or three days.  I don’t know.  I lost track of that actual day a long time ago.  Tuesday…?  Well.

            So, I can safely say that this morning was miserable.  First off, I was up all night listening to chickens that don’t know when to shut up.  I won’t be shocked if the same happens tonight.  Then I was starving this morning again, as I mentioned earlier.  And all we had for breakfast was what we had brought snack wise.  So, granola and orange juice and greasy cheese, which I wouldn’t eat.  I was basically still hungry.

            Then we went to take a ’ten minute walk to the grocery store to buy groceries.’ I mentioned before that we are living in a ‘house.’  So, we have to buy at least some food because we’re going to be here till Monday.  Anyway, this ten minute walk turned into like an hour I think.  And we were walking along the road and I really wanted to walk on the beach, but we couldn’t because we were looking for stores.

            It was hot and miserable.  I gave the parts of my speech & debate speech that I could remember.  For those of you who don’t know or don’t remember.  I was in speech and debate in school and I was in oratorical interpretation so I had to memorize a speech.  Thing is, speech & debate ended a little after the second semester started, so I don’t remember the speech that well.  What was interesting though, is I was looking at the speech earlier and there were a couple lines that I had completely left out when I was giving the speech, which is sad because they were good lines.  But I’m getting really off topic.

            Finally, we decided that we should flag down the bus when we saw.  Oddly enough, right as we were passing a bus stop, the bus pulled up.  So, we got on because mom thought that I was getting grouchy, which was true.  Got on, didn’t do much.  It was rather dull.  I spent most of the ride glaring at my mom.  Okay, this is way too depressing for this late at night.

            We got off at a grocery store and did some shopping.  Blah, blah, blah. So boring.  Then, more funness, I started feeling really sick.  I could go on about that, but I really don’t want to.  So, we stared walking, looking for a good patch of beach and then the information center.  Found where the center use to be, started searching for their new location, found a post office, bought some post cards, found where the new location was supposed to be and finally found the real location.

            We were asking about hiking because you can hike across the center of the island up a big hill/small mountain and we want to hike it without a guide, even though a guide is recommended.  The woman said we should get a guide but obviously she could not force us.  I started freaking out because I thought that it might be dangerous.  No one was being reassuring however.

            We went to look at the tiny museum they had that was connected to the library, but it was three dollars to enter so we decided that it wasn’t worth it.  Oh, by the way, we stopped to eat before we went to the information center.  That’s around the time when I stopped feeling sick.  We stopped at a little sad excuse for a park.  But at least it was shady.  Anyway, I continued my…um…thought (?) that the walk might be dangerous without continued ignoredness.  That made no sense.

            We caught the bus back to our house and actually ended up napping.  I know, it’s horrible.  Me, napping?  What is this world coming too?  Okay, you know what?  It’s fun writing this and I know how horrible it is to put the rest off until tomorrow, but I’m really tired because it’s five am back home in Ohio.  I know it’s really bad to put this off because I won’t remember as much tomorrow but considering how tired I am….you know?  Whatever.  I’ll finish this tomorrow, promise.

Finally landed in Rarotonga (I totally spelled that right).  Took a bus thing our hut/house, got weird lays drove more then half way around the island to get to our house (the islands not that big).  Then we went on a walk on the beach.  When we were going down to the beach we passed a tree with a bunch of chickens, which all started squawking and freaking out when we walked past.  I think my dad almost had a heart attack.  Speaking of which, on both our flights we had health problems.  So, walked the beach.  The sun wasn’t supposed to go down till like nine.  It went down at 6:30 (by the way the Cook Islands are six hours ahead of Ohio).  So it got dark really quickly.  We walked, picked up a dog that wouldn’t leave us alone.  That was about it.  We didn’t stop for dinner even though I’m hungry (But I’m not about to admit that).

            On the way back it was dark, that dog was following us and we were the only people.  I’m a writer.  If any of you listen to Steven King he’s like ‘Oh I never get scared because I write it all down.’  I don’t do horror.  I was terrified.  I don’t like being alone in the dark in random places I’ve never been before.  And like I said, there was this freaky dog following us.

            Obviously I’m still alive and now we’re in our hut, which I think it very well maintained.  Um…yeah.  I think we’re going to read now (The Host that is).  Write tomorrow!

            Hey, all.

It’s day one and I’m on a tiny island with my laptop, isn’t that sad?  I get to tell you all about my boring plane ride!  But let me start back just a little bit.  So, we left the house, which was really sad and almost got me crying.  FYI for those of you that don’t know, I won’t be coming back for six months.

I can’t remember what happened at the airport.  Let me ask my parents.  Oh, just a second.  Another thing.  We’re really light packers.  Like really light.  We NEVER check bags because there’s a good chance that they won’t get where we’re going.  But we had five bags not including our carry-ons.  Sad, right?  But it is for six months.

Not much happened before the flight.  We started reading The Host, which is by Stephanie Meyer, who wrote Twilight.  Jtlyk (just to let you know), it’s okay.  Not brilliant, just okay.  The flight, as you might have guessed, was dull.  I drew some and I think I slept.  I don’t remember what else because I’m pretty sure I didn’t read, but I swore I was awake.  Maybe I was reading.  I don’t remember.

            Oh, by the way.  Our flight was like a half hour late.  No biggy, right?  WRONG!  We were flying to LA.  Here’s a list of problems and mistakes. 1) We didn’t know where we were going when we got off the plane. 2) No one was helpful.  We asked like five people. 3) Mom was really tense.  There was a lot of running. 4) The bus that was supposed to take us from terminal 7 to terminal 2 took forever. 5) They told us we weren’t going to have to leave the airport and therefore wouldn’t have to go through security and therefore wouldn’t need our boarding passes (which would get us through security) until we got to the flight, where we would pick them up at the desk.  Haha, very funny.  We had to leave the airport.  6) That place is huge and crowded.  It’s impossible to get anywhere fast.

            So, mom’s freaking out as we get to the main desk to pick up our tickets (fyi, this was before we went back through security.  We weren’t at our flight yet).  There was only like four people in line and I had already decided at that point that we would be missing our flight and I was debating whether we should stay in LA or fly to Auckland.  My parents interrupted the customer who was at the main desk asking something about our flight.  I wasn’t listening.  The air plane attendant or whatever you want to call him told us to wait, go figure.

            Finally get up the main desk and guess what?  Flights been rescheduled to tomorrow morning.  Probably good for us because no way were we getting to the plane on time.  So, got free rooms, breakfast and dinner at the Hilton.  Blah blah blah.  I’m going to skip that night because it’s not interesting.  But backing up a second back to the air plane attendant.

            (This is going to sound really girlish so bear with me).  So, this guy had a New Zealand accent and I’ve got to tell you, it was the cutest thing I’ve ever heard.  But here’s the really depressing part.  I got a complete story idea from this guy that we only talked to for like ten minutes and I only said one word to, which I’m sure he didn’t hear.  And the other thing is, the I didn’t just get the idea from him, the main character is based off him.  I’m so weird.

A recharge is in order and an opportunity to try out my new HD Hard Disk Camcorder.

This is the before shot - you can tell I need a holiday. I hope to return a little lighter, clean shaven and without too many coral wounds.

I'm not usually one to offer advertorial or shopping advice, but if you're looking for a new camera and you live in New Zealand Parallel Imports has just about the best prices. I checked out duty free and this style of camera cannot be had there, similar models are more expensive.

My JVC was $1100 below the price advertised as the JVC Online "special".

It seems like a good semi-professional model and should help me record some vlogs over the next few weeks.

I'll be using it on my trip to the US, UK and Europe to record some research interviews. I've scored a guided tour of the new Newseum in Washington DC and will be shooting some footage inside. The Newseum is a monument to American journalism and it looks quite interesting.

Meanwhile, the sand, sun and sea of the Cook Islands are beckoning. I hear the cocktail umbrellas are "to die for". We'll see.

Kite katoa hoa taihoa

EM

The Cook Islands are not United Nations full members but participate in WHO and UNESCO.

The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.

COOK ISLANDS RESEARCH ASSOCIATION
in association with the
Ministry of Cultural Development
University of the South Pacific Cook Islands Campus
Cook Islands Library and Museum Society

Marae Orongo exist in the Cook Islands on Aitutaki, Atiu (2), Mangaia (3), Miti’aro & Ma’uke at least. Orongo is a famous marae on Rapanui (Easter Island). They exist on some islands in French Polynesia and at least three exist in Aotearoa/New Zealand. Lono (Rongo) was also a great deity in Hawai’i.

There are many unsolved mysteries about the Marae Orongo and the purpose of this conference is to begin unraveling them:
• Why are most marae located inland, but most Marae Orongo on the Northwest coast?
• Why do they not seem to exist in Western Polynesia (Tonga, Samoa, Niue, Uvea etc) but to be very widespread in Eastern Polynesia?
• Who was Rongo and what were his characteristics, roles and powers in each island?
• What are the origins of the Marae Orongo?
• In what sequence were they founded?
• Do we have any indications of when they were first built?
• What do we know of the structures on them, and of the origins, shapes, designs etc of the stone, wood and fibre artifacts used?
• What plants were appropriate on and around the marae?
What of the rituals performed, and the associated beliefs and social conditions?
• What changes took place when Christianity arrived? Some marae were destroyed, some abandoned, some sacred images were burned or smashed or taken – some to overseas museums.
• What functions did the churches take over from the marae? E.g. as sites for first fruits rituals, for installing chiefs, for ritual sacrifice (through communion), and on Mangaia at least (and possibly Ma’uke) as the physical embodiment of the division of the fish of Rongo (the land itself) in the physical division or allocation of space within the church.
• Some marae continued to be used for certain purposes, such as installing chiefs (usually shared with the church), or secret rituals, or historical interest, or identity symbols of a clan or tribe. In some cases people were unsure about their remaining sacred or supernatural qualities. In recent years some marae have been reconstructed by the owning clans – especially for installing chiefs, or as historical interest for descendants of the clan returning from overseas for holidays or to “retrace their roots”. Some are used by schools and adults for education about local history; including sometimes to educate tourists and provide income for local tour guides and landowners.
• What is their likely future?

Activities in the Cook Islands now
Most of us at the Cook Islands Research Association (CIRA) first became aware of this when we were asked for any written information on Te Marae Orongo in Atiu. This was because the cruise ship Clipper Odyssey, through its agent on Atiu Mr Juergen Manske, offered to fund an ecological or historical restoration project on Atiu, and the Atiu people decided to reconstruct one or both Marae Orongo. We at CIRA were not at first aware that there are two Marae Orongo in Atiu.

Once Ngatua’ine Maui of the Ministry of Culture and Marjie Crocombe of CIRA read the literature, it was obvious that there were Marae Orongo throughout Eastern Polynesia (but not, it seems, in Western Polynesia). Atiu has traditional experts on oral history there (including Ina Teiotu, who is a member of the executive of CIRA; Paiere Mokoroa and others). Professor Hiro Kurashina, a distinguished archaeologist, and Professor Becky Stephenson, a social anthropologist who did PhD studies on Atiu 30 years ago, were invited to assist in the reconstruction. This is an important initiative.

One CIRA member said that some Mangaia leaders had worked on the history of their Marae Orongo and the story of Rongo. Alan Tuara has produced several videos and he and Mataora Harry plan to present a video and report on Marae of Rongo in Mangaia at the conference. The Aitutaki Historical Society has been collecting data for some time for a book on Te Marae Orongo with Tupuariki Puna, Teupo’o Bishop and others. They too intend to make a video of it – from its ancient to its present functions.

Now we find that Julian Aupini of Miti’aro was well advanced in writing a book on Miti’aro with a chapter on Orongo and other marae. All are enthusiastic to join a wider exploration of these marae and their histories and connections, and plan to be at the conference. Mapu Taia and No’o Maunga are being consulted about Te Marae O Rongo on Ma’uke.

Te Marae Orongo elsewhere in Polynesia
The Cook Islands Research Association now invites any interested persons from other islands of Polynesia where Marae Orongo exist, to attend the conference on 6-7 August and present papers, films or other media on their Marae Orongo.

We expect that those with the interest in each country or island will publish their own book or articles, make their own film, record their own chants and songs on the subject. If there is enough interest, people from each Marae Orongo may want to write a chapter for a Polynesia-wide book on the subject. The University of the South Pacific has shown a preliminary interest in publishing it if the authors wish, and one donor may assist with moderate publishing costs.

Experienced Cook Islander filmmakers include Jeanne Matenga & Karin Williams (each with her own film company), July Taripo & Ngatua’ine Maui could help with a film on Marae Orongo in Polynesia to be made jointly by all those who have made videos on the various projects.

Unfortunately the Research Association does not have any funds. It is a newly-founded voluntary association and had its first conference in February this year. It was a tremendous success. This will be its second conference.

Rod Dixon, Director of the USP Campus in Rarotonga, and Makiuti Tongia hope to be able to to pay the fares to the conference of one person from each of the Cook Islands that has a Marae Orongo. We hope that there will be enough interest in other parts of Polynesia for those interested in joining us to find funds in their countries to meet their costs and expenses. It promises to be a very exciting and innovative conference, and to lead to important contributions to the knowledge and understanding of an important element of Polynesia’s history, present-day culture, and future.

Makiuti Tongia, Secretary for the Ministry of Cultural Development, extends a warm invitation to any who are coming to the conference on 6-7 August, to come a week early and participate in the Maeva Nui – the Cook Islands great annual festival which will be held from 1 to 10 August.

We look forward to hearing from you, and hope to be able to welcome you to Rarotonga in August.

Kia manuia

Angie Tuara, President, Cook Islands Research Association
datuara@oyster.net.ck

Ron Crocombe, Vice-President, Cook Islands Research Association
Professor Emeritus, University of the South Pacific
ronc@oyster.net.ck

Makiuti Tongia, Secretary, Ministry of Cultural Development
tauranga@oyster.net.ck

Rod Dixon, Director, USP Cook Islands
dixon_r@usp.ac.fj

Air services

• Air New Zealand flies to Rarotonga from Auckland and Australia twice most days & Pacific Blue (Virgin) twice weekly.
• Air NZ flies Los Angeles/Rarotonga once a week (Sunday night arriving early Monday).
• Air Tahiti Nui flies Tahiti/Rarotonga on Tuesday & Saturday.
• Hawai’i has one flight a week to Tahiti or daily to Auckland.
• LANChile flies Rapanui/Tahiti 3 times weekly.

Accommodation
Accommodation will be very tight at that time because of the Maeva Nui Festival, but if you can’t get accommodation booked by your travel agent, let us know what flights you intend to arrive and depart on, and what kind of accommodation you want, we will try to book it for you.

If you wish to present a paper, film or display to the conference, you will be very welcome to do so, but please contact one of us, or the Secretary, Imogen Pua Ingram at cira@oyster.net.ck.

Membership
If you want to join you are very welcome.

Fees are:

• one year NZ$20
• five years NZ$100
• life member NZ$1,000

Weitere Reiseberichte auf unserer Website: http://globetrotter-jr.com/suedsee-cook-islands.php