Our plans of the day were flexible based on the weather. Since it was fairly cloudy this morning, we decided to drive around and check out some unique things to bring home from the Cook Islands. I saw a sign for ukuleles and veered down a gravel road where I saw another sign that said, "Ukuleles, last house on the right." We arrived at some guy's house where he and a fellow worker were simply making ukuleles by hand in their backyard. I inquired about them, as Cook Islands ukuleles have eight strings instead of the usual four to generate a different kind of sound. He let me play one for a little bit. I only have about three songs memorized, so it went from a traditional Hawaiian tune to the star spangled banner to Weezer. It was pretty neat to play, but kind of expensive. I will have to decide if it's worth it. Obviously one can't really order online from a guy making ukes in his backyard. Nicole checked out some black pearls at a marketplace in Avarua. I then decided to randomly drive up a road titled "Happy Valley Road." It offered pretty decent views of the green mountains with the sun finally showing up to illuminate them.
All of this shopping had made me hungry, so we had fruit and waffles at a place called the waffle shack, which was located in the middle of a farmers market. It is what it sounds like. If it wasn't yet clear, places in Rarotonga are not labeled well, difficult to find, and the parking situation is always a make-up-your-own-spot kind of deal. Thusfar, I have parked in the middle of fields, in the middle of a marketplace, and at times what appears to be the middle of the road. While this might seem odd, I have gotten used to it. Imagine thinking, I'd like to go to that McDonalds, but upon arrival, there is no parking lot. You really want some chicken selects, so you must simply park on the grass.
Because the sun finally decided to show up, we headed back to our bungalows and the Muri Beach area. This is the first time we had a real steady sun and we could finally see how clear and blue the water really is. Here, Nicole is skyping on the phone while enjoying the view. We walked down the road to Muri beach, but upon arrival, the sun went away. :( We also noticed that there were others attempting to venture to one of the offshore islands. This is not acceptable. That was our island. We must now venture to a different island of greater strategic value. We do not like others encroaching on our islands. Don't they know who we are?
We sat at Muri Beach for a little bit despite the lack of sun. For a brief period of about 30 seconds, the sun did pop out. This made us very excited and I yelled out for my cameras. Shortly thereafter, dogs tried to be our friends, but we did not want to be theirs, so we headed back to our bungalow. It's now close to sunset, so we are going to drive to the other side of the island to see if it's sunny at all for a sunset to happen.
No comments:
Post a Comment