Pinch me: I can’t believe I’ve become a Backpacker!

AND I LOVE IT! :)
Friday morning, I wake up and can’t believe I’m really in the CI. The striking view from the hillside allows me the opportunity to wonder at the beauty of this island. The palm trees reach high and never stop. The mountainous backdrop makes me feel like I’m in a movie. I lazily slept in, but no one really pays any attention to the hours, island time is incredibly free. Not only do you get it done when you feel like it, you’re free from cell phones (they don’t get reception here) and e-mail. There is no internet connection at the hostel and it costs about $10/hour in town for a slow connection. Rartonga is not on the trans-pacific cable lines. Oh well. This place is so exquisite I’m wishing I’d decided to spend more than 3 ½ days here. After breakfast, I finish my book and go for a swim in our lovely pool attached to the hillside complex. Next, I decided to go for a walk on the beach. I walked onto the beach at the bottom of the hill and I truly believed I walked for two hours without seeing a soul. I took gobs of pictures and strolled slowly along, attempting to take it all in but knowing I wouldn’t be able to. When I find a nice sandy spot (there is lots of coral/rock that makes parts of the water hard to wade into), and wade in. The ocean is very shallow, I think it made be connected to the reef off the coast. The waves do not crest anywhere near shore, but out at the reef which I think is about 5 km off the coast. (I decided it was too dangerous for my little experience of surfing to attempt it in the CI.) Reading and swimming away my afternoon, it seems like I’m in a dream. I rarely see people, if at all. The views are amazing and I shoot loads of pictures and try to work my magic as an amateur photographer. After spending hours away, I was hungry and knew it was time to re-apply my 45 SPH sunblock. The sun’s rays are so intense that I had a slight burn on my lower back (hard to put sunblock there by yourself). Friday evening, I went into town with several other backpackers to Nu Bar. When we left, it was a pleasant evening and Friday is apparently the big party night ~ it’s the only evening that bars are open past 12 pm. While everyone else was eating (they had a $10 steak special and I had already eaten back at the hostel before being invited out) it began to rain. In the pacific, rain is either light and short or comes down like a monsoon and last for an inconveniently long time. As the main form of travel on the island is on a scooter, its also quite assured you will get drenched. While most of the others were either leaving to catch a plane to Tahiti at the airport (around the corner) or decided to return to the hostel, four of us decided to adventure onwards into town. The bus does not run frequently, and 2 of us had come on the bus and 2 on the scooter. Ryan (a Scot) and Howard (a Brit) were nice enough to let me ride with Tristan on the scooter into town in the monsoon while they waited to hitchhike. Regardless, all four of us were soaked through by the time we arrived at Banana Court, one of two main bars. My skirt and tank took their time drying as we enjoyed the “local” beer. It says it’s the beer of New Zealand, but its exported from Hawaii? Ryan & Howard were so wonderfully polite as to allow me to take the ride back to the hostel on the scooter with Tristan, while they took the 2 am bus home. After a fabulously wet evening, I awoke on Saturday to more rain. No one at the hostel is particularly prone to doing anything. We played cards, scatagories, and such to enjoy our rainy day. Late on Saturday afternoon, the rain breaks and we get to see clouds of mist hanging lovingly on the mountain peak. Saturday night is all you can eat curry night at a place in town, so about ½ of us head into town to enjoy some yummy Indian food. Tristan was nice enough to share his $5 bottle of wine that is a “blend” of wines from Oz, and the evening remains dry ~ yippie! Everyone is so friendly and full of superb traveling stories. Sunday morning a majority of the backpackers pull out their finest and most appropriate clothing, awaking early, to go to church. I know it sounds unlikely, but its true. The Christian service is offered in the local language ~ Maori. The singing is angelic as the locals praise the heavens with their sounds. They speak a few words of the service in English and its primarily directed at the tourists who occupy the balcony of the church. After the service, next door is a free lunch buffet (the major draw for most of the backpackers who are as cheap as they come). We say a prayer over our food with the minister (who wears a tropical print shirt under his suit jacket) and dig in. It has a full spread of local foods. I tried some sort of coconut jello-y thingy, coconut upside down cake-y, papaya, and some other items I had no idea what they are called with some fresh mango juice. While I’m waiting in line for juices for my friends, I make a new little buddy. He barely can reach my knee but just latches on as we move through the line. He is just adorable and while he doesn’t speak a word, he slows me down considerably as he clings to my leg and just smiles up at me. He was just so adorable! After church and buffet, I have just enough time to go for one more swim in the rocky/corally ocean nearest to the hillside. It’s just fabulous. I can’t believe I’ve spent my three and a half days here in Rartonga already. The one consolation to leaving Rartonga, is knowing that I’m headed to Auckland, New Zealand and I have the window seat!! J J