When The "Wonder Cards" Are Not So Wonderful

Wednesday 27 December

I expect everything is getting back to normal at home, now all the celebrations are over, and that is the same here – the decorations in the hotel are still up – Christmas trees and blow-up santas – but most people are in real holiday mode now.

After breakfast we decided to go into town once more, to try the phone cards and managed to catch the 09.30 bus. It was almost a repeat of the journey home on Saturday, with the number of people getting on the bus – standing room only again for most of the trip. At Avarau it took time for everyone to get off the bus – people chatting to others as they make their way towards the door, catching up on the latest family news – as they say, “Island time waits for everyone”. We went in search of phones and the internet at the post office. The public phones and the cards all had instructions on how to get connected, but you had to put in so many codes, it took us several goes before we got through, first to Nick, who was out and we had to leave a message, and then to Andy who was at work. But as I suspected the “wonder” card does not allow an hour per call for NZ$10 – more like NZ$2.50 per minute – although it was probably still lots cheaper than our calls from the hotel room. But we had a short chat to Andy and found out all his news and it was great to hear his voice.

On connecting to the internet we were surprised to find we had lots of emails with messages for Christmas and the New Year (thanks to everyone who sent us a message – when we are connected again we will get round to replying) and also found out about the currencies in Tahiti (French Polynesia cents – 95 to the US$ or 198 to the GB Pound) and Easter Island (Chilean Pesos – 534 to the US$ and 1046 to the GB Pound). British currency is strong at the moment, but we are using the US$, as that is the money most easily exchanged in all the South American countries – at the moment our notes are all still in the required pristine condition. Trying to work out the cost of everything in both dollars and pounds is very confusing – we have just got used to the New Zealand dollar at just under four to the pound.

The Cook Islands are named after Captain James Cook (of course), but were first settled by Polynesians around 800 AD, as part of the great Polynesian migration. The islands were declared a British Protectorate in 1888 and three years later came under the control of New Zealand. They were given independence in 1965 but Cook Islanders still retain New Zealand citizenship. The culture here is based around singing and dancing – very fast and frenzied with lots of hip-swinging – with all the participants wearing colourful costumes. There are lots of churches on the islands of all denominations suggesting they are quite religious, but the most prolific churches and primary schools are attached to the Seventh Day Adventist church.

There are fifteen islands in the group, and together they cover an area of 240 sq kms in the Pacific Ocean. Rarotonga is the largest island, but still covers only 67 sq km. There is a lagoon all the way round the island, and the centre is dominated by three main peaks, all covered with dense tropical forest. The road around the coast is 31 kms long – most other roads are unmade and little more than dirt tracks. The total population of the Cook Islands is just under 20,000, but they are very proud people, particularly of their participation in sport around the world – rugby, netball and kayaking being three that they excel at – and have an Olympic Games building in the centre of Avarau, which coordinates their participation at major events. The Parliament is situated just outside the main town – it is a long low wooden building, painted white with net curtains at the windows - that has the appearance of a Boy Scouts hut or Village Hall. The fire station is sited well away from town, but is a new brick building able to house about six fire engines – to date we haven’t seen more than one garaged there yet. This is a really hospitable part of the world, with very friendly and helpful people, but who do not take criticism of their standards or way of life easily. They would be appalled to know that we think they lead a somewhat primitive life style, as they are extremely happy with their “lot” – if only all the world were so.

As the café was full (and the others didn’t seem to have opened yet after the holiday) we made our way back to the hotel on an almost empty bus for refreshments and more blogging – it took me a few hours to read through all those I haven’t posted yet and make a few corrections. By then it was time for wine and a bit of television before dinner. The buffet was back on again tonight as the hotel is full – with Polynesian food, music and dancing. We still couldn’t face buffet so it was back to Captain Andy’s. I chose green lipped mussels – in a coconut and Asian broth, with peppers and onions – with chips and salad – supplies had obviously arrived today to replenish stocks after the Christmas onslaught. Colin had lamb shank with mash and vegetables – we are leaving New Zealand territory soon, so lamb may be scarce. Both meals were good – mine one of the best I have eaten here – but then I am a huge fan of mussels.

Before we returned to the room, we watched the pitiful end of the fourth Test Match, as England woefully lost again. We are in the minority here, but the Australians were exultant at the result. We decided to watch a Michael Douglas / Gwyneth Palrow film – where he tries to get someone else to murder his wife – we missed the credits at the start so didn’t know the title of the film.