Cook of the Week

Saturday 4th March

Kia Orana again.

I am afraid that there is not much to report at the moment as the pace of life has slowed to a swim, followed by  reading on the beach, a swim, a little food and drink, a swim, etc....

Yesterday we stayed around Muri Beach (where our hotel is located) and spent the morning orientating ourselves with the loungers on the beach that overlook the lagoon.  Despite being in the shade all day and factor 50 sun block the sun found those little areas that one forgot by the end of the day.  We did have a walk to the local village which comprises a couple of hotels, a few shops and some eating establishments.  We bought some vital supplies - wine, crisps, lemon puffs (cook Islands style) and water.  It was then time to explore the hotel swimming pool which is large, clean, empty (of people not water) and warm; there is not much more one can say about a swimming pool.  The hotel food is good with buffet breakfast overlooking the sea and a pretty good menu for lunch and supper on the beach overlooking the sea.  Pretty idyllic (did I mention that all meals are taken on the beach overlooking the sea?).

Last night was pork and prawn night and this split us neatly down the middle.  OF1 had six enormous and juicy prawns in lemon and garlic butter and I had three super large BBQ sizzling steaks which were juicy and fell apart like pulled pork.  We went to bed last night full and feeling that we had overdosed on sun and beach.  Luckily we have air-con in the room so we can cool it down to a reasonable temperature (24 degrees).

Today we woke up and guess?  Yet another hot sunny day!  The forecast gave this as 29 degrees with occasional showers - it is now 6pm and although the cloud has bubbled up a couple of times this afternoon there has been no rain.  Our good fortune continues to hold.

We breakfasted then walked out onto the 'ring road (i.e. the one that goes around the island which is also round) and flagged down the bus to take us to the Saturday market at the main town (a very small town in UK), Avarua.  The Punanga Nui Market was the place to be with many local residents and tourists in the bustling market.  There was a wide range of shopping treats including, local fruit & veg, fresh flower garlands, street food, clothes, arts and crafts.  There was also a cultural show of Polynesian dancing and drumming which was well done.  The good thing about the market is that although the stall holders were very friendly ('Kia Orana') they are not pushy and there is no hassle, just smiles and enquiries if you are having a nice time.  What lovely people.  At our second coffee stop of the day I decided to have a spot of lunch and ordered a fish chowder (I reckoned that if you are only 20m away from the sea then it must be good).  What I had done was misread my watch and it was only 11:45 not the 12:45 I thought - brunch then?  OF1 looked on in amazement...but it was very good.

We caught the anticlockwise bus again so that we completed the around the island trip (the whole 30km takes 50 minutes  including stops).  Basically there is a clockwise bus and an anticlockwise bus every hour and you just flag it down wherever you are - its so simple.  There are many lovely to-die-for beaches and a variety of accommodation (backpackers to hotels).  The little homes are rustic but well kept with plenty of lush grass lawn.  The massive graves in the front garden continue to fascinate us - I suggested that we start building our mausoleum in the front garden back home.  The whole place is bedecked with tropical flowers, coconut palms and lots of tropical plants that I don't know.  There are also small fields of tropical vegetables and some pigs and goats.  The chickens are everywhere and we have worked out that a mother and two little chicks seem to visit our little garden outside the room in the late afternoon - they like lemon puffs!  Yesterday the noisy cockerel also visited at the same time and ...... the next bit has been removed by the censors!

We arrived back from our trip with just one art print and lots of photos and then we had a relaxing dip in the pool - this trip is hell!  Then I remembered it was Saturday and to my great surprise Gillingham had won!  This is cause for celebration and we are going out to one of the local restuarants to raise a glass to the Gills.

Tomorrow, we have booked ourselves on a lagoon trip involving snorkelling - more next time.

Must go now, it's merlot o'clock.....

PS sorry about the lack of pictures - I cannot upload images onto this computer.