The Starting Line

Our adventure is on its way.

On October 20th, we landed on the beautiful island of Aitutaki, Cook Islands. Our hotel for our stay was Etu Moana, an 8 villa resort on the western side of the island. We considered these 4 nights our official honeymoon, finally, and Etu Moana was the perfect choice. We kayaked and snorkled around the lagoon, seeing pink and purple corals, giant clams, and tons of tropical fish. Had lunch on an outer island sitting in the water. Our mode of transportation was a scooter, the locals choice of vehicle, and a jaunt around the entire island took a mere 30 minutes.





Ryan found a new favorite dish, ika mata, "rawfish" in lime juice, with coconut milk and some other things. We experienced an Island Night, where we enjoyed sea grapes (salty grape-bunch looking things), and Ryan was invited, no, pulled up to dance the hula with the lovely hula girls.



Then it was back to the main island of Rarotonga where we stayed at the Rarotonga Backpackers hostel. You could say our round-the-world trip started with this island. We rented another scooter and spent the next few days driving around the island, stopping at various beaches to swim. Saturday morning was the Cultural Marketplace, where our brunch consisted of waffles with ice cream and fruit, a steak roll, and a coconut for a drink. We picked up some ika mata, a paw paw (papaya), and a piece of pineapple cake for our dinner and breakfast.

Last night we enjoyed a wonderful dinner at the Windjammer Restaurant, our last on the Cook Islands. FYI, Air New Zealand is wonderful. Not only do you still get a full hot meal on most flights (our flight to the Cooks included dinner and breakfast), they come with beer, wine, or champagne, for free! Now we're in New Zealand for a month, and taking advantage of Danny and Jaime's internet. For those of you in the states, we are now a full day ahead of you. We get our campervan tomorrow morning and start the tour!

More pics here:

Aitutaki

Oh, and in case you're wondering how we packed for a year-long journey around the world, here is our list and a picture: (list is what each person is carrying)

Eagle Creek Voyage 60L travel pack (with detachable daypack)

Clothes
1 pair of trail-type shoes
1 pair of sandals
1 pair of flip flops
2 pairs pants - one convertible, one nicer
Marmot rain jacket
fleece jacket
1 button down sun shirt
2 short sleeve quick dry shirts
2 tank tops (Anna)
1 skirt (Anna)
1 pair boardshorts/swimsuit
bandana w/insect repellent
3-4 pairs socks
3 pairs undies
wetsuit & rashguard (Ryan)
sun hat
beanie

Electronics
Digital camera - Panasonic DMC-TZ5
Monkeypod tripod
Passport Elite hard drive
iPod + charger
watch

Other Stuff
Toiletries in bag
3 ditty bags
silk travel sleepsack (for hostels)
money belt
travel books (NZ, SE Asia)
first aid kit in tupperware with first aid guide
PacSafe pack locks
combination pack lock
quick dry towels - 2 big, 1 small
harmonica, cards, magnetic travel game
sink plug, clothesline, Dr. Bronner's all-in-one soap
earplugs, eye mask, inflatable neck pillow
headlamp
sunglasses + cleaner
sewing kit
waterproof pack covers


Our big bags are small enough to carry on, so we shouldn't have any problems with lost luggage.

P.S. HAPPY 29TH BIRTHDAY TO RYAN, which was the day after we arrived on Aituaki. Not a bad place to spend your last twenty-something birthday!