Rarotonga Wedding

Well we made it to Rarotonga and out of the freezing weather in Auckland. We caught a shuttle to the airport and arrived early, not as early as the Te Awamutu crowd, but early just the same, enough time to grab a bite at McDonalds, before boarding the plane. Pam (MOB) bought along a hat box which traveled everywhere with her including the plane. Thank god she was not sitting with me, the thing was like a giant white blob with a handle. We had an uneventful flight, but the service was a bit poor, on occasion we had to get up and get our own drinks, however finally (3+ hours) disembarked onto the sunny shores of the Pacific's own Emerald Isle.

We had a couple of days before the wedding, not that we had time to do much besides hang around, talk to people and generally get wasted. Its the thing to do at Island weddings. Before I left Auckland, not having enough time to get the girly things done, I was a bit concerned about exposing the legs to the sun, after all they looked dark enough, but that was just the length of the hair (winter you know) so I was terribly excited to find the spa just next door. I knocked on the door and asked for a half leg, and what the hell, a underarm wax. Certainly we can do that for you, come this way Madam. Hell I hadn't even asked how much it was going to be, what if it was more than Auckland prices, oh well it could go on the bill. The girl was very good, removed all signs of winter growth and even coaxed me through the underarm stuff. She was a bit short on the conversation, but we were never going to be lifelong friends. So once I was smooth and fresh I applied the summer tan and faced the world. Hmm Pacific Island in the middle of winter. Everyone should do at least a week. Allen suggests a month, but he is dreaming after 10 days he would be as ansty as anything. I overheard a bloke on a shuttle saying the place would be perfect except that their broadband was slower than dialup, and he couldn't possibly go back to that!

The resort was full of New Zealanders 80% and Aussies 19%, the rest were assorted northern hemisphere people. The odd Canadian and Italian. However that said Kiwis who pay for their hols are a reserved and delightful bunch, except when it is finish the bottles before we go night. Tuesdays and Wednesdays seem to be this night. The rooms along the waterfront are insulated and the windows must be double glazed, with air conditioning going this effectively shuts out the noise from the revelers.

Annette and Keith had 48 people at their wedding, quite a few friends apart from the family. Keith is a dairy farmer in Otorohonga and this is the time that farmers can be away from their herd. Milk is drying up and calving hasn't yet started, so they all thoroughly enjoyed the break and the party.


Just as they were getting to the part where they were going to sign the register the clouds broke an a few tears of blessing created the most amazing rainbow



You can flick through the rest of the pics on the album, but it really was a great casual wedding with plenty to do and holiday as well.

The day after the wedding the wedding party left along with most of the farmers and we were left to fend for ourselves on a pacific paradise. We went to the markets and bought trash, although I did find a great brilliant red sarong, and Ray and Allen went to get their bike licenses





We travelled round the island a number of times on the bike, Allen is not a natural, when asked why he managed to find the pothole at the end of the resorts drive. It was because he was trying to avoid it. Allen invoked the law of attraction everytime he got on the bike.

We did mostly everything the resort had to offer, including the fire dancing and of course ate our way through a couple of buffets.



All in all it was a very relaxing trip, but when we came back to Auckland the sky had cleared to a delicious blue, nary a cloud in site and boy was it crisp. The heat pump struggled to keep us warm last week, but at last a comforting cloud has descended and we are now a lot warmer, just wetter.

Kia Orana kids
Pam