Restful Rarotonga

If you recall we had a very harrowing start to our stay in Rarotonga.  On the second day we were able to move our boat so we were alongside the wharf next to the charter fishing boats, a perfect spot as we could just step off and on the boat.

We had a list of things we wanted to get fixed while here including:
Fix dinghy davit (holds dinghy out of water when we travel)
Fix dinghy motor
Replace lost top of dinghy motor
Fix generator
Find backup for generator
Find electric chilli bin (not urgent but nice to have) as fridge still not working
Find couple of single mattresses for our upstairs beds

The first few days therefore were spent doing chores around the boat.
Craig managed to hang up the engine and drained it out for a few days.  He then spent time trying to make it work to no avail.  Luckily one arvo when he was working on it a gentleman wandered past and started chatting.  He had pulled apart an engine previously himself and before long he was on the boat helping Craig.  Sure enough together they got the thing working – wahoo $3000 saved and all it cost was us buying Colin (the aussie) a jug of beer at the pub later on.
During the same time Craig continually worked on the generator but couldn’t get that going.  He decided to lug it down the road to an engineering shop.  As he was walking past the charter fishing boats with the thing he got talking to one of the guys there who then helped him pull it apart and yeap you guessed it got it going for us.  Wicked work – wahoo $300approx saved and all it cost was us buying him a dozen beers as a thank you.
On one of our walks to explore the place we went into a shop where we found a little generator for sale, had been $375 down to $75.  We will have that thank you very much, back up generator sorted (have used it a few times now and it works a treat).
On another walk we found a plug in chiller which had been $600 on sale down to $75, thank you that’s now ours.  Two mattresses found and kindly delivered to the boat for $250 total (are now really comfortable on our long trips).
Craig made the acquaintance of a local boat wrecker who fixed up and welded some struts onto the dinghy davit for a mere $80.

After a few days we were asked by the harbor master to move as there were a couple of fishing trawlers come in and they needed that space.  With the help of Steve from Emma Louise we sailed around and were able to moor close to them.  The next day another yacht came in and moored to the other side of us and within the next few days two more came in and with everybody working together all five where moored up very nicely side by side.  We knew the crew from Emma Louise and Phylis already from the Society Islands but the other two were new to us.  A crew from Sweden and another from Australia.  Henry from the Swedish boat was a diver and very kindly offered to have a look for the top of our lost dinghy motor.  We had snorkelled a couple of times but the water was slightly too deep for us to see anything.  After taking a couple of passes around the area we thought it was he came up with it – wahoo that saved us a few hundred to replace it and all it cost (as he doesn’t drink) was a dinner out.

In amongst all the chores getting done we were having a lovely time in Raro.  We went exploring on the bus, one goes clockwise and the other anti clockwise and you can flag it down anywhere.

Absolutely everyone we met and talked too were amazing, they were all happy, smiling, friendly and happy to chat whether they were there on holiday or had lived there all their life.  We also had some fun times hitch hiking.  One day we went to explore the lagoon and snorkeled (better in French Polynesia unfortunately) and afterwards while waiting for the bus we put our thumbs out.  It wasn’t long before an open back small track with a load of 8 year olds on it stopped for us.  Turns out the teacher was driving and they had just finished a school camp and were heading to the wharf so the kids could jump off before they all headed home, perfect for us as that was where our boat was.  In we clambered surrounded by these happy kids (about 12 of them), it was a fun trip. 

Another time we missed the bus so again the thumbs went out and another local stopped for us and took us to The Mooring Café (we had been recommended to go there).  Another fun trip sitting in the back of their ute on a beautiful hot day, it is really a shame it is illegal to do this in New Zealand.  On these smaller islands a lot of people drive open back utes/trucks and you are always seeing people sitting on the back with huge smiles on their faces, such fun.

Needless to say the Mooring Café was yummy – some of the freshest fish I think I have eaten.  I think that what sums up Rarotonga for me.   Absolutely yummy food, happy people and hitch hiking.

We were originally going to stay for 5 days in Raro but ended up staying 10 as we enjoyed it so much.  We then saw we had a good weather window so decided we would head away towards Niue stopping if the weather allowed at Beveridge Reef on the way. 
Note: Raro did end up being quite expensive for us as all the little costs built up plus the cost of docking in the harbor ($35 per  night) and the custom/departure fees ($200).  However even though we ended up dipping into our savings quite a bit at the end of the day we ended up saving heaps in being able to get things repaired and buying other stuff on sale.

Rarotonga to Beveridge took 6 days and was for the most part as expected.  We had quiet winds for the first few days and then a nice wind for the remainder.  We did have one eventful and unexpected event on the third evening.  It was around 4pm and we could see in the distance behind us some very dark clouds and rain, we made the decision to turn on the engine to see if we could stay ahead of it.  Few hours later found us in the midst of a huge thunder and lightning storm.  I wasn’t scared but I did have a few concerns and insured what electric equipment we could we unplugged just in case (I had visions of lightning hitting the mast and frying everything).

There wasn’t much we could do except ride it out, the lightning would light up the darkness all around us and then there would be a terrific BOOM with the thunder.  I swear it was right on top of us but Craig reckons it was about 20kms to the side – sheez.  Needless to say with the boat moving about a lot it wasn’t long before my stomach decided everything needed to evacuate.  We ended up motoring through the night as both the wind and the swell had turned against us, with the motor going full bore we were only moving forward 1-2knots per hour the entire night.

Next morning however the sun came out (Orphan Annie was right) and from then on it was an uneventful trip for the remainder of our time to Beveridge Reef.  My stomach is definitely not a sailor, I had two times where it revolted and the rest of the time I could keep it under control as long as I laid still, took sea sick pills, didn’t move much and didn’t eat much.   So on our journeys Craig does all the sailing and I am more or less ballast – brilliant!  However as soon as we reach our destinations I recover quick smart which is a good thing.

BEVERIDGE REEF – is about one and a half days sail away from Niue.  All it is is a reef with no land, however a reef means shelter and we were able to sail through the pass and actually drop anchor and have a calm night.  Next day turned out brilliantly and we were able to drop the dinghy and go exploring and snorkeling.  We did get a small fright when we were standing on the back of our boat looking into the water when we first arrived and Craig noticed a small reef shark.  Well it looked small however we soon realised that was because it was in deeper water, it came up for a look and must have been over 6 feet long.  We did one snorkel around part of the reef and saw some bigger fish in the distance but thankfully no big sharks.  It’s a weird feeling being on the dinghy blatting around in the middle of the south pacific ocean with no land in sight.  We did have one exciting moment when we were on the far side of the reef from our boat and the dinghy stopped working, hmmm looks a long way to swim back to the boat and we hadn’t put the oars in.  Luckily Craig managed to tinker with it and got it going again, needless to say we didn’t hang around and just puttered back to the boat – guess the engine needs slightly more work done to it.

After having a relaxing morning we decided to pull anchor and finish off the journey to Niue which for the most part went okay.  We did have the waves coming at us from the side for some of the trip meaning we were really rolling around and the last night we had to slow down a little to ensure we arrive at Niue at 8am rather than in the early hours of darkness (yet another very seemingly long night). 

I look forward to exploring this new country that we have come to.  Everything we do just reminds me how important it is to live your dreams…………….today!