Pete and Elly go Kia Orana Cook Islands' Capers.

Meitaki, Rarotonga !

2008-02-08T18:19:00.000-08:00

Here is rather arty photo of the scrubs flying on the line like Nepalese prayer flags and the little writing on the flags if it was there would've been praying for coconut bread, coffee from Atiu or the half-chance to get to Tokelau Jim on our last day to get a little souvenir of our stay that Elmah had kindly offered to us.

In the end we didn't make it to Tokelau Jim but we took away our own souvenirs and we left a little something behind.

Apart from some quality souvenirs that we managed to stuff into our cases - our shell necklaces that the girls had attached their sweet farewell messages to, a great wooden Tangaroa with a penis to his ankles, a Jet Blast T-shirt ( I knew they'd have them at the airport ! ) and tops, hats, thongs and flowers and necklaces - we can remember how we all went out with Elly to help her perform her night-time epidural on the poor mama pig and how she stitched her back up and we were invited back by the pig's owners to share dinner with their family. And how we ate their tuna and chicken chop suey and Banana as part of main course, " We eat banana with everything here ! " and how when we left, the lovely mother of the family waved goodbye to us and said, " Goodbye, family, goodbye."

So maybe we left a little something behind.

We also left a lot of thongs behind, too.

Clinic Assistant Petey

2008-02-08T18:15:00.000-08:00

Here I am pictured after graduating from the Eloise Accelerated School of Gifted for Veterinaryness. I am told I was checking the heartbeat here. It was heaps of fun. I'll work with you again for sure, baby !

Da Ladies

2008-02-08T18:11:00.000-08:00

Elly, Heidi, Shanna and Michelle sporting their flowers behind the ear.

60 Minute Parking Please

2008-02-08T18:10:00.000-08:00

The Cross Island Walk

2008-02-08T17:53:00.000-08:00

The bus only runs until 12 noon on Sunday so we couldnt walk all the way across but we did walk up to the middle and back ! Our legs were so sore. We didnt see another soul on the trip and only a couple of birds and a few pigs along the road. At the top near The Needle, the granite outcrop you can see in one of the shots above, we paused and it was entirely silent. We saw a single white bird fly down the valley which was kinda beautiful. As we sat under The Needle we read in the Lonely Planet ," Do not approach directly under The Needle as several pieces have recently been dislodged and it would be a shame to walk so far to see The Needle only to have it fall on you," or somesuch. "Do not proceed past the T-junction," it said. "Where was the t-junction?" i asked Elly." Back down there," she replied pointing somewhere down the trail. Oops. Anyhow, we stopped, took some photos and our chances with falling rocks, survived to tell the tale and commenced our walking/ass sliding down the mountain.

Swim with doggies

2008-02-08T17:44:00.000-08:00

Elly had really, really wanted to swim with the doggies and got her chance near Black Rock. And she loved it.

There was a dark side to this shot though. Not long after it was taken a young thong was lost never to be seen again.

A magnificent pair of coconuts

2008-02-08T17:42:00.000-08:00

2008-02-08T17:35:00.000-08:00

Elly and I at Nikao beach on a glorious day. Elly looking great in the flowery top she'd scored from the market. Me looking pretty hairy.

Practically, every little shell on this beach had a hermit crab wedged inside it. The white splash a short distance offshore is where the reef lies. You can walk to the reef. Beyond that it drops almost instantly to 4000 metres.

Back to School Thongs !

2008-02-08T17:33:00.000-08:00

2008-02-08T17:30:00.000-08:00

The first morning we woke, we stuck our heads out the not beach side of The Aquarius and we saw the jagged hilltops that cover the middle of Rarotonga. The middle of the island looks like it has been transplanted from some place that customises green volcanic landscapes.

The Hibiscus ! What can't it do ?

2008-02-08T17:24:00.000-08:00

The hibiscus was used for many things by the Islanders. The bark of the hibiscus branches, when peeled away left a pith which when dried was used to make the skirts for dancing. Y'know the ones that look like grass. Not grass but hibiscus insides. They could also be used to make fire if two were rubbed together. Here Eloise shows how they make a fashionable seeing eye glass, also.

2008-02-08T17:21:00.000-08:00

Fields of taro are everywhere. The ancient Polynesians carried taro to each island they settled. In other news, it used to take them 2 days to tend the fields, one day to fish and the rest of the week was dancing, eating, crafting and shagging. The living in the tropics was one sweet potato.

2008-02-08T17:16:00.000-08:00

An escape attempt. These two little guys, referred to as the "monkey cats," by the pig man's grand kids, were not happy in the monkey cage. And were small enough to do something about it.

Feeding frenzy. The twice daily frenzy that accompanied feeding in the cat max was a favourite for everyone.

2008-02-08T17:10:00.000-08:00

As well as car accidents, de-sexing and general woes, there were gunshot wounds. This one passed through at a favourable angle missing the important bits and he was sent home the next day. Amie had needed to lure him out from under his house cos he was so scared. The "dog man," one of the police, is responsible for shooting any unregistered animals. He is not a great shot.

Helmets become compulsory for scooter riders in Rarotonga from April. A helmet would've saved this guy lots of strife. The clinic welcomes donations of food, bedding and dog helmets.

Dumbo

2008-02-08T17:06:00.000-08:00

We fondly called this dog, Dumbo. What a remarkable pair of ears. There are no trick wires suspending those beauties. they're all his own. He had the fish poisoning but if he could wag those babies he could take off.

Through The looking Glass

2008-02-08T17:03:00.000-08:00

I tried to take this pic through the window into the surgery. Elly is gowned up for some super surgery.

Attack of the Gigantic Advocado

2008-02-08T17:00:00.000-08:00

At least the one out the front looks vaguely like a roided up advocado. The other 4 much rounder ones - also advocado !! they were huge.

Flame Tree Model

2008-02-08T16:55:00.000-08:00

Elly showing how she can do whatever she sets her beautiful mind to, scores a job as a flame tree model !

Underwater Adventurers

2008-02-08T16:53:00.000-08:00

Wigmore Falls

2008-02-08T16:47:00.000-08:00

Ah, um, this is the source of the Island's drinking water. People !! Read the sign !
For the first few days I drank from the tap. Then for the next few days paid the price. A very minor price. But frequently. Eloise drank it for quite a period of time. But she can eat and drink anything. C'est incredible !

2008-02-08T16:40:00.000-08:00

A great picture of a bird of paradise. And some local flower in the background, too.

Muri beach

2008-02-08T16:30:00.000-08:00

I'm pretty sure those things are meant to go on your feet

Go and check our Facebook for more beach pics. I am no big fan of beaches but this was just a goddam god given gift. Incredible.

We went snorkelling and there were times when I couldn't help smiling underwater - it was like a dream or a fairytale or a cartoon. Elly and I were spending equal times under water and equal times waving each other over to show off our latest discovery and equal times just telling each other, " It really is as warm as a bathtub."

At Trader Jacks by the harbour

2008-02-08T16:26:00.000-08:00

See how pleased Elly is with this drink - one of many she savoured with umbrellas.

Interestingly, this table was washed awway a few days later. Another victim of the Tropical Depression.

A victim of the "Tropical Depression."

2008-02-08T16:23:00.000-08:00

There were two ships that serviced the outer 14 islands with supplies etc. After this accident there was 1. Which was pretty disastrous really. It turned out April's uncle was the captain - it's a very small island.

Mama and Tyson

2008-02-08T16:17:00.000-08:00

Mama

Tyson

They were great dogs. Mama was always just pure and consistently a delight.

Tyson, I'm pretty sure he stole my thong and there was that one time at the beach he really got freaked by that dog with the big feeding titties and rushed into the water to be with us. He was a little like Woody Allen. But then he was sometimes like Russel Crowe, like the time he threw himself between Michelle and a passing gang of potentially unfriendly dogs. Tyson, a complex dog but also a delight.

The beginning of that Tropical Depression

2008-02-08T16:14:00.000-08:00

Not quite a cyclone but it was very windy. Just as we thought it was getting a little too windy it abated.

My Mate, Old Man AKA The Wolf Man

2008-02-08T16:09:00.000-08:00

I really liked this dog. He was "Dognapped" by clinic volunteers from outside the airport where he sat each day after word had got back he was limping. He waited for a number of days at the clinic while we waited for the X-ray to be fixed but eventually he was returned home. The plan is to kidnap him again in the future now that the x-ray is fixed - hopefully it's still fixed.

We drove past him late on our last night as we headed into Avarua for a last drink. Eloise, me, Amie and Shanna all shouting "Old man, Old man !!" and he slowly, and wobblyly, got to his feet to say goodbye.

View of Eloise in the X-ray room :)

2008-02-08T16:05:00.000-08:00

I Many not know Art but I know what I like

2008-02-08T16:02:00.000-08:00

CUTE+

Roosters

2008-02-08T15:56:00.000-08:00

These chickens would cock their doodle do's pretty much at any time. One rainy morning, these two roosters decided they would both greet the morning under the shelter of the eaves directly outside our room. We kept waiting, more like hoping for them to move on or "God as my witness, I will go to church every week if they just shut up now" but of course that didn't happen and I got out of bed and started rattling a coat hanger against the window, "Move on chickens," I shouted, "Move on," but by then I was awake and thousands of years of chicken mind had defeated man again.

The view from the Pit

2008-02-08T15:44:00.001-08:00

The view from the pit is much better than the unpublished post, "The view of the Pit." The pit was used for burying and burning household and clinic refuse. I enjoyed making a number of great fires in the pit. Inhaling plastic fumes, frantically trying to retrieve a lighter I had accidentally thrown in with the palm frond fuel, wondering if I had poured in too much petrol to get things started. It was hours of fun.

Off course, who could foroget that magical moment when I had the pit fully smoking and a young tourist couple wandered in to visit the clinic. From the clinic, it is far from obvious what the pit contains - although the smell is usually an indicator. Smell was clearly not the strong point of the woman who was chatting away or she might've been down wind - way down wind - but she when she asked "What are you cooking ?" everyone in hearing distance grinned or spurted out laughing and her boyfriend wryly said, " They're not cooking. Nope, they're not cooking."

The Hospital by day and by night

2008-02-08T15:35:00.000-08:00

A disturbed cat nap

2008-02-08T15:16:00.000-08:00

There were a number - an always fluctuating number - but a number of house cats. This one I think was called Apricot. He/She, would spend most of the day sleeping in the crates of clothes and bedding used around the clinic. It was a pretty sweet existence. He'd receive occasional visiting chickens and volunteers would pop by to extract towels or tracksuit pants from beneath his sleeping form.

Chickens, chickens, that reminds me of the "Chicken Dance" we saw at the Island night at the Rarotonga. What a seamless transition, seamless. The Cook Islanders are very vigourous and expressive dancers. Not for them the soft swaying of hips that you see on Hawai or old Elvis movies. Nope. They really shake it around, the guys included. The guys stomp and chant their way through dances that often tell a story of voyages, feasts or battles. The "Chicken Dance," not to be confused with the dance of the same name often seen in Adelaide nightclubs in the early 90's, told the story of a raiding party who sliced the heads off their enemies, watched them run around like chickens and then ate them. The dance was punctuated with slicing motions across bare throats and the wiping of mouths, rubbing of bellies that accompany any good meal. Mostly nowadays, the local eat fish, taro and fruit, fruit. There's so much fruit, it's as if it grows on trees.

Now, take a deep breath, there is also a steady consumption of, ready, don't forget to breathe - Dog. You don't buy it at the shop but it happens. One caller to the clinic said he had a dog who was ill and was enquiring about having it put down. Always sad but common enough. What stood out was his subsequent offer to shoot the dog himself and him asking, " If I shoot it myself can I eat it?" I bet it doesn't taste like chicken.

Spey by Donation

2008-02-08T15:02:00.000-08:00

It was awesome to have the opportunity to see Eloise work and watch her exercise the veterinary arts that I've heard so much about her doing but only imagined being done. One day while I was peering through the window watching Elly in surgery, Heidi, the marvellous American vet student, said to me, " She's taken the leg off. She's quite the surgeon." And I thought , "how cool is that." It was amazing to watch Elly navigate around the bodies of the animals and their maze of insides and to make things happen almost like magic.

To the naive observer like me, this picture makes surgery look just like the game,"Operation." I was more a "Ker Plunk" type of guy but seeing Elly's skills in the room it became crystal clear to me that she had not spent those 5 years as an exotic dancer but had in fact been at uni all the time.

Ohmigod !! She's got a knife !!

2008-02-08T14:28:00.000-08:00

"Don't panic !! Aunty Eloise is a licensed vet," I reassured the young children.

Young children on the Island are unfailingly polite and very respectful. Which is just like "Respectable" as in the Mel and Kim song but with a slightly different ending. Several youngsters would often drop in to the clinic and help with cleaning the cages, feeding the animals and if they were tall enough, hanging the laundry on the line. They were great kids. One of them, April, an 11 year old, was on more than one occassion, a life saver. She would often say, " I'm here to help," unprompted and anyone hearing her would think what a great kid. She would often mention how she wanted to be a vet and was going to start saving, "After she bought an X-box." She also would always seek confirmation that she was doing the right thing - so if she wanted to give some more food to, Mons, her favourite cat, named after a Norwegian cat food if you want to know, she would come up to me and ask if it was alright and then I would say "sure" and she would then go and make sure I knew what I was talking about by asking one of the professionals like "Aunty" Eloise. Y'see, the young refer to their elders as Aunty or Uncle as a sign of respect. Eloise and all the girls were always addressed with the Aunty prefix.

I at one stage made the mistake of admitting to April, I was only a volunteer and not a nurse or vet, "I'm just like you. We're volunteers," I said. From then on, no Uncle for me and April always called me, Peter. That was as good as it got, and I should have been pretty stoked with that cos in fact, Tarangi, April's cousin often used to call me Dave !

Still, I may not have ever been called Uncle but I knew I had made some impression, taught April something about the world when on the last day we were checking the animals in the hospital and she looked at a small cat in one of the big cages usually reserved for dogs and she turned to me and said with the wide eyed wonder of the young, " Peter, that cat is in one big assed cage." She could only have learnt that from me.

Sights that will knock your specs off !!

2008-02-08T14:17:00.000-08:00

Clearly, here I am a little overwhelmed. If you look behind me you'll see some of the flora and fauna of the islands - the ubiquitous palms, hibiscus, flame trees and scooters. Scooters would often be found in pairs seemingly a long way away from anywhere people might be. I think they mate for life like some birds.

The only predator of the scooter is the newly introduced, Breathalyser. Brought to the Island by the new Police Commissioner who is never referred to by name but only by the title, "He's from New Zealand." The effectiveness of the breathalyser is still up for grabs. According to a vast taxi driver who Eloise quizzed about the breathalyser - most of the elusive scooter drivers avoided them by either turning around, heading inland to take the old road ( there are only two roads that pretty much circle the island ) or simply stopping and walking. In spite of this a number of people have been caught up. During a visit to the Cook Islands High Court - yes, I know. I do get around - a beefy lawyer representing one of the first teens that blew over the limit, plead Not Guilty on his client's behalf and maintained that he was going to launch a test case. I don't know how this will work but, um, at least it is creating jobs for lawyers.

The flame trees are magnificent. Not long after we first arrived we jogged up to the Hospital that sat on the top of a hill. The view was spotted with patches of the flame trees that were fully blooming. They are like Jacarandas but up close and personal the flower is much more impressive and robust - as if designed to withstand pelting rains.

Behold ! The clinic

2008-02-08T14:10:00.000-08:00

Here I am modelling my first pair of thongs purchased on the Island - the thong toll on the trip was up near 7. A number of other thongs survived only by tying themselves to palm trees with rope.

Ours, all ours !!

2008-02-08T13:38:00.000-08:00

This was the first daylight sight we had from the window of our room at The Aquarius. An ocean that flat, a sky that blue, a collection of hammocks and beach chairs all sitting in tropical calm toastiness. That is some quality holidayscape.

The Vaka has landed

2008-02-08T12:58:00.000-08:00

The Cook Islands are 15 hours and yesterday away. We left on Saturday 11 Jan 08 from Sydney at 630 am. Flew to Brisbane, Auckland and arrived at Rarotonga 15 hours later but just after midnight on the morning of Saturday 11 Jan 08 - about 7 hours before we left. Devastating maths but you have to love a destination that gives you 7 bonus hours just for rocking up.

Here we are pictured after waking to the sweet sound of waves through our windows ( concealed here by delightful curtains ) at the more civilised hour of about 11 am.

By now the hallucinatory headspace of the night before had lifted. We had arrived sleepless and due to a slight misinterpretation were not met at the airport by another of the volunteers. We were, like every visitor to the Cooks for the last 15 years, greeted by the strumming ukerere ( No L's in Cook Islands' Maori ) of one of the locals who has met and farewelled every flight since then - way impressive when you see the timetable usually only operates between midnight and 4 am !

After our meet and greet looked like it wasn't happening, we were so kindly directed 5 minutes walk down the road to The Aquarius, where we met Terence, the night Clerk, who it turned out, like so many Cook Islanders had lived in Australia - in Marrickville. He inspected a couple of rooms for us - found one with towels - and we were set for some quality sleeps.

In fact I just realised this picture is from the following day - we are wearing our Ei's - that had been refrigerated for us after the girls from the clinic mixed up our flight arrival time - "Cook Islands' time" is a rubbery concept. They are made of gardenia flowers. Refrigerated ei's are now one of our favourite items of clothing.

In case you are wondering, a Vaka is a sea-going canoe. The Cook Islanders arrived on these vessels from somewhere near Tahiti hundreds of years ago. That's a long trip with no back-of-seat entertainment system.

Wherever you go in the Cook's the sound of lilting tropical music is around. You'll hear a number of ukerere'd versions of classics like Girl From Ipanema but plenty of originals - there is a lively local recording scene for a country of 10,000 people. My favourite was "Who stole my Vaka?" - I could often be found humming or singing along to this catchy like a coconut tune. If I learnt anything about Rarotonga, the Vaka probably wasn't stolen but borrowed or mistaken for another person's Vaka. It'd turn up. There's no real crime on the Cook Islands. Mostly just minor traffic offences. And a few crimes against fashion by visiting tourists.