"Oh how I wish
For soothing rain
All I wish is to dream again"
Back in Raro now. So 3 days passed in Aitutaki's insane heat. People told me it was going to be hot out there, but I didn't realize just how hot it was going to be. Temperature was constant 33-34 in shade and humidity always above 60%, sometimes even as high as 80%. Other than heat I will remember Aitutaki as quiet place...and propably first real disappointment I have had so far.
And by disappointment I mean that island fell well below my expectations. I wasn't expecting much, but Jesus...place was so dead. If Ha'apai in Tonga was quiet then this place was just dead. There wasn't even single cafe, restaurant, bar, etc. in the island where one could meet other people. Only other tourists in island apparently stayed in resorts never leaving resort areas...and naturally resorts are don't accept non-guests, not even to their bars.
Well, this all ment that I had to make my own activities for 3 days I spent there. On tuesday I rented bicycle and decided to bike around the island. I don't even want to know how much temperature was in sun, but it was just scorching. After 2h I had circled the island and ended up in Aitutaki Lagoon Resort, the best and most expensive resort on island. After little persuasion, I was given permission to enter there for few hours and have lunch without paying 100 dollar daypass. I have to admit, place was stunning and scallop salad I had with Heineken wasn't bad either :)
On wednesday I went diving with local operator there. Now that was another "adventure". They were PADI licensed operator but their gear just looked dodgy as hell. On first dive we went quite deep, 23m when all the sudden I saw that my pressure meter needle(=one that shows how much air you have) started going haywire and I had trouble taking long breaths. Also, my divemaster was 10m away in front of me and I couldn't get his attention in any way. I had no choice but to start surfacing and it turned out that once I finally got to surface, my tank was literally empty.
On second dive I got new regulator but even that thing was broken! When we were descending I kept checking my depth meter and it wouldnt go below 3m. Was better dive at the end allthough I didn't really have clue how deep we were, afterwards divemaster told me we were only at about 18m.
On thursday it was time to take famous lagoon cruise inside Aitutaki's beautiful lagoon. From air lagoon seems like 8th wonder of the world, but unfortunately closer inspection was bit of letdown. Apparently 2005 there was series of cyclone's in Aitutaki which destroyed nearly all it's coral. Snorkeling was nice but it was clear how damaged the lagoon still is and that recovery process hasn't even started yet. Lunch was eaten in lagoon actually, they set up a table in the water and offered fish BBQ while Butterfly fishes kept poking our toes :)
On lagoon cruise I also got to visit islands where they shot Survivor: Cook Islands and Shipwrecked. Below is Survivor's Exile Island btw.
Beautiful day which was almost ruined at the end by ignorant, deaf and arrogant british "lady", but just almost ;)
Guesthouse I stayed in Aitutaki was...okish. Host family was great, they made me dinner 2 times and were constantly chatting, until it got to a point where my only choice for peace and chill was to lock inside my room. First 2 days were great with them but after that they just wouldn't let me read a book for 10 minutes without starting some sort of chat.
Now I'm back in Raro for 6 more days before heading back to New Zealand. Atm I really feel exhausted and tired, having very little energy to do anything new(not that there is anything "new" left to do). I just need a good night's sleep now which hopefully ain't constantly interrupted by bloody roosters singing.
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