Hello All,
There is a scene in the Tom Hanks movie, Castaway, where the character waits for the shifting of the wind to make his escape off the island he is stranded on. He builds a makeshift ‘windsock’ and waits. He feels something change in the air one day and watches as the sock drops, only to be picked up by a new wind coming from a new direction.
I’m not suggesting that we are ‘stranded’ but we certainly have felt the shift of the ‘Trades. It was remarkable actually. For those Socials/Geography geeks out there we watched an amazing sheet-lightning storm roll past south of Rarotonga and the wind became calm. There had not been much wind in the first five or so days here anyway but then… Within moments the wind shifted to come out of the South East, which is where the Cyclones develop out of here, and in a rush it hit. No, not a Cyclone (they usually don’t appear until January or early February), just some strong Trade Winds. Our extremely flat, idyllic lagoon has turned on us. We are still enjoying every minute of our beach but if we want flat lagoon area to snorkel or explore we have to go to the west of the island which now lies leeward.
The girls are doing great! They have ‘school’ each day and are in the water constantly. We bought a Tropical Fish water card and have checked off about 15 fish from its list – the water is clear and the fish are everywhere – lots of them. Snorkeling has definitely been a highlight here.
It’s day 9 here for us and we are starting to get tanned, we are learning to relax and finding out the ‘tricks’ of hanging out on a South Pacific island. I’ve made friends with a Kiwi fellow just down the way who has graciously given us his password so that we can use his internet. A great guy who is on a long-term rental of a gorgeous house as he runs his Cook Island travel magazine called ‘Escape’ – Pretty apt isn’t it? Everyone seems to want to ‘escape’ here. So we are able to catch up a bit now with on-line activities, like posting more pictures.
Not only do we have the blog but I will be posting pictures from time to time too. Click on the following link to see some highlights of Rarotonga so far – http://picasaweb.google.com/SoJAYMM/Rarotonga1?authkey=HLqrYLAohLM#Thanks so much for all of you that posted a message to us on the blog or have emailed – keep them coming as it is a great way to at least feel a little connected with each other.
More to come…. Kia Orana
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5 comments:
Gee, a few bad wind days! You guys are really suffering! Still no snow in Kamloops but will come I'm sure. Sounds like the girls are quite settled in - won't want to leave anytime soon. Bad things going on in Thailand and India - probably not a good idea to travel there. (Yes, Marnie, I am still a worrywort). Really miss you all and will now look at the pics. Love you all,
mom xoxoxox
Ya but can you smell the changing of the wind like here in PG.
Great pictures, has it hit you yet that this is just not a two week vacation and that you have several months of this ahead?
Hey, I need more updates and pictures! Do you think your on vacation or what. How am I supposed to live vicariously through you guys with only weekly updates.
Hey Lewis back on the update talk. I've not gone slack on the photo department. 595 shots and counting in the first two weeks - it's just terribly slow here to upload - especially on Blogger. We hit Oz tomorrow and I'll be able to put together a bunch more there. Gotta run and hit the water for one last prolonged afternoon swim. Jape
I'm pretty jealous!Looks like you're having a great time!Incredible pictures! I tried phoning you the other day - no wonder you didn't call back! We don't have any snow here either, but like your Mom said.. we know it's coming. Big hugs all around! Love you all.
Marcy (John, Austin & Brady)
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