Image above: Crossing the clear azure blue Aitutaki lagoon to get to Tapuaeta’i – otherwise known as One Foot Island. [Tuesday 08 September] / [View all photos]
After a quiet start to the Cook Islands stage of my trip, here’s the photo set of my unforgettable second day spent on Aitutaki during the day and whale watching at dusk back on Rarotonga.
Being disappointed with the weather on my first day I decided to take an impromptu day trip to the neighbouring Aitutaki island for my second day. Although it wasn’t cheap it was definitely worth it as the lagoon there was simply breathtaking with it’s crystal clear azure blue water. And thankfully the sun came out too for most of the day which really showed off this remote paradise in its full glory.
We stopped at two motus, Akaiami and Tapuaeta’i, and both were beautiful island paradises. In particular, on Akaiami it was virtually deserted so it felt that I had the island to myself as I strolled through the waves along the soft sandy beach finding a quiet place to take it all in. Really couldn’t believe that I was actually really there. On top of which taking a swim in the lagoon was definitely an lifetime experience to remember!
On the trip I met three fellow travellers: Tobais from Germany who was working as a chef in New Zealand as well as cute Japanese couple: Kunihiro and Mayumi who were both passionate about scuba diving and had done over 500 dives between them. They got me interested in trying it out for myself (not hard in a place like that!) so another item for my to-do list: get PADI qualified.
Returning back to Rarotonga, it was a relief to see the island bathed in sunshine instead of rain and, even better, whilst chilling out in my room I was lucky enough to see a pod of whales being playful and breaching just beyond the reef. Watched them until they passed by and then just sat back to enjoy a dramatic sunset created by the clouds.
To finish off the evening, Tobias and I met up for dinner at Portofino where their soft shell crab really hit the spot. Tobias was kind enough to give me a ride back to my hotel after dinner and so the final adventure for the day was an exhilarating (if a little terrifying too) ride just tearing along the coastal road in the pitch dark night.
Next up, my final day in the Cook Islands where I did a 4×4 cross-island adventure in the rain!
Travel Stats:
- 4 days travelled of 29
- 3 places visited in 2 countries in 2 continents
- 22 hours spent in 4 planes
- 16,829 km travelled
- 10 time zones crossed
- RTW – Los Angeles – Part 1
- RTW – Los Angeles – Part 2
- RTW – Cook Islands – Part 1
- RTW – Cook Islands – Part 2
- RTW – Cook Islands – Part 3
- RTW – Wellington – Part 1
- RTW – Wellington – Part 2
- RTW – Wellington – Part 3
- RTW – Wellington – Part 4
- RTW – Wellington to Melbourne
- RTW – Melbourne – Part 1
- RTW – Melbourne – Part 2
- RTW – Melbourne – Part 3
- RTW – Melbourne to Perth
- RTW – Perth – Part 1
- RTW – Perth – Part 2
- RTW – Singapore
- RTW – Hong Kong
- RTW – Macau
- RTW – Siem Reap – Part 1
- RTW – Siem Reap – Part 2
- RTW – Siem Reap – Part 3
- RTW – Siem Reap – Part 4
- RTW – Siem Reap – Part 5
- RTW – Phnom Penh – Part 1
- RTW – Phnom Penh – Part 2
- RTW – Hong Kong
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[...] the highlight of the day was meeting up with Mayumi and Kunihiro for dinner. We first met on the Cook Islands stage of my RTW trip back in September 2009 and it was great seeing them [...]