Aitutaki
Today breakfast was postponed until am and turned into brunch. The late start provided further time to continue packing for our disembarkation tomorrow. At 11am we departed the ship for Aitutaki in suspect, overcast conditions. We were welcomed onshore by a young 'warrior' blowing a triton shell, and three regal young women who draped us in flower garlands and lead us to walk over a massive flat stone that traditionally marked the right of a visitor to wander around the island.
A dance troupe entertained us with a variety of Cook Islands dancing, which they enjoyed just as much as us. At the end several of us were invited to the floor to be shown how to dance"Cook Islands Style" - much to the enjoyment of those left to watch!
Aitutaki is an old atoll that had some volcanism, about a million years ago, to create the main island where the people live and grow a variety of tropical fruits. The lagoon is widely recognised as one of the most beautiful in the South Pacific. The first European to "discover" the island was Captain Bligh in 1779 on HMS Bounty, a few days before some of his crew ordered him to "abandon" ship. The London Missionary Society Christianised Aitutaki in 1821, and the other Southern Group islands all followed within a few years. While tourism is the main money-earner nowadays, the rich soils provided abundant citrus and bananas for export in the recent past.
After the entertainment some went on an island bus tour stopping at a few interesting sights, including a gigantic banyan tree. They eventually ended up at a beautiful sandy beach where there was a BBQ and swimming. Meanwhile the larger group joined local boats for a fast trip down the lagoon to Honeymoon Island. This island is a recent and rapidly growing sand-islet with a small area of coastal shrubs. The suspect weather tried to discourage us with a couple of showers, but overall the afternoon was dry and sunny.
On the lagoon end of the islet there was a large shallow sand-flat where our boats stopped to let us snorkel out into the deeper lagoon around a few large coral-heads. We all soon realised that the best snorkelling of the voyage had been held until the last day. The fish were fantastic in variety and approachability. The Picasso Triggerfish was the favourite. Wendy Allen won great admiration from those nearby when she found a scorpionfish (probably the Flasher Scorpionfish, Scorpaenopsis macrochir), which others had great difficulty seeing even when it was being pointed out. This highly poisonous fish is well known for its remarkable camouflage.
We then took the boats to the sandy islet were the local team provided a delicious BBQ, and everyone had time to wander around the small area of shrubs to look at the nesting Red-tailed Tropicbirds and their chicks. Throughout the afternoon there were a few adults of these beautiful birds flying around the islet.
By 4pm we had all left Aitutaki and were soon back on the ship, where we had a further hour to pack before the Captain's Farewell Cocktail Party and Farewell Dinner. While the evening events were enjoyed by all we also realised that the journey was almost over. However, last night we also saw the progress on Annika's video of our journey and this DVD will enable us to revisit our memorable voyage from Fiji to the Cook Islands.
Today breakfast was postponed until am and turned into brunch. The late start provided further time to continue packing for our disembarkation tomorrow. At 11am we departed the ship for Aitutaki in suspect, overcast conditions. We were welcomed onshore by a young 'warrior' blowing a triton shell, and three regal young women who draped us in flower garlands and lead us to walk over a massive flat stone that traditionally marked the right of a visitor to wander around the island.
A dance troupe entertained us with a variety of Cook Islands dancing, which they enjoyed just as much as us. At the end several of us were invited to the floor to be shown how to dance"Cook Islands Style" - much to the enjoyment of those left to watch!
Aitutaki is an old atoll that had some volcanism, about a million years ago, to create the main island where the people live and grow a variety of tropical fruits. The lagoon is widely recognised as one of the most beautiful in the South Pacific. The first European to "discover" the island was Captain Bligh in 1779 on HMS Bounty, a few days before some of his crew ordered him to "abandon" ship. The London Missionary Society Christianised Aitutaki in 1821, and the other Southern Group islands all followed within a few years. While tourism is the main money-earner nowadays, the rich soils provided abundant citrus and bananas for export in the recent past.
After the entertainment some went on an island bus tour stopping at a few interesting sights, including a gigantic banyan tree. They eventually ended up at a beautiful sandy beach where there was a BBQ and swimming. Meanwhile the larger group joined local boats for a fast trip down the lagoon to Honeymoon Island. This island is a recent and rapidly growing sand-islet with a small area of coastal shrubs. The suspect weather tried to discourage us with a couple of showers, but overall the afternoon was dry and sunny.
On the lagoon end of the islet there was a large shallow sand-flat where our boats stopped to let us snorkel out into the deeper lagoon around a few large coral-heads. We all soon realised that the best snorkelling of the voyage had been held until the last day. The fish were fantastic in variety and approachability. The Picasso Triggerfish was the favourite. Wendy Allen won great admiration from those nearby when she found a scorpionfish (probably the Flasher Scorpionfish, Scorpaenopsis macrochir), which others had great difficulty seeing even when it was being pointed out. This highly poisonous fish is well known for its remarkable camouflage.
We then took the boats to the sandy islet were the local team provided a delicious BBQ, and everyone had time to wander around the small area of shrubs to look at the nesting Red-tailed Tropicbirds and their chicks. Throughout the afternoon there were a few adults of these beautiful birds flying around the islet.
By 4pm we had all left Aitutaki and were soon back on the ship, where we had a further hour to pack before the Captain's Farewell Cocktail Party and Farewell Dinner. While the evening events were enjoyed by all we also realised that the journey was almost over. However, last night we also saw the progress on Annika's video of our journey and this DVD will enable us to revisit our memorable voyage from Fiji to the Cook Islands.
