A year in Perth, Australia - First Stop, Raratonga, Cook Islands

We left Canada with hurried, tearful goodbyes to our family at Pearson International Airport on December 26th, 2010. Laden down with a huge suitcase and a substantial carry-on each, we collected our boarding passes, made it through security and we began our journey to the other side of the world.  

We flew to L.A. and rushed through security again to get on our next flight on Air New Zealand to Raratonga. Tom lost his bottle of single-malt (he refers to it as being robbed) to  U.S. Customs. This wasn't the first time.....

After a 10 hour flight,  we arrived in Raratonga, Cook Islands on December 26th at 7 a.m. where we were adorned with fresh leis, packed into a bus and driven to the Pacific Resort. 

We loved Rarotonga - Island life is something we can all benefit from. In fact, after weeks of stressful preparations for this year long adventure, this jewel of a place was just what the doctor ordered. With Rein and Silka packed off to Kids Club everyday, it didn't take Tom and I long to kick back and truly relax for the first time in a long while.

We toured all over the island with our rented scooters. You all would have chuckled if you could have seen me doing my scooter driving test. It consisted of me driving down the laneway beside the police station and then driving back zig-zagging around some pylons. I passed and Tom and I soon bombed around checking out all the hot spots for snorkelling. Well, you can imagine how excited the kids were to be riding on the back with the wind rippling through their hair - helmets were not available, of course. Tom and I have kept our Cook Islands Driver's Licenses as souvenirs.

Soon our week was up, we were well rested and ready for the next leg of our trip. New Zealand here we come!