Joanne (looking surprised?) and the Japanese-fellow-whose-name-we-can't-remember in the pool. His favourite phrase was 'Veddy nice.'

Unfortunately we don't seem to have any pics from the Cross Island Trek. Its a hike we did from the north end of the island to the south. Of course it rained, but it was still fun - at the end of it, we simply caught the clockwise running bus back to our hostel. You can hire the venerable Pa to guide you on this arduous journey, but don't bother - its just an easy half day hike. (However, we did see Pa en route to rescue an overweight client, running barefoot and clutching fruit. He seemed to be a nice guy.)

By the time we left Rarotonga we were significantly more relaxed than when we first arrived. We ended the trip, however, on an exciting note. We attended an island night and watched the women dancers in grass skirts moving their hips at incredible speeds. The men had a much more aggressive style of dance, meant to show their strength, giving their thighs a darn good workout. While we attended the island night, many of the other hostel dwellers went drinking, and an hour before our flight we all piled into the back of a pickup truck and sped to the airport. No, it wasn't safe, but it certainly was exciting. No one fell off the truck (which was quite amazing), and we even set a record for the number of bodies safely transported that night. :^/

Unfortunately our flight was early in the morning, and sleep was hard to come by, so I was pretty bagged when we arrived in Christchurch, gaining a day in transition. (Tim always handles lack of sleep better than I do.) It was great to be picked up at the airport by our friend Richard. He took us out for lunch, gave us net access, and sped us around the city in search of needed items, while I tried valiently to stay awake and not get sick. More to come in part II...