Has it really been almost two years since my last post? Traveling has been difficult the last year due to work schedules and availability. This does not mean that we have been completely grounded. In fact, last year we went to both Sacramento AND Omaha. That’s right. Things got crazy!
Back in late November, while most people were in a frenzy at Best Buy or breaking into fights in Wal*Mart parking lots, Nicole was on the hunt for cheap airfare. She called me to let me know there was a crazy deal to the Cook Islands. At that time, I didn’t know much about this place, or actually where it was. That being said, all I did was google image search “Cook Islands,” and said, “Ok, let’s book it.” This was maybe the least amount of research I’ve ever done before booking a trip. These islands could be full of ebola . . . or ISIS . . . or headhunters!
Of course, after doing just a little bit of research, we discovered that people do actually visit these islands as tourists. However, compared to nearby islands in the pacific such as Fiji, Tahiti, Hawaii, or Samoa, the Cook Islands receives the fewest visitors annually. Is this a good thing or a bad thing? I guess we will find out soon enough. There are very few guidebooks or information online about the Cook Islands either. Unlike our previous trip to Europe, this is not one that received much planning. After all, there are no trains to catch, museums to visit, or vast distances to travel. The islands are small and we are both eager to explore them.
It was an interesting past 24 hours-most of it spent on our Air New Zealand 767. We departed from LAX’s new international terminal which is nice and open with high ceilings, numerous shops, and lots of places to eat. That being said, our actual gate was at the extreme end of the terminal in what resembled the back warehouse of an office depot. From there we got on a bus. From the bus we walked up a long concrete ramp, which then took us to the Jetway. Why have a Jetway when you walked outside and got on a bus? Look, I don’t know.
Anyway, after departing close to 1am, dinner was served at 230am and we then attempted to sleep. Although both of us managed to nod off here and there, we woke up with neck pain and stiffness every few minutes.
Exiting the airplane was like a punch in the face with humidity. We decided to rent a car to have a bit more freedom. It should be noted, however, that the Cook Islands are more or less part of New Zealand, where they drive on the left. This took some getting used to since the car is laid out in a complete mirror image. Every time I tried to put on my signal, the wipers went on.
As it was still morning and our room was not ready, we had to kill some time and went to a small cafe. I ordered a BLT except it had pan fried chicken instead of bacon, and mushrooms and cucumbers instead of tomatoes. I was informed there are currently no tomatoes on the island. We hope to check in soon and do some actual exploring.
passports & pepto bismol 