Monday 5th July - Thursday 8th July

We finally arrived and the scenery is pretty special. Luckily the flight alone was smart enough and Amelia slept most of the way through bar the last two hours. She woke up just in time to see Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang. Molly indulged a little with some fancy business class food and a film sessions with Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief and Nanny McPhee before nodding off too. Leigh struggled to sleep - for a change ! - and I got stuck into the range of top notch fodder and bit of TV before catching forty winks.

It was ironic how on the way into Denver over four years ago with British Airways both kidswatched the original Nanny McPhee over and over again (with the exception of a toddler Amelia crying out of hunger) and now here we were with the kids taking in the follow up Nanny McPhee movie on the way out. How they have changed since then.

Kia Orana !! Arriving at Rarotonga was quite bizarre. Landing just around sunrise so the passengers cannot see how small the runway is and gazing on at how huge the aircraft was in comparison was well smart. Coming into the immigration and customs area to be met with a local hip-swaying, ukelele-twanging Pacific greeting was something we had been waiting for since Dale and Andrea's account of Cook Island Homeland Security. Then once past customs we each received a fresh flower garland around the neck and headed off to our hotel. Great stuff.

With July the coolest yet driest month in climate (mid-70's F and 4 inches) the days have been relaxing with the beach great and the water - Aro'a Lagoon - lovely and warm. Sitting watching the breakers outside the reef is relaxing enough, but the slight breeze and the sound of the sea (or ocean) just tops it all off. Molly and Amelia are hitting the kids club in the morning and then making the most of it with us for the rest of the day. Playing in the canoes, attempting snorkelling or just messing about in the shallow waters edge is providing us all with the desired buffer from US to UK transition.

The only real item of interest that we got involved in was a Cook Island Barbeque night with local music and fire dancing. The evening included a massive tropical storm so we stayed inside the pavilion which increased the noise from the musicians and added to the spectacle. Again the kids thought the whole thing was amazing watching the incredible speed at which the best fire juggler could spin his brand and helped them fight off some of the never-ending jetlag. The inference of some of the suggestive dancing was lost on the kids but the wide smiles from the dancers was funny enough to us.

According to Lonely Planet, Cook Islanders are reputed to be the best dancers in Polynesia, even better than the Tahitians, so we definitely got our moneys worth and had a great evening.

The area is due a huge influx if tourists from today as the the islands are apparently afforded visibility of a solar eclipse. I haven't managed to check but a full 100% eclipse would be fantastic. After catching a cracker eclipse myself with Chris Shaw and Billy Bray back in 2005 (I think?) when camping in Cornwall it will certainly be interesting catching one from the middle of nowhere.

Kia Manuia ! or "May you enjoy good fortune".