Franz Josef Glacier

A group of brave ladies only (the men were in the pub) decided to get on a helicopter high up onto the Franz Josef glacier. First time using crampons and ice axe! It was fun, really! And the weather was awesome that day. Wandered in some ice caves, between pinacles and all. Very impressive! And that's only the ice side of things. The helicopter bit was wow! And the wicked pilot find it very funny to do acrobatics in order to make the ladies scream. It works! I almost swallowed my own heart when he peaked onto the ice field...

Maori dancers

Met some Maori dancers in the thermal living village outside Rotorua. Lovely performance, intimidating men, passionate women! Very different to the Cook Island dance although the Maori are descendants of the Cook Islanders that departed the islands of the South Pacific in canoes over 700 year ago. It's interesting because today each culture is quite different and hold onto their heritage really strongly! The village is based on a geothermal spot! Geyser, hot mud pools, sulfuric fragrances... They cook their dinners in the hot springs. Not a bad way of saving energy. But when you feel the earth tremoring and a geyser pops up, I have to admit that I do feel unsafe...

New Zealand next?

My itinerary in NZ was: Auckland, Rotorua, Wellington. Then Christchurch, Tranzalpine train to Greymouth, Franz Josef Glacier, Queenstown, Dunedin, Lake Tekapo, back to Christchurch. Then plane to Wellington, collected my passport at the embassy of China, got my visa to India. And surprisingly went back to Rarotonga.
But here is a taster of the Tranzalpine train journey from rainy misty Christchurch to sunny Greymouth. It was foggy midway but the vistas were still pretty amazing! Grizzly had a great trip!

Some more on Rarotonga

Typical scenery on Rarotonga. Got to see E Matike dance up on the hills in the highland Paradise. Nice one. Or "sweet" as they say here!
A few days ago I did the cross island walk, in those hills in the background. I got lost and thought I was going to end up in the waterfall. Honestly, not worthy! You don't see anything but slippery slops, hanging onto roots (that's for the lost part) and are all the time in a dark rainforest with mosies buzzing away. Was happy when I got back to the coast!

Some more on Aitutaki

It has the reputation of being a honey moon island especially with couples from New Zealand and Australia. It has an absolutely stunning lagoon. Went on a cruise on it, explored some motus (small islands) and did some great snorkeling. We had a BBQ on one foot island.
But frankly, it's truly boring for a single traveller. You end up feeling like an oddity among the lovey dovey couples. Good thing I met a bunch of crazy aussie men who were there for an official fishing competition!

And that's the dive boat. We are taking a break during 2 dives. The funny guy in the hat is called Gary. He "survived" the hurricane that destroyed many homes and many lives in Manihiki in 1997. That small island is well known for it's black pearls. He used to have a pearl farm there before the hurricane. That's where he learned to dive. No PADI there then!

A pleasant dive experience

So yes, there is diving in Rarotonga.
Some say it doesn't have the best dives of the south seas, but it sure does have pretty divemasters! And they are very, very good! Kept my cool and all although I had only done 5 dives before heading here and that was in 2005!
Encountered some trigger fish, rays, clown fish, puff fish, reef sharks, octopus and many many more...
Sean (the guy on the right) danced the hula for me underwater. I have on video somewhere...