Pub Choir

 A group of people, getting together to sing. 

A group of people getting together who have never sung before, not even sure if everyone can sing, although I am guessing that if you have chosen to purchase a ticket and show up then you must, at least, have a marginal amount of interest in singing? Maybe, maybe not!

A group of people getting together, who have never sung together before, don't know the song that has been chosen and now are going to learn it, in 90 minutes, to be able to sing a somewhat shaky 3-part harmony.

Welcome to Pub Choir

Yes, 1000 people got together, with a choir leader and we got taught 3 different parts of a song and then we sang it as a group, 90 mins later. We all got taught our parts whilst in the theatre, we all laughed, we all cried and we all had a fun time.

It was interesting, it was fun and it was a great night out.

If you ever get the chance to go along to one of these events, then go.

So, what happens I hear you say......

You turn up and stand where you like in the theatre, although you sort of don't either. At the start you decide if you are high, medium or low and then a little shuffling takes place as people move within the theatre to be with more like-minded people, of singing range.

Then the leader, Astrid, teaches you all the parts, and you sing it back, and you sing it again, and possibly one more time, following the power point slides on the big screen. And then you finally start at the beginning (a very good place to start!) and you sing it all the way through. And just for good measure, you sing it all the way through again and then you go home. 2 hours later, elated that 1000 people all managed to sing the song, at the same time, with a 3-part harmony and it was recorded on a shaky phone camera.

It was totally crazy and totally fun

More walking and art

 The airport of Rarotonga is on the edge of the island. If you know when the big plane from New Zealand is landing, (and if it is coming in the right direction) you can stand on the road that runs along the end of the runway and watch it come over the water and then land over the top of your head. Obviously, it is noisy as ever and very windy when this happens.

This trip, I didn't get to do that, but I did take one of my morning walks along the road and view the water and the artwork on the wall at the end of the runway.

The main road with the end of the runway on the right

The end of the runway and the beautiful artwork

Coming in the right direction you can watch the plane approach

9am was the wrong time for any flights but the right time to miss the heat and still admire that amazing beach view.

Accommodation

 One thing I pride myself on is being able to find good accommodation when travelling and great seats at concerts/theatre shows etc

This trip proved to be no different

The villa we stayed in was just perfect, enough space inside, plenty of sitting area and cooking facilities and a lovely large, covered deck area outside.

The bathroom, well that was another story, it was definitely great. The main bathroom had a sink and a toilet and a bath/shower, just that the bath/shower was a little way from the main room....

Like outside, through a large door leading from the bathroom.

All perfectly enclosed and private area, even with a small roof over the bathtub itself, but if it is raining you get wet getting to the tub!

It was peaceful and a lovely place to stand and shower out in nature, but you definitely had to wait for the bathroom to be free to use the toilet, otherwise they got a full shot of you naked in the shower!

Sunshine and Burgers

 An afternoon walk along the beach was called for, so a gentle stroll was enjoyed

Yes, the water was cold on my toes. Not sure I will be going in there to swim any time on this trip!

It was still relaxing and carefree to spend an hour strolling along the beach.

Whilst currency in Raro is in NZ dollars and all food is imported, mainly from New Zealand or Australia, it can still be a little more expensive to eat out. However, there are very good, relaxed rules about bringing in food to Raro, so most people get self-catering accommodation and then bring some frozen meat with them. We did that and brought some beef mince, steak and chicken mince with us. We made the decision to eat in every other night and frequent a restaurant on the in-between nights.

One of the popular ones is Villi's Burgers.

Fresh juicy, full of flavour and so much better than anything I have ever had in NZ!

We visited here 2 years ago, and all of this restaurant area is new, in fact, I discovered that this new part only opened last week. It is definitely an improvement.

Definitely a favourite place to visit

Coffee trip

 I may have mentioned before that I do not like coffee!

Not the smell or taste at all. Ex hubby knew to even kiss me in the morning before he drank his coffee and not after!

However, there is a great little cafe on the island of Raro (there are several cafes, it is not a barren land that only has 1) and we visited it when here last time, so it was only fitting to return again as they do good ice chocolates, that I do like.

What was even stranger, was that my phone automatically logged into their Wi-Fi: Not unusual I hear you say, however, it is a new phone, so technology informed my new phone that I had logged in once before and it already had the password stored in the memory!

Only problem is that it is halfway round the island compared to where the accommodation is located, so won't be visiting too often.

Walking

 Rarotonga is the largest of the 15 Cook Islands in the South Pacific, even though it is a small island. A 32km round the island road is the only way to get anywhere. Add in that the speed limit is only 50km/hr and majority of locals drive mopeds, then you can see that island time kicks in very quickly and no one is in a rush to get anywhere. Rental cars make up at least 75% of the traffic on the road and yes, you have to go as slow as the mopeds!

There is a bus that goes in each direction every hour, but seeing as you are on island time, there is no rush.

Obviously, I was not prepared to give up my walking whilst here and seeing as the main road around the island is all flat, then apart from the heat, it is easy to go for a quick 5km stroll. It would take you over 3 hours to actually walk all the way round the island, and maybe I will come back in the cooler months and give that a go one time.

So, on the first morning, I got up and took myself off for a little walk and just a moment of peace in the surrounding environment.

Who can resist a view like this through the trees.

Sun, Sea and Sand

 I have arrived in Rarotonga, and it is warm enough to make me very happy but not hot enough to be tropical.

The island is actually behind NZ on the date line, so whilst we left NZ on Sat 1 Aug, we arrived in Raro on Fri 31 July. This has caused my phone to start getting confused with when and where to allocate pictures I have taken, as it has already gone through 1 Aug and then suddenly, I am getting it to do it again. It got very confused lol 😀 Therefore, there are several posts going to happen all on the same day because technically, they kind of happened on the same day somewhere in the world!

After finding the accommodation, a quick walk to see the beach was definitely needed.

It was just as I remember it from 2 years ago and I am so glad I have come back. I can feel the stress leaving my body just in the first evening.

Winter Sun Trip

 At the start of the year, I got the idea to go and find some sunshine and warmth in the middle of winter. A weeklong trip was secured to Rarotonga, Cook Island.

Today I left NZ to go in search of the sunshine.

Despite the cold weather in NZ, the morning bloomed amazingly and was a spectacular scene at the airport whilst waiting for the flight

Just a quick 3.5-hour flight and then hopefully the sun will be shining, and I can relax for a week.