Rarotonga - Cross island walk

Today I want to do the Cross-Island Walk, a trail that crosses the island. To do this, I need to get to the starting point in Avarua, the `capital` of the island, which, thanks to the perfect public transport system, is no problem at all: An hourly bus travels clockwise and counterclockwise along the 32 km long ring road around the island, and you can flag it down and hop on for 5 dollars. Done. There is a cruise ship in the bay, and its passengers are currently disembarking. At the hamburger stand next to the dock, I strike up a conversation with a passenger, an American from San Diego. He wants to know if the island belongs to Australia... I gladly provide a little geography lesson: Cook Islands is an independent country, leaning towards NZ (e.g. currency), by the way, not yet recognized as such by the USA. Having replenished my energy, I set off, wandering towards the mountains along a side street. A loud humming turns out to be a diesel generator; this is where the electricity for the island is produced. Then the road gets narrower until finally, after passing a water reservoir, I am left on a small path. It's getting steeper as I go up through the rainforest, with palms giving way to ferns, trees, and climbing plants. Finally, I reach a ridge at the top – unfortunately, the Needle cannot be fully climbed (I tried..), but the view is still amazing. The rainforest is green in different shades, with colorful flowers shining sporadically, birds circling around the mountain, and the sea on the horizon. Heading south, I start descending again, initially steeply down over huge roots, then the path runs alongside a stream, and I often have to balance over stones and see where I can proceed. When I reach the ring road again, I just catch a glimpse of the bus passing by – unfortunately missed, so it's another 5 km walk back to the accommodation. Along the way, I pass the residence of the representative of the (British?) King, and later I simply walk along the beach. Barefoot in the sand, I'll miss this again in 10 days in Christmasy Germany.