Raro Part 2

On Wednesday morning, after breakfast, I went snorkeling again at the same beach. It was very interesting, especially since the tide was not very high yet, allowing me to swim deeper along the bottom.

At noon, I had to return the snorkeling equipment and then rented a kayak for 3 hours. However, I lacked motivation, so I only paddled for about an hour and spent the rest of the time lying in the sun. I had applied sunscreen before, but I forgot to apply it on my face, which resulted in a slight sunburn. Additionally, since I had been wearing my sunglasses the whole time, I ended up looking like a red raccoon afterwards.

After returning the kayak, I drove to Avarua to plan for the next day. On the way back, I returned the bike to have it taken care of for the next day.

Day 5

On Thursday morning, I woke up early and went to the city to have breakfast. Then, I did the Cross Island Walk, which goes from the north of the island to the south, cutting across the entire island. The first uphill climb to 400 meters was quite challenging, especially due to the trail resembling a washed-out path. When I reached 'The Needle,' a large rock at the mountain's peak, I continued along the wall to a small viewing platform, which offered a great view of the island's interior.

From there, I continued along the path. After a short while, I passed a couple and eventually realized that I had taken the wrong path. Shortly after 'The Needle,' the path splits into the normal easy path and the more difficult path that should not be taken. However, I never found the mentioned junction, so I thought I was on the right path. The trail was completely overgrown with spiderwebs and mud. It wasn't until the path started going uphill again that I should have realized it was the wrong way, but since the couple was still behind me, I continued. Eventually, I reached another viewpoint where I didn't know how to proceed. Then, I noticed a very steep path along the edge, which I took. Since the path was too steep and muddy to simply go down, I had to jump from tree to tree to make my way down. Eventually, the steep descent leveled off, allowing me to make faster progress. However, at some point, the path completely disappeared. Thanks to my phone, I managed to find my way back and returned to the official path. From there, it was much easier until the end of the walk, where a waterfall awaited. Unfortunately, it turned out to be smaller and less impressive than expected. After that, I had to walk 5 kilometers back to the hostel with dirt up to my knees and some scrapes. When I arrived, I quickly grabbed my swimwear and went to the beach to sunbathe.

Since it was my last active day, I wanted to end it with a sunset. I walked past the hostel to the fish and chips shop I had visited on the first day, but it was closed. So, I got a fish burger and sat by the beach with a beer, just in time to witness one of the most beautiful sunsets on the island so far.

Day 6

Today, I couldn't sleep much. It rained all night, and since I had to wake up at 6:30, I couldn't sleep for more than an hour at a time. Eventually, the time came, and I took my backpack, left the room, and walked to the main road, where I waited for the bus in the rain. The bus took me to the airport, and at 8 o'clock, I flew to Aitutaki on a small propeller plane. When I arrived, I joined the rest of the group on an open bus, which took us around the island while our tour guide told us about it. After 45 minutes, we transferred to a small boat, which took us to three islands, or "motu" as they are called. We received information about each island, including the plants such as coconut palms and pineapple plants. We also learned about coconut crabs, which have a body the size of a head and claws the size of hands, used to carry coconuts up the trees and drop them to break them. We also went snorkeling, which was very interesting. Afterwards, we had some local snacks and grilled fish. The majority of the trip was accompanied by music, including ukulele, drums, and singing. Aitutaki's lagoon is beautiful; you can see all the small islands, the water has an incredibly beautiful turquoise color, and it is clear enough to see the bottom. From the boat, we even saw some turtles. On the way back, we were shown how to open a coconut and how its remains can be utilized. In the late afternoon, we took the bus back to the airport, where we took the flight back to Rarotonga, landing at 5:30 p.m. On the way back to the hostel, I asked to be dropped off earlier to have another fish and chips dinner. From there, I returned to the hostel, packed everything, and prepared for the flight.

At 8:30, I took the bus to the airport to catch the flight to Los Angeles at 11:59 p.m.