From one Pacific island to the next..... Raratonga, the Cook Islands!

After two flights via Auckland and a 4hr wait at the airport we finally reached Raratonga at 3.30am Saturday 18th January - 7 and a half hours earlier than the time we left Fiji! Crossing the date line is very confusing and I think we are still trying to get our heads round it! What has been the strangest is getting used to England being hours in front of us after so many months of it being the other way round! Weird!

Our first few days in the Cook Islands were pretty terrible to be honest! The weather here was so bad there was just nothing to do. We were hit by our second cyclone this time a little closer to home and were told by the owneres of the Backpackers that we were staying at to get ready in case of an evacuation. It never got that bad but it was amazing to see the waves caused by it.... the water here is normally so flat as there is a reef that lsurrounds the whole island but instead the waves were huge and crashing under some of the huts here. 5 days locked inside wasn't much fun but thankfully we had some good company, good books and numerous drinking games to play including Beer Pong which has to be destined for big things back home!!! After 5 dyas of cabin fever the winde eventually died down and the sun decided to shine. The last 6 days here have been beautiful and the island looks completely diferent now the sun is out. Its absolutley stunning here, the water is crystal clear and a bright turquoise colour and the sand is just so white.

Our first day of sun we opted against mopeds and decided to hire bicycles for the next few days so we could venture around the island exploring the many beaches. On the Thursday night it was 'Isl;and Night' at one of the local bars here on the island so a group of us went along to be entertained by Hula dancers and a band. The dancing was very much like a Hawaiian Luau and was really good fun to watch as they were dragging many tourists up to dance with them - we both convenientky were at the bar during that bit! There was also a saring tying demonstration whihc was rather random but fun all the same! It was a great night out, the drinkks were flowing and we were all up on the dancefloor before being eventually muslced out by the locals!

Out of the many beaches that we discovered our favourite has to be probably Muri Beach, it was so beautiful. It was a lagoon surrounded by 3 small island within swimmking distance. We have spent the past few days there soaking up the sun in our last chance bid to come home bronzed. We think we are nearer the look of a leather handbag though!

There isn't much to report from the Cook Islands i'm afraid it has just been beach, beach, beach but we have had a great time here, its such a beautiful place but in comparison with Fiji we definitely preferred Fiji manily due to it being a bit more geared up for Backpackers and the people there seem a bit more friendlier. The Cook Island were also a tad more expensive as all of the food is imported from New Zealand... Charlotte paid about 6 pounds for 2 litres of milk!!

Today is our last day in Raratonga as tonight we head for Los Angeles - the big U. S. of A! A 9hr overnight flight from the Cook Islands. Our plans did change slightly due to our sufficient lack of funds so we are now just spending 24hrs in LA before flying back to London on Friday arriving Saturday, yipee!! So this will sadly be our last log :-( We really can't believe our trip has come to an end! A year is a long time to be away from our families and friends so we are definitley ready to come home and are so excited about seeing everybody!! We have definitly caught the travel bug though so not sure how long we'll be home before we get itchy feet!

We just want to say before we sign off is a big thank you to everyone who has repeatedly logged on to our blog and read our travel stories and checked out our pictures and posted messages. We've really enjoyed sharing our escapades and pictures with you and hope you've enjoyed reading about them - and hopefully we may have inspired some of you to pick up a backpack and do a trip of your own in the future!

Over and Out

Lots of love Charlotte and Becky xxxxxxxxxx

"Two of the truly great explorers of the 21st century" Sir Richard Branson

"Their travels will be documented for decades to come" Sir Michael Palin