Yesterday (today) we flew from Auckland to the Cook Islands landing here at 10:30pm the day before ( we crossed the international dateline). So, we are having 2 Sundays the 17th! It was dark when we arrived at our resort and we were both pretty tired so we went straight to bed. We woke up this morning to a rainy overcast day but quite warm (28C). We are provided a continental breakfast with all sorts of fruit, cooked food, cereals,and baked goods. My favorite, of course, was the fresh fruit salad with papaya, banana, oranges, apples, passion fruit and pineapple. That with fresh yoghurt- yummmm! While Jean was showering, I went for a walk on the grounds. Lee and Jos, it has really changed. They still have the 4 garden units that were there originally, but the barbecue pit is gone and the whole grounds are much bigger with 10 units right on the beach. Each has all the amenities including an outside hot shower and jetted soaker tub. Inside there is a huge shower with a rainfall head and a handheld shower head. There is a separate commode in a glassed in room. (Smoked glass!) no kitchen but some cooking gear. The bed is a kingsize and very comfortable. You walk out onto the sun deck and off the sun deck and you are on the beach. The units are located in the same area as the old honeymoon suite. That has been replaced with a large reception area and eating alcove and swimming pool. I will post some pics in the next few days. The highlight of our day was going to church this morning at 10AM. The church was a 5 minute walk down the road and is based upon the London Missionary Society or LMS. It is a large church but was only half filled because, we found out later, half the congregation was visiting another church. There was a visiting group of children from another church and much of the service was dedicated to the kids, both the visiting ones and the kids belonging to the church. Each group of kids did memory recitals of scripture and then sang a couple of hymns. The young ones were so cute and totally unafraid of being in front of the congregation. There were also a number of visitors from neighboring churches who were in attendance. The visitors all wore white while many of the local women had dresses of the same fabric in bright purple. All the women had their hair immaculate in buns with decorated woven hats and many with flowers in their hair. Oh, did I talk about the congregation singing? All I can say is AWESOME! They were singing a Capella multi part male and female. Maybe awesome isn't a strong enough word. I could have sat there and listened to them all day! It was sooo beautiful. They sang the Lord's Prayer in Cook Island Maori and most of the hymns were sung in Cook Island Maori and English. The sermon was in Cook Island Maori and perhaps it was a good thing because it sounded a bit like fire and brimstone! After the service was over, a lady came over and invited us to join the congregation for lunch in the Sunday School across the street. We were made to feel completely at home. There was much speechifying and lunch was traditional Cook Island food. My favorite was the banana pudding boiled in coconut milk. Can't say that Tarot grabbed my attention too much. It is one of the staples here much like Poi in Hawaii. Think white school paste in taste and wet cardboard in texture and you have an idea of what it is like. Jean ate all her Tarot by soaking it in the juices of the other foods on her plate. Maybe that is the way one eats it. I left mine on the plate. It was great to have an opportunity to try true Cook Island food though. Many of the congregation came up to us and chatted, including the main musician, who plays an electric piano. He can't read music but can listen to a piece of music and then play it. He and Jean had a great conversation. After the meal,was finished, the speechifying started up again with each group, local and visitors trying to outdo each other. It was fascinating. All the visiting church members were presented with flower garlands which they wore over their hats. I had a long conversation with a lady who said they were experiencing big problems with their congregations because the 20-40 year olds were all leaving the Cook Islands for New Zealand and Australia in order to get better jobs and higher education. So their congregations were made up of old and young with a huge gap in the middle. After we got back to our little cottage, we went snorkeling out in the lagoon. I cannot believe how many different kinds of fish we saw. One really interesting sight was seeing giant clams with bright cobalt blue lips which snapped shut if we got close. This is the first time I have seen coral that looked truly alive with little mouths with feelers combing in food. We only came in because we were tired. We sat down with the receptionist and planned some of the activities we will do while here. I will close now and write again tomorrow. I was pleasantly surprised to find wireless here at the resort so I will post when I have time. Kia Orena from the Cook Islands!