Rarotonga in the Cook Islands

October 17-22 we had our first non-New Zealand vacation since we moved here!  We went to the island of Rarotonga in the Cook Islands.

"Raro", as the Kiwis call it, is a pretty staple vacation spot.  While we were there it felt like a mini-version of New Zealand, island style.  Currency is the NZD with a few random Cook Island coins thrown in there (one was shaped like a triangle!).

We stayed in a bach down the road from the Palm Grove Resort and the situation was absolutely perfect.  Our house was nice and quiet for nap time but we were able to use the resort's facilities and breakfast.  The beach was absolutely gorgeous and the snorkeling was AMAZING.  The water was crystal clear and the sand was white and fine.  The entire island is surrounded by a coral reef so there's a lagoon around the entire island that is calm and ideal for snorkeling with colorful coral and fish.  There's a GoPro video I put together of our kayaking and snorkeling at the end of the post.  We went to several different beaches around the island and I think the snorkeling right outside our resort was the best.

Photo courtesy of Manea Beach Villas

 

Our 'huge' grocery run- island import prices!  Apples were $7 NZD/kilo.

Lance made us the famous Mai Tais he perfected on our honeymoon in Hawaii.

Relaxing with a drink during nap time

On our island tour by Tik-e Tours- basically went around the island in a souped-up golf cart

James was a big fan of the breakfasts at the resort, especially since he could watch the chickens and chicks run under his feet and snatch up his dropped food.

Chickens everywhere, just like Hawaii

We biked about 30 minutes to Muri Beach and forded the reef to get to the other side of the small island.  We were told there was a resident sea turtle, but snorkeling failed to turn up any sightings.  I will see a sea turtle in person in the wild before I die, I swear it.

  It's a very small island and the whole thing can be driven around in about 45 minutes.  We were continually envious of the couples zipping by on scooters while we were sweating away on pushbikes (what they call bicycles).

We got a babysitter for 2 hours one of the days so Lance and I could bike to get a smoothie and snorkel together at a beach cafe down the road.  I really wanted to have a fresh fish sandwich before we left but they ran out right before we got there.  Sad day.

During our Tik-e Tour we went to a coconut oil maker, Rito, and he showed us how to open a coconut.  I was taking a shower the next day when I heard these loud banging sounds outside the window.  I go outside to see Lance pounding away on a coconut from the backyard.

 We played with James outside a delicious pizza place during sunset.  It was so pretty.

Lance wore his dad's shirt from their trip to Hawaii in 1984

Our rocking snorkeling video

This was an amazingly relaxing vacation.  We all love the beach (especially James) so we were able to do things we enjoy while spending time with each other.  We highly recommend the Cook Islands as a vacation spot if you're ever living in New Zealand.

Rugby World Cup (and other events that happened a while ago that I'm just now getting to)

*This post is edited from the original post since I found Halloween and birthday videos to add.

Hello faithful followers!  That's right, I'm talking to the four grandparents and the random people in Russia that are apparently reading our blog.  Sorry it has been so long.  No excuses really, just lots of pictures and videos to go through from several vacations and I figured, what's a blog post without pictures, right?

First of all, Happy Thanksgiving to our families back home in the USA!  We miss you and wish we could have celebrated with you.  The Harvey household looks like it was packed to the brim and full of hungry people from the pictures Rob was kind enough to send.  Nice matching outfits Aunt Kathy and Cara.

We had our American Friendsgiving at our friends' home.  They provided the turkey and we provided the fixings.  Lance and I peeled, chopped, and mashed 10 pounds (I mean 4.5 kilos, oops) of potatoes for 31 people.  A little boy who considers himself quite the mashed potato connoisseur proclaimed them "the best mashed potatoes in the whole world."  That's a splendid recommendation if I've ever heard one.  Unfortunately I have no pictures from the event because I was too busy mashing potatoes or chasing James, not to mention eating.  So...you get a random picture from Thanksgiving last year.



On Labour Day weekend (Oct. 24-26) I had my first overnight without my Sweet Baby James.  I had a Girls' Weekend in Mount Maunganui and Lance stayed back with James.  I was expecting to come back and see Lance looking harried and relieved to see me home, but apparently everything was just peachy the whole time I was gone!  They went hiking, cooked meals together, and did the laundry.  Is it bad that I was hoping things would go a little less smoothly so I could say to Lance, "See, it's not so easy is it?"  Well that's what I get for wishing difficulties on my spouse.  Good job, Dada.  You rocked it.

There were 7 of us staying at a bach on the beach.  We just relaxed, drank wine, ordered pizza, played games, and hiked The Mount to see the views.  Lance and I had already been to this area (about 2 hours south of Auckland) but it was nice to do so without a baby.  I was even able to walk the beach with a delicious cone of gelato.

On October 31st the Rugby World Cup was held in London.  The final match was between the New Zealand All Blacks and the Australian Wallabies.  The rivalry is fierce between these two teams and the whole country was decked out in All Black gear. Even James's nappies had All Blacks logos on them for the occasion.  This McDonald's sign cracked me up.

The All Blacks won, 34-17, the country went crazy for a couple days, and now things are back to normal.  I wish I could tell you more about the match but I honestly don't know anything about rugby and the game was very early in the morning.  Call me a party pooper.

For Halloween this year James was Tigger from Winnie the Pooh.  Well, technically it was a just a tiger costume since it didn't have Tigger's special bouncy tail, but James doesn't know the difference.  And since we had ZERO kids come to the door this year it didn't matter anyway!  Okay, if I'm being totally honest, he didn't wear his costume on Halloween.  He was super cranky and I didn't feel like having the wrestling match trying to get him into this costume, so he just wore it a couple days later.

On November 11th and 14th Lance and I had our 30th Birthdays, respectively.  I planned a field day and BBQ for Lance at our local park.  Our friends came and we set up volleyball, cornhole, and washers, and I had supplies for a 3-legged race and an egg-and-spoon race.  Only the latter of the two happened, but that was a huge success.

Minus our friends that won because they were cheaters!  They used the icing from the cupcakes to stick their egg to the spoon.

This post was such a random hodgepodge of short stories, but now I can do the longer, more interesting posts I've been meaning to do.  And I know I really need to do some posts about life in New Zealand.  I haven't really done any culture comparisons and I think they would be interesting for you to read.  I'll get on it, I promise!