We took the tender (small boat) to Rarotonga today because the Rotterdam is too big to pull into the port. The captain described getting on and off the tender as especially “challenging” today and asked the unsteady passengers to stay aboard the ship. We ignored that advice and went off even though Bill is seriously challenged. We should have listened to him. It was the worst tendering experience of my life.
After our trip we were all immensely grateful to the crew. It was rough.
The tender was really bouncing around and hitting the side of the ship as we tried to transfer. The crew was hauling people on and off as the tender went up and down at least three feet.
Once we were on the tender, we had to hold onto the rails and structures to keep from being thrown around. Bill sat on a bench near the open side of the boat and an officer asked him to move for fear he would be thrown right out the opening.
Once we got to the island, the dock was in a protected area and it was much easier to disembark the tender. We waited for a bus to take us to go snorkeling with Tamas. It was about a ten minute trip to the beach. The bus was open air and had benches along the sides. No seat belts.
I spent the whole trip perched over the stairs as the bus was full. I kept thinking about how I would be pitched down the stairs if we stopped suddenly but that never happened.
They drive on the left side of the road in Rarotonga like they do in England.
There was a clock over the driver’s seat that had the hours misplaced. For example, the number 3 was at the top. The writing on the clock said “Rarotonga Time: Who Cares?” It was an interesting drive.
Rarotonga is closely allied with New Zealand which is four hours away by air. The natives speak English with a distinctive New Zealand accent. It’s mesmerizing. The island is covered with coconut, breadfruit, banana and other tropical fruit trees.
Another interesting feature is that they buried their dead in the front yard. (I don't know if this is still true in 2022). It was not unusual to bury family on your property in the old days. What was different about these graves was that they sometimes built a hut over the grave(s). The covering was needed if they wanted to sleep out there to be close to the deceased person.
Tamas took us out in a glass bottom boat. We saw and held a large clam and some sea urchins. We also saw an eel in a rock.
Bill decided not to snorkel because getting on and off of Tamas’ boat was almost as hard as the tender. Usually, you can just fall in the water but you couldn’t on this boat.
After the snorkeling, we went to a Motu which is a small island in the lagoon. Tamas’s crew had a great barbecue lunch ready for us. We had barbecued tuna steaks and bananas among other things.
There were a lot of holes in the ground around the luau cooking area. This was treacherous ground for people with canes. The holes were made by crabs. At certain times (which I have forgotten), they crawl out of their holes and look for mates. They are so intent on mating that you can pick them up. At least, that was true in 2012.
Tamas is quite the charmer. He told us the history of the Cook Islands and his own history. He opened a couple of coconuts for us and showed us several ways to tie on the sarong type garment that both men and women wear on the island. He said his grandma needed two sarongs to totally cover her.
We took some pictures I can't find them now. Tamas pulled his boat up on the sandy beach and we all loaded on for the trip back. Embarrassingly, four strong men could not budge the boat with all of us on it.
He asked for some of the more mobile guests to get off the boat temporarily by stepping into the shin high water. I got off along with the men who helped to push it back into higher water. I didn’t help push but it made me feel positively able bodied to be able to get on and off without help.
It is sad to compare the guests on the ship with the crew or with the local natives. We are seriously overweight and out of shape as a group. Every person I have talked to for any length of time has some serious ailment, too. We sat at a table the other night and admitted to our frailties and they were numerous. Only modern medicine is allowing us to be out spending our children’s inheritance.
Bill and I are not sure if we will ever get on a tender again. We may cancel the tours we have set up on the smaller islands.
The captain came over the loudspeaker and said that some guests and crew are showing signs of stomach virus. So, we can no longer serve ourselves in the Lido restaurant. There will be no bread baskets on the tables or butter or salt and pepper. The crew will be the only ones handling those items until the illness goes away.
I talked to people who were going home after the last cruise and they said there was Norovirus on the ship. They cleaned it up but someone must have brought it on board again.
Bill likes to talk to the crew and one of the servers follows him around like a puppy. He is always looking out for "Mr. Bill" and asking if he needs anything. It sounds creepy but it is really quite sweet. Like most of the men, Putro has a young family at home in Indonesia. He has a wife, a six year old son and a two year old daughter who doesn’t recognize him because he leaves for 11 months at a time.
The headline entertainer in the big showroom was sick and so was the drummer in the band so they both had last minute replacements. We actually saw two performers. They were both fantastic. One played the ukulele and reminded us of Steve Martin. The other was a piano player.
Yesterday, we had a Cabin Crawl in which people opened their cabins for others to see. I came away thinking we have the best cabin on the ship, except we don’t have a balcony. We have a handicapped access cabin and more room to move around than anyone except those in the suites.
