We stayed in Manuas for a couple more days after the epic
Amazon boat trip, relaxing and preparing for our journey back to our real lives
in New Zealand. Being not inclined to return too quickly and wanting to extend
our time away to the max, we had planned to fly most of the way back home, but
shoot off and spend 10 days in the beautiful tropical paradise that is
Rarotonga, in the Cook Islands. This would be our chance to completely
de-stress and de-pressurise from the fast pace of Brazil & the World Cup,
and be an easy re-entry to the Southern Hemisphere.
The time came to say goodbye to Yates and wish him all the best
on his journey back to the USA. His friendship means the world to me, but I
always feel that exposing him to me for 6 weeks of beer fuelled world cup
mania, is about as much as anyone should have to put up with. This comes from
knowing that I can be a bit of a dick on occasions, and I really appreciate
that Yates goes to great lengths to overlook it when it occurs, and there is no
one I would rather go to a world cup with, so a big CHEERS to Yates…!!
Fiona & I embarked on what would turn out to be a 46
hour journey from the steamy jungles of Brazil, via Sao Paulo, Santiago and Auckland,
only to arrive in an unexpected blustery and cold tropical Rarotonga….! When the
sun is shining, Rarotonga is the best place in the world… full stop. When it is
overcast and drizzly, not so much…. Anyway, we had 12 days to relax into, with
nothing on the agenda but to overcome our jet lag and the inevitable colds that
we had acquired thanks to international airline travel.
Eventually the sun came out and cheered us up, and we spent
a few days on the beach, messing around in the sea, and eating out and about around
the island. We had a few day trips into town, ate fish & chips at the
harbour, found a brewery tour, and even had time for a romantic meal at the
Tamarind House, but as with most things in life, everything has to come to an
end. We may have boarded our plane with heavy hearts, but they were only heavy
due to all the great memories we had stuffed into them over the past 72 days.
So up next, World Cup 2018 in Russia….. Only 1382 to go…!!
