So this has been a long time coming…..

With a small interruption to service of approximately 3 years, here is the final episode of the World Cup 2014 in Brazil Blog, apologies if you have been waiting....

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…!!

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