Introduction

I am travelling with my wife Kirsten and five children Alyssa (12), Jaeden (10), Dailin (8), Orin (6) and Eli (3) for a two and a half month adventure to the South Pacific. The first two weeks will be in the Cook Islands (Rarotonga 11 days and then to Aitutaki where we will stay in the islands' most affordable shack for 3 days).

We will then head off for Tahiti for two months. While in Tahiti we will be staying with two families (of friends). Another friend also has a husband who works on the cargo ships which distributes goods throughout the Society Islands so we will have some real adventurous sea sick stories to tell. The first 2 weeks in Tahiti will probably be on the island of Tahiti, followed...

Part 2: Feb 22 - March 7, 2007 - Two Weeks in the Cook Islands - Rarotonga and Aitutaki

First Day in the Cook Islands

We arrived early at the Edgewater Resort, only about a 10 minute drive from the airport. It is conveniently located on the ocean and we later discovered it is the largest hotel on the island. We were warmly greeted by the hotel staff and Uncle Joe, a former Cook Island police officer took our bags on his large golf cart to our room before coming back to pick our family up. Along the way to our room, he gave us the tour of the resort complete with lots of helpful tips and information. We then checked into villa number 5 which was conveniently located at the newest end of the resort. It is a self...