Toronto is the central airline hub of Canada. It is also the business centre of Canada where much of the country's commerce takes place. Chances are you will not fly over Toronto, but rather will fly via or to Toronto. The city sprawls out quite a distance when looking at the Greater Toronto area.


The airport terminals are spacious with shops and restaurants open well into the evening. After collecting your baggage you exit the terminal buildings where there is a wide variety of transportation options. There are the conveniently located car rentals, taxi cabs, prearranged limo services or the less expensive and less direct Airport Express. The Airport Express shuttle service buses passengers from the airport to major downtown...

Norm

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 by...

Norm

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 contained...

Norm

Part 3: March 8 - 21, 2007 - Two Weeks on the Island of Tahiti

First Week in Tahiti - March 8 - 14, 2007

Well the first week in Tahiti has come and gone in a flash. It has been full of excitement and adventure as expected, sometimes a bit too much. We have slept on cold tile floors, snorkelled, met past friends, swam by an enormous waterfall, visited the Hospital's emergency room and walked around the capital city of Papeete... but first things first.


A Quick Flight

The flight over to Papeete from Rarotonga was less than 2 hours. The difficult part about the flight was not the short duration but rather the late hour of the flight. We left just after 10 PM to arrive in Papeete around...

Norm

Part 4: March 22 - April 6, 2007 - Two Weeks in Bora Bora, Ra'iatea, Taha'a and Maupiti


24 March 2007 - Flight to Bora Bora

Well the time had come for our family to leave Tahiti for Bora Bora. We had attempted to make the voyage with a friend who's company runs a cargo ship but because we were travelling during the school holidays, the 12 spots available to passengers were all taken up. We were going to have to make the trip by airplane.

Fortunately we had obtained a family discount card with Air Tahiti when we first arrived and so we were able to get a 50% price reduction for the adults and our 12 year old daughter. All 4 of our children 11 and under received a generous 65% discount on their flights....

Norm