The market at "Raro"

What a nice place this has been! We had no preconceived notions of what this island would be like, so have been thrilled by how nice it’s been to be here. We’ve been here about a week now and it’s time to move on to Palmerston Island-our last stop in the Cook’s.

Today we did the check out routine. Go to the Harbormaster and check out of the harbor. Pay the fees for the mooring and whatever else they come up with. Then on over to Immigration where you get your passport stamped and finally onto Customs where you pay some more fees and get “approved” for departure. In our case, we’re departing; “For Niue via Palmerston”. While we were waiting Ann noticed that they were promoting $3 bills as a tourist attraction. We had heard they were unique and wanted to have one to bring home. So Ann asked one of the customs guys if they had any. His response was they were available downstairs at the bank, but he would go get some for us while we were waiting. Nice! We are now the proud owners of two Cook Islands $3 bills that we’ll frame when this trip is over. They really are quite unique and beautiful

An important footnote as Palmerston is in the Cook’s but doesn’t have a formal Customs and Immigration department. If we didn’t have the paperwork that specifies “Niue via Palmerston” they might try and charge more fees in Palmerston to exit the country (i.e. the Cook’s). You learn this stuff when you’re cruising.

The other highlight of the day was going to the whale museum. There’s a really spectacular museum here all about whales. It’s very interactive. They encourage you to touch stuff; pick up bones, etc. We both remarked how in other countries we have known, about half of the stuff would have been stolen in the first week of its being open. But we’re here in the Cook’s and no such thing happens here. (Actually there is some crime as evidenced by a hand painted sign nailed to a tree that we saw that proclaimed; “There is a thief in this neighborhood”. An interesting take on neighborhood crime prevention.

Tomorrow we will go to the Saturday market one last time (sadly). It’s a lot of fun and very vibrant and full of music, crafts and food/vegetables. We’ll stock up for the next leg as well as hit the supermarket to replace canned goods, beer and such before having to give up our scooter at the end of the day (sigh). These are a lot of fun as you really “see” the countryside when riding by scooter.

So, getting ready to leave one great place and looking forward to new adventures.