Unfortunately for Carly, Mumbles had the camera so all the shots are of Carly....
But I thought the travellers might like to see big sis in Action. Golf was the winner on the day. We got very good value for money and had lots of golf for our green fees.
We really enjoyed the walk and will definitely do it again.....
With about 12 children and 14 adults there was plenty of action, and luckily plenty of food as well. Children's favourites of cheerios, chips, lollies, fairy bread and sausages rolls kept the children happy. The adults got rather more grown up food - though that didn't stop us having a bit of party food as well! This is Ethan and Big Josh digging in....
Mikayla (and Leonie), and Matt on the far side, with Hannah, Ethan and big Josh again.
And wouldn't you know it..... A Lightening McQueen cake, and one happy birthday boy.
It's a wee bit embarrassing to have all the attention, but kinda nice to have everyone singing "Happy Birthday" to me! Do you like my 4 YEARS OLD badge?
Just taking the candles out ... with a little help from my friends!
And then it's time to cut the cake and share it all out. Mum and Dad are on hand to help. 
Now for Pass the Parcel. Dad did the music and everyone managed to get a turn to unwrap the parcel and get a prize. Mikayla scored the final prize and everyone was happy.
Little Josh loved my Superman outfit so much that he needed to get one as well so today you get two Super Heros for the price of one. Kinda cute aren't we?
Mum, Garg, Superman Ethan and Nan all smile for the camera.
And of course blowing out the candles is a very important job. 
Now with the birthday stuff done, time for superman to try out the new slide. It is eventually going to go on a fort along with the barrell swing that Nan and Garg got but for now a hillside does just as well.
Nan even cut some steps out of the hill to enable an easier climb for the super hero!
Is it a bird? Is it a Plane? NO! It's SUPERMAN. Isn't he just the cutest wee man? We all think so anyway.
Then it was off to the botanical gardens... Brent didn't venture to the gardens so it was up to me to hold the camera up and take my own photo. Love the hibiscus!
Just had to get a shot of "The Needle" from the distance to show how HIGH it is.
Finally we were in the right place at the right time to see the sunset and we were very well rewarded. Our last night was spent in the beach restaurant at the Edgewater resort.
Having a wee drink and enjoying the ambience.
Jane and Nanna popped in to say good-bye, stayed for a drink and then joined us for dinner, at last we got to be hosts and provide them with a meal... not as sumptuous as the one they gave us but at least it was a start.
Well that's rarotonga, time to go home. What a fantastic holiday, rest and relaxation on a tropical island sure is the way to go. 
Thursday lunch and it was back to the Game Fishing Club for another fantastic fish 'n' chip meal right on the beach Mmmmmmmmmmm!
Now we're talking. Thursday was the reason for the holiday! The 50th birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MRS KIM
The chosen restaurant was Vai'mas on the western side of the island to take advantage of the beautiful sunsets that Rarotonga is famous for. Unfortunately when it is P-E-R-S-I-S-T-I-N-G down with rain you don't get much of a sunset, but the meal was fantastic and the company even better! A wonderful night was had by all.
Brent chose the fish curry which came with a pawpaw salsa and rice. Yum! 
There is a fairly well trodden track for the first 3/4 hours or so... hmmmm a bit of off road trekking and we think we are back on the main track, but not 100% sure. We just kept the "Needle" in our sights and we can't go too far wrong.
It is fairly steep in parts but we were in no hurry so just kept going up and enjoyed the scenery. What surprised us was the complete lack of bird life. The only living things we saw was a multitude of native lizards or skinks as we call them. And even then you had to be in the front to see them skuttling away.
We made it to the base of the Needle in good time and stopped for about 1/2 an hour and had a bit of lunch (leftovers from the feast last night!).
Then off we go for the downhill climb. Hmmmmm ... again! We think we followed the main track for a while and then, while there was a track we think it wasn't the main track!
A bit of 5 point contact with the ground required (butts being the fifth point!). We were not the first ones to use this particular track, but we are sure that the guided tour would not require visitors to slide down a skree/dirt slope for about 200 metres!
Never mind, we got to the waterfall at the bottom which is the correct exit point, so while we had muddy pants to prove our journey, we did manage to exit to the carpark where we were very pleased to see Fred drive up in the wee sports car to save us a walk to the bus stop, and maybe some serious explaining to the bus driver to let us sit on the bus!
The whole trip took us about 4 and 1/2 hours, but with about 45 minutes to an hour of rest breaks we felt that we didn't do too bad, and the effort was well worth it, the views and the satisfaction were spectacular. 
Jane and Georgina decided that the next part of our Island hospitality experience was a feast. It was decided that Jane's home might not be big enough so .... enter Nanna and Waru, whose home is larger and just down the road "clockwise" about 2 kms. The meal was expertly prepared by Georgina with help from Jane and Nanna for all 9 visitors. 
What a fantastic meal, the table was laden with island style raw fish, cooked broadbill, beautiful mango salad, taro, chicken, pork and rice. Once the 9 of us walked away with plates overflowing the table looked just as full as before we started.
We all left feeling very special to have been welcomed into the home of local people who, 5 days before had not even heard of us. What a wondeful experience, thank you Jane,Georgina, Nanna and Waru for your wonderful hospitality and friendship.
There's not a heck of a lot to rush around doing in Rarotonga so, feeling a bit jaded, we lay down and had a bit of a snooze.
As part of our introduction to Rarotonga Jane invited us to a "Queens of Rarotonga" show at Castaways Resort. What a fabulous evening. The girls were magnificent! A few technical problems with the sound but it all added to the fun and spontaneity of the night. Another friend welcomed into our lives is Georgina who you'll hear more about later.
We hired a scooter, 125cc for 8 days ($12 a day) and scooted around the whole 32 km island numerous times.
Brent got his licence for $20 at the local Police Station. When we hired the scooter we got a temporary licence that lasts approx 24 hours! Les didn't get a licence though a couple of times when Brent had had a couple of bevvies Les took charge! A bit wobbly to start with but at 30km an hour not too bad. Luckily no checkpoints that night.
