[music]
Good morning from paradise I'm heading out next door to Cafe Tuakata to get real coffee.
It's still 7:00. I think they just opened at 7. And it's going to be a much better day today!
[music]
Done with the coffee. One thing that I overlooked during this trip
is the problem with mosquitoes because everywhere I go on either
Rarotonga and Aitutaki there's a lot of mosquitoes everywhere and even in some
of the cafes and restaurants, especially if they are in the outdoor setting
they will have a mosquito repellent and that is a very handy thing to have.
The plan is to do scuba diving which I'm very excited about. Hey puppy!
Hello! I'm Halef! "I'm Amy" Amy nice to meet you!
Thank you!
[music]
Just got here Muri Beach at Pacific Divers. Just get myself the
equipment that I need and we're gonna head out here pretty soon. It's gonna be a good diving day!
[music]
Arrived on the boat!
[music and people chatting in the background]
[music]
We're just enjoying our cup of Milo. Got a 30 minute break here before our second dive.
[music]
Alright guys! That concludes the day of diving. It actually started getting
pretty cold although the water temperature was 26 degrees. It is
definitely a very unique sight. There are a few things that I've never seen
anywhere in the world before. One of the major ones is the ghost coral. So it's a
soft coral but as soon as you start getting close to them, they just turning
completely white. I've never seen anything like that before.
A bunch of nudibranch. I'm so excited about nudibranch. Unfortunately it's only
one species. And another thing is the hard coral that is very big and they
just gray and looks like Darth Vader's helmet. Spotted a few moray eels and also
parrotfish. A bunch of trigger fish and then we actually saw a two loggerhead
turtles at the second dive. So right now I'm about to have lunch just right
behind me here is a Trader Jack's and I was told by my dive master earlier they
have really good pizza so I'm gonna see what they have.
[music]
Just ordered my lunch. I asked for the Te Ika Mata which is fresh local fish
marinated in Mau Ke lime juice mixed with coconut cream fresh vegetable and served
with steamed taro and also flat white because I feel like coffee is always a
good thing to have during lunch!
[music]
It's very fresh you can definitely taste the seafood and the coconut. It's very good
One thing that I'm still a bit confused about is the tipping policy here on Cook
Islands. I talk to a lot of locals, Kiwis, and Australians and they said they do not
expect any tips on restaurants like this. But every time I pay with the card they
always come up a bill and a gratuity or a tip column always appears and I was
suggested by a lot of people just to ignore it. Supposedly Cook Islands don't accept tips.
[music]
But today, hopefully it will be a good day! Oh hi!
There's a dog. Oh. Where's the dog? The dog. Right there.
And my flip flops are kinda squeaky! Can you hear it?
[humming the Death Star theme from Star Wars]