Rarotonga

The last couple of days I spent at Rarotonga Backpackers on the west-side of the Island

I booked there a single room in the main building for 40NZD,

but got an upgrade to one of the Bungalows for two people,

close to the beach. Own toilet, shower, fridge and a double

bed for the same price... nice ;)

I also got upgraded for the flight from AKL - RAR, Economy to Premium Economy.

Did not spend any cent for this ;)

But after good news, bad news follow... The Reef/Lagoon is full of ciguatera,

so nothing with catching and preparing my own lunch and dinner.

Later the next day I meet two people who got poisoned by fish they bought, labeled

as Tuna, at the market. Could only have been Dogtooth Tuna, because this species is

searching for prey in and around the reef

They said the worst part was, when it felt like someone was putting needles between

there joints. Hope I will never get this on my trip.

Snorkeling around this place was also very very bad. I asked some locals, who suggested

me going to the end of the lagoon and jumping over the edge. Sounds simple and actually it

is, but the biggest problem was, getting back into the lagoon. Specialy if I imagine going

there with my carbonfiber fins. The waves are big and it is very very shallow at the edge.

Either the fins will broke, or I will hardly get washed over the corals.

I thought it isn't worth it.

But what are the other options? Answer is quite simple, the passages

Everyone is warning you about the passages in the Reef/Lagoon, because it can suck you out

into the blue, and over the last ten years, there died a couple of tourists out there.

But for sure, this will be one of the best places ;) The plan if I really got sucked out

was, going over the reef back into the lagoon, as one of the locals told me.

There was one artificial build for the smaller cruise ship landing-boats very close to my place.

All in all it wasn't worth it. I saw some of the biggest Bluefin Trevally ever,

but I had to be honest, I stopped close to the end of the passage and tried

getting in, before I start freediving there and got exhausted, and it was really

strong getting in again. What I found out a couple of days later, this is also the hardest

passage with the strongest current ;)