We woke at 7am and immediately set out to walk up the small hill that marks the highest point on Aitutaki. It was a very cloudy day and threatening to rain, so we powered up as fast as we could. You could imagine the view would have been impressive on a sunnier day, although the squall of rain clouds in the distance did have it’s own beauty.
We came down as fast as we could and showered and packed before heading down for another big breakfast. Following a bit of final packing, we checked out and left our rucksacks with the Etu Moana staff. We had arranged for a snorkel tour of the lagoon and our bags would be dropped off at the airport for us to collect – a perfect arrangement.
We got picked up for the lagoon cruise at 0945 and rode on the back of a pick up truck that stopped to collect a German couple and a Canadian couple for the cruise. We then stood at the boat dock for a considerable time while we waited for the final couple to arrive – they were a French couple who ran the restaurant at the Intercontinental Hotel in Wellington, New Zealand and had already been on the same cruise four times. That was a good sign.
The small boat then pulled out to one of the deepest parts of the lagoon where we saw a few turtles popping out of the water, one very close to the boat. We then chugged on to Honeymoon Island and walked across a long sand bank to where couples married on the island plant a palm tree. Beyond that was a cluster of mature palm trees – we made our way into the warm interior to hunt of the Red Tailed Tropic Birds that were nesting on the ground between the trees.
Puna then took the boat to a fantastic snorkelling spot – thousands of fish and bright coral. We snorkelled for a good part of an hour before moving on. Back on the boat we were given much needed fresh fruit, delicious little doughnuts and lemon squash to keep us going until lunch.
After a walk along a sand bar known as Nude Island (due to the lack of trees) we were ferried across to famous One Foot Island – by far the busiest place in Aitutaki and not a patch on Akaiami. We stopped at a shack owned by Puna, the cruise operator, for a huge buffet that included banana pancakes, sweet potato, breadfruit salad, breadfruit chips, lasagne, tuna, sausages, bread, coleslaw, lettuce, cabbage and rice fritters and a pawpaw curry. A massive feed and all very tasty.
The island is famous for having a post office… and nothing else. So we presented our passports and got a nice souvenir stamp.
We then hopped back on the boat and returned straight to the dock. We were driven direct to the airport, and as planned the bags turned up minutes later. The check in was easy, the plane was on time and we had beautiful views of the lagoon as we headed back to Rarotonga.
We arrived at 6pm, shattered after a hill climb and snorkelling and headed for Aquarius Backpackers hostel, just across from the airport. It was very cheap and great to get a shower and freshen up. We got into the well partitioned dorm beds before 7pm and were then woken by the helpful and friendly security guard at 2am. At NZD$18 for the stay it was great value and we both managed to get some sleep.
Having said that, we were both very groggy so were relieved that the check in was hassle free and the flight was on time. Breakfast was served almost immediately on the flight at around 5am – fresh fruit, a muffin, tea and coffee, but we both dozed off again afterwards. Because of this, the 4 hour flight seemed a fraction of that and suddenly we were in New Zealand.
