The way New Zealand should be

Above: Cook Island domain names end in “co.ck”.

Due to crossing of the International Dateline we were back to Tuesday the 3rd of August!  One day before we left New Zealand …

We walked across the road from the small airport terminal for our overnight stay at Aquarius Rarotonga hotel.  It was a tidy place with a pool and seaview.  Just right for the nightstop.

The Cook Islands are like an extension of New Zealand.  Even though it is an independent nation, they use the New Zealand currency and their citizens use the New Zealand passport.

People speak with a New Zealand accent … in fact an easier-to-understand Kiwi accent than some of the people in some parts of New Zealand!

Many things are recognisable and familiar … most of the supermarket products are from New Zealand and there seems to be hardly any overcharging in non-touristy shops.  Eg. good New Zealand wine is very reasonable here.

But I wonder if they’re starting to look further afield to get better value for their New Zealand dollar …  I’ve seen original Nabisco Oreo cookies from China, plus toiletries and food brands that are common in Malaysia or Singapore.

At this time of year, it is heaven … it was neither too hot or too cool … what a change from the Auckland winter.  This is the way New Zealand should be, weatherwise anyway, during winter.