Christmas on Aitutaki

A few days after our "legal" wedding with Joni, Mariah's mom, we were met with other reinforcements to enjoy a short trip out to an outer island called Aitutaki for Christmas. We were joined by my parents (Jean and Jeff), sisters (Anne and Emma), friend (Al) and Mariah's Dad and girlfriend (Ray and Lorri).

Aitutaki is a pristine island a few hundred km away from Rarotonga, the main island of Cook Islands. Due to the island's origin as part atoll and part volcanic, it has formed a partial cauldron creating a beautiful lagoon where the water is only 30m deep. It makes for spectacular shades of blue and an idyllic setting for swimming and snorkeling.

After traveling for over 6 months, being surrounded by friends and family every minute of the day felt a bit overwhelming, and yet very fulfilling at the same time. Our bungalows were positioned on a beautiful beach that sat between the reef and lagoon where we were able to snorkel and sunbathe. Our beach was also the perfect place to enjoy an evening meal, drinks, and an occasional cigar.

Christmas Dinner
After being on the island for less than 24hrs, we had to scramble to put together a Christmas dinner for the 10 of us on a small atoll in the middle of the Pacific. Everything turned out perfectly...we were able to purchase some meat and veggies at the local market and put together a fine island meal. In Cherniss/Martin fashion there was food for 20, so we were able to invite our British neighbors, Glen and Laura, for dinner and drinks. The back drop felt nothing like Christmas at home but none were complaining :)

Hiking/Biking around the Island
Once settled in, and with Christmas behind us, everyone set out to explore the island with our newly rented car and motor scooters. Ray and Lorri headed out first on their wild tour while the rest of us settled into the island flow and eased out the door much later :) We headed first to the highest peak on Aitutaki for a short hike and to take in the breathtaking views of the lagoon below. Following our exploration of the hills, we got comfortable for the hour long motor tour around the island. Don't get the wrong impression...this little atoll is only several km around, but many of the roads are not paved and we also wanted to take our time for photo ops. The trip around the island gave us all some time together while enjoying the slow island life style.

While my Dad and I rode around on the motor bikes, my friend Al was stuck in the tiny car with my mom, Mariah and Joni because he skidded on gravel and bailed on the motorbike on the first day of the trip - bummer! He got himself a nice island "tattoo" that he had to deal with the remainder of the trip. The real bummer is that after he went home two weeks later, he found out he got a small fracture that was causing a considerable amount of pain, sorry buddy! In spite of it all, he powered through and had a great time...and provided some much needed guy time for me after 6 months with just Mariah. ;)

Lagoon Cruise
The highlight for everyone was on our full day lagoon cruise. We chartered a boat "Wet and Wild" for the day to explore the surrounding islands in the lagoon. We headed out at 10am island time (10:45am) for a day of snorkeling, island hopping and lunch with our captain Quinton. Our first stop was the giant clam area where we were dropped in the water amongst clams the size of our motor bikes. Every one got into it and was having fun diving down and exploring these huge creatures. There was even a black pearl farm nearby that we could see underwater.

After clam swimming, we headed to another large coral outcropping with tons of fish... and my mom's favorite, a huge giant eel that came out to enjoy the feast of the head and tail of what was to become our fish lunch (Quinton was cleaning the fish nearby).

Mariah and I had the opportunity to follow a Cook Islands tradition of planting a coconut tree on Honeymoon Island, a small island that is pretty much just sand and coconut trees. We had a lot of fun taking photos (none with our camera, but we will try and get some to post soon) and exploring the island before lunch.

After Honeymoon Island, we headed to One Foot Island where some of the episodes of "Survivor- Cook Islands" was filmed. We enjoyed an amazing fish lunch cooked on an open flame by Quinton before heading home. We also had a chance to head outside of the lagoon for one last short snorkel.

All in all, Aitutaki was an amazing experience for all (even Mariah and I who have been on small islands for the last few months). We were all able to chill out enjoy each other's company before the wedding festivities absorbed us all.