Market Day…..
For breakfast, Sangeet made fried tomatoes, mushrooms, potatoes which turned out to be mashed potatoes, fried onions and baked beans, we sat on the balcony whilst we ate the scrumptious breakfast.
Saturday morning is market day which is held on the west side of the town centre. Punanga Nui Market starts around 6am and finishes about 1pm, there you can buy pearls, clothes, fresh local produce at much cheaper prices than the shops, great smoothies and ready made food to eat there. We took the clockwise bus into town which stopped at the market. The temperature was around 30degrees C, perfect to have a smoothie, we chose mango and passion fruit it was delicious and very cooling. We had a wander around the stalls, the clothes sold here are floral in design and very bright colours. We bought some bananas which looked good and were much cheaper then the supermarkets most likely because these are home grown and not imported from New Zealand. Afterwards, we had a wander around the other stalls.
After the market we walked further into town and found a nice spot next to the beach. we sat there for a while watching the waves crash against the lagoon and topped up our tans. we are so black! Then we headed towards the information centre, we are looking to do the cross island walk from north of the island to the south and wanted to check guide prices, the guy at the information centre said that it is worth having a guide though the walk is well marked and it is not a must. He recommended ‘Pa’ who knows the land and its history very well. There was air conditioning in the information centre so we hung around chatting to the helpul and friendly tourist information rep before going back into the heat. he told us companies like McDonalds, Sheraton and Hilton are trying to get into the Cook Islands, though Rarotongans have managed to resist he said they are fighting a losing battle. It is good that there are no big chains here but I kept on thinking at least I would get free wifi if McDonald’s or Starbucks were here!
It was around 2pm, most things in town were closing, luckily Foodland was open so we topped up on a few items. After 1230pm there is no anticlockwise bus and the service becomes hourly therefore we caught the 3pm clockwise bus back to the hostel.
At the hostel, Sangeet relaxed on the balcony overlooking the beach and continued reading her book ‘A Walk in the Woods’ by Bill Bryson which we bought from Ferndale library for US$1! I tried to relax but found it difficult…..my mind never seems like it can relax. So I took out the garbage and had a wander to the Chinese restaurant to have a look at the opening and closing times.
When I got back Sangeet was sleeping on the balcony….as I was bored I made coughing sounds to wake her! When Sangeet woke up, she prepared crackers with sweetcorn relish which was very nice. She also made chickpea pasta and for dessert she had Watties strawberry yoghurt dessert, Watties is Heinz branding for Australasia, also the dessert is for babies (Sangeet enjoys baby food desserts!)
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