We pulled into Rarotonga (Cook Islands) this morning and faced the ship into the wind ready to anchor, but due to high winds and high surf, the Captain and port pilot determined it was too rough to transfer passengers safely onto the tenders and get us to shore, so are skipping this island. Too bad, it looked interesting and the beaches we could see from our terrace looked inviting and there are many trails to explore, lagoons to snorkel and shop to buy stuff.

Rarotonga is the most populated of the Cook Islands and juts up 14,750 ft. from the ocean floor, of which 2,140 ft. rises above the sea. The earliest findings of inhabitants of the southern Cook Islands dates to around 1,000 AD.

We attended a 10:00 AM enrichment program, with Special Interest lecturer, Dr. Bill McKay, on, “What you can see in the night sky.” His knowledge of astronomy is incredible and I cannot wait to star gaze with him on the upper deck late in the evenings as well as sit with him and chat about SciFi and pick his brain on exoplanets, since my novel Silversides is based upon Gliese 581 g.

We are on our way toTonga and hopefully better docking weather.