We awoke this morning at sunrise in Rarotonga to the sound of feuding geckos in our bedroom. Since we were up, Clint decided to go out and capture some images of the sun coming up over the Pacific.

Once Ryan wiped the sleep from his eyes, he grabbed one of the sea kayaks and went out to paddle to the small island (“motu”), land the kayak on the beach, and snorkel a bit.

But soon, it was time to depart Rarotonga. While we enjoyed our time there, we were really looking forward to our upcoming stay on Aitutaki … a small island about a 40-minute flight away. We made our way to the Rarotonga airport for our commuter flight Wednesday afternoon.

As we started our descent, the island appeared …

The blues and greens were incredible. After a couple short turns we landed in Aitutaki and pulled up at the islands tiny terminal.

We were greeted by a representative from Pacific Resort, where we’re staying on Aitutaki. We were given very fragrant leis and taken to a comfy little waiting area the resort has inside the airport while our baggage was off-loaded. Then we were on our way down the road five minutes or so to the resort. As you can see on our faces, we were happy to be here.

We were greeted by the general manager of the resort, given some coconut drinks …

… and then shown to our bungalow.

After settling in a bit we went snorkeling out in the lagoon and then got ready for our dinner reservations in the resort’s restuarant. It was a spectacular meal in a stunning location.

After sunset, while eating dessert we enjoyed the fire dancers putting on a show below us. It was the perfect ending to a South Pacific day.

Tomorrow night, for New Year’s Eve, we have reservations back in the resort’s restuarant for their bash, but we first plan to take it easy and relax most of the day. Then we have a lagoon snorkeling trip planned for the 1st.