we spent a nice 10 hours at LAX. we were going to stay in the airport, but after going through security we realized it really sucks. very few food options which are extremely expensive and not even a book store to buy a NZ guidebook. so we went out of the airport. a very friendly and enthusiastic security woman gave us good advise and told us how to get to an in-and-out via a parking shuttle. so we went there and found a baja fresh (burrito fix), trader joes (clif bars and chocolate), panera bread (free wifi), and a bargain bookstore with a NZ guidebook. pretty much we were in heaven. erick's friend ted and his wife jane cane out to meet us for dinner and took us to a ramen place, so pretty much we had the perfect layover.
rarotonga, the largest of the cook islands is beautiful. unfortunately we chose to go there during wet season, so it was really windy and cloudy the whole time with some showers so we didn't hang out on the beach or anything. the first day we rented bikes and biked around the island, 32 km. it was really beautiful with a nice lagoon and picturesque beaches. second day we did the cross-island track with a dutch girl staying at the same hostel. the trail was mostly through jungle, very steep and slippery and led to a big needle in the middle of the island with good views and ended at a waterfall.
we're now in new zealand, on the north island at the bay of islands. we decided to rent a car for our time here so we can climb and easily do hikes, etc. it's weird having a car again and driving everywhere. we are enjoying the english speaking everywhere and the friendly people. a week here on the north island then we take the ferry across to the south island for the remaining 3 weeks.
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