This evening we said good-by to all of the friends we met on Rarotonga. We had a few beers and then did what all the locals did for fun on a Friday night. We hung out on the main road right next to the airport at the end of the runway and watched our plane come in. I took some video footage that came out OK, but doesn't really capture the magnitude of the event. Watching a huge jet coming straight at you, at what seems like a million miles an hour with it's wheels lowered to the point you feel like you can reach up and touch them is just amazing. The noise is tremendous and the jet blast that follows almost knocks you over.

After that we dropped off our scooter at the rental shop which was right across the street from the airport and then went over and said our final good-by's to everyone. We met some great folks and have plans to meet some of them in New Zealand so don't be surprised when you heasr their names mentioned again next month.

After good-by's we went through the rigorous security (I had metal coins in my pocket and the detector didn't even go off) and into the waiting area. After a short wait we boarded the plane only to sit on the runway for almost 30 minutes. Seems an over-zealous maintenance person tried to put 1,000 gallons of jet fuel into an 800 gallon tank. We had the local fire truck show up to hose off the area and give them the thumbs up before they dared even more the fueling truck out of the way. We held our breath when they fired up the engines because by then the entire cabin smelled of jet fuel. Not the final memory of Rarotonga we had imagined, but somewhat fitting. It's an island ... relax, don't worry, be happy.

Fiji in a few hours and the next leg begins!

Eric and Valerie