Day 285, Year 1: Guest Log by Linda
Date: Saturday, July 29, 2006
Weather: Overcast and Rainy
Location: Avatiu Harbor, Rarotonga, Cook Islands

Judy is taking the day off. Well, actually, her mouth is still working. Judy’s ankle is still very swollen and we have ordered her to lay with her ankle up on pillows. It is not easy for her to just relax, but the 24 oz Big Kahuna beers seem to make it easier. I’ve told her she can order me around, but she is not to get up until the swelling goes down. Judy is allowing me to be a “guest” writer of today’s log.

We woke up to the sound of pouring rain. We all decided to roll over rather than face another day of rain. Finally, Mark got up to get our laundry off to the laundry mat. On the way home he stopped at the market and picked up five Belgian waffles. When he returned to the boat Judy got out the maple syrup she brought from home and we ate breakfast in the cockpit looking out at the pouring rain. The dark clouds and pouring rain are definitely not the picture of the south pacific we all dream of.

Determined not to let the rain get us down, Mark, Mike, Garrett and I went off to the market and shopping in town. We bought lettuce, tomatoes and peppers for dinner and stopped off at the waffle place for another waffle, this time with ice cream, bananas, chocolate sauce and raspberry sauce.

Once we got back to the boat, we decided to watch the rest of South Pacific so Judy could keep her foot up. Mark replaced a valve on the watermaker since he has already seen the rest of the movie. After the movie we watched slideshows of all the pictures we have taken so far. We laughed over many of the pictures remembering the last few days. Mark and Judy have been fantastic hosts and we are having a terrific time despite the black wall of clouds and the rain. We have had many fantastic meals, the best being the five star double decker tacos that Mark made tonight for dinner. Judy always makes sure Mike has a beer in his hand and they both make sure Garrett has a smile on his face.

Tonight we are going to stay in and play some card games and try to edit and organize more pictures. We hope that when we wake up tomorrow we will see the sun again, but if not I am sure we will still be having a good time here at the Handley Windbird Resort.