Happy evenings on Rarotonga

I really have enjoyed my life here with young around the world travellers, mainly girls from many countries like Jo,Lisa,Rosemary, Maddy from England, Julia and Karin from Germany, Sara and Elisa from Italy and Manuela from Rumania etc. Happy life really.

Vara's Beach House, Rarotonga

I have now been 4 days in this marvellous place at the most elegant part of the island, Muri Beach. According Lonely Planet"s comments in their 2003 edition this guest house would not be advisible. However, I totally disagree because Vara's Beach House is very clean ,perfectly silent after 11pm and having all necessary facilities. All of those many, mainly young people I talked with were very satisfied with their existence here. I especially like to thank the most beautiful person,charming Moana ( Moana means ocean )at the reception for her help in different cases.
I just heard that Lonely Planet has totally changed their opinion about this place in their 2006 edition, being now very positive.
I also must recommend the Yacht Club and those two nearby hotels for their excellent kitchens.
I tomorrow fly to Aitutaki for two days, before leaving for New Zealand very early on Saturday morning.

Rarotonga , Cook Islands

I again stepped 24 hours backwards when coming here a couple of days ago.I got a tiny room at a backbaggers hostel after spending the first night in an expensive bridal suite. However this Vara's Beach House is with it's location perfect. Direct at Rarotonga's most beautiful Muri Beach. It was a rainy day yesterday but nearby bars had nice drinks and fantastic food. Today paradise was at it's best.
I still like to send my best good luck wishes to two Irishmen Paul and Simon, both 28, probably in San Francisco now, whose last two weeks in their around the world are left. Their journey also takes one year but they were working in Australia for 8 months. Also my best regards to sweet Asinate, who at her 25th birthday made overhours to help me with the cruel internet connection on Fiji.
I am staying here until Saturday but visiting most probably Aitutaki Island before heading to Auckland, New Zealand for longer time.

Travelling in paradise with the best friend

I came a couple of days ago back to Fiji, but now to the other side of the island, where I did stay last week.
Sometimes I do feel myself very lonely, and then my iPod is the best friend. I have there some 600 melodies of my favourite artists from 40's to 70's. These mostly romantic jazzy tunes are from singers., who are to my youngest readers totally unknown. The name Sinatra is probably well known, but how about with names like Mel Torme,Frankie Laine,Vic Damone, Peggy Lee, Dinah Washington,Eydie Gorme or Mamas and Papas, Boswell Sisters or Four Freshmen etc.. Those tunes bring me back to the days long ago.
It's the same thing ,what happens with the taste or smell. You can suddenly really remember forgotten times. Just something like this happened to me yesterday. I have been searching for as good spaghetti bolognese I did eat 44 years ago in Rhodes, Greece.After at least one thousand bologneses in best Italian ristorantes or five star hotels around the world, I experienced it here.
Yesterday evening I met a very nice n pretty dark skinned lady which I thought she was Fijian Indian.However,when I asked her where is shes from ,Iwas very supprised that she was Swedish, Maria 30,adopted from Sri Lanka when she was a baby.Now she was immigrating to Auckland ,New Zealand.And she wished that we could meet when I will arrive to Auckland.
Today I had a most wonderful day in a paradise.I booked myself on a day-cruise with the schooner "RA MARAMA" built 1950.From the begining of the cruise from the 60 participants,I was selected to cruise chef for KAVA ceremony,later ,I also had some formalities in this position.It was an interesting day with many nationalities I met there.Anyhow, the most interesting person I met was a beautiful Japanese lady who lives here in Fiji,Tomoni Kumagai 32.Since I coudnt remember her name ,I called her Moomin and she really liked it.
It was a day full of sunshine,swimming, great seafood and drinks (in my case,good Australian red wine).

Nuku'aloofa, Tonga

I just yesterday came here , and I am leaving back to Fiji tomorrow, but to Nadi, not to resort near Suva, where I spent joyful and lazy days. Tonga is clean and friendly too, however a bit boring. I have a most wonderful apartment of three rooms
and all facilities, including a fantastic King size bed. This accommodation is maybe
the best I had during this trip, having a great view to ocean from both bedroom and
living room, and from balcony of course. I can look movies 24 hours a day, or play
with their CD-player my new Mexican music. Fridge also has necessary drinks.
This remainds me very much Margarita Island in Venezuela, over six years ago, where I also sat on the balcony looking the ocean, and playing my new South American music , and excellent local rhum.
It seems that I left the Caribbean and Caye Caulker in good time. Now monster hurricane Dean is going to hit those atolls anytime, and I can only hope that my friends over there have been safely evacuated to mainland Belize.

Around the bars of the world

Because my journey is more or less concentrated to study the different living styles in the bars of selected locations, I also meet the most interesting people of the world with their refreshing thoughts about anything.
So I still like to send my best regards to Frenchy in Honolulu, who tried to meet me again without success several times. I also like to send my best regards to "Maddog" Gary Derks from Netherlands, and to the honeymooners David 40 (Welsh)and beautiful Esther 31( Irish )Tidy, all in Honolulu.
How it does happen, here also my social life is mostly concentrated into the bar of this fantastic resort,in communications with the local people or those immigrated here mainly from Australia or New Zealand.
Of course there are also pretty waitresses, and my favorites are Luisa 29,and Lati 21. Not to mention a very pretty student Meredith 20, a traveler from Minnesota.
Yesterday evening however there was a big surprise. I was introduced to a strong good looking man. I did not believe my ears after hearing his name, and I had to ask where is he from. I am Risto Harmat from Saaremaa , Estonia. I just laughed amused,and said , that you most probably can talk Finnish. Sure, he answered, I was studying in Turku in marine school for two years. And when he really understood that I am a real Finn , he almost broke my ribs, when hugging me. Risto, now 35, left the nordic hemisphere, when he was 20. He was now living here very satisfied for years earning as a skipper of a fishing boat. We then had together a very wet evening until the bar was closed.

Uprising Beach Resort, Viti Levu, Fiji

When I yesterday left Honolulu I was 12 hours behind my native Finland's time. Now here in Fiji I am suddenly 12 hours ahead, because crossing the GMT zone. It was the most wonderful flight over the Pacific, not just because the Fiji based Air Pacific was the friendliest airline I can remember, but listening at landing to Christmas Islands or with the other name Kiribati, the fantastic tunes of Valse Triste by the greatest Finnish composer Jean Sibelius performed by Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra under dirigent Hellmuth Karajan. I must say I had tears in my eyes because only we Finns know, what Mr Sibelius means to us, as an exsample with Finlandia, Karelia and Tuonela and with his beautiful Christmas song En etsi valtaa loistoa.. His works are the symbols of our freedom and existence.
I then was naturally checking the resort's bar after arriving here, and the very handsome dark skinned bar tender introduced himself as James Johansen, after asking me,if I would be European. He told me, that his greatgrandfather came from Denmark, and wanted to know if I could tell him something about this far-away country. I did try my best.
He also told me, that there are a lot of Johansen's on other islands too. Well, quite a man this greatgrandfather.
Trough this I remember a most powerful man on American Samoa, not too far away from here, I met over 30 years ago. He practically owned whole island, and the U.S. governor usually asked his advice, when troubles with local people. He was born in Minnesota sometimes early last century from Finnish emigrants, but had been living in
South Seas already over 40 years. The awesome thing was. that he was speaking correctly very good Finnish, even he had not used the language once before meeting me, and since his mother died 1945. His name was, if I still remember it ,Dr. Muukkonen or very similar, typical Finnish name.

Honolulu, Hawaii

This is my fifth day here, and I have taken all these days very easy.
There are several reasons for it. I am carelessly used my credit cards being now far over my budget, you have let your liver to rest, and Honolulu is not anymore so much fun for me as it used to be during 70's and 80's, when I visited this city many times. Everybody admits that this place has changed a lot, you can easily see it, but maybe me too.
It is still the most friendly city in U.S., for exsample I do not remember when a bank service anywhere was so friendly and helpful than in Bank of Hawaii.
When my friend Balasz heard that I am in Honolulu, he immediately sent me a message to contact his old friend Frenchy. I called him, and he commanded me immediately to show up at The Hawaiian Yacht Club. I did ask him, how would I recognize him , and he just gave a simple answer, everybody knows me here, ask anyone. So it did happen, it's that guy with two ladies at that corner table. We immediately found eachother symphatetic, and had good stories and a lot of beers with a lot of laughs. He introduced me to many of his friends maybe to everybody there, and I really felt myself like at home. Frenchy's, real name is Rolf Luttgau from Braunschweig, Germany, but he left his home country over 40 years ago, and had a strong accent, when talking German. I asked why they call you Frenchy, his answer was, look they call this guy Dutchy, but he's a German too.
Then everybody wanted to introduce me to the Chef of H.Y.C. He was a very nice guy,
a Swedisch speaking Finn, Goran Streng, who had been working in many first class hotels allover in the world as chef.
The best things here here are absolutely the great restaurants, especially the Japanese. I did visit the Benihana of Tokyo and Kobe Japanese Steak House and both
were mouth-watering experiencies, maybe I did enjoy Kobe even more. I only drank ice water with the meals as I did not like to spoil the taste of those tender delicaties.
By the way, who knows what is Humuhumunukunukuapuaa? This word has inside it three Finnish words , and could be translated into English like Funfunsleepsleephelp!
It is a small fish existing in Hawaian waters only!
Most tourists visit here The Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbour, which is a most
dramatic but beautiful place. But very few of them knows that without Elvis Presley's concert here 1961,it probably never had been possible to build the monument. He donated totally almost $55,000. for this project.
Day before yesterday I met at Hilton Hawaiian Village , a nice young man John,27 working for Hilton. We had a chat for a while, and when he heard about my journey, he immediately said that I should write a book. He was the third person in 24 hours who expressed that. A day before a lady ,Bunnie Hollinger at H.Y.C. had said the same, and then I had a call from Finland, Heidi Lund a friend over 30 years told that to me too.
Well, tomorrow I shall leave Honolulu, if hurricane Flossie agrees with it.

Antigua, Guatemala

Sometimes during the afternoon yesterday, I saw very dark clouds covering the sky, and I knew it`s going to rain heavily in any moment. Of course I looked for the next convenient bar in the neighborhood, and the first big drops were falling down, when I entered into The Black Cat or El Gato Negro. There I soon started to talk with a slender Swiss lady from Geneva, Laurence 33. After the rain was over she went shopping because leaving for home today. We had a nice chat and I got a new reader.
I already knew, where I was going to spend my evening. I had met earlier during afternoon a Tennessee born Bill Harris from Nashville, who with his wife Maria did run a beautiful rustic restaurant La Peña de Sol Latino since one year, with live music every evening. I had a best Fillet Mignon of my trip with excellent Chilean house red .Mario Guerra sang and played guitar with Bill on congas. Beautiful Maria II, 25 from New Jersey served , and when free, she gave me strong shoulder massage, which I still can feel very well.
I also met there pretty Lucy Kurtz 22 from Michigan , whose mother was a Finn with common Finnish surname Koivunen. I told her that the name could be translated as Little Birch. She plans to visit Helsinki next December ,and I said that my sons most probably could show the city to her. Her boy friend Thomas Haider 22, from Austria might just acommpany her.
Tonight I shall listen there some Cuban music.

Tikal, Flores and Antigua in Guatemala

After a very stormy night at Caye Caulker,I yesterday morning at 7.30 left it by speed boat to Belize mainland. During that night I several times thought that this tropical storm would take my cottage and me with it.Then after 7 ours of travelling I finally reached Tikal, the ancient city of Mayas. Nothing went as promised by the probably Pakistani travel agent but on the other hand it was an interesting journey
trough beautiful Guatemala.
Tikal was discovered in the jungle 1848 and opened to public 1956. It´s history covers years 1500 B.C. to 925 A.D., when the city was mysteriously abandoned. It is also today really in the middle of a jungle as a protected area because of it´s rich fauna and flora. It will be closed every day at 6PM until next morning. There were on the road warnings of cougars or panthers and snakes. I found Tikal much more exciting than Chichen Itza in Mexico. I then took a shuttle to Isla de FLores,where I had a romantic dinner on a lake restaurant by myself. Three hours later I sat again in a bus for all the night on my way to Antigua via Guatemala City, and arrived here at 6AM.this morning. I soon found a very simple hotel for two nights for US$ 6. only. I got the room immediately and went to sleep for 3 hours.
I also had slept on the bus 5 to 6 hours, so I did not need more sleep anymore.
Now I am exploring this very colonial looking small town and enjoying good local Gallo cerveza.

Swimming with sharks and sting rays

I yesterday had once again an amusant evening. First I met in my favorit Sports bar two charming ladies Brianne 30 and Elizabeth 28 from Washington, DC. Brianne had visited some years ago my home town Helsinki, and her comments were superb. She said she could have stayed there forever. Very soon after they had left, a young local beauty Madoy Enriguez 22 (still for 10 days) came to me, asking if she can sit there and talk with me.She had problems with her boy friend and asked my advise.We had much fun together for three hours before she decided go home , not to get too drunk.
Today before I left for snorkeling I met her again briefly, and she was very happy. She told that my words did help her a lot, even she has not yet decided what to do with the boy friend.
Yes, a small international group went for big reef to look for fishes. We were snorkeling there for almost three hours in three different places. Only one shark, maybe one and half meter long ,a one meter long barracuda and a lot of sting rays around you, I even touched one of them. The biggest was for sure with it's tail over two meters, and they all were at least one meter long.They were very funny, and at one time I could count almost 20 of them.

Lazy day in paradise

It's been a beautiful day, a very relaxing one. Most of the day, after refreshing morning swim, I've been sitting with a cold beer in shadow places with the book my friend Balazs gave me,when I was visiting him. It tells terrible stories with sarcastic smile about his childhood in communistic Hungary.
When I yesterday started to count different nationalities on this tiny island, I now can add some more of those. Today I have been talking with English and Danish people. There is a very funny bar tender originally from Angola . A beautiful Dutch girl was adopted from Sri Lanka. And on the alleys I today have heard Japanese, Swedish, Spanish and Russian.