Here are a couple of pictures of an L400 I shot on Rarotonga. The slogan on the license plates is "kia orana", Cook Islands Māori for "hello". The equivalent in New Zealand Māori is "kia ora". Either way, pronounce it as one word, and trill the r.

- L400, front view. Rarotonga, Cook Islands.
- L400 front.jpg (62.74 KiB) Viewed 3138 times

- L400, rear view. Rarotonga, Cook Islands.
- L400 rear.jpg (63.73 KiB) Viewed 3139 times
Our rental car in New Zealand was a Ford Falcon XR6. Aussie old-school: inline 6 in the front, rear wheel drive. Nice.

- Aussie Ford Falcon, rental car in New Zealand.
- Falcon.jpg (56.64 KiB) Viewed 3133 times
I went for a flight in this critter, a Cessna 180, from Hood Aerodrome, Masterton, New Zealand. Kerri the instructor did the taxi and takeoff, then handed the plane over to me at about 2000 feet, we flew over the Wairarapa Mountains, saw Wellington off in the distance, saw both the mountains near Lake Taupo and mountains over on the South Island, and flew along Cook Strait. I flew the approach down to circuit altitude and Kerri showed me some circuits, then taught me how to taxi a taildragger. You can't see over the cowl on the ground, so you have to zigzag along, just like WW2 footage of pilots taxiing Mustangs and Spitfires.

- Cessna 180 at Hood Aerodrome, Masterton, New Zealand.
- Cessna.jpg (33.53 KiB) Viewed 3133 times
It was winter in New Zealand, with frost overnight. The Cook Islands are the archetype of a South Pacific island, with white sand beaches and palm trees. It was broken cloud the morning of the eclipse, so we experienced it more than we saw it. Wild light effects on the clouds and it got really dark during totality, with a persistent cloud bank in exactly the wrong place that only let go for a few minutes after
third contact, showing us the Sun growing from a sliver back to a fat crescent. Next time: Queensland, 2012.
D:5s are very cool in real life. I saw a couple in New Zealand.
With all the best will in the world I still think taro tastes like cardboard, and the ukelele is a practical joke that got out of hand.
...laura