A week away from Aitutaki and now when I think of the island I picture blue waters and white sands, not sadness and destruction. It is difficult not to feel guilty that we have been able to escape the hardships on the island, but it is lovely to be in New Zealand with family and friends .
As the children and I left Rarotonga we saw the NZ Airforce Hercules land. It did half-a-dozen trips between Raro and Aitutaki carrying bob-cats, tents, water units and all sorts of things that were needed during the 5 days it took to arrive. To be fair, I understand that the plane had been waiting on standby in NZ all that time, waiting for a request for assistance from the Cook Islands. 
After waiting for 3 days without any indication when aid would arrive (while goverment officials did assessments) the tourism operators drafted a letter requesting specific requirements for assistance for the island. When that was hand delivered from Aitutaki to the NZ High Commission in Raro, it was devastating to be told that it was the first actual request for aid.
After waiting for 3 days without any indication when aid would arrive (while goverment officials did assessments) the tourism operators drafted a letter requesting specific requirements for assistance for the island. When that was hand delivered from Aitutaki to the NZ High Commission in Raro, it was devastating to be told that it was the first actual request for aid.
News from Aitutaki at the end of week 2 is that the kid's school has been condemmed, which is very sad. Classes are being held in the homes of two teachers, though I don't know what resources they might be using as it didn't look like much survived in the classrooms. There are tents appearing in gardens but power supply is still a major issue. Excellent news - the Aitutaki Game Fishing Club has re-opened and a big night is planned for tonight (Wed) which will coincide with Michael's farewell! All of the resorts have reopened, and I took 6 kids out on the lagoon with Bishops Cruises the day before we left and was amazed to see how well everything survived on the lagoon and One Foot Island. On the down side, the island had run out of petrol due to the number of generators being run - the ship should be arriving any time now with new supplies.It was good to see that NZ has not forgotten us - there was a good item on Aitutaki on TV ONE news tonight. Unfortunately we heard from Mayor Tango that the island is still waiting for a committment from the Cook Islands government on money for rebuilding - and absolute outrage.
One last pic - Sunset the night after Pat left.
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