Raro's back!

For those of you who missed his post on a previous post, I took the liberty of cutting and pasting it here...

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Hi all!
I'm back, but will be so to a limited extent.

Thanks for all the nice comments! Never considered myself the "leader" of the branch, maybe of the Cook Islands mini-branch, and occasional mediator of disputes. But thanks for the nice thoughts. Not sure a "leader" is needed, but regional or country experts are well-known, and all point these out to new OP's, like looking for 5Waldos for micronesia, Laszlo for Vanuatu/PNG, IB, silvano and lots of others for Tahiti/Cooks. Yes, I know there are 20 or 30 more, all included in above posts I recommend as well. Is IB really a spy for the Canadian CIA? I would have thought you all would have chosen Tiki in Tahiti!! [one of my favorite former guests at SL!]

Have been basically traveling and bit and back in California, have not had a lot of time to check e-mails, and even less to scan the webs and the TT.

Yes, I've sold Shangri-La, to a nice couple from Australia. they seem to be keeping most of the same features, except they will be accommodating kids, so that's a change. they will also be offering more things like bar BQ's etc., things I didn't have time or energy to do. Also, it has a new name, Muri Beach Resort. From what I gather my manager's residence (where I lived)---right on the beach---is now one of their rentals, and if so, I would highly recommend it. Great spot, best view on all of Muri Beach. And no, I don't get commissions (too bad!).

As mentioned above, there is some minor contractual limit (normal stuff) on what I can comment on about Shangri-La, but in reality I never really mentioned it much during the 5000 posts I made over 7 yrs or so, so not much will change on that score.

I won't be on the TT very much, hard to say exactly how much. I was on alot as I checked my SL e-mail five or six times a day, and it was easy to just click on the TT link, etc. But I don;t check e-mail that much.

I do remember I joined many yrs ago when someone wrote "watch out for the sharks in the lagoon on Rarotonga." What an idiot. I replied that this was crap, the only sharks on Rarotonga were in the bars on Friday nights.

So, maybe I'll just jump in whenever there is a gross error, or have something unique to add.

When I joined, very few TT'ers had been to the Cooks, now there are a few dozen that comment on things, and I pretty much agree with most of what they say. So, there are plenty of you out there that can answer the Q's, give your good opinions, etc.

The only thing I noticed today was some new TT'er who set up a website about the Cooks. He was mentioned in an other post. I looked at his website, some cookislandsinfo.com or something, and it is mostly fluff, with lots of mistakes. It sounds like he got a lot of the general info either directly or indirectly from my Cook Islands Companion guidebook. But after that, when he gives his own opinions, he strays from reality, such as "Best place to stay is Avarua" What a crock! Someone else has pointed this out, so the red flag has already been raised, but I'd like to add to that flagpole, and suggest anyone reading his posts just ignore them.

So, glad to be abck, very part-time. I won't check the TT for weeks or maybe months on end, so I may not reply to anything said for a while, please don't take offense.

Regards to all!
Raro

Greg,

Thanks for posting this.

We wish him all the best.

Great to hear that Raro is doing well.

Wherever you are, Raro, thanks for your many thoughtful and informative posts and I wish you all the best!

Thank's for posting this as I did miss it. It's good to know we will still hear from Raro, even if it's only once in a while.

Raro who? :-P