Some Of My Retirement Time Was Spent In The Cook Islands. Have You Been There?

Discussion in 'Travel & Vacation' started by Lon Tanner, Feb 23, 2020.

  1. Lon Tanner

    Lon Tanner Supreme Member
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    Hard for me to believe this pic was taken eight years ago when I was 77. It was a great two week stop off coming back to the U S from New Zealand.

    LON COOK ISLANDS.jpg
     
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  2. Holly Saunders

    Holly Saunders Supreme Member
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    ooh I spent 10 years living in the hottest part of southern Spain...I hope to god I don't get skin cancers. I wore factor lotion every day but it's hard to top it up all the time when you're sweating it off..

    After my morning swim I'd shower and then cover myself head to toe in 15 lotion... then during the course of the day I;d carry a small lip stick size lotion.. so that at least I could run it over my face after I sweated it off in high 90 degree temps all summer , but of course I wore sleeveless tops and shorts and bare legs and feet all year... can't keep stopping what you're doing in the middle of town to reapply sun factor lotion to your body... ..then I'd come home shower the lotion off, and jump into the pool again early evening..

    I've only been back from Spain for 8 years so but I do keep an eye out for any kind of moles or darker freckles ...

    My daughter lives also in Spain full time, and has been there 10 years..she's fair skinned so although her job is spent mostly outdoors, she stays in the shade as much as humanely possible as well as wearing high factor lotion... ( we're both very fair skinned)

    Good photo of you Lon, I suspect you miss those days in many more days than one...
     
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  3. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
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    I don't know what the temperatures are like on the Cook Islands or in Spain, but I spent twenty years in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas, where temperatures above 100 F were common, and it wasn't unusual for them to decrease by only a few degrees after the sun went down.
     
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  4. Shirley Martin

    Shirley Martin Supreme Member
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    It makes a nice picture, Lon. What's in that bottle you are holding? :)

    I have found that it's cooler with a cotton long sleeve shirt and cotton long pants. If I have on a sleeveless blouse and apply sunscreen, the sun blazing on my skin actually feels hotter.
     
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  5. Lon Tanner

    Lon Tanner Supreme Member
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    It's not about HEAT folks. It's about Ultra Violet Light. My Dermatologist tells me that the UVL in the Southern Hemisphere is much more intense. 20 minutes in the sun in NZ or Australia is like 90 minutes in California
     
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  6. Craig Wilson

    Craig Wilson Veteran Member
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    @Lon Tanner you look like I did a month ago when I dozed off in my brother's pool. I have not had sun burn like that for decades and exposure was no more than 20 minutes. When I applied some cream that evening to ease my soreness I had a strange tingly stinging, burning sensation. I had to throw myself under cold shower water to relieve it.
     
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  7. Lon Tanner

    Lon Tanner Supreme Member
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    A totally relaxing and beautiful place to spend a couple weeks.
    cook islsnds 4.jpg Cook Islands 2.jpg Cook Islands 2.jpg
     
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  8. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
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  9. Lon Tanner

    Lon Tanner Supreme Member
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  10. Hoot Crawford

    Hoot Crawford Veteran Member
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    Nope but I did visit Fanning Island a few years ago.

    Sorry, don't have a picture
     
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  11. John Brunner

    John Brunner Senior Staff
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    So how did you end up there. Lon? You did not have a Navy career as I recall.

    I gotta think there are retirement challenges as an ex-pat, although lots of folks do it (some retire to Costa Rica, while others surprisingly retire to Cuba, which I believe presents challenges in receiving U.S. Social Security payments.)
     
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  12. Lon Tanner

    Lon Tanner Supreme Member
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    I had homes in California and New Zealand for many years of my retirement and would spend six months of each year living at one or the other. The Cook Islands was a easy stop off going to or coming back from New Zealnd. Made stop offs and spent time in Fiji and Tonga as well.
     
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  13. Cody Fousnaugh

    Cody Fousnaugh Supreme Member
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    Sorry, we love mountains.
     
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  14. John Brunner

    John Brunner Senior Staff
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    So I guess that begs the question: how did you come to have a home in New Zealand?
     
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  15. Lon Tanner

    Lon Tanner Supreme Member
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    My second wife who I met here in California was from New Zealand.
     
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