I’m on a small island, called Rarotonga, in the middle of the biggest ocean of the world, the Pacific Ocean. Scarily, it’s the top of a volcano poking out of the sea. But, it hasn’t erupted for a very long time. Also, it’s so small that one day after breakfast I caught a bus to the town, played in the playground, and caught the bus round the rest of the island, all before lunch. I was glad because it meant I could go to the beach again. There’s lots of beach all round the island and a coral reef too. I’ve been snorkelling and seen lots of fishes. One day I had a pedallo boat and another day a canoe. I’ve spent all day in the water sometimes. It’s so warm! The beach near our house has a tiny island opposite and me and my sister paddle over to it and collect coconuts. They are really difficult to open. The men use a sharp stick and a long knife and inside there is milk to drink. The people here are Maori like I saw in New Zealand, but they’re not as scary. It was from here, a long time ago, that some sailed in big canoes to become the first New Zealand Maori. There was a canoe race yesterday. Lots of people paddling big canoes. When it had finished I was allowed to go in one and paddle. It was great fun! Arriving here was strange. When I got off the plane it was the day before I had left. I went back in time! I caught the plane on a Sunday and got off on the Saturday, so I had the Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning over again. Shame it wasn’t my birthday! My dad said we crossed the International Date Line, which means that now I’m waking up when you are all going to bed, the opposite to when I was in New Zealand.