A Raro Life is a chronological recollection of stories from the six months I spent living in Rarotonga during the 2021 Covid lockdown. We’re at Mai’i. “My favourite restaurant on the island,” Amandine says. But she also said that about Mooring Fish Cafe. And Nautilus. And OTB. We’ve just been to yoga with Michelle. I’m

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A Raro Life is a chronological recollection of stories from the six months I spent living in Rarotonga during the 2021 Covid lockdown. I’m on the beach, reading. This is tradition now. Every morning. Bottle of water, Kindle, the sun. It’s not the prettiest beach, but it’s my beach. Three minutes walk. And always empty.

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A Raro Life is a chronological recollection of stories from the six months I spent living in Rarotonga during the 2021 Covid lockdown. It is exhausting to live with this skin condition. It’s exhausting to wake up and deal with it, it’s exhausting to talk about it, to have my life revolve around it, every

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 At first glance, The Zebra Crossing was just your regular hostel. Fifty beds, small lounge, small kitchen, little courtyard for the smokers. But like all good hostels, it was operated with love. And like all hostels operated with love, it became home.   It was Doniel who checked me in. The cheeriest of smiles, caramel skin, short

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You are reading Part 5. Click here to start at Part 1, or view all parts here. I’m not sure which one of us woke up first. Probably Grizzly. It had become tradition for me to lie in bed in the mornings, waiting for the sun to rise high enough to cook my tent until

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You are reading Part 4. Click here to start at Part 1, or view all parts here. He was sitting with his back to me, so I started with the outlines of his shoulders, then the back of his head, his shabby greying hair, then finally down his torso to his butt. It wasn’t often

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You are reading Part 3. Click here to start at Part 1, or view all parts here. The crowd was already huge when I arrived. I’d thought I was early. Thousands of people sat in a huge ring, surrounding the Temple of Ixam. It was scheduled to burn just after sunset. ‘Burning’ was talked about

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You are reading Part 2. Click here to start at Part 1, or view all parts here. The light woke me up. I was wrapped in three layers of clothes, expecting the desert night to be arctic, but I’d slept through the night comfortably. I hid inside my sleeping bag, staring at the peak of

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