Atiu - Get Away From It All

Morning. A new day, a new way, a new place. Soon to be a new place. Between now and then only time to kill. The papers say we only have to check in half an hour before the flight. This seems a bit unusual to me - won't it take almost that long to go through security and board the aircraft? To my surprise, no. We fight with returning wheels to the rental place, then head across the road to the airport in search of the very closed cafe.
The airport is relatively bustling and the crew are efficient. Security does not exist for domestic flights here. In fact, they didn't even check our ID. We were welcomed onto the aircraft and given the fabulous front row seats. The pilot was on when we got there. The first officer closed the doors, told us to keep our seatbelts on, that the weather was fine, and to enjoy the flight. Apparently with Air Rarotonga we had two choices for aircraft - a small Saab, or the Bandit made by Embraer out of Brazil. We flew in the Bandit.
As soon as we were in the clear above the clouds, the pilots put a sun shield across the windscreen. The first officer proceeded to open and shut the window several times throughout the flight, which was as smooth as could be.