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Published: January 5th 2007
Muri Bay, Rarotonga
This is the view from our backpackers!On our way to the Cook Islands we flew past the dateline so we had the bizarre experience of re-living a couple of days! Basically we left Fiji on the evening of Saturday November 18th, and then landed in Rarotonga in the Cook Islands on the evening of Friday 17th November. So, we had 2 17th’s and 2 18th’s of November!
It was late when we landed and it was really windy and raining! On the flight they had even mentioned that we might have to land on another island because of the weather. Luckily, we landed on the right island for us - Rarotonga - but the weather was bad! We got the shuttle bus from the airport to our hostel. The room that we had was really nice and we just ‘crashed out!’
We were due to leave for another of the Cook Islands - Aitutaki - on the Monday. As the weather was still not that great we didn’t do an awful lot in the days before we went there. We spent the 3 days, walking and looking around the area. We were in a beautiful setting and the area had a nice feel to it.
We were at Muri Beach which was on the South East of Rarotonga.
On the Monday (20th November) we went to Aitutaki. The only way to get to the island is to fly so we went on a small propeller plane. It took about 45-50 minutes to get there. It was great to fly as we got fantastic aerial views of the island as we arrived. It was like sheer paradise - you could see the lagoon around the island so clearly and the water was so blue - it was beautiful.
At the airport we got picked up by the owner of the guesthouse that we had booked. The place was gorgeous - quite basic and rustic but it was decked out like a tree house and was right on the beachfront. There was an upstairs and a downstairs and we had the downstairs. The toilet block was separate but we had a shower at the back of the room - outside. It was great - very natural feeling!!! The owner was really nice and helpful too and he arranged a moped for us for the 5 days that we were due to stay. It got delivered
Transport to Aitutaki
Plane is the only way to get from Rarotonga to Aitutaki. to the guesthouse not long after we had arrived so we went out to explore. The island isn’t big at all so we drove around the whole thing in about 40 minutes. It was lovely and we instantly fell in love with the place. The weather had picked up too and was now lovely and hot. The moped was a good way for us to get around.
On the Tuesday we went on a day cruise of the surrounding islands. It was a whole day spent on the boat, touring around the lagoon and some of the islands, with a superb lunch included. The boat was quite full and we also met some lovely people on the cruise. The first island that we stopped at was Akaiami. We had half an hour to look around. It was also beautiful - the water was so clear and bright. The US Survivor was filmed in Aitutaki and this island we had stopped at was used to send the evictees to, and it’s where they would then spend all their time until the show’s finale (lucky things!) The huts that they used were in the most idyllic setting. We would have wanted
to have lost on the show on purpose just to go to the island!!! Next, the cruise took us to another part of the lagoon where we all got off the boat and went snorkeling. We spent nearly an hour snorkeling. There wasn’t a great deal to see but it was pretty. We had worked up an appetite which was good as they served lunch on the boat next. There was a beautiful mix of food - buffet style. There was a mix of barbequed meat, vegetables, salads and all kinds of fruit (including the loveliest tasting fresh passion fruit we had ever had). After lunch, the boat took us to One Foot Island. Another amazing beautiful island. We had longer to look around this one - about 2 hours. It had lots of sand banks and had several small islands surrounding the bigger one, so you could walk from one to the other on the sandbanks. It was a fabulous setting. It felt like sheer paradise. The island has its own post office so they sell stamps etc and you can get your passport stamped (which we did!) After One Foot Island we headed back to Aitutaki. To keep
us entertained, the boat crew put on some crab races. It was so funny - they had a huge circle marked out with rope on the deck and had about 15 crabs, with numbers marked on their backs. We all had to bet on the winner. It was hilarious! The day trip had been fantastic and we had thoroughly enjoyed it. The whole day there had been gorgeous views and the water was beautiful - it felt like it was all fake - too good to be true!
In the evening we got picked up as we were going to an ‘Island Night’ at one of the restaurants. The whole evening turned out to be brilliant. We had dinner - again a buffet style meal but with huge variety - and then after dinner the local people did a show of Polynesian dancing and music. It was really good and funny to watch. Karen even got dragged up as a volunteer (to Jamie’s amusement!) Some of the people that we had met and got on with on the day cruise were there so we had a good laugh with them. It was great.
The Wednesday we just spent
relaxing and enjoying the island. We went around on the moped for a while. There was an amusing moment to say the least when we decided to look around more. The bottom part of the island had no road and was just a dirt track. So, with our desire to explore fully we started down the track. The side we started at was an ok track and wasn’t difficult at all but as we went further round, the track was getting worse and worse. We persevered - sure that the bad, muddy track would soon become ok again. Wrong - it was getting worse still. At one point we were skidding all over the place and Jamie was doing all he could just to hold on to the moped! We went through quite deep mud and the bike turned on its side! We then decided it was best if Karen walked through the bad mud parts and Jamie would get the bike through. That was still a disaster as Karen got stuck in the mud and broke her flip-flop trying to get out! Defeated, we decided to turn back the way we had come, as we didn’t know how long
Paradise Really Exists!!!
The view up the beach from the treehouse. it would carry on for. By the time we got back to the decent part of the track we were in hysterics and completely covered in mud. The bike had mud halfway up it and all the bottom of our legs were covered. We looked hilarious driving back through the town caked in mud - especially as Karen was on the back with her legs sticking out trying not to get mud anywhere else, with her broken flip-flop in her hand!!!
On the Thursday we had another great day as Matthias (the owner of the guesthouse) took us out for the day on his sailing boat. Again, it was a whole day on the boat but, this time, we went to the other side of the lagoon. A huge cruise ship had stopped for the day just outside of the lagoon so; to begin with, Matthias took us out towards it and took the boat right around it. The cruise ship was absolutely enormous - we had never seen anything like it before - and we looked funny because the 3 of us on Matthias’s boat looked tiny in comparison to it (it swamped us!) After the circuit of
the ship we headed back into the lagoon. On the way we saw some green turtles which were amazing - so cute yet a couple of them were enormous (they must have been at least over a meter long). Back in the lagoon, Matthias put the sails up and we sailed to our first stop. We stopped at a perfect spot for snorkeling and snorkeled for a while. It was a lot better than the snorkeling we had done on the boat trip on Tuesday - just a lot more to see. There were giant clams of all colours and all sorts of coral etc. Then, after an hour or so, we moved on to another spot to snorkel. This time it was to a clam farm. They have started clam farms to grow clams because they were becoming extinct. It was fascinating to see them all growing - some were huge - others were in the cages still quite small and at the beginning stages. There were absolutely loads though so it was amazing. Next Matthias took us to Honeymoon Island. A beautiful, idyllic island. It’s very popular to get married there and that’s where the name came from.
Lagoon Island
One of the many islands surrounding Aitutaki (within the lagoon) - taken from the boat on our cruise day. We had some lunch on the island and had a walk across it. Then we got on the boat and sailed the short distance across to Maina Island. We all walked across the sandbanks to get to the island and then us 2 walked the whole way around the island while Matthias waited near the boat. It took us about 30 minutes to walk around and it was beautiful. Again, as with all the islands that we had visited, it was just fabulous. We could go on for ages about it but its hard to convey the beauty etc in words - it just didn’t feel real - it was almost too perfect! Maina island was the last stop so we sailed back to Aitutaki. It had been a great day. In the evening we went for a lovely meal at a local restaurant that had been recommended. On the way back to the guesthouse our moped got a flat tyre. We had to leave it (it was too hard to even push it) and start walking. It was pitch black as there was no street lighting and it would have taken about an hour or two (it took about
Lagoon Cruiser
The boat we had a fab day on! 15 minutes by moped as it was up in the hills). Luckily, some nice locals stopped and helped us. They knocked at the dive school nearby and got a lady to drive us to the guesthouse. It just proved it wasn’t all perfect though!!!
The next morning was time to leave. We were so sad to be going as it really had been paradise. We sat on our balcony for a while, taking in the last few moments of a fantastic view and place. Then we went to the airport and flew back to Rarotonga. In the afternoon we went to the main town of Rarotonga - Avarua. We looked around. The weather was lovely so it all looked much nicer than when we there at the beginning of the week!
The next day (Saturday) was our last on the Cook Islands. We checked out and then went to a café nearby and then into the town again. We were trying to fill time as our flight wasn’t until 10.30pm! We were planning on getting the local bus to the airport but in the afternoon it started absolutely throwing it down. We stayed at the guesthouse, willing it
Survivor Island!
Our first stop on the cruise - the evictees of survivor got sent here! to stop! There were a few people waiting there for the same flight as well. It stopped raining just in time so about 7pm we headed to the airport. As we waited at the bus stop - just as the bus was coming - it started raining again so we got slightly wet! Our flight this time was a big one. It would take about 12 hours in total and we were stopping for an hour or so in Tahiti, then onto LA to start the final country of our trip - the USA……………………………….
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ian
non-member comment
jealous
I am very jealous, you are enjoying yourselves too much.