Rarotonga Musings

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A second visit to any destination is always a bit of a decider. Will it now become embedded in the travel itinerary or will it quietly slip from the agenda as a ‘yeah, we liked it but…”
Our current feeling is that Rarotonga is now dangerously close to earning its embedded stature.
A few clarifications required here;
We haven’t been to Aitutaki even though everyone says we should - more beautiful, even better beaches, more peaceful etc. But who needs another flight? We haven’t been to Samoa. Many people say you’re not missing much. Others say you’re missing the real Pacific.
We have been to Fiji but not for many years. Through the growing years of Olivia and Ted Fiji was the embedded Pacific destination for the Thorps. But now we don’t need nannies, kids clubs, buffets - oh and coups -we find we don’t really need Fiji either.
In truth, in the middle of a harsh New Zealand winter, Fiji perhaps has a guarantee of the warmer weather - especially around Denarau. But it also has the guarantee of big resort after big resort and on the mainland anyway, nothing particularly interesting or attractive in between. And there is an awful lot of in between.
Let’s be honest, Rarotonga is not the Seychelles or Maldives or St Tropez either. But it is something. It doesn’t feel lost and barren and slightly sad like much of Fiji does. It feels quite busy and industrious. With everyone seemingly getting somewhere because of something to do - on a scooter if a Rarotongan and on foot if a chook. The only exception to this industriousness are the dogs which sit slightly bemused on the side of the road watching all this activity fly by. Sometimes sadly more like flying into rather than flying by - resulting in an extraordinary ratio of three legged dogs. Both Rarotongans and chooks seem obsessed with raking over and rearranging strips of fauna that have fallen overnight from the abundant branches above. The chooks scratch around them and the Rarotongans set fire to them.
So where to stay? Simple question slightly more complicated answer.
It would be fair to say that the best beaches are around the Muri Lagoon area in the south. The slight problem is that word ‘south’. Having now scuttled several times in our little Nissan March Cabriolet from South to North chasing the sun, we are fairly sure through the colder winter months, the weather is slightly warmer, the clouds are less dense and the winds along the beach are just less, the further North you drive. The dilemma here is that the further north you head, the worse the beaches get.
The other consideration with the Muri area is that with more cloud and therefore probably more rainfall comes more vegetation. This combined with the fact you are facing south means the low winter sun skits shyly just above the high peaks behind and only makes it through the foliage onto the golden sand in patches. In fairness in many areas, those patches are very large. The ocean beyond on the other hand, sparkles and shimmers in a pale blue so bright it would be considered garish if anyone but Mother Nature had suggested it. If Rarotonga had a Parnell it would probably be Muri. At least one café serves great coffee and good breads. A small deli just up the road has an impressive range of dried Italian pastas, cheeses and sauces. Breads as good as Pandoro are baked on the premises.
The only other tiny piece of Parnell in raro is..
Taking this delicate balance of sun versus sand in to consideration it is our opinion that the best area to stay is between the Rarotongan in the south and Black rock in the North. This has you facing west and in to the setting sun. The East coast seems to struggle with finding sand to cling on to and is essentially a long stretch of beach created from big bleached lumps of washed up coral. We are heading back to Rarotonga in about a month's time. I will update then. If found this at all interesting please see my growing travel musings at travelthorp.blogspot.com

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