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Published: November 28th 2008
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THE BEAUTIFUL COOK ISLANDS Oct. 26 to Nov. 4, 2008
Kia Orana - Hello!
And meitaki (thank you) to the wonderful and friendly Cook Islanders who gave us such a beautiful holiday time on Rarotonga and on Aitutaki!
Thank you Logan and Betty and Bruno for recommending we visit here! It was a fantastic 9 days!
We flew on Pacific Blue from Auckland to Rarotonga on Oct. 26th and crossed the date line so had Oct. 26th all over again, this time on the hot beach! Jake Numanga was playing the ukulele to welcome us (amazing man who meets all incoming and outgoing international flights, at all hours of the day and night!) as we entered the airport and a driver met us to take us to Aro’a Beachside Inn, at 1:30 in the morning!
Aro’a was the perfect place to stay for us. Just 11 units so a nice size and our host Jim Bruce is a laid back islander who, with his staff, created the perfect environment for relaxing and doing whatever we wanted which, for us, was a lot of swimming and snorkelling and walking on the beach and exploring.
There are
15 Cook Islands with a population of almost 20,000, over half of whom live on Rarotonga. I think at least that many again live in NZ and Australia. Rarotonga is the largest island and is very mountainous. We explored first on a 4X4 jeep tour with Tangaroa, which took us up and down the back roads; a group of 6 of us sitting in the back and an excellent tour guide driver. We saw ancient marae (ceremonial meeting places where tribal feasts and offerings were once held), farms, orchards, coconuts, breathtaking views. And the tour finished with a traditional feast for lunch! Incredible!
We toured the Island by bus for the first few days. Rarotonga is 32 km. in circumference and you either take the “Clockwise” bus or the “Anti-clockwise” bus. Perfect! We went in and out of a lot of shops in the main town of Avarua and to the wonderful Saturday Market where I bought 2 pareu or sarongs. And I wanted a flower headband for the Saturday night BBQ at Aro’a but the booth was all packed up so this lovely local older lady gave me hers, just like that!, for free - so very generous
and kind of her.
The Cook Islanders truly are so friendly and welcoming. The staff at Aro’a was all so lovely and helpful in making sure we had a perfect stay and in arranging tours for us. We had a fabulous Cultural Night at Highland Paradise with traditional singing and dancing and feasting.
And we splurged with a day in Aitutaki. The ad said: “Heaven in a day. Nine and a half hours of pure bliss…cruising, swimming, snorkelling in sparkling blue waters…relaxing over a barbequed lunch of freshly caught fish.” How could we resist? So we flew early in the morning from Rarotonga to Aitutaki, had a small bus tour of the island and its 8 villages, population about 1200, and then boarded our beautiful boat for the day. About 15 passengers. A perfect day of bliss for sure! Our photos tell the story.
For our last 3 days we rented a motorbike and drove all over Rarotonga on the outer and inner roads. Fantastic! Al had to take a test to get his Cook Islands driver’s license and of course he passed. Great fun to have our own wheels. We went out to many restaurants for
divine dinners and stayed home at Aro’a for divine dinners too, including Jim’s special BBQ nights!
We met very friendly Kiwis (is there any other kind?) too during our stay in the Cooks and were invited to come and stay with them as we travel the North and South Islands in our “spaceship” camper car. Thank you all! We are on our journey! Hope to see some of you again soon!
Oh yes and the snorkelling. Quite disappointing really. Nice clear water of course, but the coral was about 80 to 90% dead caused by nutrient overload from pig farming and pesticides and possibly some natural causes too. A great shame and one that the islanders are waking up to. The Al rating: 3 for coral, 5 fish, 7 water clarity.
Right now (Friday, Nov. 28) we are sitting outside in the sunshine in Bluff on New Zealand’s South Island. Heading today to Manapouri and tomorrow for a day on Doubtful Sound!
Hugs to each of you!
Al and Robin
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