Swaying palm trees, bright multi-coloured fish, beautiful fragrant flowers… and ukeleles. Ukeleles everywhere.
During
September 2002 my new husband and I set off from
Brisbane for our honeymoon in the
Cook Islands. Altogether, the trip lasted twelve days - we spent four nights on the main island of Rarotonga, then two nights on Aitutaki, one of the outer islands, before returning to Raro for two nights and finally spending two nights in
Auckland on the way home. We had booked all this through a travel agent which took a lot of the hassle out of it, and she also managed to get us some great deals since we were on honeymoon!
The Cook Islands is a group of 15 islands to the east of New Zealand and the west of Tahiti. The population was just over 18,000 at the last census in 1996 (www.cook-islands.com), and the main industries apart from tourism include coconuts, and the world famous black pearls. Each of the 15 islands is surrounded by coral reefs, making the group the ideal place to relax and get away from it all. That is, if you still have time after partaking in all the exciting activities there are on offer!
GETTING THERE
It took us about 7.5 hours total flying time to get to Rarotonga from Brisbane, flying Air New Zealand (which is a brilliant airline by the way – big seats, yummy food, friendly hosties). There are two international flights, both arriving and leaving late at night. One is the flight that we arrived and left on to and from Auckland, and the other is from
Hawaii. I’m not sure what the travelling time would be like from the UK via the US, but I would imagine it would be almost as long as flying time to
Australia (about 23 hours). But what you see when you arrive will be well worth the travel.
ACCOMMODATION
There is a variety of accommodation available on Rarotonga, ranging from self-catering rental apartments to pricy resorts with all the trimmings. We stayed at the Pacific Resort, rated 4 stars and located on the edge of Muri Lagoon, the only lagoon around the edge of the island. Rooms range from garden bungalows and beachfront bungalows, to a block of stylish beachfront apartments. We stayed in a garden bungalow, where there was champagne and fruit waiting for us as honeymooners as well as shell necklaces and flowers everywhere.
GETTING AROUND
It is quite easy to get around on the island. There is a ring road extending all the way around the circumference of the island (about 32 kilometres), and is well serviced by
buses travelling both ways all day. Taxis are also available in case you miss the last
bus. The most fun way to get around the island though, is via scooter! You can hire
scooters from most resorts, and then you must ride it to the police station in the main township of Avarua to get your licence. Basically they take you on a short ride just to make sure you grasp the basics of riding it. We hired one for 3 days and it was a brilliant way to get around and into the back streets where most tourists don’t go.
Getting around within the island group is a little trickier.
Air Rarotonga flies a few times a day in small aircraft to the other islands in the group such as Aitutaki and Mangaia, and if you can manage to get to one of them even for just a day trip, do. It is so worth it.
ACTIVITIES
For the people of the Cook Islands, tourism is their main source of income. For this reason, the place is extremely tourist-friendly and we found it very easy to organise things to do. One of the things we had wanted to do from the start was to
scuba dive off Rarotonga. There are a couple of dive companies on the island, but we went with Cook Island Divers. They were extremely friendly, professional and took us to the caves area just near the harbour at Avarua, where we saw white-tip
reef sharks as well as many types of beautiful fish, and even a moray eel! The coral was not as lovely as we had hoped though, as the island had been subject to an attack of Crown-of-Thorns
starfish a few years previously. The coral was just starting to make a recovery by the time we arrived, so hopefully by this time, two years later, the coral has made a strong recovery.
We also tackled the cross-island walk. The island, being a group of volcano peaks, is extremely mountainous in the centre, and one of the shorter peaks forms part of the cross-island walk. On every day except Sunday, a guided walk is given. We were encouraged to do the walk with the guide by others who said he was fascinating and that the track was so difficult to find that we could become lost without a guide. Unfortunately, the only day remaining we had on which to do the walk was Sunday. So, we found a book in one of the local shops explaining the route, and decided to try doing it ourselves anyway. The track is difficult to find in places, and the walk is extremely steep in the centre of the island, but the views are incredible and the rainforest is so different from any that we had seen before! It took us all day to do and we were so glad to relax when we finally arrived at the beach on the other side!
There are also the usual snorkelling, canoeing,
swimming and sailboarding available from resorts and other hire places. The shopping in Avarua township is mainly aimed at tourists with nick-nacks and ukuleles and so on, but there are some cute
clothing shops to buy your floral-print shirts and sarongs. Then of course there are the black pearls, beautiful and also rather expensive. Then, once you have exhausted all other activities, you can just relax on the beach!
NIGHT LIFE
We weren’t too sure about the night life since we were always so exhausted from our daytime activities that we stayed close to the resort at night. There are a few bars around Avarua and of course each resort has its own equivalent. As far as I know though, there are no nightclubs or anything for the die-hard partier. The islands are much too laid-back for that.
One enjoyable thing we did one evening was go to a traditional dinner at the Edgewater Resort, on the western side of the island. A fabulous dinner of traditional foods of all kinds was followed by some not-so-traditional but equally fabulous desserts.
Then, after we were fit to burst, we were treated to a show of traditional drumming and dancing, involving much hip-wiggling and coconut-bras. Great fun!
OUTER ISLANDS
If you do go to the Cook Islands, an absolute must-see is at least one of the islands other than Rarotonga. We spent three heavenly days on Aitutaki, and it was absolute paradise. You know all those pictures you’ve seen of tropical islands, palm trees swaying, turquoise water and endless sunshine? Did you ever imagine lying in a hammock between two palm trees over brilliant white sand with the crystal clear water lapping gently at the beach?
We stayed at Pearl Beach Resort (which has since been renamed Aitutaki Lagoon Resort and Spa), a
5-star resort on its own island (hey, it was our honeymoon so we were splashing out!). We had our own air-conditioned garden bungalow with the usual flowers and champagne, and the unbelievably beautiful beach not far away. Also available at the resort were beach-front bungalows and also the newest addition – over-water bungalows which quite possibly cost a pretty penny but look absolutely stunning.
Aitutaki is actually a group of small islands forming an atoll, and even though only the largest island is inhabited, it is quite easy to go to the other islands for some snorkelling or just soaking up the sun. We went on a lagoon cruise one day, which took us to the best sites for snorkelling, and also included and brilliant barbeque lunch on One Foot Island. Stunning!
COSTS
The Cook Islands currency is New Zealand Dollars. Things are generally more expensive than they are in New Zealand and Australia though, as a lot of food must be imported from overseas. Most main courses seemed to be between $20 and $30, which means a starter, main meal, dessert and a few drinks can add up to $100 quite easily.
At the time of writing, the exchange rate was NZ$1 = £ 0.355755 (http://www.xe.com/ucc/)
IF YOU GO
Here are some resources to help you plan your holiday in paradise…
~General~
http://www.cook-islands.com - the official website of the Cook Islands Tourism Corporation
http://www.ck - The definitive Cook Islands website – lots of info on accommodation, activities and culture
http://www.cookpages.com - Business listing for the Cook Islands
~Transport~
http://www.ck/edairaro.htm - Flights to other islands
http://www.cookpages.com/IslandBus/ - Island bus service timetable
~Accommodation~
http://www.rarotonga.pacificresort.com/ - Pacific Resort and Villas
http://www.aitutakilagoonresort.com/ - Aitutaki Lagoon Resort and Spa (formerly Pearl Beach Resort)
http://www.ck/aituthot.htm - Other accommodation on Aitutaki
And finally, if you want
to see some photos, visit our journal – http://www.ballofdirt.com/journeys/1299.html
A FINAL WORD
The Cook Islands is such a tiny, friendly place. Our holiday there was absolute paradise, although there was so much to do there we didn’t get a lot of time to lie around on the beach! But there is just something magical about the fresh sea breeze blowing in the palm trees, the sweet scent of flowers everywhere… heavenly.
Kia Orana - Welcome to Paradise 
