The Cook Islands

Thursday 27 June

We’re flying to the Cook Islands at about lunchtime today, so once we’ve had breakfast and got the bags repacked we walk over to the airport and check-in.  The flight takes a little under 2 and a half hours.  We’re on a little Air Tahiti 44-seater plane, with a grand total of 13 passengers.  We’re pretending it’s a private jet.

Ah, the Cook Islands.  It’s like New Zealand but on a tropical island – same accents, currency, relaxed attitude and dry humour.  It’s my idea of perfect.  As an added bonus, delicious NZ wines and beers are readily available.

We’re limiting ourselves to just one Cook Island: Rarotonga.  In terms of scenery it’s very much like Mo’orea – with a rugged, mountainous interior ringed by soft, white-sand beaches and enclosed by a gentle, blue lagoon.

It takes no time at all to get through immigration and grab our bags.  We’re greeted with sweet-as-candy hibiscus flowers and whisked to Kura’s Kabanas where we’re staying.  It’s only 12km away, but bearing in mind that the island is 32km round, that’s about a third of it done. 

Our accommodation here is about half the price of anywhere we stayed in French Polynesia, and it’s also the nicest.  We’re in a lovely cabana with a full kitchen looking out onto the lagoon with some little islands just offshore. 

There’s a friendly dog, an even friendlier cat, some gorgeous chickens and some entertaining land crabs.  The only downside is the lethal mosquitos.

The rest of the afternoon soon disappears in a haze of unpacking, exploring, (ahem) ice-cream eating and (double ahem) happy hour beers in a nearby beach bar.  We’ve not had a chance to stock up on provisions, but we have stumbled upon a busy Vietnamese/Thai restaurant.  The food is delicious and I’ve not seen this many vegetables in a long time – the perfect antidote to my growing bread and cheese habit.

Janet adds: we’ve somehow managed to lose the external hard drive we were using to store all our pictures L - looks like we’re going to have to go round again.

Friday 28 June

It’s Nick’s birthday today.  Needless to say he’s swamped by presents and cards… or not.  There’s a card from his mom, and that’s it.  I’ve bought him a present but posted it home so that he can’t even open it.  There’s no phone signal and no internet, so he can’t even pick up any messages.

Still, there are some treats in store for him.  Everyone on the island seems to have a scooter (or 3).  There’s really only one main road that does a lazy loop round the island and scooters are perfect for buzzing around on.   Clearly we need to get ourselves one, so that’s the first stop this morning.  A guy at one of the local companies sorts us out.  His best advice: don’t park under coconut trees.  Nick will be driving and doesn’t hold the correct license for the 125cc scooter we’re getting.  This is easily rectified with a quick practical test – he has to drive up and down the street without falling off.  Helmets don’t seem to be an option and certainly aren’t a legal requirement.

The one legal requirement is that Nick needs to be issued with a Cook Islands driver’s license.  It’s a simple administrative task for what turns out to be quite a nice souvenir. 

With that taken care of we spend the rest of the morning exploring Avarua, the Cook Island’s tiny capital. Despite its smallness it still has one of the better selections of shops, restaurants and groceries we’ve seen in a while.

In the afternoon Nick fancies taking the scooter for another spin (he’s dreaming of bandanas and leather jackets already), so we set off in the other direction. For most of the way we’re hugging the coast, driving along long stretches of beautiful beach.  We stop to stretch our legs and to buy a fresh coconut to drink. 

Almost before we know it we’re all the way back round. 

It’s time for beer and some of the fresh food we’ve bought.

Janet adds: Although the currency here is NZ dollars, there are a few Cook Islands coins and notes, including a triangular $2 coin.  It doesn’t get cooler than that.

Saturday 29 June

We start the day with an early morning trip into town to the Punanga Nui Market.  Visited by locals and tourists alike this open-air market has a mix of fresh produce, jewelry, crafts and tasty eats with a festival atmosphere.  We fill up our shopping bag and then buzz back to our room.

The lagoon where we’re staying is so shallow that we can often see dogs wading out right where the waves break against the reef, a surreal sight at first.  The nearest island is only a couple of hundred metres offshore and so we get into our swimmers and wade out to it. 

It’s a gentle sand caye with lovely views back over Rarotonga. 

From here it’s an easy swim over to the next island.  The water is beautifully clear though there’s not much to see except sea cucumbers.  Once we’ve had enough we retrace our steps.

I head out for a quick run in the afternoon and that’s about it for the day.

Janet adds: I didn’t think it was possible, but the Cook Islands are so laid back I think we’ve just moved into an even lower gear.  But with views like this it’s hard to motivate yourself to do much of anything.

Sunday 30 June

It’s a lovely sunny day today.  Our hotel provides free kayaks so we grab two and head out into the lagoon. 

We set our sights on the furthest island.  It doesn’t take long to kayak over and once we’ve stashed our boats on the rocks we jump in for a snorkel.  There are big coral outcrops here and plenty of fish to keep us entertained.  By the time we get back the morning is about gone.

In the afternoon we can’t resist taking our scooter out for another little spin.  Most of the island seems to be out for a Sunday afternoon ice-cream so what’s there to do but join them?

I try to redeem myself with another run before slipping back into the pleasant lethargy.

Monday 1 July

We wake up to the sound of rain – serious rain like we’ve not seen since Easter Island.  It stops within an hour or two, but the day remains gloomy.

Like most of the islands we’ve been to, Rarotonga has a decent sized population of semi-stray dogs.  The Esther Honey Foundation is a volunteer organization that provides care for the island’s animals and also offers free neutering/spaying.  Their efforts have reduced the dog population from 6000 to a more manageable (and happier) 2000.  They welcome visitors and they always have dogs that need walking.  It’s a match made in heaven as Nick is always looking for a dog that needs a walk. 

As soon as the rain tapers off we head over to their offices where they’re more than happy to hand some dogs over to us and point us in the direction of the beach.  We have a lovely half hour or so walking our dogs along the beach – hopefully the dogs enjoyed it as much as Nick did.

By the time we’ve stopped in town for a few things and got back to our home (as I’m starting to think of it) we’ve done another full spin around the island.

If anything the weather is getting worse, so we spend the afternoon watching a film on our ‘home cinema’.

Tuesday 2 July

We’d hoped for a return to beautiful days today, but although it’s a bit brighter than yesterday the wind is howling gales.  It’s certainly not beach weather, but it’s not really anything else weather either.  Apart from a brief trip into town we while away the day befriending random dogs and spending a fortune on slow wifi.   The hard drive we lost also contained our entire selection of entertainment, so we’re even out of things to watch.  Boo. 

Wednesday 3 July

It’s still windy today, but it is a little brighter.  This might be the best we get (it is winter after all), so we decide to head off and do something.  There’s a walking trail that cuts across the interior of the island that we’ve been eyeing for a few days.  It sounds like a gargantuan undertaking, but from the harbor on one side to the coast on the other is only 7km.  We get kitted up and pack a quick lunch.  We’d rather not do the hike twice, so we park our scooter up at the end of the hike and then catch the bus round to the other side.  

The first few kilometers are along the road, passed cultivated fields with the odd pig or goat.  The road soon turns to gravel, narrows and then peters out into a track.  The vegetation thickens on either side until it towers above us. 

Just as we’re starting to feel a bit smug about how easy going this is the path starts to climb.  We find ourselves clambering up a steep, muddy bank using tree roots for hand- and footholds.  The climb is steep but short and the views are worth it.  The path has brought us out at the needle – an outcrop of bare rock that’s roughly in the middle of the island. 

From here we have beautiful views down to the coast on both sides as well as of the steep ridges in between.

Once we’re rested our legs we start down the other side.  We’d expected this to be the easiest bit, but it’s steep and slippery so we’ve got to take it slowly.  At about lunchtime we come out at Wigmore’s Falls.  If the day was a little warmer (and there wasn’t a beautiful blue lagoon just down the road) I may have been tempted in for a swim, but as it is I’m perfectly content to soak up the sights while I munch my sandwich. 

From here it’s a quick walk back to the main road where our bike is parked.  We have made the mistake of leaving it in front of the ice cream shop… oh dear.

Once we’ve tidied ourselves up we take a drive into town to pick up some groceries.  I get a freak second wind (probably all the ice cream) and take myself out for a run to burn off the excess energy before settling in for the night.

Thursday 4 July

It’s our last day today and still the weather is being a little iffy.  We’ve decided to just take it easy, so spend the morning at our cabana and the nearby internet café.

After lunch we take our scooter for a farewell spin round the island before dropping it off. 

Later in the afternoon I take myself for a farewell run.  This time I get onto one of the back roads and for a few brief moments I feel like the only person in the world (in a good way).

Our flight isn’t until 3am, but we’ve been given a mercifully late check-out of midnight, so we can relax, cook ourselves tea and pack at our leisure.

Janet adds: although the weather hasn’t been great here, the Cook Islands are still my favourites.