Rob's Cook Islands Blog

Rarotonga

2008-07-22T09:54:00.001-07:00

Rarotonga is the largest of the Cook Islands. It has more people and commerce than all of the other islands in the country combined, it is the seat of national government, and it has the only real town in the Cooks, Avarua. By Cook Islands’ standards, it’s big. By our standards, though, not so much. It has about 10,000 people, takes about 45 minutes to circle by car, is without a traffic light, and the Parliament building looks surprisingly like a one-story strip mall.

Most of all, Rarotonga is a sleepy place. An 8:00 p.m. dinner reservation usually is only granted after the kitchen confirms it will still be open, and it’s lights out island-wide at about 10 o’clock or so – even on the weekends. Not a playground for the night owl. And it’s a pious place – dozens of churches, a morning missive on the front page of the Cook Islands News, and a lot of Christian Rock videos on the island’s only television station. After a few days on Aitutaki, though, it seems positively urban. The culture shock from seeing a few shops, restaurants, and small hotels is palpable – we’re back in civilization…sort of.

Most people who vacation on Rarotonga, though, aren’t here for the cuisine and the nightlife (though there are some truly good places to dine out, like the Tamarind House and the Waterline Café). They seek this place out for the peace and quiet in a truly idyllic, South Pacific setting – beautiful green jagged peaks, swaying palm trees, and an azure lagoon that is picture perfect. The natural beauty of the island surrounds you. The lagoon is a constantly changing palette of greens and blues depending on the light and the time of day, the near empty beaches are so perfect that they could be a movie backdrop, and always you have the breathtaking green mountains framing the shoreline as a constant reminder that you’re in the South Pacific. The snorkeling is amazing – there are many good areas, but the best spot seems to be the marine preserve off the southern coast, near Fruits of Rarotonga. There are scads of fish, including some really big ones and some impressively large schools. In addition to a zillion species of beautiful tropical fish, we saw some real treats – a lionfish attempting to camouflage him(or her)self against some coral, a moray eel, and a sea snake. Overall, Rarotonga is a gorgeous place - it’s paradise on a beautiful day.

On a rainy, cloudy day (and we had a couple of those) it’s a small, isolated island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean offering very little in the way of recreation or stimulation away from the water. The town is small, and the shopping/sightseeing revolves around 70 or so places to buy black pearls. Even the better hotels here haven’t latched onto the notion that a DVD library or a rec room might be a good investment for their guests on those days when the wind is whipping or there’s a bit of rain. Bring a couple of good books, and don’t say you weren’t warned on those days when you’re not blessed with beach weather.

If you decide to come here, you will be a pioneer for your country. There aren’t many Americans who venture this far. Most of your compatriots will be kiwis – this seems to be Cabo or Cancun for New Zealanders and their kids. They’re here in droves. You’ll meet a few Aussies and one or two Europeans, too, but get ready to talk All Blacks rugby and mention how much you love Sauvignon Blanc when you strike up a conversation in a bar or on the beach. There are daily flights from Auckland, but only one weekly flight from LAX – thereby explaining the disparity in numbers. If the idea of “great for families” sends you running in the other direction, there are a couple of very good hotels, such as the Muri Beach Club and Reflections, that cater solely to adults.

Rarotonga would be a great stopover on a trip to or from Australia or New Zealand, easily arranged and a nice “beach time in the tropics” offset to a vacation with a lot of touring. It is also the only gateway to Aitutaki, a place I’ve decided is about as “5-star luxury meets Robinson Crusoe” as I’ll ever find in this world. You can definitely enjoy a few days here, though it might be a hard sell as a destination in itself given the distance for many Americans (but, while not expressing this opinion per se, we’ve heard more than one person extol the Cooks as friendlier, less expensive and in many ways prettier than Tahiti/French Polynesia). You’d be hard pressed to find a quieter, more relaxing and slow paced spot, though, and there’s always the thrill factor of vacationing in a place that most of your friends couldn’t find on a map if pressed.

Aitutaki

2008-07-17T19:56:00.000-07:00

Combine two parts perfect tropical paradise with one part Tom Hanks in Castaway (they filmed a season of “Survivor” here), and you’ll have Aitutaki. A remote, beautiful island about 150 miles from the main island of Rarotonga, Aitutaki is the South Pacific that Gauguin, Darwin and James Cook himself found – an island with beautiful beaches, warm and friendly people, and no strip malls, traffic lights, timeshares or TGIFridays. If it’s South Beach sophistication or a hedonistic nightlife you seek for your holiday, keep looking. Cocktails here often entail sipping something tasty out of a coconut while listening to the waves on the reef, and the best restaurant on the island (Café Tapuna – and it is very, very good) has a sand floor. But if you like the idea of having the beach to yourself all day, any day, or substituting traffic noise with the wind whispering through palm trees, you’ll love it here.

The reef and lagoon is the big draw to Aitutaki, and justifiably so. It’s near perfect, whether seeing it from the air or snorkeling amidst the brilliant fish and coral. Access doesn’t get any easier, either – just slip on your fins and mask, walk off your deck to the beach, wade in and start swimming. The coral starts right off shore, and the calm clear waters of the lagoon stretch out a mile or so until the reef meets the open ocean. While this is a great introduction, you’d be missing the best part if you didn’t spend one day (at least) taking a boat out to the outer reaches of the lagoon and visiting the uninhabited motu (barrier islands) on its fringe.

We hooked up with a local named Teking, who has his own charter boat to take visitors out to the best parts of the reef you can’t swim to from shore. There are many boat operators, with different kinds of tours, but Teking seemed like a good fit for us because he focused on small groups and good snorkeling. He didn’t disappoint. An Aitutaki native, Teking knows every inch of the lagoon, and took us to some amazing spots for snorkeling. We saw giant Napoleon Wrasse as big as I am (and I’m a big guy), scores of giant clams, stunning coral, and every imaginable species of tropical fish. He also set us up with a barbeque fish lunch on one of the motu, including a table literally in the water with maybe the best view you could find on the island. And a quick note about the water – I’ve snorkeled all over the world, and I’ve never seen clearer, calmer, bluer water than I found here. It’s paradise for a snorkeler.

I shouldn’t short the creature comforts available on Aitutaki, either. I love the simplicity and isolation of this place, but I really like a soft pillow and a hot shower, too. We stayed at the Pacific Resort, a 5-star resort by any standard. The property is stunning, with every room directly on or with direct access to the beach, a beautiful infinity pool, and gorgeous architecture/appointments. The service, though, is what sets Pacific Resort apart. Jason, the resident manager, greeted us personally upon arrival, and he has apparently worked tirelessly to deliver a staff that is warm, friendly and completely attuned to superior service. No request is too large, and most are anticipated. At the risk of sounding over the top, the impeccable service here almost feels heartfelt. The staff really seems to care that you are happy. One example: Ann, perhaps the best front desk clerk in the free world, even baked a cake for my birthday celebration and had it delivered to our restaurant – without being asked. If I’m lucky, I’ll return here again and again.

All in all, Aitutaki is a treasure. Beautiful, simple, and remote, with gracious people and a stunning lagoon for a backdrop, it’s the getaway most people fantasize about when looking for the ultimate beach vacation, and proves very hard to find in today’s world.

Kia Orana from The Cook Islands

2008-07-14T18:49:00.000-07:00

Right now, I am vacationing in the Cook Islands. Most Americans, when pressed, couldn’t tell you where on earth I am. When we venture into the Pacific, we’re usually off to Hawaii. The moneyed, jaded, status conscious and/or seemingly adventurous might forego Hawaii for, say, Tahiti or Fiji (both great destinations, mind you). Beyond that, most of us envision the Pacific as one big ocean without much between us and Asia, save for a few nameless atolls bombed to pieces in World War II and possibly Imelda Marcos’ shoe collection.

Well, I’m going to do my small part to let the secret out about this place. The Cook Islands are a group of 15 small islands spread over two million square miles of the South Pacific. The total population rests somewhere between eighteen and nineteen thousand (no exaggeration – it’s a small corner of the world) and, remarkably given that this is a slice of paradise, the population is shrinking. Long a protectorate of New Zealand but fully independent since 1965, Cook Islanders still use the New Zealand dollar as their official currency and enjoy the benefits of New Zealand citizenship. As a result, the Cooks are in the throes of a “brain drain”, as many of their most promising young people leave the islands for the bright lights of Auckland. In their place come many vacationing Kiwis who, with daily non-stops from Auckland to Rarotonga (the main island and population center of the Cooks – think a kinder, gentler Oahu), have their own version of Hawaii a short three hour flight from home.

So with all of these comparisons to Hawaii (the Cook Islands and Hawaii are even in the same time zone), why not just say “aloha” and go strum the proverbial ukulele without a passport? Well, for starters, I don’t love crowds. Though the economy turns on tourism here and your tourist dollars will be much appreciated, the Cook Islands only receives a total of 80,000 visitors per year – the total annual number for Hawaii is well into the millions. Rarotonga is a nine hour non-stop flight from LAX, but truly worlds away from hustle and bustle when you arrive. Boiling the stats down, it all means that when I check into my beachfront bungalow the manager greets me personally, there’s no one else on the beach when I first dip my toes into the perfect white sand, and the still, azure blue, coral filled lagoon in front of me has one snorkeler…me. Such secluded and unspoiled bliss is not the province of Hawaii (or Tahiti or Fiji for that matter), even on the outer islands. If you want to get away from it all, and “tropical paradise” sounds like a good vacation, this is the place.

The low tourism numbers and sheer remoteness of the Cooks provide two other real perks – the people are incredibly warm and nice, and the islands themselves are undeveloped in the most charming way. Everyone has a smile for you – their culture, which from my admittedly limited outsider’s perspective, seems to thrive on warmth and common decency. People smile, laugh, and look you in the eye – even in the tourism industry (where the “I’ve seen it all” blank stare from one too many front desk or airline ticket counter temper tantrums is commonplace outside of paradise). You won’t find rows of high rises, miniature golf courses, or strip mall-based TGIFridays here, either. You will see a lot of palm fringed beaches that you might be sharing with another tourist or two and a few locals. Potential down sides? The chances of having a crowing rooster as your alarm clock are far greater here than in Waikiki, and you may have to slow down for motor scooters and the occasional tractor if you’re driving.

I’m a big fan of this wonderful place, and I hope you will be, too. I’ll be spending a week here – a few days on Rarotonga, the “great metropolis” of the Cooks with nearly 10,000 people and a whole lot of gorgeous deserted coastline, and a couple of days on Aitutaki, with its world famous breathtaking lagoon. Please feel free to read along, and post any thoughts you may have. I help people discover places like this for a living as owner of a travel agency, Peak Travel Partners, which specializes in travel planning to Australia, New Zealand, and the South Pacific. If you have any questions or comments you’d like to direct to me without posting for the world to see, feel free to contact me by email at rhill@downunderguru.com. Enjoy the blog and come visit the Cooks for yourself!!