Rarotonga

Rarotonga Ah, the Tropical Life! Where can you find white beaches, lagoon swimming, unsmogged skies and moonlight on palm trees? Located between Tahiti on the east and Samoa and Tonga on the west we find the Cook Islands. They consist of 15 islands spread over an area as large as Western Europe. The population of the islands is about 18,000; half of which live in Rarotonga, the capital island. Rarotonga is a place of beauty with it's volcanic peaks, the white-laced reef surrounding the shore and the shallow turquoise green lagoon waters. As the entire island is only 32 kilometers in circumference it is easy to get around. You have your choice of scooters, bikes, cars and the "island bus". There are two main roads on Rarotonga, the coastal road which circles the island or the older inland road which takes you past plantations of pawpaw, bananas; the citrus groves and ground crops of kumura and taro. One of the best ways to appreciate Rarotonga is from the air and the second way is to get off shore from it. A great way is to sign up for a reef walk. Providing you have a good rubber shoes on to protect your feet, take a guide and at the proper low tide you can receive an education in reef life and enrich your stay. Between the reef and the shore is the lagoon, narrow to non-existent on the north part of the island, broad and rewarding on the south part. Another guided tour is the across-the-island walk that is not a stroll in the park but if done in the 4 to 5 hours recommended is comfortable for most of us. If you are a photographer you will have lots of good shooting opportunities especially of the "Needle" which is Rarotonga's most dramatic peak. Where to stay? There are accommodations to suite all budgets and tastes, but you must have accommodation prearranged before arriving or you could find yourself on the next flight out. Aitutaki is the 2nd largest island, located 220 kilometers north of Rarotonga. It was here that Captain Bligh of the Bounty stopped on April 11, 1789 a mere 17 days before the famous mutiny of the Bounty. Many tourists make a day trip to Aitutaki. These one day excursions depart in the morning from Rarotonga and return in the evening and include your transfers, flight (1 hour), lagoon cruise, snorkeling and lunch. If you can spend a little longer time here( in fact some visitors now travel to Aitutaki for their entire holiday) as you will not want to leave. Air New Zealand provides scheduled service from Los Angeles and goes onto Auckland. You will require a valid Canadian passport but do not require an entry permit providing you are not staying more than 31 days. The good news is that there are no poisonous animals or insects in the Cook Islands. As the Cook Islands are south of us their cooler months are June to August (average temp 20 c), which is also their dryer months. Tipping is not expected and is contrary to Cook Island custom. Kia Orana.

 

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