Cook Islands, Rarotonga: Kia Orana to Cloudy Weather

Poko served up some tasty iced coffees at Pacific Resort's Barefoot Bar
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The second South Pacific country that we were due to visit during our trip around the world was Cook Islands; it was also the 14th country for us to visit this year. Before making it there from French Polynesia, we had a night's stopover in Auckland, New Zealand, because we had to change airline carriers from Air Tahiti Nui to Air New Zealand. Our flight from Tahiti, French Polynesia, to Auckland, arrived just before noon and our flight from Auckland to Rarotonga, the first island in the Cook Islands that we'd explore, left the following morning. With only a day in New Zealand, we decided not to do anything with regards to sightseeing and, anyway, we'd planned to have a full month in the country once we finished the "Pacific Paradise" portion of our 2007 adventure.

Chickens were everywhere in Cook Islands, and the cockerels made A LOT of noise
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When our flight landed at Auckland International Airport, we were happy for the brief respite from island life. Of course, the break couldn't divert our anticipation and excitement for our departure to another set of islands the following day. What we did enjoy about being shortly in New Zealand was being able to purchase sundries from a pharmacy at reasonable prices; everything we purchased on the islands was quite expensive. We also managed to eat out for a couple of meals without blowing the day's food budget. The more memorable of the two meals was our dinner that evening; we ate Indian food at Indian Express, a restaurant near the motel we ended up staying in for the night. The food was great; Indian food is something that we have both been missing more and more, having been away from London and its many delicious Indian restaurant choices since the beginning of the year.

The face of Queen Elizabeth II adorned the coin and, on the back, an image of a well-endowed fertility god

Muri Beach was a tranquil setting where we spent a lot of time, even though the weather was not very good
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We managed to find a motel situated close to the airport that offered a pick-up service cheaper than a taxi fare would have cost us. The Airport Skyway Lodge was run by a friendly couple who set things up at their place for backpackers and budget travellers. They had free wireless internet that came in handy for us, and free use of kitchen facilities, which we didn't use because we decided to eat out instead. We chose a room with shared bathroom facilities because it was cheaper than a room with a private bathroom. There weren't many guests there, so we didn't mind using the shared facilities; by that point of the year, we were used to shared facilities, having stayed in so many throughout our trip.

Many traditional Cook Islander stone and wood carved statues were used for decoration in resorts, shops and restaurants
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One of the things we tried to take care of during our afternoon in Auckland was booking somewhere to stay in Sydney over the New Year's Eve period. We had recently found out that Dan's friend, who we had planned to stay with, was no longer going to be in the Sydney area at that time, so we had to start looking into hostels there. We found out that most places were either already fully booked up, or that they would not take bookings for less than 7, 10 or 14 days, which was terrible for us since we had only planned five nights there!

We played Sequence and other card games for hours upon end when we were hit with five days of poor weather
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After searching for hours and ringing up several places, using up the remainder of our Skype credit balance, we still hadn't gotten anywhere. We'd assumed there wouldn't be readily accessible internet connections in Cook Islands or Fiji, the subsequent country we were planning to visit, so we decided to shirk responsibility for finding a place to stay by asking a couple of friends of ours, who were also planning on spending New Year's Eve there, to sort it out. At the time of writing this journal entry, we now have the knowledge that Dan's friend will definitely be in Sydney when we are going to be there, and has offered us a place to stay. Excellent!

The view from the plane when we flew over Rarotonga was amazing
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During our Air Tahiti Nui flight from Tahiti to Auckland, we played games on the in-flight entertainment system throughout most of the flight. We were massively impressed with the consoles built into the seats in front of us; it offered several movie and TV channels as well as a plethora of options for music and games. We have both flown American Airlines many times to the US and they have a very basic entertainment system compared to Air Tahiti Nui's; we think they should invest in some serious console upgrades. When we left Auckland the following morning on our Air New Zealand flight, we had an equally impressive entertainment system with even more film choices than our Air Tahiti Nui flight; during that flight, we watched a movie before playing trivia against other passengers on the plane.

This unique, triangular Cook Islands coin was worth $2 in their currency, or about 80 pence; notice the Queen's head on the front!
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When we arrived in Cook Islands, we immediately reverted back to island life and island time when we were greeted by a ukulele-wielding man performing a traditional Cook Island song in his Maori language, and people in the airport greeting us with a customary Cook Island hello, "Kia Orana". The weather was much warmer than in New Zealand; we had broken out our light jackets and long-sleeve t-shirts in Auckland, even though spring had arrived there and it had been sunny outside. The outside temperature there must have been 16 degrees Celsius (around 60 degrees Fahrenheit), which was the coldest weather we had experienced since travelling to Cameron Highlands in Malaysia in February, when it was no warmer than 10 degrees Celsius (around 50 degrees Fahrenheit).

We stayed at Aremango Guesthouse on Muri Beach, a nice place to base ourselves for our first stop in Cook Islands
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The temperature in Cook Islands normally ranges from 22-30 degrees Celsius (between 70-85 degrees Fahrenheit) throughout the year, but has high humidity that makes it seem hotter than it actually is. We felt the heat and humidity upon arriving at the airport because it was a scorcher of an afternoon with a clear and sunny blue sky. Little did we know that it was the last clear and sunny blue sky we would see on the island of Rarotonga until late in the afternoon on the day before we left the island to visit the island of Aitutaki. The manager of Aremango Guesthouse, Amanda, kindly picked us up at the airport so we didn't have to worry about getting the bus there or a taxi.

During our first six days in Cook Islands, it rained almost every day and the cloudy weather dampened our spirits
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Aremango Guesthouse was a really nice place to stay on the island. Amanda was a Kiwi (from New Zealand) and was running the place for her parents. During the twenty minute drive from the airport to the Muri Beach area on the southeastern part of the island, she told us all about the island and what activities there were to do. She also pointed out attractions along the way, in Avarua, the main town and capital of Cook Islands, and also during the drive between Avarua and Muri Beach. The guesthouse offered many activities such as snorkelling in the lagoon, lazing about in hammocks, barbecuing on the grill, Saturday sailing trips, kayak rental, watching movies in a good-sized DVD room, and organising nights out such as an "Island Night". Aremango Guesthouse was one of the best places we have stayed in this year and was definitely great value for money.

During our first afternoon on Rarotonga, we snorkelled to the small motu across the lagoon where our guesthouse was situated
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In comparison to French Polynesia, Cook Islands was much smaller and more laid-back, as well as easier to communicate with people since everyone spoke English very well. It was also a much less expensive country than the French Overseas Territory was, with everything being pretty much costing half the price. Whether or not this had anything to do with the fact that New Zealand, having taken over the protectorate from the British in 1891, was situated much closer to Cook Islands than France was to French Polynesia, we don't know, but, with a closer proximity, importing goods would not have been as expensive, and we also think that tourism on the whole was not exploited in Cook Islands like it has been in French Polynesia, even though the smaller island nation has just as much to offer in terms of island paradise.

Look closely at the fertility god symbol on the back of the $1 Cook Islands coin; yes, the Queen's head adorns the front of the coin!
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In contrast to the many islands in French Polynesia, Cook Islands only has 15 islands in its group; however, those 15 islands are still spread out over 2 million square kilometres in the southwest Pacific Ocean. The New Zealand protectorate became independent in 1965, but the Cook Islanders still retain their New Zealand citizenship due to the extremely close ties between the two countries. The islands were named after the British explorer who first "officially" sighted the islands in 1773, Captain James Cook, but, apparently, a Spanish captain was thought to be the first European to sight the island in 1595. Around 500 A.D., a much earlier period of time, the Maori people of the Society Islands in French Polynesia had arrived in Cook Islands and named the islands themselves, but that seems to have been forgotten except to historians and other people who care. Confused yet? We were a little bit when we tried to put the historical information together for you, but hopefully it makes sense!

The small, paved road encircling the island of Rarotonga was lined with usually coconut trees and periodically dotted with small houses, restaurants, resorts or shops
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Cook Islanders have successfully kept alive many aspects of their heritage and culture. Traditional arts and crafts were in regular use there, from the wooden pandanus mats, fans and baskets to the finely woven rito hats that were worn by women during Sunday church service. The islands are famous for their beautiful tivaevae (an applique and embroidery quilt made by local women) and for their flower art. Woodcarving continues to be widely practised and there are some fine examples such as ceremonial bowls and canoes. The carvings that stood out most of all were those of the fertility gods, each of which was made with an extremely large male organ.

The Cook Islands flag was flying in the wind when we were leaving the airport in Rarotonga to visit the island of Aitutaki
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Seeing the wood-carved statues everywhere was a bit disturbing and amusing, but it was rather funny seeing the $1 Cook Islands coin. On the front, the face of Queen Elizabeth II adorned the coin and, on the back, an image of a well-endowed fertility god. We had to ask ourselves whether or not the Queen approved the design, didn't know about the design or maybe designed it herself. For the most part, Cook Islanders spend New Zealand Dollars, the official currency, but there are some coins and a couple of rare Cook Islands notes still in circulation. You can see photos of a couple of the unique Cook Islands coins in the photo album for this journal entry.

The grounds of Pacific Resort were really lush and beautiful, as you can see by this photo
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The first thing we did after arriving at the guesthouse was walk down the main island road searching for groceries. We had planned on cooking most of our meals since the guesthouse offered free use of kitchen facilities. We also wanted to check out the local area to see what we could get up to when we weren't spending time in the lagoon. Throughout the week, the meals we made were consistent but not varied, since cooking our own food was a cheaper option than eating our meals out at restaurants or cafes, as long as we used basic foods or ingredients. The meals we cooked were very similar to those we cooked in French Polynesia, ranging from scrambled eggs and toast for breakfast, to tuna mayonnaise or peanut butter sandwiches for lunch, and to pasta with mixed vegetables for dinner.

The beach in front of Pacific Resort (Muri Beach) had excellent views of the lagoon and motus lining the outer coral reef
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With the prices of meals being cheaper in Cook Islands, we decided to treat ourselves by eating out a couple of times at Pacific Resort, down the road a little ways from Aremango Guesthouse, and also by having milkshakes and a large afghan cookie at Deli-licious Cafe, which was also down the road. For our first dinner on the island, we went for a meal at Pacific Resort, where we shared an excellent filet steak with kumara mash and a couple of desserts, a large chocolate mud cake and enormous bread pudding with white chocolate cream sauce. The meal was delicious but we had sore stomachs the next day from the size of portions and amount of sugar that was no doubt baked inside each dessert.

This travel game of Sequence kept us entertained for hours in Cook Islands when the rains and cloudy weather came; thanks to Kelli for getting that for us as a Christmas gift!
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We had our milkshakes at Deli-licious Cafe the following afternoon but never returned to the cafe because a couple of the staff there had major attitude problems, and they also blasted music in our ears, even though they knew we were trying to concentrate and write on the laptop. The second time we ate at Pacific Resort was a couple of days before we left Rarotonga for Aitutaki. We shared a plate of exotic breads and dips and a large bowl of chips (that's the same as large french fries for the Americans reading this). We had already started to frequent Pacific Resort's Barefoot Bar by then, and to sample local Cook Islands beers as well as some New Zealand ones. The bar had wireless internet access and, when we bought a 50Mb pass to use, we were surprised when we opened it and found an extra two passes inside. We took that as a sign from the Cook Islands gods and decided to take advantage of the additional "free" internet access, but we had to return to Barefoot Bar to do so, since the passes were only valid there.

The short walk down to Muri Beach from Aremango Guesthouse was as you see in this photo
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On that first day on the island, after putting our grocery shopping away, we donned our swimming trunks and grabbed a couple of masks and snorkels from the large basket at the back porch of the guesthouse. We walked the short, grassy path leading to the beach and stepped into the lagoon. The water was cold, much colder than the water had been in French Polynesia, but it was bearable enough once we got used to it. The sun had crept behind the clouds when we started snorkelling and there was little chance for us to get sunburnt since it was late in the afternoon. We snorkelled quite a distance in the shallow lagoon; the tide was out and, in most places, the water was only a couple of feet deep. Along the way, we saw a few interesting things, but most of the lagoon floor was littered with dead, sharp coral and thousands of sea cucumbers. Some living coral formations were in the lagoon and it was around those that we saw the most fish. We saw a large purple starfish that was quite unusual, a few large puffer fish, a huge white flounder that blended in well with the sand, and many other small, brightly coloured fish.

Here is another view of Muri Beach, taken from Pacific Resort, where we hung out quite a bit
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That occasion was the last time we stepped into the water during our first six days on Rarotonga. The weather took its toll over the next several days, with wind, rain and cloudy skies cooling everything off and making us too depressed to get into the water, which turned even colder without the sun warming it up. Even though we were a little disappointed with the turn in weather, we still had a brilliant week hanging out at Aremango and Pacific Resort. One good thing that the bad weather brought was a lack of mosquitoes; we hardly noticed them during our first six days on the island.

The Cook Islands airport was small and cosy
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To bide our time during the gloomy weather part of our holiday, we did everything we were meant to do whilst on vacation. We read books for long periods of time, watched DVD movies and played games, waiting for the rain and cloudy weather to go away. Card games were a big focus for us during our stay in Rarotonga and, on the first day of cloudy weather, we played cards with a couple of people from England from noon until the wee hours of the morning. Sally and Andrew were from Shrewsbury, in the Midlands, and enjoyed playing cards as much as we did.

With them, we played a couple of games of S***head before they challenged us to a couple of rounds of Hearts. After that, we taught them the game Kings in the Corner, which we played for an hour or so. To finish off the card games, we played Spades to 500 points, four times. As soon as we finished one round of Spades, which took a couple of hours, we all decided to play another round to 500 points, and then another, and then one final one. The card game marathon was uninterrupted except for a 45 minute dinner break, and other guests staying at Aremango thought that the four of us were slightly insane. Amanda and her mum, Cindy, probably thought so, too, but we couldn't have had more fun on a rainy day.

The next day, Sally and Andrew left for Fiji and we ended up playing cards by ourselves for that one and the next few days. We mixed in games of Blackjack and Let It Ride with games of Sequence, which Kyle's sister (Kelli), brother-in-law (Clay) and niece (Samantha) bought for us as a Christmas gift for our year-long trip in 2007. We didn't bring the game with us for the first half of our trip in Asia because we had been concerned about the amount of things we were going to be able to carry. Since the game was a travel-sized version of the card strategy game, we managed to fit it in one of our backpacks when we left on our road trip across the southwest United States, and it has been with us since. We played a few times before arriving in Cook Islands, but had used it most of all in Rarotonga when the weather was so poor, playing for hours upon end over a few days.

Besides Sally and Andrew, we enjoyed meeting and visiting with the other people staying at Aremango, as well as Amanda and Cindy, who had come to the island for a couple of weeks to visit her daughter. During our first six days on the island, a family from New Zealand was staying there at the same time. The dad was originally from Manchester, England, and the mum was originally from Hamburg, Germany, but they had immigrated to New Zealand around four or five years ago with their two children, to live in Greymouth.

There was another English couple staying at Aremango who kept saying hello to us but that was the extent of any conversation with them. On our last night in the guesthouse, we met an Irish couple from Dublin who we talked to for quite some time, and then invited to watch a film with us. We chose "Fracture" because it was one of the DVDs we had brought with us on the trip, and also on our list of films to see this year whilst away from the UK. There were a couple of guys staying in the guesthouse, one of them for the entire summer, but they both kept pretty much to themselves and we didn't talk to them during our stay. On our last morning at Aremango, we talked to a friendly older couple from Dorset, England, named Sarah and Adrian, who were travelling around the world for a few months and very excited, and chatty, since the first destination of their long journey was Rarotonga in Cook Islands.

We have mentioned somewhere above on this page that this was the first six days of our stay on Rarotonga. What we mean by that is that we were due to return to the island after spending a week on Aitutaki, the Cook Islands "luxury" island that can be compared to Bora Bora in terms of its beauty and idyllic setting, but by no means as flashy or built up as the French Polynesian island. You'll be able to read more about Rarotonga and our final few days there in a couple more journal entries. In that second entry, you will find out about a lagoon tour of our own that we did when we borrowed one of Amanda's kayaks and paddled around the lagoon. There was sunny weather during those last few days and we actually left the vicinity of the guesthouse by taking a bus trip into the main town and capital, Avarua.