The Cook Islands - Rarotonga & Aitutaki 8th - 17th March

Now.....before we begin some clever clog observer of this blog may notice that the dates are a bit odd from leaving New Zealand to arriving in the Cook Islands.....well....we just crossed the date line before arriving here and literally had Friday again!! We left NZ at 1900 on the 9th March and arrived here on the 8th March just before midnight.........must admit we had some issues with this a while back and assumed that our departure date would be the same as our arrival date when sorting out the hire of the Campervan....... so we are now about 12 hours behind you all in the UK and celebrated Peter (Gampy)'s birthday for several hours longer than he did!

WARNING - If you suffer from too much sun, white beaches, blue sea sickness then please do not look any further, skip to the next one!!!

Raratonga Island

Cook Islands Airport... On the basis that we were arriving just before midnight, we had decided to book an hotel, rather than one of the excellent looking Homestays and self catering options that were available on the Island. I read several reviews of people arriving and finding themselves unable to find their accommodation etc etc, so decided to play it safe. The result was 'The Rarotongan' which was a hotel. The good news was that we were picked up very efficiently with three tired girls and taken straight to our room within fifteen minutes of leaving the airport. the downside was that we woke up to find ourselves in a pretty ghastly resort. It was fine, but came complete with themed nights and an extra charge every time you wanted to do anything!

Our all in one apartment - lovely balcony - 'extra charge lady if you want a seat up there'!

View from the above! 

What was completely fantastic though was the colour of the sea. Just incredible - all the cook islands are either volcanic, or coral atollls. Rarogonga is a Coral Atoll and as such has the most amazing lagoon around the island which leads to the outer reef. The lagoon is between 30cm and 5 metres deep and is absolutely teeming with life. 

Resort entertainment!

You can see the lagoon leading out to the reef. Some Coral heads within the reef which make for good snorkelling, but you also have to be very careful where you are treading because it is so shallow.

The beach

As you can see, it is Monsoon/Cyclone season here, hence the whole place being pretty empty.

After two nights and one day on Rarotonga, we made our way back to the airport. Clara, Amy and I went to the weekly Rarotongan market beforehand which was fabulous. We bought some huge Avocados for one or two dollars each - depending on whether they were rugby ball size or small ones only the size of a grapefruit! We had been told that the shops on Aitutaki were pretty basic and so we also stocked up with mixers for our bottle of rum which was left over from the campervan trip, and various other bits and bobs. 

Aitutaki Island

The island nicked from Google!!

Then it was off to our 36 seater plane to Aitutaki. Flight departs at 1030 - 'if you haven't checked in by 1015 then we reserve the right to sell your ticket to a standby passenger'! Boarding began at 1020 and finished at 1023 and we took off at 1027 - Brilliant!!

Coming in to land....

The view coming in to land was pretty amazing, even though it was raining. Again, Aitutaki is a coral atoll, though it does have a few volcanic islands or 'Motus'. One of the Motus was used as a leper colony in the early 1900s. The thinking at the time was that dogs had brought leprosy to Aitutaki and so they were all hunted down and killed - to this day, there are no dogs on the island. Instead, in all the situations were you might expect to see a dog running around, you see little pigs instead!

As we got out of the plane, Charlie whacked his head on one of the open lockers and cut it quite badly. He bled like mad and I must admit that I thought it could do with a stitch. There happened to be a doctor there who reckoned that it would be too hard to stitch and recommended that we pull the flap of skin over by the hair which was still attached and kirby grip it in place for a day or so! I am writing a couple of days later and it seems to be healing quite well!

We were picked up from the airport by a lady called Lexi in a fantastically beaten up mini bus. She dropped us off at the Ootu beach hut which was to be home for the next six nights. She kindly offered to come and pick me up in half an hour, so I could get some bread and milk. We are definitely on island time and she reappeared about two hours later!

Our pad for the next 6 days...

Sussing out the lagoon. There are loads of deeper channels and then it suddenly goes to being only a foot deep again.

We borrowed a couple of kayaks from the hotel next door and had a good paddle out in to the lagoon.

The next day, we swapped our paddles for 'the pink peril' and drove the whole way round the island which took around one hour with loads of stops, and included the whole bottom section of the island which is not officially allowed for rental cars. However, no one actually told us not to..........

Sea slug city! 

Our pad is just to the left of the little green/white roofed hut on the left hand side of the picture...

Little bar/cafe next to our place

View from our deck...

Missionaries were early arrivals on Aitutaki and as a result, there are around 10 churches on the island. The Cook Island Christian Church is one of the most beautiful buildings on the Island. They had been in the process of renovating it when Cyclone Pat hit in February 2010. The windows were not in yet, and so the wind just whistled through and caused very little damage. 

The girls and I went to the morning service which was fabulous. The singing was amazing and even though we could understand very little of it, it was an incredible service. They were thrilled to see the 'papaa' which translates as people from all corners of the world and could not have been more friendly or welcoming to us. It was everything i had imagined it would be with these huge Cook Island Ladies in their fabulous dresses and hats, singing their hearts out and wiping their faces down with their flannels between hymns. Babies were passed around their various 'aunties' throughout the service and at one point, the baby behind us was handed over to Clara which was lovely.

Below, some of the girls brigade and guides getting ready before the service.

The girls brigade and guides sitting in their own section in the church

I hired a wee moped thingy to go off on a photo exped around the island and ended up climbing to the highest peak, all 124m of it!!! I was eaten alive by mosquitoes at the top, it was also extremely hot so a rapid descent back down to find the nearest bit of sea!! This is a view to the North of the islands around us

On our way....the unbelievable crystal clear blue sea took us all by surprise, it was mind blowing!

Suntan Island

We decided to do a boat charter out to some of the islands. We had met a couple called Paul and Chrissie, staying at the next door hotel who shared it with us. They are from Truro and have come from visiting their daughter who lives in LA. We were picked up by a lovely laughing lady called Kana, who drove us down to the boat. First stop was One Foot Island - home they say to the world's smallest post office - hmm - clearly haven't seen the average one in Highland Scotland.

Geting right out in to the lagoon was absolutely amazing. The water was a colour which you wouldn't believe wasn't photo shopped unless you were actually there, it was like swimming in the cleanest swimming pool! We saw wonderful fish life and coral, but the highlight was the giant clams and a huge 'giant trevally' around three feet long and very very fast as he swam around us looking for fish scraps from our lunch.

Suntan Island looking towards Honeymoon Island

Honeymoon Island

One Foot Island

Lunch prepared for us on 'suntan' island by Kana and Andrew - a truly incredible feast of smoked parrot fish, guava, starfruit, breadfruit in mayonnaise and paw paw curry. Alongside all of these delicious things were slightly stale donuts and bananas which had been cooked underground until they were completely slimy and brown and then rolled in coconut milk.....

Our plates, as you can see were woven from palm fronds, with leaves inside them. Andrews family own this little plot of land on the island and he has set up a sort of shelter and BBQ area to bring his customers.

After lunch, Kana showed the girls how to make the palm plates and also made them a couple of bags.

Grace's lunch - hmm, more donuts than fish!

After lunch, we headed for a different snorkelling spot. Just as we were finishing up, the weather began to change rapidly. It is amazing how quickly it goes from sunshine and blue sea to this! It was actually very beautiful - this amazing inky sky over the lagoon.

Leaving the lagoon - Access to the island/harbour from the Pacific Ocean is limited, there is a natural break in the reef but it is a twisty narrow route so it is hardly ever used. This one, created by the Americans during WW2, the coral was literally blown apart by explosives, is now the main access.

 Looks like this wave is going to break towards us does'nt it....? This is actually the wave hitting the reef and it is starting to break away from us....we are in the deep water just outside. The boat was lifted ever so slightly as the wave came through then as the shallow water suddenly comes a huge wave is created..

 The wave then crashes onto the reef

 And rapidly loses its power

And becomes a ripple on the lagoon...it is amazing to watch especially so close and also whilst snorkeling seeing the currents underneath! 

 Coming back in -The water is constantly flowing out to sea at a fast rate and on either side the waves are crashing onto the reef right beside the tiny channel. You can see the coral to the left and right it is a tight fit!

 Just to the left as we are heading in through the reef, waves crashing onto the reef

It does go wrong .....the remains of a wreck on the reef

Through and into the lagoon and heading to the harbour. The church in a prominent place. Once a month a container ship visits the island from New Zealand with supplies. A barge collects the containers from the ship in the deeper water through the wee channel above.

Hired this wee thing for a few days....good fun!

They learn young here.....

Family outing....

The above chaps maybe regulars.....

Never stop smiling...

Which way are you going up mate?

There is still a lot of evidence of Cyclone Pat which destroyed 70 homes on Aitutaki in February 2010. Nobody was killed which is amazing, but some people did not have power for 3 weeks which when you are a deep sea fisherman, freezing your tuna for the hotels and restaurants to buy, is pretty devastating. Jason, our boat driver lost 10000kgs of Tuna and Mahi Mahi from his freezers alone. They are incredibly positive though and just the smiliest people you could imagine.

One of the things which struck us driving around is that there were loads of graves like this in peoples gardens - unless you are a dignitary of some sort, you generally get buried on your own land - i.e. in your garden.

The two resorts on the island are geared to weddings and honeymoons, hence we struggled to find accommodation as no children under 15 were allowed but the privately owned hut we did find eventually was absolutely perfect. On Rarotonga, they do 700 marriages per year - amazing!

The girls loved this sort of travel....

Sunsets and Sunrise taken from just in front of our house.

Taken with the zoom lens from inside the lagoon, out to sea on Rarotonga. It really is this incredible paradise protected from the power of the sea, but still accessible to it for deep sea fishing etc which is so important for food and now tourism.

Charlie still absolutely loving his new hobby! 

Fi planning the next phase....or Blogging!

We were staying at the blue star