“KIA ORANA Cook Islands!

Rarotonga, an imperfect beautiful paradise

The first, undeniable thing to say about the Cook Islands, is that it is a paradise. It's crystal blue shallow waters, white sandy beaches, warm weather all year round make it a hard to beat destination.

The 15 islands in the Cooks are located in the heart of the Pacific, halfway between Hawaii and New Zealand. We arrived there after travelling almost non-stop for 6 weeks. We had been in 3 different countries, taken 6 different flights, stayed in around 15 different hotels, we had been in the snow, in the rain, in sunny little villages, in national parks, in big cities etc. The truth is we were exhausted and were dreaming about getting to the Cook Islands for some rest and relaxation.

We took a 10 hours flight directly from LA to Rarotonga. We got there and from the minute we got down the plane our pulse slowed down...

“Kia Orana “May you live long”

Where would someone say "may you live long" upon meeting you for the first time, other than in the Cook Islands?

The Cook Islands greeting Kia Orana means exactly that. It is a unique first gesture of friendship from a special Polynesian people.

When was the last time you travelled and the instructions to get from the airport to your destination were:

“Out of the airport, turn right and drive for 30 min. After the yellow restaurant, your house is on the right. Is white, the door is open”

We rented a beautiful two bedroom bungalow right on the beach in front of the best snorkelling location on the island. The reef was only a couple hundred meters away so you could see and hear the large swells breaking up after travelling across the ocean. The location on the South Eastern tip of Rarotonga, very close to the Muri Lagoon, was absolutely perfect. Our days were spent on the nearly private beach, snorkelling and enjoying some family time together. After Yellowstone, San Francisco and LA, we just wanted to relax and this was the perfect place.

The wind was good, although not perfect but Edouard still managed to kitesurf 3 out of our 6 days in Raro. The best spot for kitesurfing is The Muri Lagoon, one of the island's most beautiful locations. This lagoon and beach is also a popular destination for swimming, kayaking and snorkeling.

Shallow, warm, clear water Muri lagoon

Bordering the lagoon is the main street where you can find all kinds of very basic shops and a few cute restaurants. The street itself is the only one on the island which takes you around the whole island in approximately 45 minutes. Like many smaller tropical islands, Raro does not have much on offer in the way of food, fashion or anything else for that matter. Most shops offer the same products and the quality of the restaurants is not very high.

Interesting facts about Raro

There are graves everywhere.There are many different cemeteries, but people are primarily buried on private land, in the most intriguing places. It is really shocking to see graves wherever you look.

My favourite two were right at the entrance (I mean literally by the main door) of a house, and at the entrance of a convenience store. I wonder if it has some relation with the way property of land is passed from generation to generation. Land can not be bought or sold, so by placing the dead in the front yard, one guarantees that only another family member would want to live there.

They still rent DVD's

Shipping containers are part of the landscape and architecture.

They are scattered everywhere around the island. For me, they were the perfect backdrop for some cute photos.

There was a government incentive in the local newspaper, when we were there, inviting islanders to use old containers as recycling bins to help ease Rarotonga’s landfill problems as they worked on a way to manage their waste better.

The art of ink / Tata'u. 19th century missionaries outlawed the traditional art of tata’u or body tattooing as a barbaric practice and forbade it. Today the ancient tradition resurfaces on the bodies of Pacific Islanders with passion. Every tattoo has significance, every line has a meaning.

If you are into tattoos, there are plenty of experts around the island.

Tsunami evacuation zone. There are signs all over the island pointing the way to high ground in the event of a Tsunami. A bit of a spooky reminder that these small Pacific Island are constantly at high risk.

Some things that it is better to be forewarned about

As I said before, Rarotonga is an "imperfect" paradise. There are some things that are better to know before you arrive.

There is no free internet on the island. There is very limited internet or mobile connection. You have to buy prepaid (quite expensive) cards, and connect wherever you find a "hotspot". If you are travelling with children, better download movies or whatever you need beforehand as you won't be able to do any streaming.

Do bring basic medicine with you, antiseptic lotion, a broad spectrum antibiotic cream, paracetamol, ibuprofen, dramamine for the children.

While in Rarotonga I had a bad ear infection. I went to the only GP on the island. Of course there are no appointments, you just have to show up, put your name down and wait (around 1 and a half hours if you are lucky). The GP put me on antibiotics right away but within five days I had to visit a hospital in Aitutaki because the prescribed treatment was not correct and the infections got worse instead of better.

You need thick soled water or reef shoes, for two reasons: stonefish and coral cuts. Very few beaches have only sandy bottoms as the coral comes all the way up to shore.

When it's cloudy you DO need sunscreen.

You will not be allowed into the Cook Islands if you don't have a ticket out .

As we were not sure how long we wanted to stay, we hadn’t bought our flights out before we left LA. When we arrived in Rarotonga, we were stopped by the immigration inspector and kept aside in the airport until we bought tickets to New Zealand (which was not easy to do as we didn’t have any mobile or internet connection).

Be careful with the scooters. Probably the best way to see the island is on a scooter. They can be rented daily or weekly, but be very careful as the roads have quite a bit of loose gavel and become very slippery when it rains. We witnessed many nasty accidents and as I said before, medical services are not a strong suit of Raro.

Must do

Down in Muri, four nights a week, there is a night market, which is essentially a whole lot of picnic tables and chairs surrounded by stalls that serve all sorts of local dishes: seafood curry, coconuts, pawpaw, fried rice, chicken skewers and bbq shrimp.

Lunch at the Maire Nui Botanical Gardens. it is a lovely place to walk surrounded by a gorgeous variety of tropical flowers. It is well maintained and the food was good too.

A cultural show. We did Highland Paradise, it is a nice experience, it gives you an insight to the ancestral history of Raro, there is a good performance, and good local food. There is another one called Te Vara Nui that apparently is more popular than the one we did.