SLEEPING Owh
Rarotonga has a wide variety of places to stay in every budget range. It also has an official policy that every arriving visitor should be booked into a place to stay before arriving on the island, although it's treated more as a formality that a strict rule. See pi60 for details. Most of the places to stay on Rarotonga have some sort of cooking facilities where guests can prepare their own food. The large resorts and a few other hotels don't have kitchens in the rooms, so eating out will be an...
Theft
For some reason, when people come on holiday to the tropics, they leave their sense of security at home. As anywhere else in the world, if you leave wallets lying on car seats or hotel-room doors unlocked, you're at risk of losing your possessions. Even theft of clothes from clotheslines. It's a good idea to check your valuables with hotel management, to prevent theft from your room, and it's always sensible not to flash expensive watches and digital cameras around on an island where there's...
Midrange
For once the old adage is true the higher you move up the price scale on Aitutaki, the more you'll get for your money. If you're willing to push the boat out, there are some lovely places to stay on the island. Remember to ask about weekly specials, where if you stay six nights you get the seventh free. Gina's Garden Lodges 31058 www.ginasaitutaki .com Tautu s d tr NZS75 120 150 If you're not desperate to stay in earshot of the sea, then these four lodges, set around a secluded garden with...
Sleeping
Kopeka Lodge 33283 www.kopekalodge-atiu.com s d NZ 85 125 Three peaceful, pre fab wooden chalets southeast of Areora village, set in rural grounds awash with passionfruit, papaya and flowering shrubs. The double units are divided into two bedrooms, each with two single beds, and a main kitchen-dining area. The pale-green plywood d cor and rustic setting might not be to everyone's taste, but the units are comfy enough and fully self-contained. Owner Man Unuia is on hand to supply fresh fruit and...
Tangaroa Figures
Tangaroa is the squat, ugly but fantastically well-endowed figure represented on the Cook Islands' 1 coin. Polynesia's traditional god of the sea and fertility, Tangaroa is a beloved figure for Cook Islanders and has become the symbol of the Cooks. It's been a long-term rehabilitation though, because the early missionaries, in their zeal to wipe out all traces of heathenism, did a thorough job of destroying traditional gods wherever they found them. Tangaroa, along with the rest of the old...
Dangers Annoyances
If you're planning on exploring caves or tramping around on the makatea you'll need some old clothes and good, sturdy shoes -second-hand trainers or hiking boots. Some of the caves can be quite muddy especially after heavy rain , and your shoes are guaranteed to take a beating from the razor-sharp makatea. Take great care when you are walking across the makatea - the fossilised coral is extremely sharp. If you slip and fall, the very least you'd expect is a nasty gash. Remember to watch your...
What to Wear
Like everywhere, your travelling experiences will go a lot smoother if you observe the local customs of dress and don't offend people by your appearance. This is easy to do in the Cooks by observing a few basic courtesies. If you visit the outer islands, remember that the standards of dress are more conservative than on Rarotonga and Aitutaki, which have been visited by plenty of foreign tourists. In the Cooks, swimming wear is for swimming it's fine at the beach or by the pool but elsewhere...
Mitiaro
The minuscule island of Mitiaro is one of the least visited of the Southern Group, and while it might not have the glorious beaches or dramatic scenery of Aitutaki and Rarotonga, it's still a rewarding island to visit. Home to just a couple of hundred people, and barely 6km across at its widest point, Mitiaro is a great place to get to grips with traditional culture. The islanders still live in much the same way as their ancient ancestors, farming, fishing and trading with nearby islands...
Sunburn
It should go without saying that exposure to the ultraviolet UV rays of the sun causes burning of the skin with accompanying pain, dehydration and misery together with the long-term danger of skin cancer but experience shows that reminders are necessary. The time of highest risk is between 1 lam and 3pm and remember that cloud cover does not block out UV rays. The Australian 'Slip, slop, slap' slogan is a useful mantra - slip on a T-shirt or blouse, slop on a sunscreen lotion of at least 20...
Food Drink
Thanks to its temperate climate and rich volcanic soil, things grows with abandon on Rarotonga - from majestic palms to groves of paw-paw, mango and orange trees. However, somewhat surprisingly, when the original settlers arrived on Rarotonga 1500 years ago, they found remarkably few edible plants. Luckily the settlers had come prepared, and their canoes were stuffed with all kinds of crops and fruit trees that quickly flourished throughout the islands. Traditionally, the Cook Islands diet...
Mangaia
The ancient island of Mangaia is thought to be the oldest island in the South Pacific, and it's a place where you can certainly feel the centuries stretching back. Vast circular towers of makatea raised, fossilised coral reef ring the island's fertile central valleys, in some places dropping down in sheer 60m cliffs, and there are several scenic lookouts where you can admire uninterrupted views across to the highest peak on the island, Rangimotia. It's a proud and mysterious island, renowned...
SHOPPING Ska
There are plenty of places around the island to pick up traditional island handicrafts - Punanga Nui Market p59 and the Beachcomber Gallery p58 generally have the best selections. Be sure about what you're buying in some of the tourist shops around Avarua - many items have been imported from China and Asia, rather than being made in the Cook Islands themselves. If in doubt, ask. Mike Tavioni's Workshop Map pp56-7 s 24003 Ara Metua, Atupa The workshop of Rarotonga's best-known sculptor and...
Avarua
Perched along the island's northern shore, the bustling town of Avarua is the capital city of the Cooks and Rarotonga's only town. Bordered by twin harbours at either side of a sweeping bay, and backed by a vista of sawtooth mountains and tree-topped hills, it's the closest thing you'll find to a metropolis in the Cooks. Just over a decade ago Avarua was little more than a sleepy South Seas port, but recently the town has been thoroughly spruced up and the long main street is now packed with...
Tourist Offices Abroad
Overseas offices or representatives of the Cook Islands Tourism Corporation include the following Asia 66-2 652 0507 eckard plt.co.th c o Pacific Leisure Group, 8 F Maneeya Centre, 518 5 Ploenchlt Rd, Bangkok 10330, Thailand Australia 02-9955 0446 ausmanager cook-islands .com P0 Box 20, Guilford, NSW 2160 Canada 1-888 994 2665 canadamanager cook -lslands.com 1133-160A Street, White Rock, BC V4A 7G9 Continental Europe 49-30 4225 6027 europe manager cook-lslands.com Petersburgstrasse 94, 10247...
Tivaevae
These colourful and intricately sewn appliqu works are traditionally made as burial shrouds, but are also used as bedspreads, and smaller ones for cushion covers. It's rare to see them for sale anywhere other than 'Atiu if you do find a full-size tivaevae for sale elsewhere, you'll find they cost upwards of several-hundred dollars due to the enormous amount of time required to make them. Smaller wall hangings, cushion covers or clothing using tivaevae-inspired patterns are cheaper. The Atiu...
History Rmx
Ifaka Saga of a Polynesian Canoe, by Sir Tom Davis, is a historical novel based on the story of the Takitamu canoe one of the canoes of the 'great migration'to New Zealand in the 14th century over a span of 12 generations. Island Boy -An Autobiography tells the story of Davis's life up to 1992. Herbalists specialising in 'Maori medicine', traditional remedies that many Cook Islanders swear by for common aches and pains, are still common in the Cook Islands. Cook Islanders are Polynesians people...
Cook Islands Myths Legends
Cook Islands Legends, by Jon Jonassen, is a short anthology of many traditional myths and legends, told in a lively and engaging style. The book also explains the origins of many place names in the Cook Islands you can usually buy it at the USP bookshop in Avarua p54 . Pre-Christian religion was remarkably consistent between islands scattered over the entire, vast Polynesian area. Gods such as Vatea, Tan-garoa, Rongomatane and Tane, and demigods such as Maui and Rata, were known to Polynesians...