justginger
Ideal_Rock
- Joined
- May 11, 2009
- Messages
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After recently praising the Cook Islands as a travel destination in another thread, I figured it was time to give a recap of the time we spent there last year. We visited in July, as part of our 6 week honeymoon. We traveled there directly from LAX with Air New Zealand, who make that flight weekly (Mondays). If you are coming from Australia, Qantas started a direct route from Sydney last year.
The 15 Cook Islands are spread over 2.2 million square kilometers in the South Pacific, sandwiched between Samoa to the west and Tahiti to the east. They have a distinctive Polynesian culture. The main island is Rarotonga, with three of the most popular outer islands being Aitutaki, Atiu, and Mangaia.
DH and I arrived very early in the morning, dawn was just breaking out the airplane windows when we touched down. We were exhausted, having flown Orlando to Charlotte to StL to LAX to Raro. Thankfully the airport was a breeze to navigate - it was the size of an elementary school gymnasium and only had one terminal, one luggage carousel. Best of all there was an older gentleman in the corner, serenading us with a ukulele! Before we knew it we had been greeted by our host, donned in fragrant eis, and deposited to the west coast of the island.
Rarotonga airport - two counters, one domestic (Air Raro) and one international (Air NZ)
Rarotonga is a beautiful island, but not particularly special in any way. It is rugged and mountainous with nice beaches. It runs a bit on the expensive side for Americans, pretty standard pricing for Australians. Lovely black pearls, lots of activities, good weather. There is nothing to complain about, but it is an island like many others I've visited around the world. I am glad we chose to stay on Raro for only 2 nights of our holiday, with the 12 night majority being spent on Aitutaki.
Mountainous Raro interior:
One day in Raro (long enough to buy a nice black pearl, of course!), and we were on another airplane - a very small prop one, headed an hour north to Aitutaki. Aitutaki has an enormous reef-enclosed lagoon that is teeming with marine life, but doesn't allow any sharks in! It is very small, very intimate. Such beauty. You can see the best that Aitutaki has to offer by heading out on a full day lagoon tour - visiting a prototype pearl farm, feeding schools of fish, viewing giant clams, having a bbq on a picnic table in the lagoon, having hermit crab races. We chose to stay on the NW area of the island, at Paradise Cove Bungalows. They weren't 5 star accommodation, but they were absolutely beachfront with some of the best snorkeling on the island. Clean, comfortable, and we developed a good relationship with our hosts which was invaluable.
Our beach at Paradise Cove:
View from our balcony:
The strong Christian population of Aitutaki does NOT like Sunday flights, signs are posted all over:
Headed out onto the lagoon:
World kitesurfing competition ended the day before our lagoon tour but there were still heaps out having fun:
Stopping for lunch:
One Foot Island, home of the world's smallest post office (you can have your passport stamped here too):
Holly the Holiday Cat (a stray who adopted us - she slept with us for the fortnight, and we had her flown to Raro to be sterilized):
Feeding the damselfish (yes, I did get in the water!):
A tiny island with a tall tree!:
Yet another beautiful beach:
Our final Aitutaki sunset:
So that's a quick glimpse at the Cook Islands, perhaps more Aitutaki specifically. It is not a destination for those who require high levels of stimulation - there's no ziplining, no paragliding, no whitewater rafting. There are beautiful beaches, vibrant underwater scenes, and locals who treat each other, visitors, and their own animals very well. I have visited quite a few places around the world now, and would return to very few of them (I always prefer to go somewhere new than return to a place I've been)...however I would return to Aitutaki without hesitation.
The 15 Cook Islands are spread over 2.2 million square kilometers in the South Pacific, sandwiched between Samoa to the west and Tahiti to the east. They have a distinctive Polynesian culture. The main island is Rarotonga, with three of the most popular outer islands being Aitutaki, Atiu, and Mangaia.
DH and I arrived very early in the morning, dawn was just breaking out the airplane windows when we touched down. We were exhausted, having flown Orlando to Charlotte to StL to LAX to Raro. Thankfully the airport was a breeze to navigate - it was the size of an elementary school gymnasium and only had one terminal, one luggage carousel. Best of all there was an older gentleman in the corner, serenading us with a ukulele! Before we knew it we had been greeted by our host, donned in fragrant eis, and deposited to the west coast of the island.
Rarotonga airport - two counters, one domestic (Air Raro) and one international (Air NZ)
Rarotonga is a beautiful island, but not particularly special in any way. It is rugged and mountainous with nice beaches. It runs a bit on the expensive side for Americans, pretty standard pricing for Australians. Lovely black pearls, lots of activities, good weather. There is nothing to complain about, but it is an island like many others I've visited around the world. I am glad we chose to stay on Raro for only 2 nights of our holiday, with the 12 night majority being spent on Aitutaki.
Mountainous Raro interior:
One day in Raro (long enough to buy a nice black pearl, of course!), and we were on another airplane - a very small prop one, headed an hour north to Aitutaki. Aitutaki has an enormous reef-enclosed lagoon that is teeming with marine life, but doesn't allow any sharks in! It is very small, very intimate. Such beauty. You can see the best that Aitutaki has to offer by heading out on a full day lagoon tour - visiting a prototype pearl farm, feeding schools of fish, viewing giant clams, having a bbq on a picnic table in the lagoon, having hermit crab races. We chose to stay on the NW area of the island, at Paradise Cove Bungalows. They weren't 5 star accommodation, but they were absolutely beachfront with some of the best snorkeling on the island. Clean, comfortable, and we developed a good relationship with our hosts which was invaluable.
Our beach at Paradise Cove:
View from our balcony:
The strong Christian population of Aitutaki does NOT like Sunday flights, signs are posted all over:
Headed out onto the lagoon:
World kitesurfing competition ended the day before our lagoon tour but there were still heaps out having fun:
Stopping for lunch:
One Foot Island, home of the world's smallest post office (you can have your passport stamped here too):
Holly the Holiday Cat (a stray who adopted us - she slept with us for the fortnight, and we had her flown to Raro to be sterilized):
Feeding the damselfish (yes, I did get in the water!):
A tiny island with a tall tree!:
Yet another beautiful beach:
Our final Aitutaki sunset:
So that's a quick glimpse at the Cook Islands, perhaps more Aitutaki specifically. It is not a destination for those who require high levels of stimulation - there's no ziplining, no paragliding, no whitewater rafting. There are beautiful beaches, vibrant underwater scenes, and locals who treat each other, visitors, and their own animals very well. I have visited quite a few places around the world now, and would return to very few of them (I always prefer to go somewhere new than return to a place I've been)...however I would return to Aitutaki without hesitation.
) and surprisingly fell in love with one that was far from perfect. It is sort of drop shaped, with two grooves running around the entire circumference, but has a lovely luster and a full rainbow of colors (including this delicious pink). It's amazing how, when presented with thousands of pearls (some near text book perfect), this was the one that I fell in love with. 
I'll have to do what I can to get a photo of it, but the overcast rainy weather isn't helping.
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