GENERAL INFORMATION
GREAT VALUE VACATIONS
COOK ISLANDS LONG STAY ESCAPE
STOP OVER TRAVEL IDEAS
- Radiant Rarotonga, 5 days
- Incredible Aitutaki, 2 days
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FYI:
Every Saturday there is a small market called Punanga Nui Cultural Market held near the harbor in Avarua on Rarotonga. This is a great place to shop for souvenirs. You will find everything from jewelry, Black Pearls, to locally made pareus (sarongs) wood carvings and Tivaevae (hand stitched quills) plus much more.
The market is also a great place to sample some of the local delicacies and listen to the local music.
Cook Islands
COUNTRY QUICKFACTS
CAPITAL & MAJOR CENTRES
Rarotonga is the largest island lying at the southern end of the group. The capital, Avarua is a thriving administrative and shopping centre with restaurants, hotels, banking and other facilities including the international airport. There are first class resorts, reef protected bays in which to snorkel, swim and sail and local bus transport which encircles the island every 45 minutes.
From Rarotonga you can visit other Cook Island destinations such as Aitutaki, a 30 minute flight by Air Rarotonga. Atiu, north east of Rarotonga offers untouched beaches and coral reefs riddled with caves. Mangaia, south east of Rarotonga is surrounded by a narrow fringing reef backed by the formidable cliffs of Makatea which reach heights of up to 60 metres. Mauke, with its fine caves is located in the cliffs of the coral reef. Mitiaro which has a large swampy interior; Penryhn, Pukapuka, Rakahanga, Manihiki, Nassau, Palmerston, and Suwarrow which has no permanent residences, only a caretaker.
The Southern group also has Manuae, a marine reserve with only a caretaker and Takutea, another uninhabited island which is a bird sanctuary, but there are no regular flights to either of these islands.
THE PEOPLE
The people are mostly Polynesian Cook Island Maoris, related to the New Zealand Maoris and the Tahitians. The Pukapukans however, are unique in that they are closer to the Samoans. Most of the population live on Rarotonga and in the Southern Group. They are open, friendly people who are happy to introduce you to their way of life. Their local greeting is "Kia Orana" ('may you live on').
HISTORY
Though spread across a vast empty expanse of ocean, the Polynesians knew all these islands by heart long before the first Europeans came. Rarotonga was first sighted by Polynesians between 600 and 800 AD. Anthropologists believe these people may have originated in Peru and migrated to Malaya in Asia Minor and then to Polynesia. However, local legend says they came from a land called Avaiki, ('place you were before'), which refers to Raiatea in French Polynesia.
The Spanish explorer Alvaro De Mendana first sighted Pukapuka in 1595. He was followed by Pedro Fernandez de Quiros who discovered Rakahanga in 1606. In the 1770's Captain Cook made contact with Atiu, Mangaia, Manuae, Palmerston and Takutea which he called the Hervey Islands. In 1789 the Bounty mutineers visited the bays of several islands on their way to Pitcairn Island.
It was the Russian cartographer, Johann von Krusenstern who named the Southern group, The Cook Islands in 1824. New Zealand law took effect in 1901 and after pressure from the UN, the group became a self-governing state in free association with New Zealand on the 4th of August, 1965, a day which is now celebrated as Constitution Day.
NATURE
There are no snakes, wild animals or poisonous insects, so exploring is relaxing and enjoyable. A four hour trek to the top of a rocky outcrop called the 'needle', one of the highest points on Rarotonga, reveals a number of fascinating exotic plants, birds, (the mynah is the most common) and butterflies. In the lagoon there is a variety of vivid and interesting coral and marine life including tropical fish of every hue. From August to October whales can sometimes be seen cruising outside the protective reef, while sharks are unheard of inside the warm lagoons.
