Set off from Sydney on Saturday evening, flew for about 6 hours and arrived in the Cook Islands about 7am on Saturday. Crossed the international date line so for the first time we've gone back in time and are now some eleven hours behind the UK instead of 9 hours or so in front. Would be very confusing except that by now we have very little idea what day it is anyway!
We're in Rarotonga (known locally as Raro), the largest of the fifteen small but beautifully formed islands scattered around some 2 million square kilometres in the South Pacific Ocean. The islands lie in the centre of the Polynesian Triangle just to the West of Tahiti and the islands of French Polynesia.
Migration to the islands by the Maori ancestors started in Raro about 800 AD but things really took off with Captain Cook's voyage around 1773 and the later Mutiny of the Bounty when Fletcher Christian sailed into Raro having commandeered Captain Bligh's boat.
Today Raro is an interesting looking island with mountains in its centre. The highest, Te Manga is 658 metres so a reasonable size bump. The coastal road around the island is only about 32 kilometres and it takes about 50 minutes for the bus to do the whole journey depending how many stops it makes! There are two buses on the island and the route is so logical. One travels clockwise, the other anti clockwise so if you miss one you can just hail the other and while your journey may take a bit longer, it doesn't matter because the drivers provide in house entertainment along the journey pointing out places of interest and making jokes! No worries about bus stops here.There are some bus stops but basically you just hail the bus and it stops. So different to Sydney where the bus driver refused to hang on for an old lady who couldn't get to the stop in time. But then life here has a very leisurely pace and it's wonderful!
In Australia we had kangaroos in the front garden, here we have chickens and roosters. The chickens are allowed to roam free and they are accompanied by lots of very cute chicks and several very handsome roosters. Those of you who've been to our home in Cyprus will be used to early morning rooster calls so this is very reminiscent of that! (Mike's cousin Stan was quick to name the rooster next door to us in Cyprus, Lenin, hence the oft repeated phrase "shut up Lenin"!) Just like Cyprus they can't tell the time so they crow all day. The chickens and their amours keep us highly amused as they dash around everyone's gardens in search of food. They have no respect for property or people and the local cafe's all have warning signs advising against feeding them.
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| Chickens and friends in the garden |
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| Such a handsome chap! |
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| A baby chuk |
Had a BBQ one evening with our hosts and some of the other guests. Interesting insight into local issues including the importance of coconuts. The palm trees here are full of them and one of the conditions of car hire here is that you can't park under a coconut tree because of the risk of damage! Coconuts are used for everything from food (cream etc), fishing floats, thatching, bras for local ladies, as a fire lighter, fodder for coconut crabs, as a sweet (a bit like a marshmallow) and as sun tan cream! How sustainable is that from one rather ugly looking fruit.
The sea here is a lovely azure blue with a reef off the main lagoon. There were high winds for the first couple of days that we were here so quite big waves but all out beyond the reef. Thankfully things have calmed down in the last few days and we've been able to swim and snorkel in the lagoon. At low tide you can walk almost over to the island opposite and the snorkeling is quite good with live coral and a reasonable collection of fish. There are an enormous number of dark coloured sea cucumbers on the sea bed which are exposed at low tide so we've nicknamed the walk out the "turds passage". The coral covers much of the sea bed so reef shoes were an early purchase. So we look really elegant as we walk along the soft sandy beach in our swimmers and reef shoes!
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| Coral waters at Muri Beach |
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| Muri Beach and one of those all important Palm Trees |
People are so friendly and helpful here, perhaps because life is lived at a slower pace. On arrival we were a bit nervous going through customs as we'd had to declare several things such as powdered goats milk. "No worries" says the Customs Guy "as long as you're not carrying meat it's fine. Have a good holiday". On our first bus trip the driver asked if anyone was in a hurry as if so we'd be on the wrong island!
Nevertheless even the Cook Islands have some issues. The population (around 9,000) is dwindling as many young people leave in search of more money and better opportunities elsewhere. Land issues are complicated as hereditary land is often leased back to the owner on a 60 year lease and many people can't afford to buy out the lease at the end of the term. The minimum wage here is around $5 per hour but several religious sects such as the 7th day Adventists bring in workers from Tahiti and Fiji and pay them as little as $2 per hour. Such sects are often strong commercial organisations and run several up market tourist hotels. Nasties brought in from elsewhere such as the fruit diseases can threaten the finely balanced economy.
And of course the Islands are subject to nature's whims such as high winds which prevent the fishing boats going out and cyclones. Not that long ago they had five significant cyclones in one year. Creating and retaining Paradise is harder than you think!
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