11 minute read
Kura Happ amazing entertainer and reef tour guide
KURA HAPP IS A GIFTED AND ARTISTIC RAROTONGABORN VOCALIST, GUITARIST AND SONGWRITER WHOSE PERFORMANCES AROUND THE ISLAND’S MUSIC SCENE ARE SOULFULLY ENTERTAINING AND SPIRITED.
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She is one of those unique restaurant entertainers who performs in an unpretentious yet eye-catching manner at a sound level where you can both appreciated her sweet music and enjoy your meal. But, Kura wasn’t always this way! Kura Happ has been on a musical journey since she was a young child when her grandparents brought her along to church to sing with the choir. Born in Rarotonga, raised in Sydney, Kura began her musical pathway learning the piano, but she got disinterested with it and didn’t continue. As a teenager still at school Kura and her sister Leilani practiced their musical skills busking during the holidays in Sydney’s busy shopping district around Pitt Street, the Town Hall and Central Station, and also nearer to home at Hurstville and Cronulla. “My best friend is my sister. We’re both singers. I would play guitar and she had the ukulele.” “We’d carry those little fold out stools with our instruments on our backs and a little Djembe drum. We’d walk around and set up at the best place; no sound system just acoustic.” Kura said they played different styles of music from the R&B music of Destiny’s Child and TLC, to Dr. Hook, The Eagles, Cat Stevens and Bob Dylan (influenced by their parents taste in music): “I love Dr. Hook!” “My mum was the one that really got us into our music. She can play. And, she took us to musicals like Miss Saigon, The Lion King and Ipi Tombi. There was so many I can’t remember them all!” Kura and Leilani ultimately became a duo R&B group called Brown Sugar for a period with some success around the club circuit. “We did a few big gigs like Waitangi Day.” Kura later joined a group called Indigo: “It was a really good band, but I was also in other groups.” When Kura’s mum and dad retired they returned to Rarotonga; Kura moved back and forward until eventually settling back in her homeland when she was 23. “I learned to play the guitar in Raro by watching and listening to local musicians.”
For the past fifteen years Kura Happ has become well known locally as an individual performer around the music scene presenting her own distinctive style. She has also performed internationally. Kura is also half of one of Rarotonga’s most popular and accomplished acoustic percussion duos known as Trigger Fish, with Maurice Newport (Mo). They perform a mix of soul, reggae and jazz in both small and large venues, including heading off to Tahiti often to play at the Hinano Live concert. “I love Tahiti!”. Kura is on guitar and vocals, and Mo on the Cajón (a box shaped percussion instrument originally from Peru): “It’s really cool!” "I love the music scene in Rarotonga. The only thing is all the good concerts and my favourite musicians I love to listen to, are often on the same nights as me." Recently Kura has expanded her horizons starting a unique ‘eco’ venture called Ariimoana (King of the Ocean). "I’m an outdoor nature 'waterbaby', big kid at heart! I love being in the ocean: snorkeling, spear fishing, scuba diving, free diving and reef walking. I love to scuba dive but I prefer to free dive with friends." I Love it! If I could live down there, I’d leave this place and go live in the ocean forever. Working for Captain Tama’s Lagoon Cruizes at one stage as ‘Captain Happy’ exposed Kura to visitors, contributing to her confidence speaking as a tour guide, and supporting her believe that she could create a business focussing on her love of the ocean. “Also, working with Ariki Adventures, I learnt so much there, which gave me the confidence and courage to start my Ariimoana reef walkabouts.” In 2019, Kura began Ariimoana walkabouts. The Ariimoana reef walks are designed to explore the lagoon’s marine life close up. The walkabouts last around three hours during low tides. “We go on the reef at low tide, which is the best and safest time to go. We find sea life including moray eels, starfish, sea urchins, octopus, reef fish, and sea cucumbers, and talk about their roles in the ocean world. I tell stories about how the locals use to live fishing the reefs. All those stories my grandparents would share with me. I was raised on the beach.” For more information about Ariimoana reef walks call 70 070. Facebook - Ariimoana; Instagram - ariimoana_ walkabouts. Kura Happ is the real deal! Amazing entertainer and now ‘eco’ tour guide. It’s going to be difficult not to come across Kura if you love the best things Rarotonga has to offer – local live music and the pristine lagoons!
Kura Happ, queen of the Rarotonga music scene (Photographer: Jaiah Arai)
PA'S TREKS Eco tourism at it’s best!
Across Island Trek with Bruce
• About 3.5 hours • Reasonable fitness needed
(not suited for those with heart, ankle, knee or hip problems) • Transport & light lunch provided • Monday to Friday - weather permitting
• A gentle walk through the noni plantation and taro fields to the mountain. Enter pristine rainforest, visit the sacred Marae. • Hear stories of Pa’s ancestors and learn about local herbal remedies. • Tuesday & Thursday
Medicinal Nature Walk with Pa
THE TRUE STORY OF PA & THE DOLPHINS Written and illustrated by his wife Jillian Sobieska, this story will delight and inspire children everywhere. Available from Bounty Bookshop or directly from Pa and Jillian
Bookings 21079 or email pastreks@gmail.com | www.pastreks.com
The custard squares are Deli Licious!
MOST CAFÉS IN RAROTONGA HAVE SOME CLAIM TO MAKING THE BEST COFFEE, OTHERS CLAIM TO MAKE THE BEST CUSTARD SQUARES, BUT JUST ONE CAN CLAIM TO BE THE MOST DELI LICIOUS CAFÉ ON THE ISLAND!
Muri’s cool looking Deli-Licious Café is located on the village’s main road, conspicuous for it’s shady outdoor seating and umbrellas. Open Sunday to Friday 8am3pm for breakfast, brunch and lunch, owner-manager Kris Higgins said Sunday is their busiest day. As with many expat business owners, Kris and husband Neil came to Rarotonga on holiday and dreamt of making a living on the island one day. “The place reminded me of the Whangaparaoa Peninsula on the outskirts of of Auckland. The hibiscus, the sun, the beaches; just reminded me of that! “In New Zealand I worked in corporate finance: I worked in banking then went into investments, but I just didn’t feel I had any quality of life.” Neil, who worked for the Department of Corrections as a Corrections Officer, felt the same way, so they started looking and soon found DeliLicious Café online, and it was for sale. “We bought Deli Licous as it was; we saw it on Trade Me about four years ago. We are now in our fifth year,” said Kris. “We revamped the menu a little bit, but didn’t make huge changes as the café was running so well”. Focusing on quality coffee, cakes and light meals, DeliLicious Café is not only vegetarian and vegan friendly; it is also dog friendly! “We have a real love of animals. So visitors to the café must love dogs, because they are always around. They just hang about being friendly. We feed them around the back!” But getting back to custard squares, Kris is very proud of the Deli Licous variety. “We have the best custard square on the island because ours are made with eggs, milk and all things natural!” When asked if their custard squares are fattening, Kris replied lightheartedly: “When you are on holiday, nothing is fattening!” Kris concluded: “We didn’t come to Rarotonga to make millions, we came here for quality of life. We enjoy what we do. We love working with the girls in the café; they are awesome – and local!”
Kris Higgins with a Deli Lious custard square
The Deli-Licious Café at Muri
Polynesian Rentals expand
100% locally owned Polynesian Rental Cars & Bikes is now positioned at seven locations around Rarotonga, plus Rarotonga Airport. In 2019, Polynesian added its seventh location, which is situated on the main road at Titikaveka, next to Royale Takitumu. The others locations include: two in Avarua, Muri Beach, Aroa Beach, Club Raro and Edgewater Resort.
New location at Titikaveka Peter Heays and Carey Winterflood, partners in Cook Islands Real Estate Ltd.
Get advise from the experts!
COOK ISLANDS REAL ESTATE LTD PARTNERS CAREY WINTERFLOOD AND PETER HEAYS HAVE YEARS OF EXPERIENCE SELLING AND LISTING PROPERTIES AND BUSINESSES IN RAROTONGA AND AITUTAKI, PREDOMINANTLY RELATED TO THE COOK ISLANDS TOURISM SECTOR AND TRAVEL INDUSTRY.
We asked them what their advice was for people interested in buying a business in the Cook Islands: Is it easy or difficult? “It's certainly not difficult, but it is a process that has to get approval from the BTIB, the Business Trade Investment Board,” said Carey. “You need to get past the BTIB criteria to buy a business, which includes health checks, police checks from back home, and a small business plan. Providing the criteria is met, you'll find that you're most welcome, and work and residency permits are renewed easily.” So why choose the Cook Islands for a lifestyle change, and not another South Pacific island? “The Cook Islands is actually quite a sophisticated island nation, so we have ‘the niceties’ to conduct business. We also have the ease of travel to and from Australia and New Zealand, where most of our buyers come from. English is widely spoken here, and the laws are similar to Australia and New Zealand, but particularly New Zealand. So it’s fairly easy to do business here,” said Carey. Peter added: “We also have a stable government, we have laws that are recognisable, and policies that are not continually changing. It's consistent, and there is confidence in the future of the country. That's our biggest advantage over other Pacific island nations.” According to Cook Islands Real Estate, people are primarily looking for lifestyle businesses mostly in tourism: hotels, motels, bed and breakfast type properties, cafés, restaurants, and tourist attractions.
“One of the factors to be taken into consideration when buying a lifestyle property in the Cook Islands is that property cannot be bought freehold, only leased, albeit long term leases lasting decades. And, it certainly makes the unaffordable, more attainable, said Carey. “The entry level for accommodation property is dramatically different in Australia and New Zealand. Here, a million dollars could buy you a small accommodation property close to the water front; back in Australia or New Zealand it would be three, four, maybe five times that amount.” According to Peter and Carey most of their enquiries for lifestyle businesses come from their website www. cookislands-realestate. com. “Our website has a monumental click-on rate,” said Carey. “But we also get calls from visitors here on holiday. They’ve fallen in love with the place, seen how easy it appears to be to do business here, and that's the clincher! They're about to go back to a 9-5 grind, and think: maybe we could settle here in the Cook Islands. Others get back home, get onto our website and start a conversation by email.” Cook Islands Real Estate handle hundreds of ‘lifestyle’ enquiries each year. Peter said: “We pride ourselves in personally guiding people through the entire process from the inspection, through the BTIB process, immigration, the banks, the loans, right through to the day they take over, and even beyond!” “We both first came here individually years ago as tourists, and we know what it's like to be a purchaser,” said Carey. “Not just that, we’ve brought our children up here, so we know about schooling, sports and recreation and so on. We’ve collectively got years of those sorts of experiences to share”. The Cook Islands Real Estate office is next to Cook Islands News on the main road just out of Avarua, but mostly Peter and Carey are with clients and vendors. “The best way to contact us is by mobile telephone 24/7 or by email,” said Carey. “We’ll come to you, or meet you for a coffee!”
