Rarotonga at its best

Jessica Palmer visited Rarotonga in the Cook Islands with her family and was surprised to discover a tropical island that dreams are made of, a feature usually reserved for exclusive outer islands in the South Pacific

The mud was coming up over the tires at an alarming rate. My son was starting to panic. Although he usually loves mud, apparently this mud is different because it’s ‘’not the same as the mud from home”. I pointed out that it’s actually much cleaner than the stinky, stagnant mud on our property, but it’s impossible to reason with a young child.

The buggy slipped into a rut on the well driven dirt track fronting the abandoned Sheraton resort, a phantom building that sits in prime location in a jungle clearing. Both mud and water were spraying in all directions and the yellow, open-sided buggy no longer had a sunny outlook. Every square inch of this vehicle that was built for fun, was now mottled with brown mud, including its two passengers.

My son was starting to sound hysterical. ‘’I better get him out of here before this goes pear shaped,’’ I thought to myself, stomping my foot down on the accelerator harder. This unskilled attempt at getting to dryer ground resulted in the buggy stalling in a rut of mud and water.

Jumping into Wigmore's Waterfall on the island of Rarotonga

Jessica Palmer

Vrooom....

My husband zoomed past with my daughter, who was a week shy of turning three. I could hear her yelling, ‘’This is fuuuuunnnn!’’ followed by squeals of laughter and excitement as her dad sprayed mud on us. ‘’No, it’s not … its muddy,’’ mumbled my son grumpily. I couldn’t help myself and began laughing. What five-year-old doesn’t enjoy mud?

Someone from Raro Buggy Tours eventually came to the rescue and after a hose off and quick swing at the golf driving range, we all headed to Wigmore’s Waterfall. Fortunately, it had rained a few days ago (hence the mud), so there was a nice waterfall cascading down into the swimming hole.

Everyone headed into the water to wash off the last of the mud, our youngest deciding to go in as naked as the day she arrived. No one minded, kids are allowed to be kids here.

Raro Buggy Tours

Jessica Palmer

One of the Raro Buggy tour operators climbed out of the waterhole and scaled the moss coloured rocks, confidently placing hands and feet with every scale upwards. Just when he reached a height that I could no longer watch, he looked down and pushed off from the rocks and as I held my breath, he spread his arms and legs out like superman.

Upon reaching the water, he expertly tucked his legs up, splashing everyone in expert cannonball style. ‘’Can I do that too?’’ my son asked. ‘’Um…maybe when you’re a bit older and I’m not watching,’’ I replied.

We got tired of being mosquito fodder and headed to the Foodbox, a casual restaurant that served up delicious bite sized burgers, of which I needed two to fill my stomach.

Although known for its crystal-clear waters fringed by coconuts trees, one of my favourite things about the Cook Islands is actually the food. In particular, the food at the Muri Night Market and if we’re being specific, the slow cooked pork belly.

The Muri Night Market in Rarotonga

Jessica Palmer

My family is not really one for fancy restaurants so eating pork belly and roast potatoes slow cooked to perfection, outdoors on brightly painted wooden chairs and tables was just divine.

A local rugby game fired up right next door. Thanks to my husband’s obsession with all things rugby, we found ourselves cheering on the local boys as they gave it everything they had on what is probably, one of the most picturesque fields I’ve ever seen. Palm trees, clear water and white sand on one side and a particularly impressive green mountainous jungle on the other.

We got chatting with some local supporters and watched the sun go down together. Finding other warm bodies to connect with was easy here, even for someone like myself who more often than not, feels anxious at the thought of talking to strangers. The thing is, nobody treated us like the strangers that we were.

The kids always seemed to find someone to play with too, taking the pressure off us. They particularly liked Timmy, one of the friendly locals at Aroa Beach. He followed us down from the White House Villa, a great family accommodation option on the ‘quiet’ side of the island. He lived next door in the White House Apartment and seemed to particularly enjoy Aroa Beach, making friends with everyone there.

Tik-E Tours Around Rarotonga

Jessica Palmer

I watched in amusement as he sat uncomfortably close to some girls who were obviously enjoying time in the islands away from the cold of Europe. They looked on in what appeared to be disgust and horror as he paused to scratch enthusiastically around his neck just seconds after he had made himself at home on the corner of their towel.

Timmy of course, is a dog. And he definitely didn’t have fleas. I should know, I checked. Timmy was actually really clean and very well looked after. He would often come over for a ‘chat’ if he saw us out in the yard or heading down the beach.

Rarotonga turned out to be the perfect blend of modern niceties, without the annoying chaos that goes with it. Chickens roam freely, yet the cars and scooters that manoeuvre around them were modern. There is one main circle island road that moves at a slow and steady pace. Nobody drives over 50km, and even slower in ‘town’ areas. As soon as you turn off the circle island road, you are blessed with the lush greenness of the island’s interior.

There are no traffic lights, no buildings taller than the tallest coconut tree and resorts haven’t been allowed to privatise the beautiful beaches.

Aora Beach on the ''quiet'' side of the island

Jessica Palmer

Do you know what’s even better? Cook Islanders are family orientated and no one gave me ‘that look’ when we showed up places with two young kids in various stages of undress. Even when one of them decides that bathers are not required for swimming and they are going to swim at the local waterfall butt-naked.

I wasn’t expecting to like Rarotonga, let alone love it. Before we arrived, I had naively placed it in the same basket as other South Pacific islands (cough, cough, Tahiti).

The kind of island that your international flight lands in, but you then need to fork out an obscene amount of money to get to the outer lying island that you saw in the travel brochures. The islands you had been dreaming about all year. I had never been more wrong in my life.

Rarotonga is the international hub of the Cook Islands, 15 spatters of land scattered over 2 million sq km in the Pacific Ocean. With a population of only 17,000 – 18,000 people, an exquisite aqua lagoon, and a mountainous jungle interior, there is no need to feel disappointed if you can’t make it to the outer islands.

You will not be wasting your hard-earned vacation time or dollars by spending a whole week or longer in Rarotonga, the island I now dream of.

One of the many beautiful beaches on Rarotonga

Jessica Palmer

HOW TO GET THERE

At the time of writing, the Cook Islands is currently closed to international travel due to travel restrictions relating to Covid-19. On 16 April 2020, the Cook Islands was declared a COVID-19 free zone. It’s expected they will open to Australian travellers in-line with other South Pacific Islands.

WHERE TO STAY

We love the White House Apartment, a self-catering type accommodation with plenty of space for families less than 100m walk from beautiful Aroa beach.

OTHER ISLANDS in the COOK ISLANDS

Air Rarotonga is the only airline that travels between Rarotonga and the outer-islands. If you’re wandering what other islands to visit, check out our previous article in issue 1 on Which Island to Visit in the Cook Islands.