I'M FREE
TAKE ME HOME
20
Manihiki
Enchanted island of exotic black pearls
PLUS: On yer Bike • Chance Encounter First Church in the Cook Islands The Ui Ariki & Aronga Mana Rito Cook Islands
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One unforgettable Day “The view of the island from the plane was just spectacular.”
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For more information see our hotel tour desk or call our reservations centre (7 days) on 22-888.
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Aitutaki Cruising, swimming, snorkelling, relaxing over a barbequed lunch of freshly caught fish as you explore Aitutaki’s beautiful lagoon. A I R R A R O T O N G A’ S DAY T O U R I N C L U D E S : • Aitutaki island tour T H E VA K A C RU I S E • Island hopping • Delicious barbequed lunch served on-board • Complimentary towels and snorkelling equipment • Bathroom facilities • Round trip airfares from Rarotonga F RO M $459 P E R P E R S O N
CONTENTS Issue 20 September 2014
44
Up front
Tour of the Cook Islands
6
Introduction
11
An introduction to the Cook Islands
8
Contributors to this issue
22
Rarotonga
66
Aitutaki
80
Atiu
84
Southern & Northern Group Islands
Features 44 Manihiki Come with us as we discover the charm of Manihiki, the second-to-northern most island in the Cook Islands, 1160 kilometres, four hours by plane, from Rarotonga. Home of our coveted black pearls. 52 The Ui Ariki and Aronga Mana A revealing insight into the traditional structure of Cook Islands leadership and how, in modern times, its culture and custom continues to exist alongside current political practices. 60 On yer Bike Join Jess Cramp as she discovers just how many ways you can now enjoy cycling on Rarotonga. From professionally guided cycling tours for novices, to specialist bike hire for triathlon athletes and everything in between. 72 Chance Encounter The Mutiny on the Bounty took place close to the island of Aitutaki. It was there, recently, that descendants of both Captain Bligh and mutineer Fletcher Christian met quite by chance. 74 First Church in the Cook Islands Built shortly after the arrival of the missionaries in Aitutaki, this huge coral block church in Arutanga was the first to be constructed in the Cook Islands. 78 Rito Cook Islands The local production of a remarkable skin care and condiment range made from the finest cold pressed coconut oil.
Front Cover: Motu Murihiti, Island of Manihiki. Photo: Noel Bartley
4 • ESCAPE
60
Regulars 12 Art Scene A significant local achievement: The BCA/Marsters exhibition ‘New Yorkers Don’t See Flowers’ was delivered to the VOLTA Art Fair in New York City, March 2014. 16 Book Worms A review of topical authors and their books. 18 Raro Rhythm Kahiki Tehaamatai gives us an insight into how he became a Guitarist, Luthier and Singer Songwriter. 20
What’s in Store? Taking a look in shop windows.
30
Island Cuisine We visit local restaurants and share their best recipes.
42 Village Life Memories of life growing up in an island village brought to us by well known artist and story-teller Joan Gragg. 88
Great Places to Stay A guide to some of Rarotonga’s best accommodation.
92 ‘The Bond’ Entertainment Guide The inside story on the best clubs, island shows and nightlife. 96
What’s On? A calendar of events and holidays.
T H E
R A R O T O N G A N
B E A C H
R E S O R T
&
S PA
KIDS STAY, PLAY + EAT FREE! “ We had a great time at The Rarotongan. The pool and the beach were great. Snorkelling off the beach was some of the best snorkelling we’ve ever done! Beautiful and very safe. We liked how everything is included in the price and we could just pick up beach towels, snorkelling gear, kayaks and boards at no extra charge. The daily activities were great for the kids too. The restaurants had a lovely set up with tables inside and out, including cabanas, and the staff were very friendly and accommodating. The resort rooms were tidy and clean and well stocked and the daily housekeeping was great. We used the babysitter services and they were so lovely and looked after our son and his two cousins really well. We would definitely go back there.” Lotte & Family, 2014
J
ust a 3.5 hour flight from Auckland! Now Kids Stay, Play & Eat Free! at the Cook Islands’ leading family-friendly resort, The Rarotongan Beach Resort & Spa. Enjoy all-tide, sheltered snorkeling in the Aroa Lagoon Marine Reserve (or hand feed the friendly reef fish!). Kids Nature & Culture Discovery Programme @ Moko’s Kids Club. FREE Little Dolphin’s Mini Water Park! Banana Beach Playland crèche for 0-3 years (charge applies). FREE – Teens Stay & Play FREE (12-16 years)! Garden Rooms + Beachfront Rooms GUARANTEED INTERCONNECTING at time of booking (up to 7 in a row). VILLA ONEMARU private pool villa w/ 3 bedrooms+3 bathrooms! Ideal for multi-generational family groups. The Rarotongan is adjacent to ADULTS-ONLY 4-5 star sister resort, Sanctuary Rarotonga-on the beach www.SanctuaryRarotonga.com Enjoy your BEST FAMILY HOLIDAY EVER – at The Rarotongan!
Aroa Beach + Lagoon Marine Reserve Rarotonga | COOK ISLANDS P (+682) 25800 | F 25799 info@rarotongan.co.ck | www.TheRarotongan.com
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EDITOR'S Note Kia Orana all,
publisher South Pacific Publishing Limited, Rarotonga editor Noel Bartley design Christina Thiele | Ultimo Group Auckland, New Zealand printed in Korea Tara TPS Ltd Seoul, Korea advertising director Noel Bartley regular contributors Rachel Reeves Glenda Tuaine Joan Gragg Alan Syme Florence Syme-Buchanan advertising sales rarotonga Noel Bartley Phone: (682) 23449 or 54449 Email: advertise@escape.co.ck advertising sales new zealand Phone: 09 419 6416 Email: scenix@ihug.co.nz distribution rarotonga Danny Kelly Phone: (682) 20777 or 77876 Email: kelly@oyster.net.ck
When I launched this magazine in 2004, I recall a couple of conversations with prospective advertisers along the lines of “it will be a 2 minute wonder”, “it will never work in this small community” and “you’ll go broke real quick”. Well here we are 10 years later, with the 20th issue of what eventually proved to be an award winning magazine in the Pacific. I’m tempted to remind those folk of their comments. Perseverance and passion, and yes a little bit of another ‘p’ word, profit, has kept me enthusiastic and focused on the future, much the same as the folk who live on that remote atoll called Manihiki, which features in this issue on page 44. A visitor to Manihiki will view it as the epitome of that dream of idyllic living away from the rat race of everyday suburban life. To the persevering locals who eke out a living from the cultivation of black pearls, it’s often a matter of survival, where your remote existence is largely forgotten by the outside world. Don’t get me wrong; almost all of the extremely friendly folk I met during my visit to this charming island were more than happy with their way of life. To outsiders looking in however, the challenges of an existence there, 4 hours by air from the capital of Avarua, appear insurmountable. There is a charm about these far flung islands of ours which lingers with you long after you’ve departed. And it’s generally the people that provide the real gold during any visit. Producing this magazine has allowed me to visit and discover most of our 15 islands; not only their beauty but their easy-going pace of life and of course, the warmth of their inhabitants. I am truly grateful for the friendships I have been fortunate enough to have made on each and every island. Prompted by folk who occasionally ask us questions about the Koutu Nui and the House of Ariki, we asked intrepid explorer and journalist Rachel Reeves to bring you their story. Our heartfelt thanks go to Travel Tou Ariki and other Cook Islands’ traditional leaders for the welcome extended to Rachel to make this article possible. Sincere thanks also to Matariki Wilson for the awesome photos we used to accompany Rachel’s story. We do encourage you to read it - see page 52.
distribution aitutaki Annie Bishop Phone: (682) 31009 Email: bishopcruz@aitutaki.net.ck
Stand by for a bumper issue of Escape Magazine in May next year. We will be celebrating our 21st issue together with the 50th anniversary of Cook Islands independence. Look for great stories that made headlines during the past 50 years.
Escape is published bi-annually by South Pacific Publishing Limited P.O. Box 3010, Rarotonga, Cook Islands Email: advertise@escape.co.ck
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: Due to space restrictions we have never encouraged letters in the past. Our special 21st issue will however allow room for your comments. So now is your chance… If you’ve got any comment whatsoever to make, perhaps a suggestion for a future story, or to tell us what a great job we are doing then please email your letter to: advertise@escape.co.ck We do not guarantee a reply, but will do our best to publish all those we receive.
All contents of ESCAPE magazine are copyright of South Pacific Publishing Limited. Any reproduction of any part of this magazine without prior written permission is strictly prohibited.
Don’t forget! You can view past issues of our magazine on-line at www.escapemagazine.travel Ka Kite! Noel Bartley
6 • ESCAPE
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8 • ESCAPE
CONTRIBUTORS Rachel Reeves Born and raised in California, Rachel Michele Teana Reeves has Atiu roots on her father’s side. She moved to Rarotonga three years ago to get to know her Cook Islands heritage, and fell in love with the island and island life. This young and vibrant 23-year-old has a passion for writing and has also worked for Cook Islands News. Upon graduating from university, she taught English in Vietnam, Thailand and Nepal. Rachel enjoys being active – running, swimming, oe vaka, windsurfing, snowboarding – and reading. She is grateful to the people of the Cook Islands, who have welcomed her with warmth and the spirit of aloha.
Nerys Case Nerys is a UK journalist who came to work in the Cook Islands with her husband, who until recently was working as a nurse at Rarotonga Hospital. After editing a series of national magazines in the UK, Nerys worked as media advisor to conservation charities and the UK’s National Health Service, before leaving for sunnier, quieter shores. She has been overwhelmed by the beauty of the Cook Islands, the friendliness of the people and the easy going lifestyle. Read her story about the restoration of the Cook Islands oldest church on page 74 of this issue.
Rachel Smith Rachel moved to the Cook Islands with her family two years ago, exchanging her career as a health professional for that of a freelance journalist. She has fallen in love with the beauty and relaxed lifestyle of the Cook Islands, where her days are filled with writing, swimming, helping out at Takitumu School, and looking after her children. The opportunity to travel to the outer islands of Mangaia and Mauke has been a highlight during her time here, as has watching her son learn to speak Cook Islands Maori.
Jess Cramp Jess is an American scientist, surfer, diver and writer who arrived in Rarotonga via Tahiti, after being convinced by a group of Cook Islands voyagers that their country was the best in the Pacific. She spent the past two years as volunteer Programme Manager for Rarotonga-based Pacific Islands Conservation Initiative, helping to establish the shark sanctuary and falling in love with the people, landscapes and culture of the Cook Islands. She is an energetic marine conservationist who continues to research, educate and advocate for sharks, both throughout the Pacific and back in the US. When not working, Jess can be found at reef passes, either surfing or exploring underwater. Also: Glenda Tuaine, Ben Bergman, Matariki Wilson – Cook Islands News, Tina Weier, Jean Mason, Joan Gragg and Noel Bartley.
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The Cook Islands
15 tiny islands in paradise, that a small nation calls home.
London Berlin Vancouver Rome Beijing
Seoul Tokyo Los Angeles Hong Kong Honalulu
Northern Group
Capetown
Perth
Sydney
Cook Islands Auckland
Southern Group
W
here would someone say, “may you live long,” upon meeting you for the first time, but in the Cook Islands.
The Cook Islands greeting Kia Orana, means exactly that, “may you live long.” It is a unique first gesture of friendship from a special Polynesian people, renown for their hospitality and warmth. It is as if God chose his 15 most precious gems, and then sprinkled them over 2.25 million sq km of the Pacific to become the Cook Islands – an ei (necklace) of islands awaiting to embrace all visitors. All the islands combined make up a land area of just 240 sq km. Each of the ‘gems’ is unlike the other and all have their own special features. From the majestic peaks of Rarotonga to the low-lying untouched coral atolls of the northern islands of Manihiki, Penrhyn, Rakahanga, Pukapuka, Nassau and Suwarrow. The latter, inhabited only by a caretaker and his family, is a popular anchorage for yachts from all over the world. The Southern Cooks is made up of the capital Rarotonga, Aitutaki, Atiu, Mangaia, Mauke, Mitiaro, Manuae, Palmerston and Takutea. Takutea is an uninhabited bird sanctuary and managed by the Atiu Island Council. Manuae is the remaining uninhabited island. Cook Islanders have their own Maori language and each of the populated islands a distinct dialect. It has a population of around
13,000. The Cooks has been self-governing in free association with New Zealand since 1965. By virtue of that unique relationship, all Cook Islanders hold New Zealand passports. The country is governed by 25-member Parliament elected by universal suffrage. The Cook Islands Parliamentary system is modelled on the Westminster system of Britain. The Queens Representative is Head of State. A House of Ariki (traditional paramount chiefs) counsels and advises government, as does the Koutu Nui, a body of traditional chiefs. This is a delightful Pacific country where the ‘metropolis’ of Rarotonga offers a wide range of activities, accommodation and cuisine and visitors can choose to be as busy as they wish. A short inter-island flight away are the less developed southern group islands each offering something different. Travelling to the isolated northern islands by inter-island flight or boat, one savours a South Pacific rarely seen by outsiders. Due to distance and infrequency of transport there are fewer visitors to the northern group islands. But wherever you turn you see bright tropical colours and movement, whether it is the sway of palms and sea in the trade winds, or dancers entertaining at one of the many nightspots found on Rarotonga and Aitutaki. While you may nearly always hear the ocean, you will always feel the warmth of the people and their tropical paradise. The Cook Islands truly is a slice of heaven.
ESCAPE • 11
art scene
BCA Gallery & Sylvia Marsters
New Yorkers Don’t See Flowers story: Ben Bergman | benb@oyster.net.ck
New York City - metropolis of folklore and legend - home to 8.4 million. The Big Apple. The city that never sleeps. Its name an allegory of excitement, and impossible opportunity. An irresistible lure, an art capital of global status.
12 • ESCAPE
Playingof the Cardlsands
Cook Is "When you take a flower in your hand and really look at it, it's your world for the moment. I want to give that world to someone else. Most people in the city rush around so; they have no time to look at a flower. I want them to see it whether they want to or not."
I
n 1946, artist Georgia O’Keefe stated in a New York Post Interview, "When you take a flower in your hand and really look at it, it's your world for the moment. I want to give that world to someone else. Most people in the city rush around so; they have no time to look at a flower. I want them to see it whether they want to or not."
Paris studio in 1950, it was Marsters’ intent to convey a sense of psychic relief. Bright tropical flowers set against a stark cityscape easily engaged the viewers’ attention, to offer (if ever so briefly) a chance to re-focus and re-frame our daily outlook and perhaps question what is significant and not so significant in our multifarious reality.
It was a statement that had long fascinated artist Sylvia Marsters and, via well timed opportunity, the BCA/Marsters exhibition ‘New Yorkers Don’t See Flowers’ was developed and delivered to the VOLTA Art Fair in New York City, March 2014.
This notion is reinforced when considering Marsters’ up-bringing in working class suburbs of Auckland, New Zealand, where she bore witness to the harsh economic realities of the 1980’s and suffered the loss of a parent.
Novel, unique and appealingly attractive, this deck of cards features 54 art works by Joan Gragg. Joan’s art is influenced by everyday life in the Cook Islands. An ideal gift or souvenir! Available from: Beachcomber Pearl Market • Bounty Bookshop • Island Craft • Island Living • Perfumes of Rarotonga • The Art Studio • The Gift Shop
See Joan’s artwork at The Furniture Centre
Inspired by O’Keefe’s quote, Marsters’ original flower paintings conveyed an eruption of colour, form and dimension against the harsh reality of an east coast winter. Mesmeric in detail and structure, the 30 foot installation demanded and received much attention from many of the 20,000 plus visitors whom attended the VOLTA art fair. Recollecting photographer Alexander Liberman’s impressions of a serene vase of flowers amongst the chaos within Augusto Giacometti’s
ESCAPE • 13
Perfumes of Rarotonga The home of unique island gifts and scents. Visit our gift store at Cooks Corner, or Factory on the Main road in Panama. Phone 24238 www.perfumes.co.ck
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Sylvia Marsters original flower works are available for viewing at BCA Gallery. The artist is next scheduled to show at BCA in 2015. BCA Gallery is located @ the Beachcomber Building in Taputapuatea, uptown Avarua, Rarotonga. Gallery Hours: Monday to Friday, 10am - 4pm, Saturday 10am - 12pm View video of VOLTA art fair gallerybca.com
14 • ESCAPE& local designers international
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A former student of renowned art tutor and New Zealand artist, Lois McIvor (McIvor herself was a student of artist Colin McCahon), Marsters fascination with flowers developed as a response to her Cook Islands heritage, and was further enhanced as a result of multiple art residencies and exhibitions undertaken in Rarotonga in 2003 and 2012. Following the exhibition ‘Island Fever’ (BCA, 2012), Marsters and BCA embarked on the epic journey to repatriate O’Keefe’s statement from Rarotonga to New York, an inspiring blend of conceptual ideals and environmental settings. If chaos was the desired backdrop, then New York was indeed the perfect home to Marsters flowers. The presentation was accompanied by a catalogue and limited edition screen print. After four full days of networking, answering non-stop questions, sales, and experiencing the around-the-clock entity that is New York, Marsters summed it up thus: “It’s my first experience in the Big Apple. It’s been incredibly exciting and pretty mind blowing seeing waves of people coming through to look at my art. I’m incredibly grateful.”
Island Memories
forever
Happiness
Love
Faithfulness
Monday - Friday 9am - 4pm | Saturday 9am - 12pm Main Road, Taputaputea | Phone. +682 21939 | Email. lukeb@oyster.net.ck ESCAPE • 15
book worms
Savage died in 1941 and his, by then complete manuscript, was purchased from his estate by the New Zealand Government in 1950. But it was not until 1962 that his work was finally published for the first time. In 1980 it was reprinted and last year, marking the fiftieth anniversary of the first publication, it was published for a third time by the Cook Islands Library & Museum Society Incorporated.
A Savage compendium of Cook Islands Language, History & Culture Fifty-one years ago the New Zealand Department of Island Territories published a dictionary of the Maori language of Rarotonga. But the genesis of this seminal work dates from long before this – well over one hundred years ago in fact. Its origins lie with Stephen Savage who was born in New Zealand in 1875 and came to Rarotonga in 1894. He was part New Zealand Maori, being of the Whanau Apanui Tribe in the Bay of Plenty. Fluent in New Zealand Maori he quickly took an interest in the Maori language of the Cook Islands. But Savage’s interest went well beyond words and extended to the customs and traditions of the residents of Rarotonga as well. Savage’s notes show that from the early 1900s he began compiling words for a dictionary. Sadly an earlier work was destroyed by fire and Stephen Savage painstakingly began his work anew.
There are invaluable historical and cultural notes captured in this work. One example is the word “Ina-nui-o-te-ra”. A typical dictionary would not include this word and others would only briefly explain she was the daughter of the god Rongo. But the Savage dictionary explains the name covers several persons in legend and mythology and then goes on to tell us a lot more, including the belief Ina-nui-o-te-ra had the power to restore the old to youth, by immersing the elderly in the waters of Te Vai Ariari, also known as Muri-vai-oTonga.
My Kotuku of the South Seas Helen Henry Helen Henry, daughter-in-law of the late Sir Albert Henry, Cook Islands’ first prime minister after the country became self-governing in 1965, publishes her remarkable life story, in My Kotuku of the South Seas. Helen’s memoir depicts a simple life in a much simpler time. Helen’s memoir is rich in her descriptions of friendship, harmony and love. She weaves a simple tapestry of the life of her family as they follow their dreams and aspirations. Helen grew up in a sheltered and happy home in a leafy suburb of Auckland, New Zealand. She was only 15 years of age when she fell passionately in love with
This extraordinary compendium of language, culture and history is available from the Library and Museum at Taputapuatea (inland from The Beachcomber), for $45.00. Book reviewed by Jean Mason.
Hugh, a Pacific Island boy, at a time when multi race marriages were frowned upon. Hugh’s father, Sir Albert Henry, advised Helen of the problems and disillusionment she might encounter, but she was not deterred. In fact they were both more than ever determined to continue their relationship. Their romance blossomed and in 1961 they married. Rarotonga was a tropical paradise for Helen, Hugh and their family of four sons
16 • ESCAPE
Rarotonga & Aitutaki Noel Bartley and one daughter. The lifestyle was a far cry from the sheltered upbringing of Auckland, where family and friends were only a phone call away. They struggled to make ends meet, but every day was a new challenge and adventure. Together they created a home where their two cultures and traditions intertwined. Above all, their household resonated with love, laughter and chaotic carefree days, as they brought up five barefoot children.
One of the largest and perhaps the most comprehensive collections of Cook Islands photography has been built up over two decades by publisher and photographer Noel Bartley. Noel, who also publishes award winning Escape Magazine, produced these pictorial books, one entitled Rarotonga, the other Aitutaki, using some of the stunning images from his vast collection.
There were moments of drama when they were caught up in the political turmoil of a small nation forging its own destiny. Helen experienced deep sadness and despair when Hugh suddenly and unexpectedly passed away. She was left to continue her journey alone. Out of the blue, Helen finds a second love and marries John Hay, an environmental scientist and Nobel Peace Prize winner. They share a love of traveling to exotic and exciting places around the world. However, most of all they enjoy relaxing on the verandah of their home in Rarotonga.
Beautiful photographs leap out from every one of the 100 pages of each book, providing wonderful imagery of both Rarotonga and Aitutaki. Noel has captured well the country’s two most popular visitor destinations, the people, culture, and island life. Escape Magazine’s main contributing writer Florence SymeBuchanan provides an informative introduction to each book. These books rank amongst the best now available in terms of photographic quality. Retailing at around $39.90 they would also be the best in terms of value for money and certainly make wonderful souvenirs of the islands. Both titles are on sale at most retailers including CITC, Bounty Bookshop, Island Craft, Treasure Chest stores, Island Style, Beachcomber, Perfumes of Rarotonga and at some resorts.
My Kotuku of the South Seas is one woman’s remarkably inspiring journey with strong threads of family, harmony and unity. In all her trying times, Helen finds constant solace in the appearance of ‘The Kotuku’ the beautiful bird she loved as a child and which she now recognizes as a symbol of enduring comfort.
The Must Stop Shop
raroto nga
Noel Bartle y has travell ed and worke extensively d as a photograph er and publisher throug hout the South or over 25 Pacific years; in the Solomon slands, Norfo lk Island, Tonga , Samoa, Cook Island s and New Zealand. oel first arrive d in the Cook Islands in 990 to create promotional brochures d advertising for the Cook Islands urism Corpo ration, and to establish otographic stock for future use in ertising the country as a desirable ist destination. Much of the photograph ors to these y which has shores during enticed the past two ted by Noel, decades has during his many been visits to these islands. ew Zealand, his marketing background blish an extens quickly helpe ive range of d him photograph ostcards in ic books, calend the 1980’s, ars, before he becam ands of the e enchanted South Pacifi with c. During the ed his time past 20 years to a more relaxe he has d pursuit of r climate and photograph amongst his y, in a many island friends. home on Rarot onga for most of the year, is that of owner Noel’s main and editor of award winnin ne, recently dubbed by g Escape the chairman stination maga of BULA Fiji zine in the as “the South Pacifi c”. es include Aitutaki, Cook Islands and k Islands. A Journey through
Available from Bounty Bookshop, Avarua, or log on to www.helenhenryraro.com for more information about this book.
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ESCAPE • 17
raro rhythm
“I
wasn’t born a musician; I was born an island boy” Kahiki Tehaamatai enjoys his honesty as he embarks on giving me some insight into how he has became a Guitarist, Luthier and Singer Songwriter; even though his mother told him that maybe he should just focus on the guitar! Born in Tahiti and raised in Rarotonga until he was six, Kahiki has lived an international existence, growing up in France, Italy and Turkey; with trips back and forth to Polynesia. He has been immersed in, shall we say, a songbook of cultures and experiences which have formed his connection to music and life.
KAHIKI
Just an island boy story: Glenda Tuaine
18 • ESCAPE
Kahiki began his future in music at 14, holed up in his bedroom in Paris. “I started with an electric guitar, an amp and a few pedals and at the time Punk music, Metallica, Black Sabbath, anything that distorts was my music of choice”, he laughs, but that teenage boy developed a dexterity and velocity in his fingers that would then see him, at 16, go on to form a heavy metal band with his school friends. It is during this time that Kahiki’s focus begins to change; exploring his own musicality; picking up acoustic guitar and developing his skills to centre on the subtleties and precision other styles of music offer.
A clever blend of guitar, slide guitar and rootsy, soulful riffs position this album and Kahiki as a Ben Harperesque talent...
At 20, Kahiki returns to Rarotonga on a mission to write and become a better musician. The scene is one that caters to the tourist market, so again he is confronted with the need to diversify his skills and fast! “At that time I was used to being the guitar player you know... just play. Now I had to be the band!”
Opting to drop out of school he takes a gap year and then auditions and gets into the American Music Institute in Paris, studying ‘Production and Arrangement’ - a three year course. Here he is introduced and mentored by Shannon Murray, the first saxophone player for 70/80’s rock fame bands ‘Tower of Power’ and ‘Toto’. Kahiki credits Shannon Murray for opening his eyes to the power of music. “He was an incredible teacher. He was passionate and explained music eloquently and simply. It just made you want to learn!”
This put things into perspective for Kahiki who not only develops his musicianship further, but really develops his own unique vocal talents through the support of other local musicians. This is the period his first album begins to take flight. ‘No Man’s Plan’ released independently in 2013 was composed in Rarotonga and recorded in Europe. Now sold at various locations in Rarotonga, Tahiti and Europe ‘No Man’s Plan’ has received positive acclaim, with many advertisers now using his songs to promote their products. A clever blend of guitar, slide guitar and rootsy, soulful riffs position this album and Kahiki as a
Ben Harperesque talent, with 8 original tracks accenting his attitude towards life; blending his now maturely formed musicianship and vocals into a CD well worth buying for ones music library, or as a souvenir or present! Kahiki plays at a variety of venues around Rarotonga so keep your eyes and ears open for him. He has also set up his Luthier studio, conveniently positioned at the Cook Islands Coffee Company compound in Matavera. He is no doubt a musician who has a deep connection with guitars, lyrics, music making and performing, so make sure you check him out here in Rarotonga or online at: www.facebook.com/kahiki www.youtube.com/kahikimusicchannel www.soundcloud.com/kahikimusic
Lowest Prices ed! Gua ra nte 15
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ESCAPE • 19 PHONE 22632 | enquiries@islandcarhire.co.ck | www.islandcarhire.co.ck
what's in store
Yummy - Watermelon Fudge! One of many tempting flavours to be savoured at The Fudge Factory counter, located within Perfumes of Rarotonga. You’ll find their shop at Cooks Corner, where the bus stops in town.
See our article on page 80 for the real low-down on Atiu Coffee. Once you’ve read the story you’ll want to take home a pack to make a delicious Cook Islands brew for you and your friends. Available at most stores and supermarkets.
Cushion covers for the outdoors, in a variety of colours, plus a great selection of bedcovers are available from Tivaevae Collectables. See their advert on page 17.
September sunday
The Escape Magazine 2014 Calendar features the very best of Cook Islands images captured by our photographers during the past year. Each calendar is individually shrink-wrapped and has a stiffening board plus envelope for ease of mailing. From most stores and souvenir outlets on Rarotonga and Aitutaki. $15.90
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The tall ship Picton Castle in Avatiu Harbour. Rarotonga.
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Be safe in the sun! Hats and caps in all sorts of designs and colours, to suit every taste, are available from Treasure Chest. They have 4 stores around the island: Muri Beach, Rarotonga Beach Resort & Spa, Edgewater Resort and downtown Avarua.
If you’re looking for a no hassles, no hard sell place to browse for Cook Islands black pearls, you should visit Farm Direct Pearls at Harbour House. As the name suggests they are directly opposite the harbour. There you will find an excellent selection of earrings, necklaces, pendants and loose pearls. These guys really know their product and farm their own pearls on Manihiki.
Inspired contemporary Polynesian designs featuring four traditional Polynesian motifs- air, water, land and people, can be found on these attractive rings for men and women at The Goldmine. See their advert on page 24.
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RAROTONGA a smorgasbord of South Pacific fun
There are few places in the world that equal this special emerald island in the Pacific - the largest of the Cook Islands. A place where a visit is certain to capture the heart. And upon reluctant departure, will generously add to a lifetime of good memories. 22 • ESCAPE
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his is Rarotonga, named Tumutevarovaro by the first Polynesian settlers over a thousand years ago, who composed chants and songs in praise of her natural splendor. Those ancient Maori people who navigated the Pacific in their ocean voyaging double-hulled canoes would have relished her fertile abundance and delighted in her safe anchorages and plentiful water. The beauty of Rarotonga is still awesome. Especially when viewed from the air on an Air Rarotonga aircraft. Or, from beyond the reef aboard one of several deep sea fishing boats available for charter, where you can behold the mountains rising majestically from the centre of the island, piercing blue skies and passing clouds. From these cloud mountains, the early Polynesian settlers believed Rongo, the goddess of the land lived and watched over them as they fished, planted and lived a simple, but rich life. There’s also a breathtaking view of Rarotonga from the ‘Needle” if you take the “cross island” walk which starts from Avatiu Valley. From this point you can see the necklace of white surf that forever pounds the reef enclosing this volcanic island. The crossisland walk is best done with a guide and does require some effort, so being of
There’s also a breathtaking view of Rarotonga from the ‘Needle” if you take the “cross island” walk which starts from Avatiu Valley. From this point you can see the necklace of white surf that forever pounds the reef enclosing this volcanic island. average fitness will help as will sturdy footwear. Guided sightseeing walks and learning about the island’s flora and fauna can be booked through your hotel or travel agent. Less strenuous than going across the island is the informative scenic walk offered by guides of the Takitumu Conservation Area (TCA). Covering 380 acres, the TCA is home to the indigenous Kakerori, (Rarotongan Flycatcher). Once on the critically endangered list, this tiny bird is now thriving well, thanks to the efforts of environmentalists and the TCA group to save the bird from extinction. Rarotonga is lush and carpeted with plantations that yield year-round fruits and vegetables. The largest of the 15 Cook Islands, it is 32 km around its main coastal road. An inland road and various tracks will further reveal a palette of dazzling tropical colours equaled by few other places. Like other islands in the group, Rarotonga’s white beaches with sand
as fine as powder stretch into clear blue lagoons around the island. Lagoons where children safely play are food cupboards for the local people, who live an unhurried lifestyle in a unique, unspoiled place in the Pacific.
Traditional Voyaging According to ancient mythology, Rarotonga was settled over a thousand years ago by Polynesians from an ancient land called Avaiki. They travelled in massive double-hulled ocean voyaging canoes, crisscrossing Te Moana Nui O Kiva (Pacific Ocean) in search of fertile, sheltered land. That traditional voyaging, navigating by the stars, has been revived in the Cook Islands and two traditional ocean going vaka built in the early 1990’s have notched up thousands of nautical miles, travelling as far as Hawaii, New Caledonia and New Zealand. The vaka, Te Au O Tonga and Takitumu can be viewed at Vaka Village in Avana, Ngatangiia. Avana channel is also the site where seven canoes Takitumu, Kurahaupo, Tokomaru, Aotea, Tainui, Mataatua and Te Arawa, departed Rarotonga for New Zealand over 700 years ago. A circle of stones and plaques bearing the name of each canoe commemorates that great voyage.
Shopping The capital of Rarotonga is Avarua and many shops offer a wide selection of goods and souvenirs. Possibly the best souvenir of the Cook Islands is a black pearl from the northern islands of Manihiki or Penrhyn. The Cook Islands is the second biggest producer of black pearls in the world. Punanga Nui Marketplace on Saturday mornings is busy and colourful – stalls and small huts selling souvenirs, food and clothing. The market is the best place to buy a pareu (sarong) and handmade pearl shell jewellery, or to try some of the local delicacies. It is a lively meeting place for hundreds of locals each Saturday morning. There’s often a live show by dance teams, or a local string band.
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Water Sports With clear blue lagoons and a huge ocean at its doorstep, there is a good range of water sports to suit all ages. You can choose from skimming the lagoon on a windsurfer, kayaking, lagoon boat trips, scuba diving, deep-sea fishing, reef watching in a glass bottom ‘submarine’, or just swimming, snorkelling and sunbathing. One of the best spots to snorkel is in Tikioki opposite the Fruits of Rarotonga Café where Mama Puretu makes delicious smoothies from local fresh fruit. A raui, (a traditional ban on fishing and the gathering of seafood) protects the Tikioki lagoon, so it teems with fish and other marine life. Raui are also in place on other parts of Rarotonga’s lagoon coastline and these areas generally offer the best
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With clear blue lagoons and a huge ocean at (Rarotonga's) doorstep, there is a good range of water sports to suit all ages. snorkelling. Look for the Raui signs around the island, but please protect our marine environment – take nothing but memories and leave nothing but bubbles. Because Rarotonga is surrounded by clear waters, the visibility when scuba diving is excellent. All dive operators offer lessons for beginners in the safety of the lagoon before venturing out over the reef. Both Koka Lagoon Cruises and Captain Tama’s Lagoon Cruizes operate from Muri Lagoon, next to Rarotonga Sailing Club, offering
visitors lagoon tours in glass bottom boats with loads of fun exploring the lagoon plus swimming, snorkeling, sunbathing and a barbeque lunch. Outrigger canoeing teams train on Muri lagoon and at Avarua wharf. Watching the teams powering through the water in their six-man or single outrigger canoes is stirring. The annual canoeing festival, Te Vaka Eiva, is held every November with teams from all over the Pacific travelling to Rarotonga to race.
Sports Cook Islanders love their sports, with rugby and netball the top favourites. More often than not, a local will play several different sports during the year and be good at all of them. Saturday sees keen inter-village rugby, netball, cricket, tennis, soccer and rugby league games, depending on the season. Spectators are welcome, as is participation in after-match socials at village clubhouses. Entry fee and drinks are cheap, the atmosphere is always lively, especially if teams are putting on a small show with lots of humour. The Rarotonga Bowling Club in town has matches most Saturdays and a bar to relax in after games. The Rarotonga Golf Club welcomes visitors to its 9-hole course at Black Rock and offers clubs and trundlers for hire.
LOOKING FOR THAT IDEAL SOUVENIR TO TAKE HOME? Pop in and browse through our extensive range. We specialise in locally made and Pacific made products and we are well known for our island souvenirs, wooden crafts, arts, island jewellery and apparel. Look for the brightly decorated store opposite Avatiu Harbour.
Ph. 20942
Nightlife There’s always lots to do in the evenings. Island nights staged by local hotels feature buffets of local food cooked in an umu or earth oven. Entertainment is provided by one of the islands’ professional dance groups and you are guaranteed a vibrant, sensual show and drumming that’s recognised as the best in the world - see our Entertainment Guide for more information. Guided night tours by bus to well-known establishments like the Banana Court, Trader Jacks and Whatever! Bar after the island show is also fun and there’s also the comfort of knowing one doesn’t have to drive home after several bar stops.
• Karen Walker Jewellery • Polynesian Rings in Gold and Silver • Wedding/Engagement & Dress Rings • Gold & Silver Chains, Charms, Earrings • Lladro • Amber • Jade • Coral • Opal etc Main Road Avarua. Ph: 24823 Fax: 24824 Email: goldmine@oyster.net.ck www.rarotongablackpearls.com
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Come in to view our extensive range of sarongs, island clothing, footwear and t-shirts. Rarotonga’s largest selection of souvenirs, crafts and gift ideas.
Mana Court, Avarua | Ph: 22325 Rarotongan Resort | Ph: 27325 Edgewater Resort | Ph: 28325 Pacific Village Muri | Ph: 21325
Rarotonga has numerous excellent restaurants that serve tempting food from around the world. One could eat out every night of the week and still not experience all the great food that’s available. The Tamarind House Restaurant in Pue (just out of Avarua) is a beautifully converted colonial house that once belonged to the Union Steamship Company. Situated close to the beach, the Tamarind looks over the ocean and meals can be taken in the garden under the stars. See our cuisine section for the pick of Rarotonga restaurants. Takeaway meals also are available from outlets all around the island and excellent fish n’ chips are served up by the Flying
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Boat Grill located at the Cook Islands Game Fishing Club. Visitors are always welcome to join the locals at the club for a drink or a meal. The location of Aramoana Takeaways at Avatiu Wharf ensures that
their fish is always freshly caught by local fishermen. Rarotonga has a three-cinema complex with air conditioning, a big screen and surround-sound in Cinema 3. A good selection of recent movies is shown. For those wanting a quiet night in, there are several local video and DVD outlets, all with a comprehensive selection of classics and latest releases. Some outlets also hire TV’s and DVD players.
Other things to do Whale watching is possible in Rarotonga during the months of August and September. The humpback whales come from Antarctica to the warmer waters of
Spectacular Overwater Night Show & Buffet Dinner!
Book now! Ph: (682) 24006 www.tevaranui.co.ck
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Weddings
the Cook group to mate and calf. The Cook Islands exclusive economic zone has been formally declared a whale sanctuary. The Whale Centre in Nikao is an interesting place to visit, to find out more about these magnificent ocean creatures. Two libraries and museums just out of town are great for browsing. On the way to the “old library and museum” you’ll pass the Avarua Christian Church. The adjacent graveyard is interesting to wander through and of note is the bust of the late Albert Royale Henry, the first Cook Islands premier who was instrumental in guiding the country towards self-government in 1964.
Sunday After a busy Saturday night, relax on Sunday like the locals. Sunday is regarded as a day of worship and rest. A wonderful memory to take home is the singing in one of the islands’ Cook Islands Christian Churches. CICC coral limestone churches, hand built by the forefathers of Cook Islanders, are in every village and visitors are warmly welcomed to Sunday services. Morning tea is provided by the congregations.
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…walk a little slower, savour every moment of your holiday in paradise and don’t worry about being a bit late for engagements. That is island time on Rarotonga.
Rarotonga has become a popular location for weddings and honeymoons. Wedding packages designed to suit each couples taste and budget are available from a number of operators on the island. The golden beach of uninhabited Koromiri islet in Muri lagoon is one of the most popular locations for weddings. Young coconut saplings planted by each newly wed couple line the beach and are testimony to the islet’s popularity.
Relax In the Cook Islands you’ll hear the phrase “island time” a lot. You are a long way from the hustle and bustle of the outside world, so…walk a little slower, savour every moment of your holiday in paradise and don’t worry about being a bit late for engagements. That is island time on Rarotonga.
Island Wear Creative Flair with a
Quality Cook Islands Pearls From our very own Manihiki Island Farm
Located in central Avarua P. (682) 20548 Find us on Facebook
‘TSAVO’ n o i t c e l l o C a c fi Paci by Brighouse
PEARL FARMER • RETAILER WHOLESALER Just as the coral reefs surround the atolls and islands of the South Pacific, so the many myths and legends surround Polynesian culture. Motifs and designs from a life long ago are used to portray an image of romance and simplicity that the people of Polynesia live by. Through the TSAVO brand, Brighouse has captured the essence of South Pacific culture and the allure of its islands.
Lesley & Temu Okotai Harbour House, Avatiu P. 20635
email: temu@mblackpearl.co.ck
Sole Cook Islands Stockist: MOANA GEMS Located Uptown Avarua | Ph: (682) 22312 | www.moanagems.co.ck
…craftsmen of contemporary elegance ESCAPE • 29
island cuisine
SAILS RESTAURANT
Muri has become something of an activity hub. There’s always something to do – you can take a lagoon cruise in a glassbottomed boat, have a cocktail at one of the lagoon-side resorts, sun on the motu, kayak, paddleboard, kiteboard, swim, read. It’s a pretty all-inclusive spot, and when you get hungry or find yourself thirsting for a beer, there’s Sails. You don’t even have to leave the beach.
Other restaurants have come and gone, but Sails remains an island institution, a reliable stop on Rarotonga’s dining circuit. This is testament to its consistency and its unbeatable location, its deck overlooking Muri lagoon and three palm-fringed islets on the horizon.
Sails is open seven days a week from 8 am until late, which is unusual for a Rarotonga restaurant. It serves breakfast, lunch, coffee, and dinner, and it does each superbly well. With a raised patio for beachside dining and an indoor dining room for windy days or chilly evenings, it’s versatile in ambiance but consistent in cuisine.
It’s why Sails is a popular venue for wedding receptions. It’s why Sails wins certificates of excellence from TripAdvisor. It’s why people just keep going back - I spoke to a couple from Germany who had been to Sails three times for breakfast and twice for dinner during a 10-day holiday. Sails derives its name from the Sailing Club affiliated with it and occupies the same beachfront space as the original clubhouse. It was built in 1940 but in 1998 burned to the ground, so today’s structure represents the upgraded version. The Sailing Club still uses Sails as its base on Saturdays, but the restaurant has taken on a life of its own.
My cousin and I were delighted when we were asked to review a restaurant we’ve been frequenting since we were kids. Sails feels familiar and comfortable. The staff are friendly and the food is reliable. We knew we wouldn’t be disappointed, and we weren’t.
Moana Nui Trio
Our table was on the patio, nearest the sand, and we looked out onto a calm evening, the white stripe of the moon painted on the darkening lagoon. We watched the stars and, in celebration of our good fortune and our beautiful island, we ordered a bottle of sauvignon blanc
Happy hour everyday 4pm - 6pm Monday - A la carte - Natua live music Tuesday - A la carte - Surround sounds Wednesday - Island Night Extravaganza by Akirata Performing Arts Troupe Thursday - A la carte - Surround sounds Friday - Pig & Prawn Night - Soulful Sounds of Leilani Saturday - A la carte - Surround Sounds Sunday - Reef & Beef Night - Old Classics by Papa Jake
Open Everyday Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner Ph: 23000 for reservations Located at Muri Beach Club Hotel
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Restaurant On the beachfrOnt at Muri LagOOn
OPen 7 DaYS 8am till late Breakfast • Lunch • Dinner Dinner Reservations Recommended Happy Hour Cocktails 4pm Mon - Sat Saturdays – Sailing Regatta Day Wireless Internet Available Beachfront Bar from New Zealand’s Craggy Range and toasted to the good life. Our food was excellent. I ordered the Moana Nui Trio, which I admit to ordering every time I dine at Sails. The dish consists of three different types of fish, which vary depending on what’s available – this time it was wahoo, maimai, and tuna. The fish steaks are served in varying degrees of spiced and seared and each comes laid atop a different base – mashed kumara, rukau, and ratatouille. Even though I eat fish every day – and I mean every day – this was a treat for my taste buds.
For dessert, we made peace with Death By Chocolate – chocolate mousse in a chocolate cup, a chocolate truffle smothered with whipped cream, and a slice of chocolate cake. Entirely worth the waddle home! RR
Sails Restaurant is open 7 days a week from 8am till late. Reservations are recommended for dinner. Tel. 27349 www.sailsrestaurant.co.ck
WeDDIngS & PRIvAte FunCtIonS A SPeCIALty Consult with our Personal Wedding Planner. info@theweddingguys.co.ck dine@sailsrestaurant.co.ck
My cousin also ordered fish – the Ocean Strike, maimai over mashed kumara and roast vegetables, and doused with hollandaise sauce. The conversation ceased as we both savoured our main course and before long neither of us had any left to share.
PHone • 27349 www.sailsrestaurant.co.ck www.theweddingguys.co.ck ESCAPE • 31
On the waterfront at Avana Harbour
THE MOORING FISH CAFÉ The Café in a Container!
The original fresh fish sandwiches & salads, all with homemade dressings & pickles, cooked to perfection right on the waterfront. The tasty & healthy option! Mon to Fri: 10.00 to 3.30 Sun: 12.00 to 4.00 Sat: Closed
Phone 25553 take-outs available Find us on 32 • ESCAPE Facebook
This sure is a novel idea. Drop a 40 foot container onto a stunning site with close water views, punch a hole in the side, set up some outdoor tables with umbrellas and presto you have an instant café. The Mooring Fish Café however is more than that - it’s all about freshly caught fish and simple, delicious, well prepared meals. The brainchild of Captain Moko and wife Jill, this amazing little café has that simple, island, laid-back appeal that most visitors seek while on holiday. It’s right on the waters edge and has great views of the entrance to Avana Harbour. This is also an important historic site, as it is from here that the great Polynesian migration continued onward to New Zealand, in seven mighty Cook Island ocean going vakas. Captain Moko’s role is to provide the fish. He does that particularly well, taking keen fishermen and novices alike on fishing charters from the same base at Avana Harbour, and he’s keen to let you know that this is a “real” fishing experience, not just another tourist fishing trip. His boat is equipped with the best gear and hooking into fish to supply the café seems no problem at all for the captain. At the café you can choose from freshly prepared fish salads and sandwiches. One of my favourites says it all really, because
it is called a FOB (fresh of the boat). Lightly crumbed pan-fried mahimahi is served between two slices of delicious, freshly baked turkish bread, with Jill’s special lime aoli and salad. Absolutely yummy! This is one of my favourite lunch-time places and I pop in often, and like most of us creatures of habit I usually finish up ordering the FOB. But we all do that thing, returning to a restaurant because we had a good experience last time and often choosing the same dish again. You, of course, may be tempted to try any of the other fish dishes on the blackboard menu, but one thing you can be assured of is that it will be fresh, delicious and served with love and Jill’s home-made dressings and pickles. And if you don’t like fish, how about a BLT or perhaps a ‘Rusty’s’ marinated chicken and pawpaw salad? The Moorings Fish Café also serves great fruit smoothies, ice cream soda’s, juices and coffee and has WiFi. NB
Open Monday to Friday 10.00am to 3.30pm | Sunday 12 noon to 4.00pm Closed Saturday. Tel. 25553
Waterline The
WATERLINE RESTAURANT & BEACH BAR They say if you are living in the Cook Islands but born elsewhere, there’s a story to be told as to how you came here. Chris & Akisi are no exception. Originally from England, Chris first came to the Cook Islands on a cruise ship back in 1969, in the days when there was no airport and very little development. Captivated by the beauty and simplicity of this tiny nation, he soon returned – and by the mid -70’s was working on a pearl farm on the northern island of Manihiki. He’s been in the Cook Islands ever since, a Jack of all trades running fishing charters, building, making jewellery, and creating fabulous food. His extensive background in the restaurant business includes running Outrigger Café, and also a stint as owner and manager of the well known Vaima Restaurant. Waterline is the culmination of all these experiences, a place which embodies his life’s passions: the ocean, music, food and working with wood. Everything you see at Waterline was built, or collected by Chris reflecting a love of the sea and of nautical memorabilia. Akisi came to the Cook Islands in the year 2000 to escape political unrest in her native Fiji. With a background in hospitality
and mission, she has travelled extensively – and speaks several languages. They met on the beach one day – and the rest, as they say, is history. The building that is now Waterline, right on the beach in Arorangi, used to be their home. They lived there until the year 2000, when a large cyclone caused extensive damage. Fate had thrown up an opportunity, and they took it: the opportunity to rebuild as the restaurant they’d dreamed and talked about for so many years. The food? Well, suffice to say they know what works. Chris is a dab hand in the kitchen in his own right, but these days, Waterline’s chef is Wilfredo Ertez from the Philippines. He has worked in the Middle East, the US, Australia, and the Seychelles, and is comfortable with fusion cuisine, creating everything from blackboard specials to age-old favorites, with both simplicity and style.
Restaurant & Beach Bar
Situated on the beach at Arorangi – the perfect spot for a sunset cocktail and dinner.
Open 6 days per week for lunch and dinner (closed Mondays). Come and enjoy a wonderful meal and live music on Wednesday evenings. Bookings recommended.
On special nights, Chris will be found singing, playing the guitar or harmonica, or jamming with both locals and guests. This along with the steady sound of the waves on the reef and the hum of good conversation is the sound track of Waterline ….the sound of people who love where they live and love what they do.
Waterline Restaurant & Beach Bar Open 6 days per week for Lunch & Dinner (closed Monday). Live music Wednesday evenings. Tel. 22161 for reservations
The most romantic location for your sunset wedding. Enquire now!
Phone +682 22161 beachbar@waterline.co.ck www.waterline-restaurant.com ESCAPE • 33
“ Where meals and memories are made...”
BAMBOO JACKS I consider myself a Thai / Asian food junkie and so it was with great enthusiasm when I headed off to Bamboo Jacks for dinner. Situated a small distance out of Avarua township in Tupapa, its another benchmark restaurant for owner Jack Cooper, more widely known as Trader Jack, whose waterfront restaurant and bar is an iconic beacon for many visitors to the island. On arrival we were greeted by friendly and attentive staff and seated at one of the booth tables inside. The courtyard, which exudes a great Asian ambience, also looked inviting. A refreshing pot of Chai tea was promptly delivered and we quickly scanned our entree options, deciding on the grilled scallops with spicy green chilli sauce and the Thai fishcakes with dipping sauces. For our mains my dining buddy opted for a good Thai standard, Prawn Pad Thai. I went for a more adventurous Pla Ma Now, described as a steamed fish with lemon, chilli and garlic. The menu also offered a traditional steamboat meal, which we decided to opt for next visit with a group of friends. The wine and beverage selection is healthy, with a cocktail list that offers treats such as a Kung Fu Panda, or a Lotus Blossom, and for something quick and to the point, a shot aptly named Bamboo Jack! Our entrees arrive and we happily tuck into puffy Thai fishcakes that are packed with good zingy flavours, and soft delicate scallops that just melted in our mouths. Our mains arrive and we are not disappointed – elegantly presented and
cleverly aromatic. The Pad Thai was not short of prawns and had balanced flavours that let the dishes ingredients of noodles, egg, bean curd, fish sauce and other goodies create a fantastic experience for the palate. My Pla Ma Now was a really clever dish. The steamed fish was set on a bed of Bok Choy and it was cooked to perfection; soft, moist, just falling off on to my fork. The fish was in a light lemon sauce with thin slices of garlic and ginger sitting on top of the fish gently adding to the taste. Not to be eaten, but to flavour the fish. Add the coconut rice and roti bread to this combination and I was in heaven. After our mains we gamely ventured to the dessert menu. Our waiter advises us that the deep fried banana is a big hit, and the chocolate cake sounds inviting too, but what sparks our interest is the pumpkin and corn tapioca, in coconut cream served with cream and ice cream. We are game to try it, so with the order placed for one serving to share we eagerly await the goods.
Relax and enjoy your Breakfast, Lunch, a cup of espresso coffee, an icy cold beer or your favourite drink while gazing out to the beautiful lagoon. We serve authentic Thai food, tasty Mexican, burgers, fish and chips, home-made desserts and much more…
Mince Pork Salad
Opening Hours Sunday to Thursday 9:00am – 2:30pm
Down south in Titikaveka
Tel.(+682)20020 S ALTWATER CAFE - R AROTONGA
“The Sands... bringing great food and people together”
Long story short – what a treat and one I would go back for. It is sticky with a subtle sweetness and the ice cream melts nicely with the warmth of the tapioca. And, we safely ploughed our way through the entire dish. RR Open for dinner from 5.30pm Sunday to Friday, lunch on Friday only. Take-out meals also available. Air conditioned private room for functions & private parties. Tel. 28830 Email: bamboojacks@gmail.com
Open 7 days for breakfast & dinner with specials menu also available. Enjoy happy hour and daily cocktail specials... enjoy a cocktail on the beach. Cook Islands catering specialists. Located at Moana Sands Hotel Titikaveka Beach p: (682) 27189 | rarosands@gmail.com www.rarosands.com
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MURI VILLAGE Fresh flavours of Mexico for lunch and dinner, plus fresh fish, steaks, pizza and vegan food.
See you there amigo! Phone 20693
Casual and friendly Asian street-style café Vietnamese, Indonesian, Chinese, Malaysian, Thai.
Muri Village Phone: 22232 or 75449
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KORU CAFÉ Aitutaki
Returning Aitutakian Trina and chef husband Steve take pride not only in the quality of their food but in the fact that that it can satisfy even the most expansive appetites. The cafe is a real family affair, with Trina’s dad supplying a lot of the fruit and vegetables, as well as the organic eggs used in the wonderful breakfast omelettes. Mum also helps out by making all the sweet jams and tangy relishes. This contemporary cafe has mod cons like wifi, as well as doing a fantastic line in picnic lunches and BBQ packs to take away. Set near popular snorkelling spot Ootu Beach, Koru Café has a steak sandwich which has quickly become a legend, with many tourists and locals turning up just to see if they can manage it. We had to give it a try, and I can see why: the stacked sandwich is not only delicious, but it’s enormous and it’s piled up on a mountain of chips. As it was, my husband managed to plough through the tender sirloin steak topped with egg, fried onion, lettuce and barbeque sauce, all stacked up inside Aitutaki bread, as well as the crispy potato chips without stopping for breath, nodding all the time like a dog on a parcel shelf. The intensely tasty chicken cheese and bacon Turkish sandwich also came as a
plus-sized portion with those delicious fries. If you still have some room after all that, the carrot cake is scrummy. The friendly staff at Koru Café are more than willing to package up the leftovers for you to take away with you if you aren't man enough to get through the lot in one sitting. Not everything at the cafe is of such enormous proportions; with a range of beautiful salads on offer as well as Tapas, dishes that include a Mediterranean mix, dipping fish and salt and pepper calamari. The combination of flavours in these lunchtime delights and the cool surroundings of the cafe are exactly what you need after a morning’s snorkelling or kayaking in that beautiful lagoon. The breakfasts range from pancakewrapped fried bananas drenched in maple syrup, to the Big Koru breakfast – something which really hits the spot after a few too many cocktails the night before. Koru cafe is a great addition to the eateries on the island and is the perfect spot for a bite which will set you up for the rest of the day. NC
Open every day from 7-3 for breakfast, brunch, lunch and takeaways. See their advertisement on page 77 Tel. 31110 | www.korucafe.biz
local recipe
The Flame Tree is an iconic name amongst Rarotonga’s eclectic mix of restaurants, café’s and dining out options. Recently we asked their chefs if they would provide us with a recipe that was simple to prepare and yet have plenty of ‘wow’ factor to impress any dinner guest. If you want to have a little sample before trying it for yourself, this dish can also be found on their menu. Flame Tree Restaurant, Muri Open 7 days for dinner from 5pm Tel. 25123 for reservations
FLAME TREE SURF & TURF This recipe is for one serving. Adjust ingredients according to the number of servings you are preparing. Ingredients
Method
For seafood
220gms ribeye steak
Peel & cut potato into quarters, and cook
Brown scallops and fish in a little olive oil,
3 x pre-cooked ½ shell mussels
until soft.
remove from pan when cooked.
3 x raw scallops
Preheat oven to 180c.
Melt garlic butter in pan, ensuring it does
3 x raw peeled prawns (with tails)
Coat garlic cloves in olive oil & bake in
not burn. When butter is melted add glass
oven for 15 minutes on a small tray.
of white wine, then add in mussels, prawns,
Mash cooked potato with roasted garlic,
scallops, fish and prawns.
add butter, milk and season to taste.
When prawns are pink remove from pan.
100gms mahi mahi or any firm white fish 100mls white wine (medium glass) 1 tablespoon garlic butter Salt, pepper & olive oil as required 2-3 medium potatoes Milk Butter
Season steak with salt & pepper, sear in olive oil in hot frying pan and put in oven to bake to liking (rare, medium or well done).
To serve Assemble dish with steak on top of mash potato, with seafood around, pour wine/garlic butter sauce over steak and seafood, garnish and serve.
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Open 7 Days at Muri Village
• Fully licensed • Open 7 nights for dinner from 6pm • Gluten free, vegetarian & children catered for • Live music some nights • Reservations appreciated • Transfers by arrangement Kevin, Cathy & staff welcome you Phone: +682 26860 Email: kikauhut@oyster.net.ck Situated on the main road at Arorangi (500 mtrs from Edgewater Resort – towards town)
R E S TA U R A N T
MURI
A relaxed fine dining experience. Featuring EuropeanPacific fusion cuisine, with a childrens menu available.
+682 25 123
Sit u at ed
at: Te Sunset Resort in Arora
OPEN
ng i
Fully licensed cocktail and lounge bar with HAPPY HOUR from 4pm daily
7 DAYS Live Entertainment…
BREAKFAST, LUNCH & DINNER
TUESDAYS: Reef & Beef Night – with Island Groove SUNDAYS: BBQ Buffet Night – with local string band
PHONE • 23004 EMAIL • anchorageinraro@gmail.com
flametree@cookislands.co.ck www.flamerestaurant.com
ESCAPE • 39
local recipe Escape Magazine asked renowned chef Tim Tierney for this recipe so that we could share it with our readers. While still responsible for the kitchen at Sails Restaurant, he and wife Marie recently opened their popular LBV Muri Bakery & Café for dinners from Tuesday to Friday. Book a table for an evening meal and discover why Tim has such a great reputation as a chef and restaurateur. LBV Bakery & Café at Muri Open 7 days for breakfast and lunch Open Tuesday to Friday for dinner Tel. 28619 for reservations LBV also have a café situated in Uptown Avarua
BAKED MAIMAI
Cook potatoes till soft, pass through sieve, add flour. Make a well, add eggs (and yolk), butter, cheese, salt and pepper. Combine
With fresh potato gnoochi, green beans and tomato, lime butter sauce.
roughly as possible (I like it with chunks of
This recipe is for one serving. Adjust ingredients according to the number of servings you are preparing. Most firm white fish can be used instead of Mai Mai (also known as Mahi Mahi or Dorado).
roll into long cigar shapes then cut on an
potato in it) to form a dough. Heavily flour the bench and cut into workable sizes to angle to form almost diamond shapes, poach in salted water immediately till the gnoochi floats (this only needs about 2-3
To bake fish 180gm fresh Mai Mai fillet Salt and pepper
dill, coriander, basil
minutes). Refresh in iced water, and drain
Juice of ½ a lime
on kitchen paper.
Salt and Pepper
Olive oil
In a medium heat pan, add onions and
Butter
saute for 2 minutes, add tomatoes and
½ lime
capers, saute for another 2 minutes, add
Season fish, with salt and pepper and olive oil, heat pan and sear for color, finish with butter and color to nut brown (stop the butter going any darker with lime juice). Finish in the oven to medium rare and allow to rest.
For tomato and lime butter sauce ¼ of a red onion fine diced 2 x finely diced fresh tomatoes 1 teaspoon of capers 100ml white wine 45gm cold butter 1 tablespoon chopped fine herbs, parsley,
white wine and reduce liquid by half. Add nobs of butter off the heat, add lime juice and fresh herbs, correct seasoning with salt and pepper. Allow to stand off the heat, fish can be warmed up again to serve in this sauce.
For potato gnoochi 300gm Potatoes 100gm flour 1 egg yolk 1 egg 30gm butter
To finish gnoochi In a hot pan with olive oil, sauté gnoochi to color and finish as per fish with nobs of cold butter to nut brown (stop the butter going any darker with lime juice). Adjust seasoning (S&P), plate and serve. The gnoochi should be the last item to get ready so you can serve immediately to keep the gnoochi crunchy and firm.
To plate and garnish 5 long runner beans top and tailed, cut about 2” lengths. 3- 4 fresh basil leaves 1x fresh lime Good quality extra virgin olive oil.
30gm Parmesan cheese grated Salt & pepper
ESCAPE • 41
village life
Rito Hats Story & artist: Joan Gragg
W
hen you are in the Cook Islands you will notice the beautiful hats women wear. They are called ‘pare rito’ in Cook Islands Maori, or ‘rito hats’ in English. The tradition of rito hats was started in Manihiki in the early nineteen hundreds. My grandmother Mama Ketia told us how this came about. There were five children in her family, four girls and one boy. Toka was the oldest then Ketia, Ioaba their brother, then sisters Patiki and Toreka. Ketia, was very proud of her older sister, Toka, because she was innovative and a skilled weaver. When they were teenagers, a woman from the Gilbert Islands, (known as Kiribati today) came to live in Manihiki. Ketia called her a Kiribati Woman. She brought with her a beautiful hat made of rito (white coconut frond) that she wore to church. It was the most beautiful hat they had ever seen. She made another hat just as beautiful, but did
not want to show anyone how she made it. Toka, however, watched her every move and studied the hat whenever she had the chance. She talked with her mother and sisters about the possibilities of preparing the materials and weaving a hat like the Kiribati woman’s. They experimented with preparing the rito until it was almost perfect. She then wove her own hat. Nobody believed that she had made the hat; they accused her of stealing the hat and copying it. To settle the dispute, the community compared Toka’s hat with the beautiful hat made by the Kiribati woman. The best weavers of Manihiki were gathered to make a judgement. They found that Toka’s hat was beautifully made and although it looked similar to the Kiribati woman’s hat Toka had started her hat differently, the pattern of her weave was different and she finished her hat by threading the ends of the rito back into the brim further than that of the Kiribati hat. From then on, Toka taught all the women who wanted to learn how to prepare the rito and weave a hat.
Nobody believed that she had made the hat; they accused her of stealing the hat and copying it. To settle the dispute, the community compared Toka’s hat with the beautiful hat made by the Kiribati woman. 42 • ESCAPE
Toka married Isaia Iaveta Potinephara. They became missionaries for the London Missionary Society (LMS). On their mission around the Cook Islands and to Papua New Guinea, Toka taught women to cook atoll food, to sew, and to prepare rito and weave hats so they could earn their own living. Toka is referred to as Toka Rahi, Rahi which means senior - a name given to the oldest person of that name in each generation. Today wherever Cook Islands Christian Church, CICC (once known as LMS) women go on a mission they teach other women how to prepare rito and to weave hats and fans. It is interesting to note that rito hats are rarely woven in Kiribati today however their women make beautiful hat bands from rito. The Cook Islands women however are continually creating new designs and enjoy wearing their magnificent rito hats. Rito will last for many years, naturally turning a creamy red colour. It is highly valued in our culture.
Illustrations in this story are from Joan’s Playing Cards of the Cook Islands that are available from selected retailers. See the advertisement on page 13. Joan’s art can also be viewed at The Furniture Centre.
Island Escape Thirty eight years ago, an Air New Zealand DC10 arrived in Rarotonga, carrying a youthful Australian family on the adventure of a lifetime. Disenchanted with the duties of a suburban housewife and
As fate would have it, during the 1980's a new industry was
never seeing a husband that typically worked 12-16 hour
born on the Island of Manihiki. Black Pearls.
shifts as an electrical engineer, my mother rebelled and escaped to the little known Islands of the South Pacific with a friend & mentor. Having visited Lord Howe and Norfolk Islands, the duo arrived in Rarotonga. The effect was immediate and my mother realised that she had found our new home. Shortly thereafter and much to the chargrin of friends and neighbours, the Bergmans abandoned the suburbs of Melbourne for an unheard of future, on an unknown island. Since that time, my family has built a company specialising in Cook Islands Pearls. Relocating to the northern group Island of Penrhyn for 5 years in 1976, my parents collected natural pearls for European and Asian markets.
Our family business naturally evolved to include these beautiful gems and became the first local company to specialise in Black Pearl Jewellery. Today we operate four shops on two islands and our specialty remains Cook Islands Pearls. On the occasion of our 33rd anniversary, I warmly welcome you to our Cook Islands Black Pearl Jewellery Stores to experience a part of our continuing family adventure. And I take this opportunity to bid you Kia Orana and welcome to my adopted home. My name is Ben Bergman, Pearl Jewellery Designer & Director of Bergman & Sons, Black Pearl Jewellers of the Cook Islands. Kia Manuia.
Cooks Corner RAROTONGA Pacific Resort AITUTAKI p +682 21 902 e lukeb@oyster.net.ck w www.bergmanandsons.com ESCAPE • 43
Story: Rachel Reeves Photos: Noel Bartley
An idyllic spot on Motu Hakamaru (at the southern side of the lagoon).
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Manihiki Enchanted island of exotic black pearls
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P
arty Johnson wraps a baited hook in a fanu leaf. He says a prayer, ties the little parcel loosely to a rock with nylon line, and drops it into the sea. Here, outside the reef, the water is calm and electric blue. Wisps of cloud hang in a bright sky. The sun beats on our fiberglass boat. We are anchored near to a row of motu, in view of their white-sand shores, coconut trees, and aquamarine inlets. Party jerks the line to free the rock, then turns to me with the sunburnt eyes of a fisherman and the contented smile of a person who enjoys being alive. “The life is good here. I have been outside,” he says, referring to the world out there, across the sea, “but I always want to come back.” Then he makes a joke about my snacksized fish – the only one I caught in the seven hours we have been at sea, and he helped me – and he laughs a happy laugh. ‘Here’ is Manihiki, the second-tonorthernmost island in the Cook Islands - 1160 kilometres from Rarotonga, four hours by plane. Manihiki is actually a ring of islets wrapped around a large lagoon, 11 by 12 kilometres wide. Two of its islets, Tauhunu and Ngake, are inhabited. To
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... the water is calm and electric blue. Wisps of cloud hang in a bright sky. The sun beats on our fiberglass boat. We are anchored near to a row of motu, in view of their whitesand shores, coconut trees, and aquamarine inlets.
travel between their villages, Tauhunu and Tukao, takes 15 minutes in a motored boat. Both villages are visions of paradise.
In its bays and along its shorelines, Manihiki’s lagoon is teal and translucent. Coconut trees sprout from every inch of unoccupied land. Pigs and chickens dawdle across roads of white sand and coral; pora homes, with thatched roofs and no walls, sit atop lawns planted with the green of the tropics. Birds glide through blue skies. The people are quintessential Polynesians, kind and generous and lovely to their core. Possessing as they do the hospitable spirit
all island people seem to inherit, they spoil visitors. People I have yet to meet offer me gifts – sacks of husked nimata, uto, bananas, homemade bread, bags bulging with pawpaw, plates piled high with fresh fish. “Apii told us they made chicken last night and you just ate the fish,” Party tells me one afternoon. “So now we know you like fish, so when we smoke it we will bring some for our little sister. Any time you want to have some fish, you let us know.”
COOK ISLANDS
In Tauhunu I stay in a self-contained, over-water bungalow that belongs to Kora and Nancy Kora, who extend disarming hospitality. One of them drops by every day to check on me, make sure I have enough cornflakes, and deliver a home-cooked dinner. In the village of Tukao, the hosts are different but the hospitality is the same. Tamuera and Nitika Karaponga welcome me into their home, feed me, invite me to join them at parties and functions. Their gorgeous daughter Bella obligingly walks with me through the village, pointing out the school, the shop, and which families live in which homes. This, incidentally, does not take long. Just over 100 people live permanently in Tukao. About 130 live in Tauhunu.
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In 1996, the combined population of both villages was nearly 670 and appeared to be increasing. At the time, Manihiki was riding a wave of recent success. The cultured black pearl industry was born in the early 80s, and before long Manihiki was producing 90 per cent of the country’s most profitable export: Cook Islands black pearls. By 2000, Manihiki pearls were earning up to $18 million a year. People were moving back to their ancestors’ island to start pearl farms. But in 1997, Cyclone Martin hit, destroying 85 per cent of habitable homes, claiming 19 lives and interrupting hundreds more. It was the most tragic weather event in recorded Cook Islands history. More than two-thirds of Manihiki’s people were evacuated. For varied reasons, many never returned home. Some people chose to rebuild their homes and farms. Then, three years later, they were again devastated, this time by a nasty outbreak of Vibro Harvey, a bacterial disease that destroyed 70 percent of the island’s oyster stocks. By the time they had recovered, the economy was in recession and pearl prices had plummeted. Below: A fun time at the school sports. Tauhunu vs Tukao.
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LOCATIONS Downtown Avarua Pacific Resort Muri Rarotonga International Airport RESERVATIONS Phone: (682) 22833 Email: reservations@aviscookislands.com
www.aviscookislands.comESCAPE • 47
Clockwise from top: The cargo ship finally arrives. Welcoming the fortnightly flight at Manihiki airstrip. Cyclone damaged houses. The Tauhunu Community Centre and Cyclone Shelter.
People gave up and left in search of opportunity. Today, about 240 remain.
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48 • ESCAPE
On Manihiki, people know each other (or, more accurately, are related to each other). There are none of the arbitrary boundaries that exist amongst city folk, who cross paths on the road, each pretending not to notice the other. All passersby acknowledge one other. Children I have never seen before call my name, wave, grin. I’m invited to play on a netball team and in a volleyball tournament, to be part of a fishing competition, to go to Rakahanga – an island of 90 people, two hours by boat across the open sea. I’m invited to the former Member of Parliament’s home for lunches, dinners, and an umukai after church. I’m invited into homes for meals. I’m invited to birthday parties. Eyebrows rose when I told people on Rarotonga I’d be going to Manihiki for five weeks. There was concern that I wouldn’t have enough food – it had been more than four months since a cargo ship called into the atoll – and that I would be insufferably bored. I wondered about this unfounded concern, offered mostly by people who had never been to Manihiki. Still, I packed a chilly bin full of tinned and dried food and loaded my hard drive with movies. It was unnecessary: when I left Manihiki, I had plenty of leftover food and I had watched only one movie. I had everything I needed, and more: fresh fish; copious coconuts; a waterfront bungalow for reading, writing, waking to the light of the sunrise, and nodding off to the metronomic sound of the lagoon lapping at the shore below the deck.
I swam daily, and from the bath-warm lagoon I watched birds dip, prowling in pairs for fish. Through my windows, I saw the coconut trees craned over the lagoon as if straining to take a drink. From the bungalow’s deck I watched both a lunar eclipse and a full moon, bright white, casting a shimmering stripe onto the silky lagoon below. I was supremely content. Still, living there is quite a different story. A plane goes to Manihiki twice a month. Five months can pass between visits from a cargo ship carrying goods like diesel and sugar. When the boat does arrive, the whole village heads to the harbour. There is no doctor of western medicine, and chartering a plane to airlift a sick or injured person to Rarotonga can take a day or more. There is a shop in each village, selling basic foodstuffs like rice and tins of corned beef, but most of the time their shelves are sparse because shipping is irregular and agriculture is largely absent. Still, there is no hunger. “If you not working [for money] you can survive,” Maine Teitinga told me. “The fish here, the pa’ua, the uto, the local food here is free. When you stay in Raro… if you got no money that’s it, you got no food to eat. That’s why I like here.” “We can eat any food here without no money,” echoed Tangi Toka, the government representative. “You can eat uto, you can eat pa’ua, fish, no money
spent. You can drink coconut... To me it’s better to stay here… If you gonna stay in New Zealand, money, money [for] everything… It’s good to stay back on the island… uto, fish, pa’ua, just free.” Fish and seafood are indeed in plentiful supply. I ate succulent Napoleon wrasse, tuna sashimi, ika mata with real coconut cream, fried wahoo, raw pa’ua, cooked pa’ua, oyster meat, bony milkfish, trevally coated in brown sugar and smoked in a halved 44 gallon petrol drum. The coconut is also a staple. Locals make breads and pancakes using uto, and poke using mangaro. Hydration comes from nimata, the young drinking coconut.
outside, you learn the hard way. That’s the old Manihiki. But it’s the best life of all.” The world operates according to forces more natural than clocks and calendars, forces like weather and hunger. “In Raro if you working you follow the time,” Maine said. “Get up in the morning and it’s raining, you can’t stay home until the rain stop. You have to follow the time. Over here – no! It’s raining you stop your work, you come in the house.”
The people of Manihiki are remarkably resourceful. These days they have several pieces of heavy machinery, but they know from years of experience how to unload ships and barges using just manpower. If there is a problem, they find a solution. They transport dive tanks, suitcases, chilly bins, and pigs on motorbikes. “When I came, there’s no power, we have no water, no luxury,” said Jane Kaina, the island’s executive officer, who was brought up on Rarotonga but moved to her family’s island in the late eighties. “You cook
ESCAPE • 49
A kaua in the lagoon is home to a pearl farm. Below: Tauhunu waterfront. Bottom of page: CICC Church
There is punctuality, however, in the matter of church. Saturday is spent preparing for Sunday, a day on which most people attend three services. Work is strictly forbidden on Sunday – a practice that is eroding on Rarotonga, as it blends into the commercial world. On Manihiki, Sunday is for donning your best – suits and jandals for men, dresses and rito hats inlaid with pearl shell for women – and doing little else than worshipping and eating. The Cook Islands Christian Church is beautiful, white and tidy with bold floral patterns in the ceiling. The a capella voices that waft from inside its walls are powerful enough to give you chills. Church starts promptly, but in all other matters, time is not the essence. The rising and setting of the moon and the sun, the
changing of the tides and weather – these, not diaries and iPhones, are the things that dictate the pace of life. Some travellers like to make dinner reservations and take organised tours on air-conditioned buses, insulated against people and place. Manihiki is not for these travellers. Manihiki is for those who are contented to enjoy the most beautiful and fulfilling parts of the world – land, sea, sky, bounty, and kind people. On Manihiki you feel, somehow, more human. There are none of the gaps technology wedges between people elsewhere. There is no excess, no clutter. Life revolves around the fundamentals – food, family, and faith. Mine felt like a truncated trip. I approached my departure date with something like dread. Rarotonga loomed in my mind like
50 • ESCAPE
a metropolis, a busy world that operates according to time and appointments and traffic – this is Rarotonga, an island of 10,000 people with two nightclubs and a 40 km speed limit. I will remember the people I have met. I’ve spent hours interrogating them about atoll life, pearl farming, Manihiki’s lore, fishing, natural disaster, free-diving, aquaculture, and they have graciously and patiently answered my bothersome questions. I’ll remember sitting under the shade of a kuru tree, eating fresh fish with my fingers, laughing. I’ll remember catching ava with other ladies, my feet mired in sucking mud. I’ll remember the people who went out of their way to make me feel at home, the women who wove hats for me, the friends I made who came to the airport at 7am when I left, just to say goodbye. This is paradise found. To this, my mind will return often.
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Far from the clamour of our everyday urban world, in the vast blueness of the Pacic, lies the pristine necklace of the Northern Cook Islands. The remote home of Avaiki pearls. From their clear depths, the profusion of green, blue, aubergine and silvery hues in Avaiki pearls capture the rich colours of the lagoon. For discerning jewellers and jewellery buyers who demand beauty, rarity and integrity, Avaiki pearls have a special appeal. Only the highest grades of pearls sustainably harvested from the lagoon become Avaiki pearls. Their consistently deeper nacre creates higher lustre and resilience - a rare beauty to stand the test of time.
Cook Islands Pearl Authority Tel +682 29 055 Fax +682 29 045 Email enquiry@avaikipearls.com Web www.avaikipearls.com
The Ui Ariki and
Aronga Mana
Story: Rachel Reeves Photos: Matariki Wilson
52 • ESCAPE
Left: Tetio Kaisara Pa ki Tonga Ariki from the island of Pukapuka joined chiefs from across the Cook Islands for the inaugural Ui Ariki Day in 2012
T
ravel Tou Ariki lowers his voice, focuses his unseeing eyes on the wall behind me. As he speaks about governance, about how the parliamentary system instituted by missionaries and their local cohorts shattered traditional structures of leadership, his face is pained.
A big man with large hands, gentle countenance, and succinct speech, Tou Ariki is an ariki, a paramount chief, from the island of Mitiaro. Like his ancestors, he was invested with the title based on his bloodline and the collective permission of his tribe.
Unlike that of his ancestors, though, his leadership is contingent upon modern political circumstances. The Cook Islands’ traditional leaders, the bearers of its culture and custom, now face the confusing challenge of integrating with a western system of government, a system of rulership incompatible with their own. Today’s titleholders can join one of two statutory bodies – the House of Ariki,
that they were descended from the gods.” Their power was absolute. They were the custodians of all natural resources, the settlers of all disputes, and the overseers of all labour.
reserved for holders of ariki titles, or the Koutu Nui, for the aronga mana, or holders of subordinate titles. But they remain on the fringes of authority.
Beneath Rarotonga’s ariki were heads of sub-groups within the clan: mataiapo ruled over major lineages (and, in certain cases, were outside the ariki’s jurisdiction), rangatira and kiato over minor lineages. Komono were deputies for mataiapo, and then there were priests and ta’unga, experts in particular disciplines, such as ritual, fishing, spiritual practices, or building canoes. In the pa enua, titles carry different names but the same functions.
“In our culture, there are ui ariki, kavana, mataiapo, rangatira, different ta’unga… but now we hand everything to the government to look after,” Tou Ariki says, his voice heavy. “Now there is a missing link. When you go in the ocean, there are calm days, rough days, some days [there is] no wind. Same with our life. We have to accept that, I have to accept this. I am grateful to be honored president [of the House of Ariki].” TRADITIONAL TITLES In ancient eras, chiefs and titleholders were not united under one banner, lumped together the way they are today, in the House of Ariki and Koutu Nui. Each ariki was head of his own tribe, within his own vaka or village, on his own island. Traditionally, only males were permitted to hold chiefly titles. (Today, there are both male and female ariki.) While leadership structures varied between islands, generally hierarchies were dominated by the ariki, the highestranking chiefs, who were said to be imbued with divine power. “The authority of the chiefs,” wrote the late professor Ron Crocombe, a longtime scholar of Cook Islands history and customs, “was supported by the belief
“In those days, the chiefs were the law,” said Tupe Short, a member of the Koutu Nui who holds the Tairi Te Rangi Rangatira title. “They made the law.”
“These titleholders are subordinate to the ariki,” said Tupuna Rakanui, clerk of the House of Ariki and Koutu Nui. “They look after the affairs delegated to them by the paramount chief, but there’s only one ariki in the tribe.” Most of these chiefly titles survive into the present. Today, titles are still passed through family lines. Successions are approved by those belonging to the kopu – the lineage – within which they occur. Often, titles are hotly contested; investiture ceremonies usually end in passionate shouting. They are ceremonial affairs. In traditional costume, a titleholder-to-be wears a royal robe (tiputa), girdle (maro kura), shoes, and crown (pare kura)– all woven by hand – and carries a fan (ta’iri kura). Seated prominently on an atamira, a royal seat, he or she receives a recitation, or karakia, invoking the mana of the ariki. The karakia is a sacrosanct practise.
ESCAPE • 53
Left: With arms wide open, Kaumaiti (president) of the House of Ariki, Travel Tou Ariki, accepts the kura (message) and invite by Pa Ariki and Kainuku Ariki to join Vaka Takitumu in celebrating Ui Ariki Day in 2013.
“The karakia, which has been passed down word for word for generations, is learned by the ta’unga… The words are supposed to be sacred and secret and uttered only by the priest, not to be revealed to all and sundry,” explained local historian and museum curator Jean Mason. “When he performs at the ariki’s investiture, he must not be interrupted nor can he forget the lines, or hesitate during the recitation: these are omens of a short reign for the ariki (through death or usurpation)… The karakia used to be the more crucial stage in investitures… but I notice in the past 20-30 years fewer and fewer people have bothered… with the karakia and the main reason is ‘We’re Christians now.’” On Rarotonga, being successfully invested with most titles involves the biting of a
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pig’s ear. Excepting the practice of the karakia, titles and the ways in which they are handed on have changed very little over the years. What’s changed is the measure of power the titles possess. SHIFT IN POWER The introduction of a parliamentary system marked a dramatic shift in Cook Islands history. In 1888, Britain claimed the Cook Islands as a protectorate. Resistance was nominal. To the Cook Islands chiefs (or, more accurately, to one of them), aligning with Britain was a way to avoid being colonized by France, which was paying close attention to Polynesia. About a decade later, the Cook Islands was annexed to New Zealand. The Cook Islands Act, ratified in 1915, gave rise to a formal government and judiciary, but initially power remained vested in
Right: Takitumu paramount chief Pa Marie Ariki (right) leads her vaka tangata (tribe) to the opening of the inaugural Ui Ariki Day in 2012. Below: (top) Warriors flank the newly invested Tinomana Tokerau Ariki during her investiture with the vaka Puaikura paramount chief title in late 2013. (bottom) A religious leader blesses newly invested Tinomana Tokerau Ariki during the traditional ceremony in late 2013.
the hands of the ui ariki. The legislative council, established in 1946-47, was comprised mostly of ariki or others they had appointed. “The legions of power,” Rakanui said, “were still with the ui ariki.” In 1957, the council was re-organised into a legislative assembly. In 1965, this assembly formally ratified the Cook Islands Constitution. This was a turning point. “How they managed to convince the ui ariki to accept the Constitution, I have no idea,” Rakanui said. “Because when they endorsed that document, they actually gave away their power. [The year] 1965 opened the door for any Tom, Dick, and Harry Cook Islander to contest the powerhouse of Parliament.” In 1966, then-prime minister Sir Albert Henry pushed the House of Ariki Act through Parliament in an effort to formally recognise ariki, to include them within the parliamentary system. The law did not, however, give ariki the authority to
create or veto laws. It stipulated that they could consider, and comment on, legislative decisions. “While supportive of custom and respect for traditional leaders, and their symbolic importance for national unity, [Henry] saw any real power for the ariki as inconsistent with their modern role,” writes Jean Tekura’i’imoana Mason in Akono’anga Maori: Cook Islands Culture. Still, most traditional leaders are grateful to Henry. “That’s his legacy,” said Vereara MaevaTaripo, secretary for the Koutu Nui. “Thank God for that. At least now we are being recognised.” HOUSE OF ARIKI Today, the House of Ariki enjoys formal privileges, including a taxpayer-funded budget, a permanent office, and a marae in the heart of Puaikura.
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Above: House of Ariki Kaumaiti (president) Tou Ariki and his wife are carried on a paata at the inaugural Ui Ariki Day celebrations in 2012. Opposite page: (top) Good friends and traditional leaders Dame Makea Karika Margaret Ariki (OBE) and Koutu Nui president Turi Mataiapo Maria Henderson warmly embraced each other and chatted quietly during the morning tea break at theopening of the 39th Koutu Nui annual general meeting and conference in 2013. (bottom) Te Maeu O Te Rangi Teikamata Ariki Mii Tungane Upokoati O’Bryan of Mitiaro on her appointed throne at Atupare Marae in Arorangi.
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Technically there are 24 ariki throughout the Cook Islands. But just 14 stone pilings arise from the House of Ariki marae, each representing a chief who holds an undisputed title. Tou Ariki is hopeful that by 2015, there will be 24 pilings. The House of Ariki does intervene in some disputes over chiefly titles, but formally, these arguments are settled in court. The kaumaiti nui firmly believes western courts should not arbitrate matters that had traditional ways of working themselves out. Like Tou Ariki, Rakanui believes the House of Ariki Act is overdue for an update. “Any intervention by the House of Ariki on matters relating to land, customs, traditions, the welfare of our people has to be by request from Parliament, and yet there is a constitutional amendment that says once a decision is made by the aronga mana, you cannot question it in a court of law. There are a lot of contradictions over here that need to be resolved. The House of Ariki feels it’s past time we amend and review the House of Ariki Act.” In 1972, the House of Ariki Act was expanded to make room for a second national body of traditional leaders: the Koutu Nui. Its legal function is to consider and make recommendations to Parliament and the House of Ariki on matters “relating to the customs, traditions (and usages of the indigenous people) of the Cook Islands.” A titleholder can choose whether or not to become part of the Koutu Nui; the only prerequisite for membership is the possession of an undisputed title. “Arguments have got nothing to do with the Koutu Nui,” said Vereara Maeva-Taripo, who holds the Paenui Rangatira title and has been a member of the Koutu Nui for 30 years. “It’s amongst the family and for them to settle their own problems.”
Tekeu Framhein, who was invested with the Apai Mataiapo title in 1975 and has been, at one time or another, the body’s president and vice president, believes all titleholders are duty-bound to join the Koutu Nui. (Today he holds the honor of patron, in recognition of his dedication to its growth and contribution to national affairs.) “It’s important that titleholders don’t just sit and accept what’s going on, but that they go and join,” Framhein said. “By joining the Koutu Nui, you meet the other mataiapo and rangatira of the Cook Islands, and you learn the traditions of the Cook Islands.”
“Sometimes we call ourselves vaevae orooro – the messengers of the paramount chiefs,” Maeva-Taripo said. “We are actually the people who do the work, not the paramount chiefs. They are the figureheads.” Members of the Koutu Nui are community enforcers, liaisons between the people and their leaders. “That’s our role – we are the watchdogs in the community,” Maeva-Taripo said. “We try to get to know everybody in our community.”
Members of the Koutu Nui are community enforcers, liaisons between the people and their leaders. “That’s our role – we are the watchdogs in the community,” MaevaTaripo said. “We try to get to know everybody in our community.” Meeting the other members requires more effort than it might in the House of Ariki. Estimates vary, but the number of Cook Islanders eligible for membership in the Koutu Nui probably exceeds 200. “We don’t limit our numbers,” Maeva-Taripo explained. “Whoever is happy to join, should. The more, the merrier.” The Koutu Nui sees itself as the working arm of the traditional leadership.
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Indulge Yourself… The executive committee – comprised of a president, a vice president from each village on Rarotonga – meets monthly. It organises meetings, workshops, and seminars, most of which center on the preservation of Cook Islands customs in an increasingly modern context. “Today it’s a mixture of tradition and modern ideas, because we do have to blend the two, especially for our younger generation,” she said. “We encourage them to join, because this is really where they can get all the knowledge and the wisdom of the old practices.”
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Very rarely is the Koutu Nui formally consulted for its opinion. Still, Vereara says with a proud grin, it makes its voice heard. “The government hardly invites us to any of their discussions, to be honest,” she said. “But, for example… we happened because of our big mouths to be involved in [the drafting of] the National Sustainable Development Plan. We spoke up. We contributed. “We have been very vocal over the years,” she said. “I remember the Environment Bill – we were opposed to some of the clauses in the bill, and that was a real thing between us and government.” The Koutu Nui makes sure to brush up on its current affairs, including pertinent issues relating to the marine park, ra’ui system, seabed mining, foreign fishing licences, and applications for permanent residency. “When there was talk of a marine park, we invited [the committee] to come and talk to us, to tell us what this is all about because we didn’t understand,” Framhein said. “We went back and told our communities. “We discuss things of concern to the Koutu Nui, and to the people of the Cook Islands,” he continued. “We pass it on to the House of Ariki – this is because we have to, before it can go to Parliament.” The Koutu Nui has another strategy for being heard: one of its members occupies a high-ranking position in almost every government ministry.
Left: Ui Ariki from across the Cook Islands were celebrated through the first Ui Ariki Day in 2012.
“Environment services, health services, agriculture services – one of us is posted in each of these boards,” Framhein said. “We force our way in. If we’re not invited, we invite ourselves. The government can’t say no to us because we are the chiefs of these islands. They have to listen. We are the voice of the people.” ‘THE UI ARIKI IS STILL THERE’ Despite challenges to its authority, traditional leadership continues to command great collective respect. It also bridges divisions wrought by modern structures of governance. “Now, if I’m in politics and I call the village, only my supporters come,” Tou Ariki said. “But when the ui ariki calls, everyone comes.” He believes there is hope for the restoration of chiefly power, a more
thorough blending of traditional and modern governance. He is encouraged that in 2012, the government legislated an annual, national holiday in recognition of the ui ariki and aronga mana. “There is still work to be done,” Tou Ariki says, “but they are starting to recognise the status of the chief. And I think our people are beginning to appreciate that there is still value in our customs and traditions.” To him, the principles of governance in Cook Islands custom are profoundly simple. “The land,” Tou Ariki says, and motions toward the mountainous interior of Rarotonga. “The ocean,” he continues, as though these are the only words he needs to summarise the essence of Cook Islands governance. “The guardians of these resources were traditionally the ui ariki. The ui ariki represent our people. This foreign concept of governance took that
right away from our traditional leaders. It will take time to make people understand that (rulership) is really based on the indigenous values of land, titles, the ocean. “Who are the people? They are the chief’s people, not the government’s people. I think they are misunderstanding the whole thing but we are doing our job. “All those people that are in politics, they all come from the tribe. When they lose their seat, they come back and they belong with the tribe. When they go to Parliament they say, ‘We are the boss. We wrote this, we wrote that.’ But when they lose they are ordinary people picking up the rubbish on the road. And who’s still there? The ui ariki is still there, because their time is not limited. When they go down in the ground – that is when their time ends.”
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Story: Jess Cramp
"Our story began in a taro patch, where the history and laborious cultivation of this Polynesian food staple was brought into light. "
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On yer bike
Photo: Storytellers
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hile bicycles may not be a major mode of transportation on Rarotonga, their presence is far from foreign. On most days, the usual suspects - determined triathletes, seasonal fitness converts, a handful of climate-conscious environmentalists and even a few intrepid tourists - could be seen riding the flat, paved road around the picturesque island’s 32-kilometre perimeter. But at the end of last year, cycling in paradise received a major boost. The first professional, full service bike shop, Ride Rarotonga, opened in Panama (just outside of town) and a new cultural experience, Storytellers, began their eco cycle tours in Arorangi, on the western side of the island. Admittedly, I’d considered cycling around the island for years. There were a few places I could rent a push bike; Island Car & Bike Hire and Polynesian Bike Hire to name a few. But for some reason I never pulled the trigger, an oversight I meant to remedy. Maybe I too, was infected by the new cycle craze on Raro. The more I learned about the two new bike ventures, the more excited I felt about the possibilities. Before I embarked on my round Raro bicycle journey, I was keen to learn a bit more about the lush green interior of Rarotonga while I rode. Since the majority of my free time was usually spent either on or below the water, I thought it would be good to have a guide the first time I meandered off the beaten path on a bike. Coupled with my desire for a unique inland adventure, when Ani Katu, a Cook Islander and guide for Storytellers told me excitedly that leading cycle tours has also motivated her to learn more about her own culture, I decided it was time to start pedaling. Upon arrival I met Storytellers founder/ owner Dave Furnell, whose calm respect for the land and people of the Cooks was immediately evident. Alongside his wife Natavia and daughter Olive, they moved to
the Cook Islands from Australia because of the dramatic scenery, the island lifestyle and their deep passion for the Cook Islands people. “Culture is about the people,” said Dave, who insists on hiring only Cook Islanders as guides, each with their own set of stories to share. Dave and Natavia are passionate about the tours being “much more than a bike ride” and want visitors to have a genuine exposure to the culture that enraptured them, something that is difficult to experience inside the resorts. Whether that means just stopping on the tour and saying “Kia Orana” to someone working, or taking a new road, “You never know what you’ll get. They all have their own stories - everyone becomes a storyteller.” I was excited to explore the culture and landscape through this unique lens. The bikes were sturdy and new and our group today was small, just four people. We took off from Arorangi and headed inland, each of us toying with our gears and brakes before we got into steeper terrain. Although we were on the midlevel “Explore” tour, it was made clear from the beginning that no two tours are alike. Ani describes the variable nature of each tour by saying “We want people to enjoy the environment as much as possible. We don’t rush people through the tour, we want them to experience it for themselves… the things they miss on scooters because they are too busy looking at the road.” There were a few preplanned stops to little-known gems, but if we wanted to go harder or stop and chat some more with locals, it was up to us. This was great news to me, because while I was looking forward to breaking a sweat, I hadn’t been on a bike in a while and the thought of spending four hours in the saddle made me a little nervous. But my worries were unnecessary; it was never intended to be four hours of non-stop riding and the pace was ours to control. Our story began in a taro patch, where the history and laborious cultivation of this
Photo: Storytellers
I pedaled, I laughed, I learned and I listened. It was, in fact, much more than a bike ride. It was a workout, a history lesson, a cultural experience, and an adventure... Polynesian food staple was brought into light. From the taro patch we zigzagged through fields and the back road of Arorangi village, where we happened upon a small workshop. Still wearing my bike helmet, I ducked into the shed and was thrilled by what lay before me. Ukuleles in many forms covered the walls, a beautifully painted Cook Islands coconut ukulele hung next to its guitar-shaped Hawaiian cousin. On the work bench, the new pine and mahogany, or tamanu, body of a Tahitian ukulele was squeezed together by glue and clamps. Natua Teururai, who is not only an expert ukulele builder but a musician too, explained the craft of his operation to us and then played a tune. Unrehearsed and full of giggles and retakes, I couldn’t think of a more authentic Rarotonga moment. Leaving Natua’s, we made a pit stop to nosh on sugarcane, or to, and matakoviriviri, the hard-shelled red nut that rivals macadamia in its deliciousness.
Before we reached the mountainside, we weaved through ten different types of fruit trees, sampling a few, and learned the stories of a number of medicinal uses for the surrounding plants, Ani’s favorite part of leading the tours. “I learned the uses of the plants from my grandmothers,” she said. Readying ourselves to head further into the bush, we mashed wild basil, or pa, into the palms of our hands, rolling it vigorously to extract the oils, which we spread on our skin as natural insect repellent. For me, the excitement increased with elevation. The rain from the previous day made the terrain muddy and more difficult than usual. My back tire slipped as I tried hard to stay seated pedaling uphill. I was in competition with no one but myself, the physical challenge a welcome addition to the cultural tour. When we crested the muddy hill, we stood under a canopy of trees, listening intently for the Cook Islands endemic bird kakerori, or Rarotonga flycatcher while we snacked on raparapa, star fruit. On the way down, we took it easy on the switchbacks and cooled down in the fresh water pool of a secluded waterfall, a secret spot I never knew existed in the area. The stories continued as we made our way to a secluded beach in Vaima’anga where the tour ended and we enjoyed a local lunch. A picnic table was nestled in the shade, staring out on the clear, turquoise lagoon. Still wet from exploring the
Photo: Storytellers
Photo: Ride Rarotonga
waterfall, I opted out of a dip in the warm sea. Instead I sat in the shade, devoured my sandwich - pole caught bonito on homemade bread, fresh baked pastries, an assortment of tropical fruit and natural fruit juice - and recounted my favorite parts of the tour. I pedaled, I laughed, I learned and I listened. It was, in fact, much more than a bike ride. It was a workout, a history lesson, a cultural experience, and an adventure - and it reminded me that it was about time to make good on my promise to ride around the island. The minute I pulled into the lot of Ride Rarotonga, I understood why the numbers of bicycles on the road were increasing.
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Photo: Ride Rarotonga
I could see not one, but two technicians working on bikes and I soon learned that they are Shimano certified techs working to professional standards. It is the first dedicated bike shop in the Cook Islands and the expertise inside those four walls is something special for Raro. The shop is run by Jakub Postrzygacz, a cycling adventurer and one of the most respected bike experts in New Zealand. Before he moved his wife and three young ones to Rarotonga last year, he came as part of a professional team charged with building 36km of new cycling and walking tracks throughout the island’s interior. In the next 12-24 months, a network of world class trails will weave through Raro, offering completely new experiences for locals and visitors alike. For Jakub and the Ride Rarotonga crew, the new shop is a vehicle for bringing lifechanging options to Cook Islanders. They are committed to the local market and are keen to increase awareness of using bikes as “tools instead of toys”. “We’d like everyone to think of bikes as tools rather than toys. Whether you want to get fit, save money on daily commuting or simply have a great time with your friends, a bike is the perfect tool for the job”,
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Photo: Polynesian Bike Hire
explains Jakub. This includes partnering with local businesses on bike purchases to encourage employees to cycle to work, and repairing bikes that may have seen better days -anything to get Cook Islanders pedaling again. While they could charge a lot more for their bikes, they have committed to offering quality bikes at New Zealand prices. “No one ever got rich running a bike shop, so you may as well make plenty of friends and have some fun while trying”, Jakub jokes.
fact file STORYTELLERS ECO CYCLE TOURS tel: 23450 or 53450 www.storytellers.co.ck RIDE RAROTONGA tel: 27433 | www.riderarotonga.com POLYNESIAN BIKE HIRE tel: 29227 | www.polynesianhire.co.ck
For visitors to the island, a state of the art assortment of bikes is available for hire, complete with helmets, baskets, trailers and baby carriers if desired. My ears perked up when he explained that the shop delivers bikes, free of charge. After all, I had felt a little silly riding my motorized scooter to a bike shop. With the new options on the island for both Storytellers’ unique cycle tours and Ride Rarotonga’s do it yourself options, I truly understood and now embraced Raro’s new cycle craze. It felt like just the right time to ensemble my team of bicycle bandits and finally embark on that cruise around the island I dreamt up many moons ago. Photo: Ride Rarotonga
Big, blue, warm, and full of harmless life, the lagoon is not only disarmingly beautiful, but it’s also an invaluable asset for the Aitutaki community.
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y cousin is spellbound, his eyes fixed on the turquoise lagoon spreading from beneath our little boat, his mouth open in awe. “This is unreal,” he says, with intentional stress on the final syllable. He saw this lagoon once, when he was a child, but hazy memories left him ill prepared for its electrifying beauty. This lagoon has a reputation for being one of the loveliest in the Pacific. Even on off days, during rare periods of overcast skies, the water retains a strikingly vivid colour. “No artist’s palette could ever conceive of a more perfect, more luminescent turquoise than
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that of the lagoon of Aitutaki, arguably the most beautiful in the world,” Steve Davey writes in his travel anthology entitled Unforgettable Places to See Before You Die. The lagoon covers nearly 70 kilometres of area, and in its centre sits Aitutaki – an atoll except for one volcanic mountain, rumoured in legend to have been stolen from Rarotonga by Aitutaki’s early warriors. A coral reef encircles the entire Aitutaki lagoon, keeping the ocean at bay and protecting the main island and 15 other motu, the local word denoting tiny, flat, uninhabited atolls.
Without a doubt, Aitutaki’s sprawling lagoon is its foremost tourist attraction. Big, blue, warm, and full of harmless life, the lagoon is not only disarmingly beautiful, but it’s also an invaluable asset for the Aitutaki community. Local people creatively maximise its tourism potential. Signs near the airport advertise day tours, fishing trips, kiteboarding lessons, snorkeling charters, and bonefishing guides. There are SCUBA dives, spearfishing excursions, wakeboarding trips, boats for hire, water taxis.
Story: Rachel Reeves Photos: Noel Bartley
For a waterbaby, Aitutaki is the prototypical playground. Trust me on this one. Through a SCUBA mask I ogled at fleshy, blue-lipped clams as big as truck tyres. I went wakeboarding behind a speedboat; lunched on a buffet of fresh fish and fruit aboard a double-hulled canoe; paddled in a six-man canoe against the backdrop of a setting sun; and glided across the lagoon’s placid surface on a stand-up paddleboard. I watched kitesurfers hit ramps in high winds and anglers creep up on the elusive bonefish. Many an afternoon I spent splayed out on a sandbar, half-submerged
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There are, of course, things to do on Aitutaki itself – cultural tours, evening crab hunts by the light of a bright moon, Sunday morning services at the Cook Islands Christian Church, farmers’ markets, dance and drum shows.
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For bookworms, there are hammocks strung between two coconut trees. For the indulgent traveler, there are seaside bars serving cocktails, fresh fish, and breadfruit chips. For the adventurous, there are undeveloped atolls, home to a cluster of palms and brilliantly white sand, free of footprints, fringed by the lagoon. This is the stuff of fantasy, the picture of a holiday destination conjured by anyone who’s been overwhelmed by traffic or paperwork or monotony, and dreamt of escape.
... cultural tours, evening crab hunts by the light of a bright moon, Sunday morning services at the Cook Islands Christian Church, farmers’ markets, dance and drum shows. The landscape hearkens back to a Polynesia of old. This is the Rarotonga of yesteryear – some roads are charmingly unpaved, the airport is an airy, one-room building, and signs warn us to SLOW DOWN as we proceed at less than 20 km/ hr. People wave, cheerful and genuine, happily welcoming us onto their island. My cousin wonders aloud whether they might be waving at someone else, or because we’re driving a car that belongs to our hotel manager. “Or are they really just that friendly?” he muses. Then, he answers his own question: “Wow.” This air is fragrant and the sky, seamlessly blue. Everywhere there is greenery, punctuated only by the vivid pinks, reds, and purples of frangipani, hibiscus, and bougainvillea. The main road is lined with homes, their front yards immaculately raked and planted with flowering trees that cast shade onto well-maintained, white graves. As in Rarotonga, the local people bury their relatives in the yard – a solution to the problem of limited cemetery land, and a means of keeping ancestral spirits near.
Local homes are unpretentious, with slatted louvers for windows and pareu fabric standing in for doors. Across verandahs, sheets and clothing line-dry in the gentle breeze. There are a substantial number of empty homes scattered about. For decades the Cook Islands has grappled with the challenge of mass outward migration, but Aitutaki’s depopulation in particular accelerated in 2010, when Cyclone Pat devastated scores of homes. Now, nature has grown around those concrete building frames whose occupants have departed. Green vines coil themselves around deserted manmade structures, as if to reclaim them. As we drive, the paved road ends and a sandy path begins, leading into a thick jungle that tumbles into an ever-present lagoon. Green presses against our car – the large leaves of purau (yellow hibiscus) trees and the wispy tentacles of toa (ironwood). Banana trees spring like fountains from the earth. It is increasingly common to meet travelers who reserve most of their time in the Cook Islands for Aitutaki, and use Rarotonga as a point of transit rather than a destination. One couple I met on Aitutaki was visiting for 13 nights. “We were a bit nervous that would be too many nights and we’d run out of things to do,” said an English fellow named Richard, who was preparing to enjoy the final day of his honeymoon. “But we haven’t been bored. Not at all, have we?” he said, turning to his bride, who offered an enthusiastic shake of her head.
Next to Rarotonga, Aitutaki is the most visited of the Cook Islands. But while it lags behind Rarotonga in terms of tourist numbers, its international profile has always rivaled the capital island’s. Indeed, Aitutaki has a unique modern history. For one thing, it was the first of the Cook Islands exposed to Christianity. Willingly, the people of Aitutaki embraced the gospel introduced in 1821 by John Williams of the London Missionary Society (LMS), who brought with him two Tahitian converts named Papeiha and Vahapata. They remained on Aitutaki even after their mentor departed, and within the decade, Aitutaki and the other Cook Islands had adopted the LMS religion. Then, a century later, the island was again a point of intersection between the Cook Islands and the rest of the world. During World War II, American soldiers chose Aitutaki to be a South Pacific outpost, as it was strategically located between the United States and Japan. They arrived in droves, and here they built the Cook Islands’ first airstrip and international airport. American soldiers met local women and fathered local children, and today, the G.I. legacy lives on. Then, in the 1950s, Aitutaki became the Cook Islands’ portal to the tourist community when aviation company Tasman Empire Airways Limited (TEAL) designated one of the motu in its lagoon – Akaiami – a re-fuelling stop on The Coral Route.
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Solent flying boats came from Auckland via Fiji, Samoa, and Tahiti. Wealthy, glamorous Kiwis – people who could afford the luxury of flying – arrived on Aitutaki, where they would swim and relax as the aircraft topped up its fuel tanks on Akaiami. That decade was the advent of the South Pacific – known then as the South Seas – as a tourism destination, and Aitutaki was swept into its embrace. Today, the Coral Route is no more, but Aitutaki still performs regularly under the international spotlight. Well-known productions like British series Shipwrecked, American game show Survivor, and Canadian program Survivorman have all filmed episodes on its deserted motu.
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Tony Wheeler, who co-founded the travel guide Lonely Planet, called Aitutaki the world’s most beautiful island. British news agency Reuters even named it one of the 10 best places to survive a breakup or divorce. As Aitutaki’s profile expands, its tourism industry becomes more fully developed – not as an offshoot of Rarotonga’s, but in its own right. The main island has several resorts, one of them five-star, and the only over-water bungalows in the Cook Islands. Customer service is surprisingly attentive. Some shops are even open on Sundays – a rare circumstance in much of the post-missionary South Pacific.
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Still, this concerns some locals, and particularly those who meet unfailingly every Sunday near the runway to protect the operation of commercial flights on the Sabbath. They are living proof that despite Aitutaki’s expanding tourism infrastructure, the island retains old-school airs. They are proof that Aitutaki still belongs to Aitutaki, to Polynesia, to what Steve Davey wholeheartedly believes is the most beautiful lagoon in the world. This, I think to myself, is paradise found – the kind of place that will sear itself into my memory, work its way into my dinnertime conversations for years to come, and beckon me back for another visit.
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encounter Chance
Steve Christian sets his drink on the table and sizes me up. “You know, this is a history I’m pretty proud of,” he says, as if warning me to recount it accurately. I nod to show him that I understand.
His weathered face softens. He knocks back his drink, and then he launches into the story of the Mutiny on the Bounty, a drama that has informed the plotlines of five major Hollywood productions. Steve, a direct descendent of mutineer Fletcher Christian, likes to tell this story. “The actual mutiny took place about 24 miles northwest of here,” he says from the veranda of The Boat Shed Restaurant & Bar on the coast of Aitutaki, where Steve has worked for years. “It’s an amazing piece of history.” It was 1789 when Fletcher Christian, acting lieutenant of the HMS Bounty, led about two dozen crewmembers in a mutiny against their captain, William Bligh. The ship was recently returned to the sea, having just spent five months docked in a Tahiti port. For weeks the crew amassed breadfruit (kuru), which the British government had pinpointed as a cheap way to feed workers on West Indies plantations. Tahiti had been, for the crew, the pot of gold at the end of a journey plagued by bad weather and a 10,000-mile detour around Cape Horn: its blues and greens were beautiful, and so were its women. Some historians believe the Bounty sailors mutinied because they were enticed by the idea of staying awhile in paradise. Others say they mutinied because Bligh was a hard-nosed captain. Either way, on April 28 Fletcher Christian and his mutineers hijacked the Bounty and forced Bligh into a lifeboat, in which he would eventually find his way back to England. Fletcher Christian and the mutineers, together with their Tahitian wives, ended up on uninhabited Pitcairn Island. They burned the Bounty to cover their tracks and started over. It was on Pitcairn that Fletcher spawned the lineage to which Steve’s father belongs. Steve is from Norfolk Island, which was a British penal colony before it absorbed, in the mid-19th century, a mass wave of emigration from the overpopulated Pitcairn Island. Steve moved to the Cook Islands in 1994 to take a job as manager of the Aitutaki Lagoon Resort & Spa. It wasn’t long before he put down roots – a home and two Cook Islands children. He
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never left. Most evenings, Steve unwinds at The Boatshed, where he has helped to build a decorative shrine to the Bounty. “See that there?” he says, pointing inside the glass case mounted on the wall. “That’s an original nail off the original Bounty.” The case also contains a model of the ship, a wooden replica crafted in 1970, for which he claims to have been offered large amounts of money. “Money is a necessary evil,” Steve says, “but my pride in my heritage stands before money.” The shrine reminds him of a chance encounter he had in 2012 with a descendent of Captain Bligh’s. “It was an absolute shock to me,” Steve said. “We were just sitting at that table there, and he was here having dinner with his family, they were staying just up the road. One of my colleagues was sitting talking to him and, pointing to me said, ‘There’s the mutineer up there.’ Twohundred-fifty-odd years on, to actually meet a descendant of Captain Bligh – was awesome. Just awesome!”
Relax with a cold drink while you enjoy the cool breezes and ocean view. Enjoy a simple all-day menu, or a-la-carte dinner menu featuring local seafood. We are the restaurant of Popoara Ocean Breeze Villas. P. 31479 | www.popoaraoceanbreeze.com
AITUTAKI
Two centuries appear to have taken the sting out of the rivalry between the Christians and the Blighs as the two enjoyed a wonderful evening together. Steve, whose bloodline lands him on the mutineers’ side of history, says he harbours enormous respect for Captain Bligh. “He was the greatest seaman who ever lived,” Steve says. “When Christian chucked him in a boat and said, ‘Go,’ he did. He made it back to England after all those months. I admire Captain Bligh, even as a mutineer on my great, great, great, great, great-grandfather’s side.”
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Phone: (682) 31379 | Email: fishing@aitutaki.net.ck www.popoaraoceanbreeze.com
ESCAPE • 73
Story: Nerys Case Photos: Noel Bartley
Church First
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T
he Aitutaki people are passionate about Christianity, theirs was the first island in the Cooks group to welcome the missionaries in 1821. John Williams was the first member of the London Missionary Society to bring the message to this remote and beautiful island – but he didn’t set foot on Aitutaki himself the first time. Instead he sent ashore two Tahitian converts, Papeiha and Vahapata, to talk to the locals rather than going ashore himself. He had found in his travels around the Pacific, that people with an understanding of local ways often had a much better chance of converting locals than westerners did. Williams sailed off leaving the two Tahitians on the island to spread the gospel. When he returned two years later, he found that they made a great deal of progress and the impact of their work still shines through in the Atutakians’ devotion to the church today. The main centre for Cook Islands Christianity on the island is the huge coral block church in downtown Arutanga. It was completed just seven years after Papeiha and Vahapata’s arrival in 1828, and as the first church to be constructed in the Cook
Islands it has a special significance for the people of Aitutaki. With nearly threequarters of the population committed to following the faith, the people of Aitutaki have a big responsibility on their hands. The congregation take that responsibility seriously. After weathering many Pacific storms as well as five cyclones which passed close to the island in 2005, the church was sorely in need of repair. Damaged roofing, discoloured paint and
It was completed just seven years after Papeiha and Vahapata’s arrival in 1828, and as the first church to be constructed in the Cook Islands it has a special significance for the people of Aitutaki. an increasingly shabby interior meant that the congregation had to act to preserve this piece of history. To raise funds to restore the church, thirtytwo members of the congregation saved their own money for airfares and transport and took themselves on a fundraising tour of New Zealand and Australia. They took their distinctive way of singing in harmony to praise God, to people in towns and cities across the two countries, raising the roof and giving people goose bumps with the power and beauty of their voices.
set about repairing the church. Starting in June 2009, Reverend Tuvaine Glassie led a team of 17 workers who devoted themselves to getting the church back in order. The church bell, which had sounded out across the town since the church was built over 180 years ago, has long since fallen to pieces. The Reverend himself used his skills as a welder to piece it back together. The restorers working to repair roofing which had been damaged in cyclones and high winds over the years found that the purlins weren’t held on with nails, but tied down with rope. A third tower had been added to the church in the 1970s, but renovators found that the new tower was actually making the entire structure unsound by pulling the building off balance, so it was demolished. Work continued until Cyclone Pat struck in February 2010. With
After many months away, they returned to the island with the hugely impressive sum of $283,000 and
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and pulpit completed the work inside. The church was ready for the grand re-opening on October 26 2010 – exactly 189 years to the day, of the arrival of the gospel on the island. The newly refurbished church is a work of art and the Aitutakians are justifiably proud of what they have achieved.
more than three hundred homes on the island partly or completely destroyed by the cyclone, many of the builders on the reconstruction team went to work on the island’s recovery. With a devoted team of seven and with volunteers helping out towards the end of the project, the small team managed to keep the work on schedule. New windows, doors all the way from Italy, new chandeliers and a new cross plus altar
Some things haven’t changed, and the church which has always been renowned for its acoustics, is still one of the best places in the Cook Islands to enjoy a traditional Sunday service. Listening to the joyful and melodious choral sound of the voices, who took their show on the road to transform the church, is an uplifting experience not to be missed. There is a monument to John Williams by the gates of the church. There is also a monument to the bringers of that first gospel, Papeiha and Vahapata,. Papeiha’s work in the Cook Island’s didn’t end in Aitutaki. Two years after his arrival there
he travelled on to Rarotonga with John Williams and his fellow missionaries, where they were met with a distinctly hostile welcome. It wasn’t until Papeiha volunteered to go onto Rarotonga alone that the missionaries had more success. When Williams came back three years later, many of the Rarotongan people had given up their idols and had turned to Christianity. Papeiha was finally laid to rest in the cemetery of the Cook Islands Christian Church in Arorangi, where another monument to him can be found.
fact file Services at the Cook Islands Christian Church in Arutanga on Aitutaki, are on Sunday at 10am or 5pm. No cameras or video cameras are to be used during the service, but you are allowed to photograph the church after the service is over.
t n o r f h c a e b Prime location Formally known as ‘Samade on the Beach’, this property has twelve individual garden bungalows, and one of the best swimming beaches on Aitutaki. Pacific Inspired Cuisine, Open 7 days a week Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner. Tuesday Aitutaki Island Feast & Cultural Show and Sunday All Day Island BBQ. 76 • ESCAPE
COOK ISLANDS
Bookings essential phone (682) 31526 | reservations@aitutakivillage.com www.aitutakivillage.com
Rito Cook Islands Story: Rachel Smith
The sound of a coconut falling to the earth is one you become familiar with when you are in the Cook Islands. It is these freshly fallen brown coconuts, akari, that caught the attention of Robert and Susan Wyllie when they made the decision to move their family back to the country that is Susan’s ancestral home.
S
o began Rito Cook Islands, and the production of a skin care and condiment range made from the finest cold pressed coconut oil. The couple developed the business together, with four years of extensive research behind them, and now produce virgin coconut oil on their property in the village of Tikioki. Robert is responsible for the production of the oil itself, while Susan’s health and beauty background provided Rito with invaluable experience when it came to developing their skin care range. “We have a microbiologist in New Zealand who does our formulations,” Susan said, with all products containing no paraben, chemicals or added fragrance. Susan manufactures all of the skin care range herself on site in Tikioki. To the coconut oil base, she adds, macadamia nut oil and calendula flower, as well as key vitamins and extracts, which Susan says
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provides the range with anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory properties for radiant and more youthful skin. “It requires a high degree of accuracy,” Robert said, with the products made in small batches, with ongoing testing for longevity and stability. Before any of this can begin however the essence of the coconut, its oil, must be removed from the coconut itself. It is a job which workers Daniel Aererua and King Jubilee make appear deceptively simple as they strip another coconut from its husk, working their way through 130 coconuts a day up to five days a week. It takes around 12 coconuts to produce one litre of oil, in a process that requires expert skills and many hours from beginning to end. Once husked each coconut is grated and the flesh is dried on the drying table, which is gently heated by a fire fuelled from
coconut husks and shells. The remaining flesh is then removed of its oil using a hydraulic basket press, with Robert saying that the slower the pressing process the better the yield of oil. It is a long way from that of which Susan remembers her grandmother, Grandma Moari, making coconut oil. “She used to put flowers, tiare maori, in hers,” Susan says, with her grandmother heating the grated coconut on corrugated iron, from which the oil would slowly drip off. Although methods may have changed, the ethos of making the most of the resources available on the island still remains. “Everything is used,” Robert says of their process of producing the oil. No waste is produced, with the tree of life giving back to the earth from which it grew; coconut water feeds the soil, the husks are used to fuel the drying table or donated to local growers, high quality dried coconut is used by Susan as an exfoliant in her soaps, with the remaining returned to the farmers to feed their pigs, and the clean shells are used for art and crafts. The end product has become more a way of life than a business for the Wyllie’s. They use the coconut oil themselves as part of their daily diet from dressing salads to cooking, and as a health supplement. For most people though the taste of coconut oil in its raw form is a new experience. The Wyllie’s encourage people
The
Spa
Beauty & Spa treatments
fact file
to stop in at their premises in Tikioki (Titikaveka area) to see the oil making process in action - to take a look around, to sample the oil, and to enjoy the taste of something new. Like the Cook Islands they will find it is warm and subtle, a flavour that lingers long after it is out of sight, and something that must be experienced to be appreciated.
Rito Cook Islands is available at Robert and Susan Wyllie’s home and business in Tikioki, their stall at Punanga Nui market on Saturdays or by emailing Robert & Susan on info@ritocookislands.com. The products are also available at CITC Pharmacy. It is used in beauty therapy treatments at the Crown Beach Resort & Spa, Muri Beach Club Hotel & Spa, Pacific Village Salon and Rumours Waterfall Spa.
Ph: 23000 Located at Muri Beach Club Hotel
Hibiscus Salon provides relaxing and invigorating beauty treatments to accentuate your natural beauty
The skin care range includes soaps, day cream, hydrating body moisturiser, facial cleanser, Tamanu Oil, shampoo and conditioner, massage oil, with a moisturising face mask, after sun gel and facial scrub soon to be released. The edible oil range comes in three varieties – natural, with lime, or with chilli, including travel friendly gift packs with vanilla and coffee flavours in the pipeline. Located next to Moana Sands Beachfront Villas, (directly opposite Wigmores Superstore). P: + (682) 279 18 Open: Tuesday to Sunday. Closed on Mondays.
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Atiu
Re-discovering nature and solitude on ‘the island of birds’.
Enua Manu
T
here are few places left in the world like Atiu, an island with just over 500 people and acres and acres of untouched rainforest and coastal bush. There are no western bars (apart from the small one at Atiu Villas), bright neon lights or busy roads. For travellers searching for an island paradise, Atiu is it.
Most overseas visitors to Atiu lament on departure that they wish they’d organised a longer stay on this unspoiled island gem, full of captivating history, scenery and friendly people. The Anatakitaki Cave walk is the perfect offering for visitors who want an unforgettable nature experience. On the day we went, we were guided by Marshall Humphreys. Married to Atiuan Jeanne, Marshall is proud of Atiu conservation and how the locals “always leave a bit for the next day, like when they go fishing and catch just enough to eat.” He’s also impressed with the way the island works as a community. Reasonable fitness and covered shoes are needed for the trek through tropical forest that resembles a fantastically overgrown garden. Regarded by environmentalists as a national treasure, Anatakitaki Cave is home to the Kopeka bird, a swallow unique
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to Atiu, which like a bat, navigates its way in the pitch black caverns using sonar. The towering limestone caverns contain cauliflower coral, proving that the caves were once beneath the sea, as these coral formations only occur underwater. There are huge stalactites reaching to the cavern floor and massive stalagmites sparkling as though they are embedded with millions of diamonds. The magnificence of the caverns is breathtaking. Another tour takes you to Rimarau Burial Cave that includes visits to age old marae and “walking the dramatic route taken by hundreds as they went to meet their death in ancient times.” If beaches, historic sights and panoramic scenery also appeal, opt for an island tour. It offers contrasting scenery, drives through shady roads and forest thick with ancient trees to coastal tracks and points of interest including the coral garden, sinkholes and fabulous little beaches ideal for shell collecting or leisurely lolling in the warm, pristine sea. George Mateariki, better known as Birdman George, takes us on his morning tour – first stop is to catch a glimpse of the endangered Kakerori bird. We are a bit startled as George begins loudly beeping his car horn as we near the
nesting ground. He explains that being inquisitive birds, Kakerori are drawn to unusual noises. He calls to them, walking through the picturesque bush and making kissing noises. The birds do not disappoint, replying with their call sounds. To see Kakerori so close is a real treat, as they were once on the brink of extinction. Along the way, George points out medicinal plants and how they are used to treat various ailments. “I love my history and everything I know about Atiu was taught to me by my grandfathers,” says George. A fun experience is a visit to one of the legendary Atiu tumunu – ‘clubs’, where local men gather to drink homebrew and chat about island affairs, with clear rules about conduct. Often there’s a stringband for added entertainment. Visitors are always welcome to stop in, partake of a cup of the local brew and meet the locals. “There’s money in the land,” says Mata Arai, pointing to her coffee bushes laden with ripe berries. Mata is an industrious Atiuan woman who produces the 100 percent Atiu Island Coffee using a technique she learnt from her grandmother as a child. It’s a process all done by hand. Atiu Island Coffee can
factory, ending with a tasting on the verandah of their home at Atiu Fibre Arts Gallery. The Atiu Fibre Arts Gallery is definitely on the ‘to visit’ list when on Atiu. Andrea Eimke’s exquisite technicoloured tivaivai (quilting) is displayed, along with other textile art. Completing an embroidery apprenticeship before settling on Atiu, then seeing what local women were doing “the dies were cast, I was hooked” says Andrea. And so it all started with one sewing machine, a lot of inspiration and the desire to preserve traditional knowledge and skills, plus creating jobs for local women. Today, Atiu Fibre Arts Studio has developed into an enterprise that produces world class textile art, drawing students for workshops on Atiu from far afield.
For travellers searching for an island paradise, Atiu is it. be purchased from Mata’s home, in Atiu stores, or supermarkets on Rarotonga. For someone who “never wanted to be a coffee grower” Juergen Manske produces Atiu Coffee, some of the finest coffee to be found in the region. He and artist wife, Andrea Eimke settled in Atiu
some 23 years ago. Discovering acres of coffee plantations, Juergen took 20 kilos to Europe to have it checked out. The verdict – “terrific coffee,” says Juergen. “We established that it is arabica coffee with very low caffeine content.” Coffee connoisseurs should take Juergen’s informative tour of plantations and
Phone. (682)33041 | Email. marshall@atiutours.co.ck | Web. atiutoursaccommodation.com
Atiu Tours ’
Atiu B&B Jeanne’s Art
Enjoy personalised bed & breakfast service plus the luxury of a comfortable home away from home. Lunch, dinner & vehicle hire also available.
Irresistible images of Cook Islands flora & fauna
- available from Atiu, Koru Café Aitutaki, Island Living Rarotonga. Email: jeannehumphreysart@gmail.com
Marshall’s Discovery Island Tour, Anatakitaki Kopeka Bird Caves, Rimarau Burial Cave. Secluded beaches, tropical rainforest, amazing caves, rich bird life, ESCAPE • 81 fascinating archeology & legends.
The Papa Tree
Escape Magazine asked the headmaster of Atiu’s Enuamanu School, if his pupils would like to write about a local legend for us. We received three well written stories to choose from and after much deliberation decided upon this Atiuan myth retold by Veiatua Teipo, with illustration by Maraea Kimi. We extend our thanks to Enuamanu School and its pupils.
village people began to grow suspicious of Teonomataikura, so they asked her cousin Tutemana to follow her.
I
t all began during a vicious time in our island’s history, when the cannibals ruled Atiu and there lived a courageous warrior by the name of Takiri-o-te-Rangi. On the island, Atiu was divided into five villages which fought over land and dignity. But despite the fighting and hatred, deep down this Teenui warrior was a very humble person, who practically preferred singing rather than picking a fight with other village warriors. While humming gracefully one dawn his melody drifted with the wind toward the southern side of the island and captured the heart of a beautiful Areora girl. After listening to the melody for several days she decided to visit this person. When she found the singing warrior, she instantly fell in love with him. It was like love at first sight when Takirio-te-Rangi set eyes on the beautiful maiden of Areora, whose name was Teonomataikura. They planned to meet in the middle of the island where the boundaries met, as soon as the moon was high; which was their way of telling the time. After meeting each other secretly many times, the Areora
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Full of terror, the young girl’s cousin discovered their deepest secret and hurried to tell the rest of the village people. To this news the village people of Areora broke into tension and became furious about it. With no doubt, a war was planned to take place without the young lovers knowing. The following night everything worked out as planned and as soon as they met the whole tribe of Areora warriors attacked from behind. Takiri-o-te-Rangi stood there, his mind fixed on nothing other than Teonomataikura. He thought that she had betrayed him and in no time he was running, taking every track he knew back to Teenui. With the warriors chasing after him, his heart pounding, he could no longer find another track to take. Time seemed out of control and Takiri-o-te-Rangi struggled to breath, then he sat under the nearest tree and prayed to the God of the Forest:
“Rongo… e Rongo… Ariu mai to Taringa. auraka au kia mate. Ite rima o toku au enemi.
birdman GEORGE
kia ora ra au ite aroa Ote atua ko Rongo”. “Rongo… oh Rongo… God of the Forest listen to my prayer. Don’t let me die by the hands of my enemy, but spare me with your power and blessings”.
ready to embrace someone. Takiri-o-teRangi quickly jumped into the tree and disappeared. The warriors from Areora circled the area so many times that their feet were starting to bleed. An hour later, when there was no danger in sight, it was time for Takiri-o-te-Rangi to take revenge; but when he opened his mouth to utter the prayer, he couldn’t. The tree held him so firmly that his mouth could no longer move. He struggled so much, but eventually gave up.
His prayer caught the interest of Rongo – ‘God of the Forest’ and with a thunderous sound, the tree he was hiding under opened its bark like a person getting
To this very day he shows his love for Teonomataikura through humming gracefully in the tree, the sounds drifting towards the southern side of the island and the village of Areora.
A unique island. A unique guide. Let George show you the highlights of Atiu. Explore the ancient trails, discover the birds, learn the uses of many plants, visit a burial cave, verify the recovery of the near extinct Kakerori bird and picnic island-style at a secluded beach. Atui’s most popular guide!
Phone 33623
Email: atiu@ihug.co.nz or bmateariki@gmail.com
Escape Magazine donates $250 to schools in exchange for a legend written and illustrated by their pupils. Each of our issues has featured a different legend. This scheme benefits the schools and encourages pupils to research and write about their own culture.
u i t A las l i V
Atiu is an exciting eco island adventure you shouldn’t miss. Make this a prime destination or stop off on your way to, or from Aitutaki for a little extra airfare. Stay in comfort at Atiu Villas, the island’s most experienced hosts. Amenities and services include a licensed restaurant and bar, swimming pool, tennis court, tour packages, rentals and free Wi-Fi for emails.
Book online at: www.atiuvillas.com • 83 Ph. (682) 33 777 | Fax. (682) 33 775 | Email. roger@atiuvillas.com | ESCAPE www.atiu.info
a
sprinkling of island gems on an indigo blue ocean... The Cook Islands combined make up a land area of just 240 square kilometers. They are scattered far and wide in the vast expanse of the South Pacific Ocean, covering a total area of 2.25 million square kilometers. Each of these ‘gems’ is unlike any other; all having their own special characteristics and every one offering a warm welcome to visitors.
The Southern Group Atiu See our story on page 80. Takutea Just a few miles off the coast of Atiu lies the uninhabited island of Takutea. It is a key breeding ground for seabirds of the Pacific, with notable populations of tavake (red tailed tropicbirds), kota’a (frigatebirds), and brown boobies. A designated bird and wildlife sanctuary, the island is owned by the people of Atiu. Periodically, the trustees of Takutea permit visitors to go ashore. Mauke The garden island of the Cook group, Mauke is 18 kilometres around. It is surrounded by makatea (fossilised coral) with a volcanic plateau in the centre. Parts of the foreshore are dotted with isolated
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Our South Pacific home white sandy coves and caves that one can swim in. Inland there are fresh water caves and the famous Motuanga Cave that has galleries reaching beneath the reef. The reef is so close to the foreshore that crashing white breakers are visible from most of the unsealed coral road that runs around the island. Do visit the “divided church” built where the villages of Ngatiarua and Areora meet. Shared by the two villages, it has two separate entrances and sitting areas. There are clean and comfortable places to stay in Mauke - try Ri’s Retreat or Tiare Holiday Cottages. They can also organise cave, reef and forest tours. Be sure to obtain a garland of the fragrant maire, a creeper that grows along the makatea. Mauke is picturesque, unhurried and tranquil – a wonderful tonic for frayed nerves! See our Mauke story on page 50.
Mitiaro Of the cluster of islands in the southern group called Nga Pu Toru, Mitiaro would be the least visited by tourists. Not because it is any less beautiful than sister islands Atiu and Mauke, but simply that it is the least known. In the centre of Mitiaro are two lakes full of itiki, freshwater eels. Mitiaro itiki are considered a delicacy in the Cook Islands. Tilapia (bream) are also abundant in the lakes. The lakes are from time to time protected by a traditional raui, a prohibition on all fishing to preserve stocks. At its widest point, the island is 6.4 km across and private gardens in the village are beautifully kept and neat. Community activities include fishing, sports, handicrafts and uapou, or village singsongs. Pretty and unspoiled, life on Mitiaro is refreshingly uncomplicated.
Left: Mitiaro - South Coast Below: Manuae
Mangaia Imagine visiting a fairly large island where you and maybe a handful of others are the only tourists? Mangaia is an island of incredible, serene beauty – from its rugged coastline to the lush, green interior. It is peaceful beyond belief for those accustomed to the constant rush and haste of the outside world. This is a place where one can trek for miles along the coast or in the interior and not meet another soul or hear a vehicle. Nor see any dwellings, just lots of well-tended plantations of pineapples, vegetables, taro, kumara and other crops. Deep-sea fishing excursions are available – just ask your host Jan Kristensson of Ara Moana Bungalows or Ura, who manages Babe’s Motel. They can also steer you in the right direction for guided tours that include caving, reef/lagoon walks and bush walks. Check out the market on Friday mornings in the ‘town’ centre and the craftwork by the skilled Mangaian women. The shell necklaces and woven pandanus bags are labour intensive and sold for very reasonable prices. Mangaia is the destination for those who love the outdoors, appreciate peace and quiet and want to experience a friendly island that’s not in the least “touristy.”
Palmerston Made famous by Englishman William Marsters, who settled there in 1863 with three wives and raised a large family. Marsters’ modern day descendents are scattered all over the world. About 60 still remain in Palmerston, which has six motu or islets in a big blue lagoon about 11 km across. The family exports fish, supplying in particular, parrot fish to Rarotonga restaurants. Palmerston hosts the occasional cruise ship and yachts frequently call in. The island also boasts one of the world’s most isolated bars, where thirsty yachties can enjoy a “cold one” and hear tales being regaled by the islanders. It is 500 km NW of Rarotonga.
Manuae Manuae is an uninhabited nature reserve and an important seabird and turtle breeding ground. Its two islets in a large shallow lagoon make up this incredibly beautiful island, situated about 100 km SE of Aitutaki. Many Aitutakians can claim traditional land rights to parts of Manuae. Once inhabited by work gangs of Cook Islands men who produced copra, it is now only occasionally visited by Aitutaki fisherman for its rich fishing grounds outside and within the lagoon. It is possible to view Manuae from the air, on a flight from Atiu to Aitutaki.
Come discover the island of Mangaia with
A Unique Holiday Experience Six newly established, stylish Polynesian Villas perched on the north-western shoreline, affording stunning views of the ocean and spectacular sunsets.
Ph.(682) 29882 | villas@mangaia.net.ck | www.mangaiavillas.com
Suwarrow was made famous by New Zealand hermit Tom Neale, who lived there during the early 1950’s and again in the early 1960’s.
The Northern Group Suwarrow Suwarrow is one of the few "untouched" sanctuaries left in the world where existing endangered species can survive. The Suwarrow National Park is the first National Park in the Cook Islands - international environmental groups recognise the group of tiny atolls as an untouched haven and breeding area for turtles, sea birds and crabs. Because of the lack of human intervention, Suwarrow is acknowledged as one of the most important sea bird breeding areas in the Pacific. A caretaker and his family live on Suwarrow during the cyclone off-season, between April and November each year. Yachts often visit the island during these months. Suwarrow was made famous by New Zealand hermit Tom Neale, who lived there during the early 1950’s and again in the early 1960’s. He wrote about his experiences in his book “An Island to Oneself.” Pukapuka Lying northwest 1150 km from Rarotonga, Pukapuka is one of the most isolated islands of the Cook group. One interisland flight from Rarotonga about every six weeks and irregular shipping has kept Pukapuka one of the most
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untouched and secluded places in the Pacific. Its remoteness has also kept the traditions and culture of Pukapuka largely unchanged for centuries. Islanders speak the distinct Pukapukan language as well as Cook Islands Maori. According to legend, almost 500 years ago the Pukapuka population was almost entirely wiped out during a catastrophic storm that struck the island. Fourteen people survived, from whom Pukapukan’s today are said to descend. The late American writer Robert Dean Frisbie settled there in 1924 and immortalised Pukapuka in the books he wrote about life on the island. The now uninhabited area where he lived with his Pukapuka wife and children is one of the most beautiful – an untouched white sandy beach with palm trees reaching out to tease the clear blue lagoon.
Left: Suwarrow Below: Penrhyn Opposite page: Pukapuka
Nassau Access to this tiny island of about 80 Pukapukans can only be gained by interisland boat. Regarded as the sister island of Pukapuka, a voyage from Rarotonga takes about three days. The islanders are adept at surviving an isolated lifestyle that remains unchanged year after year. Nassau was hooked up to the country’s telephone system only in 2001 and many of the people had never used a telephone before. Just 1.2 sq. km in size, where families live in kikau thatched cottages.
Manihiki The cultured black pearl capital of the Cook Islands. Quality black pearls become centrepieces for fine jewellery that are worn by women and men all over the world. In 1997, the island survived one of the worst cyclones in Cook Islands history. It claimed 19 lives after a tidal wave swept men, women and children out into the huge, raging lagoon. Pearl farms dot this remarkable lagoon. Villagers use small outboard boats to travel between Tukao and Tauhunu – two villages on separate
i Cafe
Plus Wi F
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W
Centre
coolest One of thoe visit on places t onga Rarot
islets – or to their pearl farms set up on coral outcrops. Some of the pearl farms are sophisticated operations jutting out of the deep blue lagoon, complete with small gardens and poultry farms that help support workers who live in modern quarters. Manihiki women have made history for entering what was once a male dominated vocation. A number of women own and manage their own pearl farms, diving, seeding and cleaning the oyster shells all year around. The women are also renowned for their finely woven craftwork. Manihiki is astonishingly beautiful and those who have been fortunate enough to visit the island, have never been disappointed. See our feature story on page 44. Rakahanga Sister island of Manihiki and 42km north-west. Visits to Rakahanga are only possible by boat from Manihiki or interisland vessel. There are two main islands and seven islets in the Rakahanga lagoon. The island is picturesque and unspoiled.
One inter-island flight from Rarotonga about every six weeks and irregular shipping has kept Pukapuka one of the most untouched and secluded places in the Pacific. Its remoteness has also kept the traditions and culture of Pukapuka largely unchanged for centuries. 77-km coral reef encircles the islets in the extraordinary lagoon. The villages of Tetautua and Omoka are on different islets that are barely visible to each other. Penrhyn island women make the finest rito craftwork in the Cook Islands. Hats, bags, fans and mats made in Penrhyn are amongst the best to be found anywhere in the world.
Starring Rocky the stonefish and Nut the coconut crab!! More than just a museum - it’s also interactive and has live creatures and big screen documentaries. 100’s of exhibits include whales, whaling history, sharks, turtles, diving history, fishing, shells, corals and lots more. There’s something for everyone plus a café, souvenir shop and Wi-Fi hotspot. Situated on the back road behind town, just 900 metres from Avatiu Harbour and opposite Mike Tavioni’s carving.
Entry fee helps fund whale research Ph: (682) 21666 or 55901 info@cookislandswildlifecentre.com www.cookislandswildlifecentre.com
Please support the advertisers in this magazine… they make it possible for you to read this for free.
Penrhyn Penrhyn (or Tongareva) is the most remote of the Cook group, lying 1365 km NNE of Rarotonga. It has a remarkable blue water lagoon measuring 233 sq km. A
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great places to stay
r
Little Polynesian Resort
elax by the pool with a tropical cocktail, soak up the sun, rejuvenate your soul, and luxuriate in the warmth of a romantic evening under the stars, with exotic foods and fine wine. Whatever your Cook Islands holiday dream consists of, you can be sure there is a style of accommodation to suit your taste and attentive staff to make all those dreams come true. From deluxe beach resorts to simple budget facilities, you can choose your own standard or quality and plan according to your budget. Here on these pages, we bring you some of the nicest places to stay on Rarotonga.
happy holidays!
Look for this symbol‌ The Cook Islands Tourism Accreditation Scheme is designed to set minimum standards. It will assist you in your choice of where to stay, what to see and what to do. Wherever you see this logo you can be sure that the accommodation establishment, restaurant, retailer, tour or activity operator has met minimum requirements to assure you of good service, good facilities, safe practices and of course friendly Cook Islands hospitality. We highly recommend that visitors use their services. For a full list of all accredited businesses please refer to our website:
www.tourismindustry.co.ck 88 • ESCAPE
YOUR PRIVATE PIECE OF PARADISE! Idyllically set on the shores of a sheltered lagoon this intimate beachfront resort enjoys stunning sunsets.
35 spacious self-catering studios and suites are situated either on the beachfront overlooking the lagoon or beside either of the two swimming pools amid lush tropical gardens. The resort features an open-air restaurant open for breakfast, lunch and dinner 7 days a week.
Phone: (682) 28028 Email: welcome@thesunsetresort.com www.thesunsetresort.com
Beachfront and garden bungalows | Onsite restaurant and bar Personal wedding co-ordinator | Rarotonga’s quiet southern coast PO Box 23, Rarotonga, Cook Islands p: +682 20002 f: +682 21998 email: beach@palmgrove.co.ck www.palmgrove.net
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Great value, idyllic location, gorgeous white sandy beach, perfect for the family... Enquire now for competitive rates at our popular motel and private holiday homes.
PHONE (682) 23537 ACCOMMODATION@PUAIKURA.CO.CK WWW.PUAIKURA.CO.CK
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nt o r f h c a e b e m i Pr location!
www.muribeachclubhotel.com RAROTONGA COOK ISLANDS
elax
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Situated in the heart of popular Muri Beach, our 22 tastefully furnished spacious units & villas are air-conditioned & self-catering. Complimentary kayaks, SUP’s, snorkelling gear, transfers. Friendly staff ensure you of a memorable ‘Rarotongan’ experience.
P. 682 21 022 | beachcomber.co.ck muri@beachcomber.co.ck
COOK ISLANDS
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Absolute Beachfront Sanctuary for 18yrs and over Premium Wedding Specialists Delightful Polynesian Cuisine at SilverSands Restaurant & Bar Onsite Beauty & Spa
P. (682) 23 000 info@muribeachclubhotel.com
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Accommodation at reduced rates Outer Islands travel packages Overseas holiday & cruising packages Fast, reliable & friendly service One stop shop for travel, foreign exchange & money transfers
Phone (682) 27707 | Fax (682) 28807 Email Jetsave@cooks.co.ck www.jetsave.co.ck
Your Cook Islands accommodation and travel specialists ESCAPE • 91
entertainment guide
Take in the sunset with a cocktail near the water; catch an Island Night Show with beautiful dancers, & get down to live Cook Islands music & dancing around town.
Rudy Aquino performing at Aroa Beachside Inn
Raro’s night life is special – you can have a great night out whether you’re on your own, or with friends. 18 or 80 years old, it doesn’t matter, everyone just gets together. And you’ll feel welcome wherever you go. Island Night Shows are a must for every visitor. There is nothing better than seeing our beautiful men and women, adorned in flowers and local costume, dancing to the
wonderful pate (hollowed wooden drums), ukulele, guitar, and full voiced singers. It is a joyful, sensual and exuberant experience. Check out our Island Night Shows Guide on these pages to find a venue that suits you.
During the week On Monday night at the RSA (or “Razza”), just opposite the Airport, DJ MacDad gets a great crowd going at around 9pm till 12 midnight. A number of Rarotonga restaurants feature live music during the week - refer to our Night Life Guide for details of what’s on, when and where. It’s great to wander into some of our smaller local bars too - the Game Fishing Club is right on the water; meet the locals and play some pool. Chillies Bar is great for a cold beer and occasionally some footie watching on their big screen. Both of these bars are just east of
For tim es when time doesn ’ t mat ter When good company and great conversation come together, afternoon fades to evening, evening 92 • ESCAPE turns to night and life feels good. What better times to enjoy our much-awarded Marlborough wine.
town. The Nu Bar is a wonderful little local bar/restaurant near the airport, serving great value food and a nice selection of music. Also try Hideaway Bar in Cooks Corner, for a more eclectic feel. On the eastern side of the island, the Avana If you’re staying around the Muri or Titikaveka area, try Silver Sands Restaurant at Muri Beach Club Hotel, Sails Restaurant, Flame Tree Restaurant for a la carte dining and some local music, or perhaps Pacific Resort for their Island Night show. For casual ambience, check out the Asian street-style food at The Rickshaw, or mouthwatering Mexican dishes at La Casita.
s r a l l e c 1 . o Your N
Remember that it pays to make a reservation if visiting a restaurant, to avoid disappointment; and if you want music with your meal, ask who their resident singer is that night. Check the local paper or ask your resort what’s happening at the local sports clubs – join in for some good live music, cheap drinks, and great company. Local women enjoy dressing up, and the men prefer comfortable shorts, shirt/t-shirt and sandals, but dress code is open.
Friday Night Friday night is party night, as clubs and bars can open until 2am, unlike every other night, which is 12 midnight. Downtown Avarua is a great place to start: First up is a sunset cocktail at either Trader Jacks, Café Salsa, or Whatever Bar where there’s always a nice mix of locals and tourists. After a couple of hours, walk across the road to the Garden Bar at the BC (Banana Court), known all over the Pacific. BC’s Garden Bar features local bands from 4pm to 9pm and then its inside for some raw local music and dancing. Trader Jack’s ‘Boogieman’ band, with some of our best musos on the island, starts around 8pm. Hidies Bar, located in Cooks Corner, has a big open-air dance floor, great drinks, a true island flavour and is Rarotonga’s iconic local hangout, with live bands and resident DJ. Open Wednesday, Friday and Saturday nights, Hidies famed ‘Happy Hour’ runs Friday from 4-7pm. Later in the night it’s back to Whatever Bar for some dancing, or perhaps try Rehab (near Whatever Bar), for some of the latest hip hop, R’n’B, and techno sounds. The great thing about this town is that the bars are only minutes away from each other. It’s safe and people are friendly and will give you directions. Remember to organise a dedicated driver or taxi if you’re drinking.
ra n g e … e g u h r u o t u Check o Over 600 wines, all popular brand spirits, liqueurs, beers, RTD’s, mixers, ice, etc. Wedding and special occasion catering, party-hire, we deliver!
! l l a m e h t t o We’ve g
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An organized Nightlife Tour is another great way to enjoy your Friday night and you won’t need to do the driving. The Edgewater Resort & Spa and The Rarotongan Beach Resort & Spa both run their own legendary ‘Pub Crawls’. Be sure to book in advance to avoid disappointment.
BACARDI
ABSOLUTE KAHLUA
ALLAN SCOTT
JACK DANIELS
BOMBAY SAPPHIRE
JOHNNIE WALKER
OYSTER BAY
PENFOLDS
TIA MARIA DELEGATS DRAMBUIE COINTREAU
VILLA MARIA WOLF BLASS MUDHOUSE
McGUIGANS CASTLEMAN XXXX TOOHEYS VB STEINLAGER
In central Avarua, opposite Punanga Nui Marketplace Open Mon - Thur 9 to 5 | Fri & Sat 9 to 7 ESCAPE • 93 Phone: 21007 Email: trish@thebond.co.ck
entertainment guide
Rarotonga night-life guide
Keep our roads safe if you’re drinking:
MONDAY
Dial a driver: 55580 / 55512 / 55515 Taxis: Refer to yellow pages and book homecoming fare before you go out. Clockwise Bus: Evening bus departs Cook’s Corner clockwise only, every hour Monday to Thursday and Saturday from 6pm to 11pm. Friday evenings from 6pm to 10pm and 12 midnight to 2am.
Crown Beach Resort & Spa: Te Rau Maire dance troupe | Island Feast and Cultural Show RSA (“The Razza”): Local DJ Pumping dance music from 9pm
SilverSands @ Muri Beach Club Hotel: Live island music | Nooroa & Soko on island strings Pacific Resort: Papa Jake, Danny Mataroa and Te Korero Maori Dance Troupe - Polynesia Night Show & Dinner, on the beach Te Vaka Restaurant @ The Rarotongan Beach Resort & Spa: Fire Dance and Island BBQ @ $49 pp + Karaoke
Island Night Shows – Quick Guide
Anchorage Restaurant @ Sunset Resort: Pub Night menu with live entertainment Aro’a Beachside Inn: Sunset cocktails with live music by Rudy Aquino Crown Beach Resort & Spa: Akirata dance troupe | Island Night Show & Dinner Edgewater Resort & Spa: Ru & Boys A la carte menu with great local sounds Garden Bar - Banana Court: Live Entertainment
Kikau Hut Restaurant: Great a la carte dining 7 nights a week. Live music some nights Edgewater Resort & Spa: Tok 6:30-8:30 Great Classic tunes, jazz, pop, rock
THURSDAY
Hidies Bar: Open for lunch 12pm – 2pm Kikau Hut Restaurant: Great a la carte dining 7 nights a week. Live music some nights SilverSands @ Muri Beach Club Hotel:Live music with the sweet sounds of Cathy on keyboard Pacific Resort: Leilani & Co on keyboard & guitar Originals, classics & soulful r’n’b Te Vara Nui Village: Cultural Village Tour and Over Water Night Show & Dinner. Spectacular “Dances of Legends” cultural performance & island/western fusion buffet
(Bookings are recommended)
Anchorage Restaurant @ Sunset Resort: Seafood Night with entertainment
Te Vaka Restaurant @ The Rarotongan Beach Resort & Spa: Reef & Beef night @ $36 pp with mellow musical accompaniment by Andre Tapena.
Monday Phone
Aro’a Beachside Inn: Garth Young on keyboard Great beachside BBQ and classic tunes
Windjammer Restaurant: First class dining with piano by Garth Young
Bluewater Grill @ Sanctuary Rarotonga-onthe-beach: Live entertainment with Tara Kauvai
Whatever Bar: Great value meals with local music
Crown Beach Resort & Spa: Live Band A la carte menu with live entertainment
FRIDAY
Crown Beach Resort & Spa Pacific Resort Rarotonga The Rarotongan Beach Resort & Spa
TUESDAY
23953 20427 25800
Tuesday Edgewater Resort & Spa Te Vara Nui Village Samade on the Beach, Aitutaki
25435 24006 31526
Wednesday Beaches @ Manuia Beach Resort 22461 Highland Paradise 21924 The Rarotongan Beach Resort & Spa 25800 SilverSands @ Muri Beach Club Hotel 23000
Thursday Crown Beach Resort & Spa Staircase Restaurant & Bar Te Vara Nui Village Tamanu Beach, Aitutaki
23953 22254 24006 31810
Friday Club Bana Bistro Highland Paradise Pacific Resort Rarotonga Pacific Resort, Aitutaki
23236 21924 20427 31720
Saturday Edgewater Resort & Spa Te Vara Nui Village
25435 24006
Edgewater Resort & Spa: Ta’akoka Dance Troupe | Island NightBuffet and Cultural show
Beaches Restaurant @ Manuia Beach Resort: Enjoy the sounds of Manuia Beach Resorts famous string band with Natua and the boys
SilverSands @ Muri Beach Club Hotel: Live music with Ephraima on keyboards
Cafe Salsa: Live entertainment with great music & fabulous food
Pacific Resort: A la carte dining & live music with guest artist
Crown Beach Resort & Spa: Live Band T-Bone Steak Night with live entertainment
Te Vaka Restaurant @ The Rarotongan Beach Resort & Spa: Spices of Asia Mongolian BBQ @ $36 pp + crab racing and Karaoke
Edgewater Resort & Spa: Tok 6:30–8:30 Dining with great local music + Edgewater Resorts “Nitelife Tour”
Te Vara Nui Village: Cultural Village Tour and Over Water Night Show &Dinner. Spectacular “Dances of Legends” cultural performance & island/western fusion buffet
Garden Bar - Banana Court: Great local & upbeat music with bar snacks available
WEDNESDAY
Kikau Hut Restaurant: Great a la carte dining 7 nights a week. Live music some nights
Beaches Restaurant @ Manuia Beach Resort: Interactive island experience, with cultural activities, dancing, island buffet, and fire show Edgewater Resort & Spa: Local Band A la carte Seafood menu with local entertainment Hidies Bar: Open for lunch 12pm - 2pm, Evening 8pm -12am SilverSands @ Muri Beach Club Hotel:Island Night Extravaganza | Top Akirata Dance Troup Pacific Resort: A la carte dining & live music with guest artist
Remember you’re in Raro now, on ‘Island Time’, so relax and enjoy!
94 • ESCAPE
Te Vaka Restaurant @ The Rarotongan Beach Resort & Spa: ‘Legends of Polynesia’ Island Night UMU Feast & Drum Dance Show @ $49 pp + Karaoke Whatever Bar: Local string band 7-9pm
Hidies Bar: Open all day 12pm – 2am (Happy Hour 4pm – 8pm)
Pacific Resort:Tamariki Manuia Island Night Show on the beach Rehab: Boogie night with local DJ. Hip-hop, R’n’B, Techno SilverSands @ Muri Beach Club Hotel: Pig & Prawn Night | With live music by Lei Te Vaka Restaurant @ The Rarotongan Beach Resort & Spa: Flame-Grilled Steak Night @ $36 pp + The Rarotongan’s famous Friday Funbus Nitelife Tour @ $25 pp. Trader Jacks: Boogieman - rock classics & seafood, steaks & pizza Whatever Bar:Live Band &DJ T. Bone steak, fish, burgers
SATURDAY
Aroa Beachside Inn: Great Seafood Beachside BBQ & the island music of Papa Jake Numanga
Crown Beach Resort & Spa: Live Entertainment A la carte menu with local & classic tunes Edgewater Resort& Spa: Island Night Buffet & Cultural Show with Orama Dance Group Hidies Bar: Open evening 8pm-12am Kikau Hut Restaurant: Great a la carte dining 7 nights a week. Live music some nights Pacific Resort: Tok 6:30-8:30 Great Classics, jazz, rock, r’n’b Rehab: DJ. Hip hop, R’n’B’, dance night Te Vaka Restaurant @ The Rarotongan Beach Resort & Spa: Fire Dance Show & Island BBQ @ $49 pp + Karaoke Te Vara Nui Village: Cultural Village Tour and Over Water Night Show & Dinner. Spectacular “Dances of Legends” cultural performance & island/western fusion buffet Te Vaka Restaurant @ The Rarotongan Beach Resort & Spa: Firedance Show & Island Barbeque + Karaoke Whatever Bar: Scrumptuous menu with live music by local string band
SUNDAY
Edgewater Resort & Spa: Ru & Boys -local Flying Boat Beach Bar & Grill @ Aitutaki string band Lagoon Resort & Spa: Live entertainment with Greig Mose SilverSands @ Muri Beach Club Hotel: Beach Pacific Resort: Fire dancing show – fabulous BBQ Grill Night from $25 pp + live music with a la carte menu Papa Jake Numanga. The Boatshed Bar & Grill: Check out this Pacific Resort: Fine dining with local and mixed popular restaurant any day of the week. A-lamelodies by Thomas Rauru carte menu for lunch & dinner. Great cocktails! Te Vaka Restaurant @ The Rarotongan Beach Resort & Spa: Sunday Carvery Roast @ $36 pp THURSDAY with Tok on guitar Tamanu Beach: Island Fire &Dance Show on the beach. Fantastic entertainment with a great selection of food
Aitutaki night-life guide
FRIDAY
MONDAY
Coconut Crusher Bar: Entertainment and party the night away with your host Ricky
Bounty Brasserie @ Aitutaki Lagoon Resort & Spa: Fire dance show, a la carte dinner & crab races Tupuna’s Restaurant: Great a-la-carte dining with the freshest local foods in a relaxed garden setting. Mon-Sat from 6pm
Anchorage Restaurant @ Sunset Resort: TUESDAY BBQ with live entertainment Samade OnThe Beach: Island buffet and Bluewater Grill @ Sanctuary Rarotonga-oncultural show on the sandy beach at Ootu the-beach: Live entertainment with Tara Kauvai Club Raro: BBQ night with local string band WEDNESDAY Aitutaki Game Fishing Club: A good evening Crown Beach Resort & Spa: Roast Night with to visit and meet the locals. Where else would live entertainment you find a bar in a 20 foot container?
Aitutaki Game Fishing Club: One of the most popular local bars to visit for a sun-downer
Flying Boat Beach Bar & Grill @ Aitutaki Lagoon Resort & Spa: Live entertainment with Greig Mose. | Funbus Nitelife Tour @ $35 pp Pacific Resort Aitutaki: Island Night & Show With great local entertainment and food
SUNDAY
Samade On The Beach: Barbeque with great entertainment Tamanu Beach: Sunset Barbeque Night with great local entertainment and island food Prices or schedules are subject to change at any time.
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what's on
t
hroughout the year we find many reasons to celebrate and have fun, and there’s always plenty to do and see on Rarotonga and her sister islands. As most Cook Islanders are willing sports participants, you’ll find a multitude of sports codes and clubs active throughout the islands, where you are always welcome to visit. As for festivals and celebratory events, it is certain that you will always find something of interest taking place.
September Tepetema Mon 1st – Fri 5th International Kite surfing Competition, Aitutaki Sun 7th Fathers Day Thu 18th – Wed 24th Island Car & Bike Hire 37th Round Rarotonga Road Race events Sat 20th Rarotonga Rugby Club 15’s Grand Finals
Fri 21st - Fri 28th Vaka Eiva 2014 Canoeing Festival A weeklong festival that attracts a large number of international paddlers. Vaka Eiva has been referred to “the most fun event on the paddling planet!”
March Mati
Date TBC National Tennis Championships
Also this month… Te Mire Atu (National Composers Competition) V12 Oe Vaka (12 man outrigger canoe) Corporate Race
December Titema
Mon 2nd International Women’s Day Sat 21st Women’s Triathlon
Round Rarotonga Road Race
Tue 2nd Netball in Paradise International competitions commence
October Okotopa
Tue 2nd - Sat 6th National Junior Tennis Championships
Fri 3rd Easter – Good Friday
Fri 3rd School Term 3 complete – School Holidays begin
Fri 5th Pukapuka Gospel Day – public holiday Pukapuka
Sun 5th Easter Sunday
Sat 4th Rarotonga Rugby Corporate 7’s starts
Fri 12th School Term 4 complete – School Holidays begin
Sat 4th – Fri 17th Manea Games This years hosts - the island of Mauke Thu 11th Te Maire Tama 2014 @ the National Auditorium Miss Tiare pageant & Young Warriors competition Mon 20th School Term 4 begins Fri 24th – Thu 30th Club Raro Squash Open Tournament Sat 25th Aitutaki Gospel Day Mon 27th National Gospel Day – public holiday Thu 30th - Sat 1st Nov Cook Islands International Rugby 7’s Tournament Also known as ‘Sevens in Heaven', this event is fast becoming one of the most sought after 7’s competitions in the Pacific.
November Noema Sat 1st Cook Islands International Rugby 7’s finals Turama – All Souls Day
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Wed 17th Christmas in the Park (to be confirmed) Thu 25th Christmas Day Fri 26th Boxing Day Boxing Day Touch Tournament
January Tianuare (2015) Thu 1st New Years Day – public holiday Fri 2nd New Year observed – public holiday Tue 27th School Term 1 begins
February Peperuare Mon 16th – Sat 21st International Basketball Cook Islands vs. Tahiti Sat 28th Corporate Teams Triathlon Also this month… Squash – Business House Competitions commence Canoeing – Oe Vaka Sprint Season commences
April Aperira
Mon 6th Easter Monday Fri 17th School Term 1 complete – School Holidays begin Sat 25th ANZAC Day Also this month… Tennis Open Air New Zealand ANZAC Golf Tournament Te Mire Ura – National Dancer of the Year competitions
May Me Fri 1st Te Mire Ura – National Dancer of the Year Open Senior National Finals – venue National Auditorium Tue 5th School Term 2 begins Fri 8th International Triathlon Week commences Trader Jacks Boiler Swim Also this month… Golden Oldies Rugby Mini Festival Oceania Masters Squash Tournament Turtles ‘Tour de Raro’ cycle race N.B. Dates and events are provided courtesy of Cook Islands Tourism Corporation and are subject to change without notice. Visitors are advised to confirm event dates with the Visitor Information Centre – phone (682) 29435, or by email: Lydia.Nga@cookislands.gov.ck
Vaka Eiva
6
Events that you shouldn’t miss…
SEPTEMBER
International Kite Surfing Competition In September some of the biggest names in kite surfing will head to the Cook Islands to vie for the top spot at the international kite surfing competition on Aitutaki. The Cook Islands Kite surfing Association, in conjunction with the events team at Cook Islands Tourism, will manage this big event which has catapulted the Cook Islands on to the international stage as a desirable kite surfing destination. 2011’s inaugural event generated immense support for the association and this year marks the 4th such competition on the stunning waters of Aitutaki Lagoon. The competition is held at Motu Maina Iti on Aitutaki from Monday 1st to Friday 5th September.
OCTOBER 7’s in Heaven The Cook Islands International Rugby 7’s Tournament which is also known as ‘Sevens in Heaven' has become one of the most sought after 7’s competitions in the Pacific. During the past 10 years, the Cook Islands international ‘Sevens in Heaven’ tournament has not only grown to include age grade matches and women’s teams – it has also developed a real festive atmosphere. Although it’s not the Wellington or Hong Kong sevens, where hundreds of thousands flock to the games in colourful eye catching attire, here in paradise, the party and dress
up atmosphere is very much island style! After all – playing sports and having a good time is something the people of the Cook Islands know how to do, and do well.
NOVEMBER Vaka Eiva Hundreds of paddlers and their supporters hit Rarotonga’s shores in November each year for the Steinlager Vaka Eiva; an exciting and fun outrigger canoeing festival, which is now the largest sporting event in the country. While the rugby 7s festival generates plenty of excitement in these rugby mad islands, there’s no doubt the influx of paddlers and supporters to the island hypes things up even more for the exciting week of Vaka Eiva activities; and oe vaka is fast establishing itself as one of the largest and most popular sporting codes in the country. What makes it even more special, is that outrigger canoeing is one of the few traditional Polynesian sports that have survived the test of time, plus it has strong cultural significance and roots in the Pacific islands. Vaka Eiva is a festival promoting both competition and the culture of oe vaka. Held annually since 2004, Vaka Eiva has established a reputation as a hugely enjoyable week of racing, culture, and festivities, and attracts crews from throughout the world. There’s an air of festivity on the island the whole week long, from the opening ceremony, throughout the week of racing and social activities, to the wrap up paddler’s party at Trader Jack’s waterfront bar. Trader Jack is one sponsor who has
been involved from the start and this is the hangout of choice for paddlers and spectators throughout the week, giving close views of the start and finish of the ocean races.
DECEMBER Te Mire Tiare Flower Festival This happy and colourful festival features competitions for the best floral decorated shops, schools and government buildings, each one on a different day of the week long festivities. Locals also vie for the honour of making the best head or neck ‘ei (garland), best pot plant and much more. The glamorous focal point to the week is undoubtedly the ‘Miss Tiare’ competition which sees attractive young ladies competing for this prestigious title. The first appearance of the contestants is usually at the Punanga Nui marketplace on the first Saturday of the festival; the weeks wraps up with a colourful float parade and crowning of Miss Tiare on the following Saturday.
MAY Te Mire Ura – Dancer of the Year Poetry in motion is a euphemism made literal in Polynesia, no truer than when the annual Dancer of the Year competition is held each April. Dozens of dancers in three age groups, junior, intermediate and open, take to the stage at nightspots on Rarotonga and the outer islands. Finals are then held at the 2,000 seat national auditorium in Rarotonga under the direction of the Ministry of Cultural Development. An entertaining evening watching the finals at the auditorium sees a mingling of locals and tourists filling the place up,
ESCAPE • 97
packed out with kids - every dancer of the year is every kid’s idol until the next year. Winners are chosen on criteria like costume, choreography and degree-of-difficulty. This is always a most entertaining and enlightening spectacle for visitors.
AUGUST Te Maeva Nui – Celebrating the 50th anniversary our nation’s independence Every year from June to August about 2000 people on Rarotonga and on the outer islands put their lives on hold to prepare for Te Maeva Nui, the national culture and dance festival. It is a week-long cultural marathon held around the date of August 4th, which is the birthday of the Cook Islands as an independent nation. As 2015 marks the 50th anniversary, the celebrations this year are guaranteed to be a super spectacular event. Whilst each year in April, solo dancers compete for the title of ‘Dancer of the Year’, it is the big dance teams from different
islands and districts who challenge each other during Te Maeva Nui. It is an intense competition, which requires energy and dedication from a large percentage of the Cook Islands population. For five nights the exuberant performances become a vibrant testimony of the passionate commitment Cook Islanders have to their dance and culture. The dynamic drum dance is the favourite of most locals and visitors, but each team competes in four disciplines in total: Ute (song-chant), Pe’e (chant and theatre), Kapa Rima (action song) and Ura Pa’u (drum dance). And, it is the thrill of anticipation that excites the local audience – what new dances, costumes, songs and chants are in store?
Te Maeva Nui
You may have seen cultural dance shows around the island, or perhaps in your resort, but you haven’t seen anything that even closely resembles the vibrancy and passion of the finals at Te Maeva Nui, held in the National Stadium. This is the cultural highlight of the Cook Islands year; the only people who are ever disappointed are those who miss it.
Downtown Avarua Next to the ANZ Bank We’re here to help you! Advice on accommodation, tours, restaurants, activities, entertainment and travel to our sister islands. Phone or call in to see us.
Open: Monday to Friday 8am - 4pm Saturday & Public Holidays 10am - 1pm Phone: (682) 29435 Email: headoffice@cookislands.gov.ck 98 • ESCAPE
For more information and to confirm event dates, visitors are advised to contact the Visitor Information Centre – phone (682) 29435, or by email: Lydia.Nga@cookislands.gov.ck
Rarotonga (Head Office) P.O. Box 14, Rarotonga, Cook Islands Phone: (682) 29435 Fax: (682) 21435 headoffice@cookislands.gov.ck
Aitutaki P.O. Box 3, Aitutaki Cook Islands T: (682) 31767 tourism.officer@aitutaki.net.ck
New Zealand 91 St Georges Bay Rd, Studio 11, Level 3 Parnell Auckland 1052 New Zealand T: +649 366 1106 nzmanager@cookislands.travel
Northern Europe europemanager@cookislands.travel
Australia Shop 38, Niecon Plaza, Mezzanine Level, 17-19 Victoria Ave Broadbeach, QLD 4218 Australia T: +61 7 5504 5488 info@cookislandstourism.travel
North America usamanager@cookislands.travel
Atiu T: (682) 33435 tourism@atiu.net.ck
Southern Europe southerneurope@cookislands.travel United Kingdom ukmanager@cookislands.gov.ck
China chinamanager@cookislands.travel Japan japanmanager@cookislands.travel
www.cookislands.travel
The rental car company operating to international standards.
• Hatchbacks
• Toyota Rav4 Jeeps
Aroa (across from The Rarotongan Beach Resort & Spa)
Ph: 29227 Ph: 26227 Ph: 23227 Ph: 25227 Ph: 24227 Ph: 21039
Phone 29227
Roadside Assistance (8am to 10pm) Ph 54325 Email: reservations@polynesianhire.co.ck
www.polynesianhire.co.ck
• Yamaha Nouvo 115cc 2 seater - fully auto • Mountain & Beach Cruiser Bicycles
Phone 29227 www.polynesianhire.co.ck
cook islands black pearls
www.bergmanandsons.com