Rarotonga: The South Pacific’s Compact Pleasure Island
Sunday can only mean one thing!
With Sunday arriving, it could only mean one thing if you’ve been following recent stories from Vanuatu, Samoa, American Samoa and Aitutaki. The best way to get a feel for a South Pacific island is by heading to Sunday church service. Locals LOVE their church, and Rarotonga’s main Catholic Church in the village of Avarua is the place to be. The church was built in 1853 and its exterior cemetery is home to some of the country’s famous sons and daughters.
Locals put on their finest whites for Sunday, with some men wearing full white suits and women topping their heads with hats that wouldn’t shame an English lady at a fancy horserace. The hardcore worshippers sit in the back of the lower floor and, as if on some secret queue, suddenly erupt into superb a cappella numbers. Here’s a taste of what it looks and sounds like.
The Cross Island Track
With God now (hopefully) on my side, I felt confident to attempt Rarotonga’s most famous hike – the Cross Island Track. The trek is a challenging yet rewarding way to traverse the mountainous interior of the island, crossing from north to south. You begin by climbing your way through a steep chunk of tropical rainforest. The only way up is by using the roots of the ancient trees as steps, and what makes this climb even more difficult is the fact that if you pause for even a second, the mosquitoes come out of nowhere for a vicious attack. Why didn’t you just layer on some repellent, you might ask? Well, that’s because, after about 90 seconds, you’re already soaked in sweat – so there’s really no point.
Nature usually rewards those who climb up a mountain and the Cross Island Track is no different. After an arduous climb, you emerge face to face with ‘The Needle’. This is the signature peak of Rarotonga, proudly standing tall at 413 meters. It’s not the highest peak on the island but it sure is a beauty. The view from up here is silently breathtaking, though occasionally interrupted by the sound of a lone rooster that somehow managed to get himself up here.
What goes up, must eventually come down and in this case, you come down through a slippery rainforest – zigzagging in and around freshwater streams. These waters tumble down to Wigmore’s Waterfall, which also marks the end of the track and is a refreshingly wet way to finish things up. Now, I just somehow need to make it back to the starting point to pick up the car…. Mr. Hopeless – are you around with your bus?
The food & beach scene in Rarotonga
All that hiking makes you crave two things: food & beach. Lucky for us, Rarotonga has those covered too. Food before leisure, as Maslow’s hierarchy of needs teaches us! As I mentioned earlier, despite being a tiny remote island in the vast Pacific Ocean, Rarotonga is quite the culinary scene, ranging from fine dining to casual bites. I especially enjoyed sampling the local fish in, different stages of the food spectrum: smoked, raw, fried and in a sandwich. You can’t go wrong with so many fish around.
As for the beaches, the south side and the Muri Lagoon are the top spots. Even on a busy island like Rarotonga, it’s quite easy to find a spot all to yourself. I am still amazed at how blue the water can be and how the heck do those palm trees manage to grow in those bizarre looking angles?
Diving in Rarotonga
Why don’t we venture beyond the reef and beneath the waves to see what Rarotonga is like underwater?
For the first two dives, I headed to the southern coast just after the big storm had passed. Our dive sites were in and around one of the reef passages that drain the lagoon. A German couple had tragically died here a few days ago and my dive master, Patrick from Adventure Cook Islands, rescued their bodies. They went kayaking in a dangerous spot without life jackets and got swept beneath the waves. Beneath the water, it’s perfectly safe, though we had to crawl our way through the pass using the rocks on the ocean floor. The current is what ‘cleans’ the lagoon and it’s also where the fish like to hang out.
On the second dive, we got a sense of what an island looks like beneath the waves. We cruised along a beautiful hard coral reef and into the deep blue where the island begins to gently slope into the deep waters. It’s beautiful and a bit scary at the same time. There were schools of tuna passing by, though a bit too far to film.
Our last pair of dives were on the calmer waters of the north coast. This time around, the turtles were a bit shy – but the sharks weren’t. We saw a pack of white tip reef sharks playing along right beneath us. They were circling themselves as if playing around, before heading to the deep in search of some fish.
And speaking of fish, there were plenty of them around. Visibility was excellent on this day and I was amazed at the beautiful coral garden Patrick took us to. There’s so much happening underwater in Rarotonga!
Island Night: Rarotonga’s signature show
There was one more thing to check off the Rarotonga bucket list and it is by far the most impressive one. I’m not talking about more beaches, marine life or food – I’m talking about the exotic ancient culture of the Cook Islanders!
I started off with a visit to Highland Cultural Paradise. Set high up in the hills, this restored village was home to the Tinomana tribe for centuries, until the missionaries convinced them to settle by the coast. The Tinomana controlled this part of the island, not without battling it out with neighboring tribes who were after their beautiful view and beautiful women. The mountainous village contains several marai – scared meeting spots, and only a small handful have been excavated.
The Tinomana’s high chief was mighty powerful. This included serving up justice – tribal style. The three rocks you see beneath this paragraph might seem nothing out of the ordinary but believe me, they meant life or death in those days. The top two rocks were used for the lesser punishment – one for men and for women, to carry on their backs from one side of the island to the other. The lower stone was one you really wanted to avoid. That was used as a guillotine – and what was left of you was cooked up and eaten!
Intrigued by all this tribal culture, I saved the best for last in my visit to Rarotonga with a must do activity: the famous ‘island night’. I had already been to one of those in Aitutaki, but that’s like comparing a Broadway play to a high school musical. In Rarotonga, they take this very seriously and the best place to experience island night is at Te Vara Nui Village. After a delicious buffet dinner, the show begins. It tells the story of Tongaiti, the ancient warrior who landed in Rarotonga and challenged the king, until eventually marrying one of his daughters. If it sounds like a Hollywood script, you’re pretty close. The show, its dancers and music – wouldn’t shame a Las Vegas stage. Elaborate traditional costumes, coconut bras and a whole lot of shaking – you just can’t go wrong! Have a look for yourself.
My time in Rarotonga was drawing to a sweet end, and what a perfect way to end the visit with these gorgeous sunsets. Rarotonga: you are indeed a compact pleasure island!
What’s Next?
During the course of the next 2 months, I’ll be visiting French Polynesia – starting off with Tahiti! I can’t believe these words are coming out of my keyboard! You won’t want to miss the next updates so be sure to subscribe to the X Days In Y mailing list – and be the first to know (and see) what paradise looks like. See you in a couple of weeks!
