Rarotonga - Muri Beach Holiday 2022

 19 April 

This post has had rather a tardy journey as we have been waiting for our 'Swimming with the Turtles’ photos to arrive and they were delayed.

Rather than the usual day-to-day ramblings that appear in my travel blogs, and as the laughter, sunrises, food, and swimming merge into one big holiday experience this missive will be a bit random as the thoughts slip back into my head. 

Evening game of pass the pigs. 

Sunrise

View from our backyard

Girls on tour

Our hang out spot. Muri beach. 

After lunch, on our last day on Aitutaki, the weather had turned grey. In fact, on our short trip to the airport, it was pelting down. I was seriously worried that we wouldn’t be able to fly and our connection with our kids would be delayed. It was such a relief to land once again in Rarotonga at 8:30 pm to light drizzling rain. Alighting from the plane the airport was in darkness and there were no directions as to where we should be walking. Fortunately, some local people were ahead of us and we followed them into the arrivals area, a roof with poles, to meet our boys who were there to pick us up. They and their partners had arrived earlier in the day and had set things up at the house.

The House - Muri Beach Villas

The Kokocabana was a great choice made by Lance. It had a tropical vibe but was very homey with large vases of ginger and heliconia flowers. Our room opened up onto the large verandah facing the ocean. And that ocean was almost our backyard! Not having aircon was no problem as we left the wooden louvers open and the ceiling fan on. The sea breeze filtered through the flywire keeping us cool.  The waves breaking over the coral reef created enough ‘white noise’ to lull us off to sleep. Not to mention the satisfaction of sun and sea to bring on restful sleep. 

Path from our yard. 

Kokokabana

Our days were spent snorkeling or just watching from above water to watch the tiny fish nipping in and out of the coral. It was also very easy to just sit together up to our chest chatting and laughing. And laugh we did when a wee fish had a little peck on one of Lance’s nipples. That will go down as one of the funniest holiday moments. You should have seen him jump!

Lazy days

Evening games 

Sunrise

The ma in law brought them bubbles!

Just the girls

Dillon & Lou sunrise coffee. 

We cooked our breakfast most mornings as we had brought bacon and sausages with us from NZ.

  Two of our breakfasts out were had at the Beluga Cafe and what a great feed, in fact, the choice was so great that I ordered pancakes with bacon and bananas and banana pudding! The bananas here are so good. Every time I have been to the tropics I struggle to eat our tasteless bananas at home. 

We have a small seven-seater vehicle and Dillon is the driver, which is handy as he doesn’t drink. Well he does drink otherwise he would be a raisin, but he doesn’t drink alcohol. 

On our first morning, after a magnificent breaky at home, we hit the market. This market is only open on Saturday mornings and has fruit, veges, and touristy things to buy. If you are here on a Saturday you need to visit this market. Unfortunately, it was pouring, and I mean pouring, but nobody melted and we were all a bit wet, but not cold. Later in the day the sun came out and has been here ever since. 

Fun at the market. 

Another market not to miss is the Night Market. This market is a food caravan market and the food is varied and great. Our table managed to gather ika mata (raw fish in coconut cream), garlic prawns in a creamy sauce, chicken and beef noodles, pork belly slow-cooked in oyster sauce, a plate with a prawn skewer, lamb chop a fried egg, a sausage, rice cooked in coconut cream and a small salad to avoid the oncoming heart attack. 

Night market feed

Heart attack on a plate. 

Followed by a variety of crepes and churros stuffed and coated with all sorts of sweet delights. We got there at 5pm as they opened and this is recommended as when we left it was pretty full and queues were beginning snake out from the most popular stands. 

On a wee adventure around the island for a little bar hop, we stopped in town for an obligatory drink at Trader Jacks on the waterfront. 

Trader Jacks

Lou’ana and Sammy drinking nu

Lou'ana and Samara loved the refreshing Nu, and had one whenever they could.

It’s not a particularly beautiful spot, especially when everywhere else on the island is lovely. A couple of drinks were had before we continued our sojourn to Vaiana’s, a rustic bar and restaurant on the beach. Those who had chosen to wear sneakers missed out on the sand between their toes as they sipped. Three large dogs were sitting in the water up to their shoulders and it looked like they were old men passing the time of day. As they sat they were watching the small fish darting around; it was quite comical to watch. 

                                Vaiana's Bar

Our last stop was for dinner at Vaima, we had booked a table outside and once again our toes were in the sand, even though it was quite an upmarket place. The food and service were outstanding, the wine list said that they had Roaring Meg pinot noir a favourite of mine, and I tried not to get too excited, which was lucky because they didn’t have any. But resilient as I am we found something else that we had never heard of and Lou’ana, Samara and I were happy. I do recommend you try this place if you are here, you will need to book. 

Dinner at Vaima

It has been lovely being here as a family and it does warm my heart having us all together. Usually, when we are together it is when we are gathered around our table at home. Enjoying each other on an adventure is even better!

  At the supermarket, they pretty much have everything you need and at reasonable prices. We had taken over some supplies, and our visit to the supermarket was on the downpour day, so we purchased some cheap brollies and rain ponchos. And it worked! We didn't need them at all, great strategy to bring on fine weather.

The great thing about traveling with your kids when they are adults is that they can take off and do their own thing however this didn't need to happen due to the house size (made for space) and our location, swims, walks, and trips next door to the Nautilis Resort for a cocktail needed no planning. 

Lance was determined that we would dine one evening on the western side of the island to enjoy the sunset and this is how we found ourselves at Antipodes, a Mediterranean-style restaurant perched high on a ledge overlooking the sea. As we walked in it was easy to imagine we were on the otherside of the world and it resembled something we may encounter in Greece or Italy. Sitting at a large round balcony table we enjoyed great food and one bottle of Roaring Meg pinot noir while enjoying the vista which included a golden sunset. Please note that I mentioned that it was only one bottle of Roaring Meg, this was not due to any restraint on my part, it was because they would only sell us one bottle and after that, we had to buy by the glass. Not to worry, with a view like this it was imperative that the evening was started with cocktails! Another highlight, well not at the time but makes a good story, was Lou'ana's dress. It was a very beautiful dress that had once belonged to Lance's mother back in the '70s. The very long zip at the back of this dress finally 'gave up the ghost' after 50 years. Unfortunately, it was when Lou'ana sat down at the table! Ever resourceful Lou'ana and Dillon slipped off to the bathroom and no one would ever have known that this was not intended to be an opened-back dress.

A few other places where the food is worth a mention are:

Vili's Burger Joint - these burgers pack a punch and stuff will be running down your wrists which is a sign of a great burger.

Deli Licious Cafe - you will leave here stuffed full of really great homemade food.

Swimming with the Turtles - Charlotte Piho photographer

We booked this tour at the night markets and were all very excited!

The weather was about to turn but we managed a cracker of a day with a clear sky and ocean. After a very short drive (everywhere is a short drive in Raro) we arrived on the beach outfitted with some snorkeling gear, some of which had seen better days. However, it all worked and even though I had one large flipper and one short I managed to swim in a straight line and not in circles. 

Our guide was a young guy who was lots of fun and looked after us all on the short swim out to the reef. Don't worry if you are not a confident swimmer, much of the journey was quite shallow. The sandy beach dropped away to reveal a beautiful coral backdrop and then suddenly the turtles appeared. They glided past us, under us, and over us gently flapping their flippers like they were soaring through the sky. It was a very special time for us all and I highly recommend it even though it didn't come cheap. Part of the package is photos and whilst ours took quite some time to arrive it has brought back lovely memories.

Samara & Declan

Declan and friend

Our little Whanau

Dillon and friend

Declan and Samara

Lou’ana & friend

Erynn and friend

Happy Families 

Erynn & Lance

Dillon and flying friend

Dillon and Lou’ana

Erynn, Declan, Dillon, Lance

Aitutaki & Rarotonga 2022

19 April NZ 18 April Cook Islands

Day 1

It has been quite some time since we travelled internationally and the lead up to this trip would have to have been one of the most complicated and stressful that we have experienced. 

The trip is to celebrate Lance turning 60 in December 2020. He started planning in 2018 for our kids and their partners to travel with us to Rarotonga and then for Lance and I to have a few days alone at Aitutaki. The booking for the December 2020 plan never eventuated due to COVID. However a booking was made for October 2021. These bookings were complicated due to the commitments of Dillon and Lou’ana who have busy schedules in the entertainment world. Busy that is, until COVID hit. The October plan was thwarted by the nasty ‘C’ word. And a new plan was hatched. We would split the trip and Lance and I would travel to Aitutaki in December 2021 and the family to Rarotonga in April 2022. Again the holiday gods did not agree and in December our plane turned back after almost landing in Raro due to foul weather and Lance and I returned to NZ to sulk. 

Today I am writing this on the beach finally in Aitutaki after much paperwork and a RAT test in Auckland and another in Raro before our flight to Aitutaki.  

Our accomodation is pretty good. But at the lower end in the resort. Our first booking was an overwater bungalow, second booking was premium beachfront and and now we are beach front but we are not unhappy. 

Whilst we are not on the ocean side of the Island , we are close to the amenities we have crystal clear water five steps from our door. In fact whilst swimming I can see through the house to Lance who is in the out door shower. Fortunately only his top half is visible!

The room is great, with a super king bed, and we look out over the lagoon from our bed. The air con is great and boy do we need it!

View from our door 

Our first evening was spent at the resort restaurant which is pretty much open air gazebo style dining along side the sea. We were lucky enough to catch the cultural evening with dancing and singing. The food was great. And even though they didn’t have the wine I requested from the wine list they managed to rattle up something else that did the trick. 

Already we are loving the manaaki (care and hospitality) offered by the Cook Islanders and enjoy their casual style and humour.  I never expected them to have Kiwi accents though, and this is another plus because we can understand each other perfectly!

Day 2 - 19 April 2022

Vaka Cruise

It is interesting to  note that the local language here is Cook Island Māori and is very similar to our own New Zealand Māori. So another plus is that we have a bit of an idea about what the language here means. Therefore it was easy to interpret that Vaka is the same as waka in NZ Māori. I have been pondering about when the missionaries arrived in the various islands in the pacific and started to create a written language, why does NZ Māori not have any v, f and l. Where as most others do. And why did they make the English f sound a wh in NZ Māori when the others have v and f? Anyway I digress and will get back on track.

The Vaka picked us up from our resort, in fact the vessel pulled right up onto the beach and we daintily hopped up the stairs to be greeted and seated. The vessel is a large catamaran decked out with carved prow and a large gazebo style area with toilets, tables and chairs. It was very comfortable, especially as Lance has back surgery due in a few weeks. 

We pulled into three different islands and a reef. Aikaiami provided us with our first swim, and I think Lance and I were the first ones in the water. It was bliss, warm, crystal clear and so salty we could just bob around. 

The second stop was for a bit if a presentation on coconuts and then a quick walk through the bush to the other side of Motu Rakau. Of course the island (motu) was equally as spectacular.  

In the middle of nowhere on a azure blue reef we pulled anchor and slipped off the Vaka to snorkel. A huge trevelly was waiting for us, and I really mean huge. The photos are not magnifying him at all.  The other fish were similar to what we have seen in other parts of the pacific and they were very nosey coming right up to your face and then swishing away. The haunting sound of the conch shell drew us back on board. . Just more of the magic!

Lunch was great! BBQ yellow fin tuna, and many many local salads that we really enjoyed. A couple of Heineken managed to slip in as well. 

Our last stop was at one foot island, where we could snorkel or just lounge around. And lounge around is just what we did, up to our necks in the water.  

Overall we thought this was a great day, we were lucky to have perfect weather and even luckier to be picked up from our beach. The other passengers had flown in from Rarotonga that morning and were flying back in the afternoon. By the time they were disembarking from their flight we were showered and onto our first cocktail. 

Day 3 - 20 April 2022

Well how lucky were we to have had our day on the boat yesterday. It has rained on and off for most of the day today and it is windy. 

After breakfast I walked to the Eastern end of our tiny Island. It was approximately one kilometre and very blustery but beautiful. I did feel a bit anxious walking through the groves of coconut palms. I could see the headlines about a New Zealand woman (would I now be described as elderly, eek!) who was killed by a falling coconut. However my reasoning was that it had been so windy overnight that any loose coconuts would already be on the ground. We had seen on the map that there was another bar by a pool, but had not had a chance to discover it yet. I know, not like us to not have checked out the bars, but remember that Lance can’t walk very far at the moment. Anyway the bar looks like it would have been and will once again be great. But is currently in the middle of renovations. It is the called the Bounty Restaurant and Bar. I guess they couldn’t call it the Bounty Bar! You know the chocolate thing!  Anyway apparently Captain Bligh and his crew stopped at this spot on the Bounty only 17 days before the famous mutiny.  

After a lengthy swim outside our house Lance and I caught the shuttle boat across to Aitutaki. The shuttle runs constantly and takes less than three minutes. In fact on our way home he saw us arrive and just nipped over to get us. 

We had been told that there was car hire available a 3 minute walk from the shuttle drop off. We quickly found the sign for the car hire and

Boat Shed Bar and Grill but it led us down a driveway that looked like we at someone’s house. Luckily there was guy there and he directed us to keep going and it opened up into a large bar and the car hire place. For $65 we got a little car with no aircon. This was not a problem as it was only 27 degrees and with the fan on and windows open we were pretty comfortable. 

Driving was easy as the road rules are similar to NZ. Most of the drive does not give you a view of the water as the resorts and beach houses are adjacent to the beach. Many looked very rustic and the Pacific was the biggest and fanciest. We had tried to book in for a meal but at the moment they are only taking their own guests as they have many staff off isolating. COVID has certainly hit  Aitutaki and I did feel slightly nervous as we drove past loads of houses with red flags outside telling people not to visit as they were isolating. Many also had tap with warnings around the front of the section. In one area nearly every house was isolating. 

The car hire lady had recommended a place to stop for lunch and fortunately she marked it on the map because we would never have found it by ourselves. She said that they had recently opened. Avatea had been set up in large shipping containers that were disguised with local carvings and thatch. We had the best fish tacos ever, Lance is still talking about them and a great poke bowl with yellow fin tuna. This is definitely a place to look out for if you have a car. 

It was raining on and off all day so when we dropped the car off we stopped for a beer and booked in for dinner. 

Driving along the narrow road  

The evening was still bleak but the rain had stopped. The shuttle was ready to pick us up within seconds and we had a nice evening in the quaint seaside bar that lent itself more to an Irish fishing village than the tropics. 

Day 3 and 4 - 21 & 22 April 2022

What can I say? Lounging, swimming, eating and drinking. Yesterday was a little overcast but good to be outside and in the water.  Our limited wifi has meant that we can check a few messages and hopefully upload this blog. 

This morning our kids sent a pic of them in the air. They are on their way! Phew the COVID test must have gone okay for them all, our biggest worry was that one of us may be left behind due to a positive test.

Today Lance and I will continue to lounge around stopping to eat and to pack. We fly out from Aitutaki at 7pm. Meanwhile the kids arrive in Rarotonga and set up house. Then ‘Let the Wild Rumpus Start’.