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’.

Paihia for the weekend 2022

 What better than to nip away for the weekend to a beautiful northland destination. 

After a stormy week in Auckland we left the city and traveled the three hour drive to Paihia in the Bay of Islands. Traffic was light and we arrived at the Waterfront Suites in good time. Our Ocean front 2 bedroom 2 level suite was more than adequate with kitchen facilities (that were used to store wine and to make a cuppa in the mornings and nothing more) and two bathrooms. The extra bedroom was put to use by Lance as his preferred system for the storage of his holiday attire is to dump the case on the floor and rummage. This added bonus of an extra room means that he can make supreme use of laziness by having the case on the bed and not having to bend!

                                                         Both levels open up to this view.

The extra bathroom was also put to use and my toiletries filled the cavity nicely. It was also put to use as the room for any smelly needs.

We had booked dinner at Terra after checking out local dining online. Don’t you love it when you get it just so right. Well almost … we know now that we should have booked a balcony table. But hindsight is a useless thing and we had left high winds in Auckland, who would have guessed that there would not be a breathe of air in Paihia. 

Terra presents a set menu that is creative and mouth-wateringly divine.  Here is the link to my review.

Perfectly sated we waddled the 70 meters home and fell into a food and wine blessed sleep.

Awaking to another gorgeous day with the sea right across the road we breakfasted on the jetty bar and restaurant Zane Grey’s. The food was okay, but with the superb location on the water, we would have been happy with a bowl of Weetbix.

On such a glorious day the possibility of a helicopter ride was mooted, and after a quick Google for prices, we decided it needed to be taken further. And so there we stood when the chopper landed just 50metres down from where we had breakfast; Paihia village is rather compact. At $260 per head for a twenty minute flight, this may seem extravagant. However, we have previously come to the conclusion that if we were on holiday overseas and something exciting or with magnificent scenery was on offer we would happily cough up the cash. So why not do it in our own country, particularly when so many of our tourism operators are having tough times. 

Fortunately for us, they had a gap right then and all we did was write down our first names, slap on a tinsy life jacket (just in case) and we were on board. I did take a millisecond to wonder how they would know who we were in the event of a messy landing, but maybe that was why she suggested I leave my handbag with her.

I really can not express in written form just how beautiful the Bay of Islands are by air. I found myself grinning like a fool as we took off. We have both been out in the bay by boat previously but really had no idea just how many islands are sprinkled in such proximity and many with long sandy beaches. It really was a worthwhile spend and will certainly take a wee space in our holiday fun memory banks  

Just up the road from Paihia is Waitangi. Waitangi commands great significance in our New Zealand history. Te Tiriti o Waitangi (The Treaty of Waitangi) is a document signed by representatives of The Crown and most of the Rangatira (Māori chiefs)  however the English version when translated into Māori has very different meanings. So in short, our 1840 founding document is full of anomalies that are still causing problems in our country today.  

Waitangi is full of history and we hadn’t been for years. In fact, Lance still hasn’t been for years because after he paid $30 each for us he had to sit down and wait for me because he has a bad back that for most of the time will not allow him to walk far at all. I wandered the grounds and checked out the museums, Treaty House, the Wharenui (meeting house) called Te Whare Rūnanga (The House of Assembly) and, the Waka (large canoes). The location is breathtaking and there is a certain reverence or feeling of it being an important spiritual place when you are there. And I was there longer than expected because the little bush trail, and I mean little, managed to confuse me and I couldn’t find the exit. Story of my life. 

The weather was still glorious, a perfect temperature warm but not blistering and a few skids of clouds in the sky. Lance returned to the apartment and I scoped out the shops and managed to have a wee spend. Paihia is not really a shopping place but a practiced shopper can always sniff out something that needs to be purchased.  

Earlier we had seen a place called the Tipsy Oyster further down the road so we popped by to see if they were open for lunch. Bingo! And what a great lunch it was. I settled in with a shandy and Lance a beer. The oyster choice for us was a selection of their really crazy combination. And they did not let us down at all.  I chose some prawn croquettes and Lance went for some spicy beef taco with their own weird name.  The tacos stole the show, fortunately Lance shared with me and we actually are still thinking about them and how we can replicate them at home! Great place and we will be back!

Dinner was had on our lower balcony overlooking the bay. I picked up some Thai takeaways from Green’s Thai Restaurant. And we spent the evening in the moonlight watching the world go by. 

In the morning we were gone, back to the big smoke. This was one of those weekends when you feel like you have been away a lot longer than two nights. You know what I mean?