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Islands in the sun
Published in the January-March 2010 issue.
Long known to honeymooners, Erin O’Dwyer finds a new generation of travellers is discovering the allure of the Cook Islands.
The coconut palm is king in the Cook Islands. As the island’s life-force, its fronds become thatched roofs, skirts and woven plates. Its fruit is served at every meal in a variety of guises – from curries to homemade bread. And leftover shells become household bowls or traditional bras for island dancers.
But for holidaymakers on the Cook Islands, the coconut palm has one simple purpose: it’s a shady place under which to lay your towel as you ponder whether to catch some rays or dive into the temperate blue seas. The Cook Islands have long been known as a honeymooners’ paradise. But a new generation of travellers is discovering the region, drawn to its nouvelle cuisine and luxurious waterfront accommodation.
For those a little hazy on geography, the Cook Islands lie northeast of New Zealand and due east of Fiji and Tonga. The main island, Rarotonga, is a lush, anything-grows volcanic landscape fringed by reefs and a pristine lagoon. Other islands are small coral atolls, with limestone caves and jungles. There are 15 islands in total, covering more than 2.2 million square kilometres.
Despite some 100,000 visitors a year to the main island, Rarotonga, it is largely unspoiled by tourism. Accommodation options are almost all waterfront, ranging from clean but simple guesthouses to beachfront bungalows and ultra-modern villas. Hotels on the island have embraced Cook Island culture in a way that is authentic rather than kitsch. My villa, in a beachfront property, has a thatched roof of pandanus palms and overlooks the lagoon. Inside, timber beams are carved with the tiki-tiki-tangata pattern, symbolising men holding hands in peace. It seems an auspicious place to sleep. Perfect, indeed, for couples on honeymoon and even for those who are not.
We begin our time on Rarotonga with a spin around the Saturday-morning markets. The waterside park bustles with locals who come to buy food and flowers. Stalls sell all manner of local handicrafts including hibiscus-print fashions and hand-appliquéd bedroom linen. Afterwards, we take one of several available island tours; it takes us into the island’s highlands and to ancient marae, or sacred places, dotted across the landscape. The more adventurous should hire a scooter and circumnavigate the island on the oceanfront Ara Tapu road, or explore the highlands on foot, with one of a number of guided walks.
On Sunday, we find ourselves in church. More cultural and social event than religious ceremony, it’s in church we see the finely woven rito hats that are the Polynesian equivalent of the Panama. Each is unique and exquisite, made from coconut-palm fronds and decorated with delicately carved mother-of-pearl. It’s a strange sensation to stand in church without one. On the fine Sunday morning that we visit, a rito adorns the head of every woman in the historic 1832 Titikaveka Christian Church. On the Cook Islands, church is a little microcosm of culture. And it’s not just the women who are beautiful: the altar heaves with fresh-cut wild ginger, hibiscus and the fragrant tiare flower. In the transept, the 30-strong choir waits to begin proceedings.
The distinctive local hymns – or imene tuki as they are known – easily rival the best gospel music in the west. The locals know it, too. Every church has a hand-painted sign of welcome: ‘All visitors welcome. Please dress up.’ As the service begins, the choir stands. Its members pause, showing off their hibiscus-print shirts and dresses. Then the music begins. Men and women sing unaccompanied and in a round-like fashion; their sweet lyrical harmonies chase each other back and forth to weave a rich tapestry of sound. Others in the congregation join in, too. On my right, a grandmother nursing her baby grandson adds a soprano descant. A heavily tattooed man sitting with his wife and in-laws adds some bass notes. It’s an awesome, spine-tingling spectacular in the humblest of places.
Christianity arrived in the Cook Islands in the 1820s. English missionaries, fresh from success in Tahiti, converted the cannibal islanders by appealing to the wisdom of their tribal kings and queens. Today, Christianity is the norm, and the islanders celebrate their Sunday services in impressive buildings constructed from whitewashed coral slabs and stained glass.
It would be easy to stay on Raro all week – but no trip to the Cook Islands would be complete without some traditional dance, and the best dance troupe is on Aitutaki Island, a 50-minute flight from Rarotonga. The Aitutaki dancers regularly travel overseas, taking their sensual hura (or hula) dancing to the world.
We spend the evening on a sandy beach, enjoying a smorgasboard of fresh-caught fish and watching the fire dancers. To the rhythmic drumming of the pate (Polynesian slit drum), the men breathe fire and the women seduce us with their hips. They wear skirts made from palm fronds and coconut bras. Later, we learn that the dancers accept no personal payment but rather, put the money into a group kitty and use it to fund travel overseas.
Afterwards, we take in some modern-day Cook Islands culture at the Blue Nun café-nightclub. The open-air, concrete-floored club, with its strobe lights and ’80s music, is a world away from the hibiscus prints, grass skirts and drumming. But it’s charming all the same.
The food, on both islands, is surprisingly good. As in other parts of the Pacific, there is an abundance of fish, but there is also a refreshing absence of taro, plantain and yam. The cuisine is modern Pacific Rim – a mix of Asian, Indian and French influences – which can mean anything from coconut-crab curry to slow-cooked lagoon octopus on rice pilaf to a Moroccan-spiced mahi mahi fish.
An influx of well-travelled Cook Islander expats has also injected new energy into the local cuisine scene. Be sure to try the moist home-made coconut bread, and the coffee, grown locally on the small island of Aitu. On Rarotonga, Tamarind House Restaurant is the best. Its menu highlights are taro leaf and roast pumpkin lasagna, Pacific seafood ragout and Thai fish curry with mint sambal. The House, one of the few heritage homes on the island, was built to house the managers of the Union Steamship Company around 1909 and later became home to the British consul.
On Aitutaki, don’t go past Café Tapuna and its specialty – chilli mud crab. A charming red-hued interior opens out onto a garden illuminated by burning torches. There are candles on the tables, too. Fortunately, the floor is sand, catching some of the mess we make enjoying our crabs a little too much. •
Photography by Erin O’Dwyer and Cook Islands Tourism.
TRAVEL FACTS
getting there
getting around
- Bus is a cheap and affordable way to get around on Raratonga, with clockwise and anti-clockwise buses leaving regularly from stops around the island. Car and scooter hire is also affordable, costing from AU$16 per day: for information, visit www.islandcarhire.co.ck
where to stay
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