In March 2005 Reho Travel offered me the chance to visit the beautiful Cook islands to go on a familiarization tour hosted and organized by Tal Pacific Holidays. I was fortunate enough to visit and stay on the main island Rarotonga for 6 magnificent days and 1 glorious night on the Island of Aitutaki.

The Air New Zealand flight Ex Sydney took 2 hours to New Zealand. We had a 30 minute stop over in Christchurch and then another 5 hour flight to the Cook Islands. Therefore a total of 7 hours and 30 minutes until we arrived to the the main island Rarotonga. It was 22:00 when we landed. As we arrived we were greeted with frangipani leis by the Tourism Representative Papatua Papatua and then transferred by RaroTours, meeting our friendly driver for the week 'John' where he drove us to our Accommodation for check-in at the Edgewater Resort (3.5 star). Because we arrived so late in the evening it was hard to view the scenery on our way to our hotel therefore I wanted to head straight to sleep so that I could quickly wake up to the beautiful morning and to our magnificent beach and lagoon views from our balcony.
My first day started off by a complimentary tropical breakfast along with a spactacular view of the lagoon. We then met everyone at the foyer for our transfer to the Cook Island Cultural Village. The Village is an interactive and exciting experience. You visit each hut in the village and learn different aspects of the Cook Islands Culture, Arts and Crafts, medicines and remedeys. The tour includes a tropical lunch and an entertaining show/dance. From there on, we visited a few hotels on the island and then ended the day having our dinner at the Windjammer Restaurant - hosted by Cook Island Tourism. I ordered the Baramundi fish and my gosh was it divine!!! YUM! we then headed back to our hotel and Jacqui (Tal Pacific Representative) shouted us all a cocktail.

The next day we had site inspection and a hosted lunch at the Pacific Resort Rarotonga where I enjoyed a curry dish with some herb bread. After lunch we quickly changed into our cossies and got to experience our first refreshing swim into the crystal clear waters of the Rarotongan lagoon. The water was beautiful and neither of us wanted to get out but we had to catch our flight to Aitutaki which departed at 15:30.

The flight to Aitutaki took just over an hour and the views from above were breathtaking. We saw extraordinary views of the sandy white beaches and the distinctive magical colours of the lagoon and coral reefs. As we landed I found the Aitutaki airport was so unique, I couldn't get over it! The Airport looks like one very large hut. We could hear the locals singing. Greeting us with friendly eyes and cheerful smiles. From there on we had a few site inspections and then we were all separated to our hotels (Rino's Beach Bungalows/ Aitutaki Lagoon Resort and Spa/ Pacific Resort Aitutaki and Are Tamanu Beach Hotel. My room mate and I got to stay at the Tamanu Bech Hotel which is situated on the sunset side of the island. The resort is combined with 12 spacious bungalows. All self contained and air conditioned and a large deck where we lazed on a hammock pretty much all afternoon. The resort has a really good atmosphere. It is not over done and not too fancy but has a great feeling to it and is priced reasonably well.

We were picked up at quarter to 7 to be dropped off at the Pacific Resort Aitutaki for a site inspection of the resort then a delicious dinner compliments by the Pacific Resort Aitutaki. After dinner we watched the full moon glitter against the ocean while enjoying our coconut and midori tropical cocktails.

Breakfast was at our lesuire. We then had to get prepared for our 10am Departure on Bishops Cruise where we got to cruise on the Aitutaki Lagoon and experienced the beauty of the South Pacific at it's best. We cruised across the Lagoon for a day of sightseeing, BBQ and snorkeling. I had never been snorkeling before so I was so excited to be vistiting the cook islands and experiencing it there! it didn't take me long to get a hang of it and I was also lucky enough to bring along an underwater camera so that I could capture the beautiful colours of the fish and corals and the amazing clams. We basically spent the whole day on 'One foot Island', lazing and relaxing... I also brought my passport with me so I could get it stamped at the post office as a souveniur. Our Lagoon Cruise sadly ended at 15:50.

At 16:00 we then departed Aitutaki to fly back to Rarotonga where we had dinner hosted by Managment, Dorothy Robertson at the Cast Away Beach Villas at 18:30. The resort has a warmth feeling to it. Dorothy and her staff were very welcoming and generous. The accommodation varies from beachfront rooms to garden units and is excellent value for money especially for families with children. Rooms are quite spacious and comfortable.

After dinner we were dropped off at the Rarotongan Beach Resort and Spa to be picked up for our big night on a Pub Crawl. We got to gather with other Aussies and Tourist and mingled with the locals from one pub to another. The night was such an fantastic experience. We sung silly songs acting like complete idiots on the bus. Everyone was having a good time and the locals were very inviting, teaching the tourist the 'hip move' and the 'knee knobbing' - dance moves which are incorporated in some of the Cook Island cultural dances. It was hilarious to watch some of the tourist trying to do these moves but everyone had a ball!!

When visiting the Cook Islands, the Punagan Nui Market Place is something you definantly need to go to. Here you'll see the local markets where local arts, crafts and food is for sale. I would recommend you bring some money were you'll be able to find something to take home with you a piece of the Cook Islands. Besides gifts at the local markets are much cheaper than if you were to buy gifts at the Airport or other sovenir stores.

After a nice stroll through town, we then had lunch at the 'Sails Restaurant'. Here we dined by the waters edge on beautiful Muri Lagoon and then spent the rest of the afternoon at our leisure.

At 18:00 there was an Island Buffet and Show by Orama Dance Troupe held and hosted at the Edgewater Resort. There was plenty of delicious foods to try and exquisit deserts to please. The show of the live cutltural dancing was Fantastic. We watched children from as little as 3 years old dancing to the beats of the drums. The ladies were beautiful dressed in bright colours and their exotic dancing was quite a jaw opener for the audience. Not to forget the men were quite pleasent to watch.

Our last day on our island we got to choose to attend a Cook Island Christian Church or stay at our Resort to relax on the beach or explore Rarotonga on the Ara Metua (back Road). I chose to go to church to experience the local choir hymn singing (Imene Tuki). Their hymns were amazing to listen to as we could hear the power and soul within their voices.

I must say I thoroughly enjoyed my stay in the Cook Islands and feel very fortunate to have been chosen to experience it on a Tour with Tal Pacific Holidays and I plan on going back and relaxing on the beautiful lagoon and beaches of the Cooks. Many of their hotels/ Resorts catered for weddings, honeymooners. I would recommend the Cook Islands for couples due to the fact that majority of the resorts only accepted children above the age of 12 years. Only few catered for families and young children and mainly targeted towards adults/couples only.

Maria