Where are John and Kara?: Living in Paradise, Cook Islands

Aquatic life at Titikaveka

Rarotonga is truly is the perfect reprieve from the wintery weather, we are returning back to, on Tuesday. ‘Raro’ possesses turquoise lagoons, white sandy beaches and mountains covered with untamed coconut palms. We have spent almost every afternoon swimming through the clear warm waters at Titikaveka, on the southern part of Rarotonga and through the lagoon at Muri. The large reef, which surrounds the island, is home to an array of aquatic wildlife and makes for amazing snorkeling.

Rarotonga has continued to spoil us with warm weather. So much in fact that the island is running very low in water and many hotels are having to drain their pools to save water. Last weekend the entire island ran out of petrol for two days (waiting for the ship to come in) leaving the only two roads deserted. Although we haven’t indulged in many overpriced ‘touristy’ activities we have experienced first hand ‘island life’, attending local events and meeting locals through volunteer work.

Kara returning from Chief Papa Moto’s (Matavera village) 50^th
anniversary as reigning title holder.

We decided to volunteer at the local vet (the Esther Honey Foundation) after seeing their TV commercial. Our tasks included walking the dogs on the beach, petting the kittens to acclimatize them to humans and some general washing and feeding of the animals – not hard work by any means and simple right?
Well, it turned out to be a bit of an ordeal when one of the kittens decided he didn’t like John and bolted under a hedge.

With our beautiful hosts and their new book- Pa and the Dolphins

We spent the better part of an hour crawling through the hedge in pursuit of the 3 week old kitten which we needed to find before the vets came out from their surgery. Rehearsing the speech on how sorry we were for losing one of their animals and exciting the dogs so much they broke their collars, Kara managed to apprehend the sly kitten just in time!

The food in Rarotonga is what you would expect from a tropical island: fresh fish, coconuts & various fruits are staple foods. Almost all our meals consisted of one form of starchy plant root: taro (purple in colour), arrowroot (yellow) or kumara (sweet potatoes).

Playing at the beach

Swim time!

Local children at the market

Coconut bras and head lai's

Saturday morning at the market

John enjoying flying fish and arrowroot

Along with the similar tasting breadfruit, these are all substitutes for potatoes and make mouthwatering chips when fried. Other popular dishes on the island are Rukau, Ika mata, Poke and fried chicken. Delicacies include fried flying fish and Mitiore (sea cucumber).

Fruit on the island grow like weeds – everywhere and abundantly! Varieties include Starfruit (mentioned in our previous blog), passionfruit, pomegranate, papaya, cherimoya, green skinned oranges, limes, avocados, mangoes, pineapples and many more.

Fermenting Noni

Kara’s grandfather- Pa is the local ‘medicine man’/herbalist/traditional healer on the island and has an interesting perspective on all subjects. Pa is a strong believer in noni fruit. - A miracle fruit which smells like old blue cheese and tastes like acidic rotton eggs. Pa holds, that its great for healing skin especially after sunburns. We met Associate Professor Cheryl Stoddart (UCSF) who dinner one evening who is currently investigating its claim to restoring white blood cells. So maybe theres something in there? The following clip is a video of Pa during the cross-island trek. A trek which we joined him several times!

Something that stands out in our visit is how friendly and inviting the locals are. There are only 9000 permanent residents in Rarotonga (one of 15 islands that make up the Cook Islands) and they all seem to know each other. This was evident when upon arriving at the airport we only had to mention that we stayed with Pa and Jillian – the friendliest of all.

In the Jungle the mighty Jungle....

Is that Tarzan gathering coconuts?

For those thinking of visiting Raro and Aitutaki, we would say it is definitely worth it. The islands are very well set up for the tourists that visit every year and it never feels crowded anywhere. You can use NZ dollars (interchangeable with Cook Islands currency) and don’t worry about language barriers – everyone speaks English.

Don’t be in a hurry though as island time is real and don’t expect much on Sundays when the Christian locals go to church and everything shuts down. Incidentally visiting a local church is on the itinerary of many visitors too.

This is where we like to swim!

We can’t comment on any hotels or activities here other than the fantastic snorkeling and Pa’s cross-island trek, which is an unforgettable experience. Our recommendation is to come here and soak up the sun, swim in the lagoons, listen to the trade winds blow through the coconut trees and just relax. Riding a scooter around the island can be fun too.

A special thanks to Pa and Jillian our local hosts in Raro! Thanks too to Kara’s dad for sponsoring our day trip to Atiutaki.