32 kilometers of scenic beaches and mountain peaks (5/1)

Rarotonga! The Cook Islands! What an incredible place. Just as lush and verdant as Pago Pago, but more resort oriented. Not to say more developed, because it is all still very primitive and beautiful, but definitely more houses, businesses and resorts. From the ship you could see the little town of Avarua, some beaches around the town and the most incredible mountain peaks covered in dark green trees and shrubs.
We were at anchor today (well, it was too deep for the anchor, but we weren’t at a dock let’s put it that way!), and managed to catch the first tender off the ship. Very rocky going ashore – yep – glad it was only a 5-10 minute trip, let me tell you! Got into town and headed to Budget to pick up our push bikes. After a relatively long wait while they went to get our bikes – we headed out for our own circle island tour. There is one road all the way around the island that skirts the coast and provides a great scenic ride. If you aren’t energetic enough to ride a bike around, there are buses that go all the way around the island. One bus route goes clockwise, one goes anti-clockwise! Isn’t that great?
So anyway, we headed off through the main town, and out past pretty little beaches protected by coral reefs that create a lagoon around the island. There was plenty to see along the route – lots of local houses, chickens, roosters, even a couple cows right on the side of the road. About 45 minutes into our ride, we stumbled upon Doug’s Internet Café. What looked like a single family home with a large front deck with chairs and umbrellas, but out in the middle of nowhere really. We wandered in to his front room which serves and the Internet portion of the café with about 8 monitors and his front desk. An avid Blues fan, Doug was in the back (the rest of his house) singing and practicing for his weekly Saturday Blues sessions he attends. He came out and greeted us warmly – and set us up on the computer. In addition to the Internet, he also offers some food snacks and what sounded like incredible frozen shakes – Coconut, Pineapple and chocolate! My mouth was watering, but it was too early in the day and too early in the ride for me to fill up on something like that – so I had to sadly decline.
Doug’s mom is originally from Rarotonga, although he’s lived in New Zealand and most recently in London for 16 years. He’s come back to Rarotonga and plans to stay focusing on his café and his music, A great friendly guy, we had a blast talking to him about lots of stuff (including the 6 cyclones that hit or almost hit in 6 weeks a few years ago).
Back on our trusty bikes we headed out toward the other side of the island, and our halfway stopping point at the Salt Water Café. The scenery only gets better on this side of the island. Beautiful lagoon beaches protected by the outer ring of coral reefs on one side of the road, the steep mountains incredible cliffs on the interior side. The sun came in and out of the clouds which made for a very comfortable 32 Km ride.
We reached the Salt Water Café about 11:30 and decided to have an early lunch of fish burgers (Mahi Mahi, grilled) with beer and wine. The little café serves breakfast and lunch Monday through Friday and dinner Tuesday – Thursday. It’s a very friendly place situated right on the road and overlooking a beautiful part of the lagoon called the Avaavaroa Passage. We sat outside on the little deck area, enjoying the day and our food.
We worked off the alcohol on our way back to town. Only 16 km away! As we rode along, we decided to veer off the main road in search of a waterfall, and had a great off road mountain bike hike up into the hills and then back down again. Never found the waterfall, but had a great time climbing hills and riding up and down and around on gravel and mud lined tracks. Very scenic!
Back in town after about 4 or so hours, and really thirsty, we found a great little bar called “The Whatever Bar”. Perched up on huge stilts overlooking the Avarua Bay, it’s a no-nonsense little place made entirely of a huge deck with tables and umbrellas, a bar and small open grill area. High enough to catch the great island breeze and avoid the traffic noises from below, it’s a perfect place to sit in the shade and stare out at our ship in the bay. Great t-shirts too – of which I am now the proud owner (no men’s shirts though, much to Ed’s chagrin).
After quenching our thirst, we headed out to the shops. Not much around, t-shirts, shell jewelry, the ubiquitous black pearls, etc. Wandered through a couple of places without buying a thing. The surprising thing is that there is absolutely no Survivor gear here at all. One of last year’s Survivor episodes was filmed on the island of Aitutaki, 220 kms north of Rarotonga. There was a big article in the Cook Islands Sun about how the island was “invaded” by some 260 Survivor crew members from April to August of last year, and how while it had affected tourism (because they had booked up all the hotels), it was rumored to have brought the island a lot of money. After the filming was complete, the crew and program left the island exactly as they had found it, removing all sets, the portable hospital, 40 metre long portable kitchen, infrastructure, etc., from the island once they left. We thought for sure we’d see some memorabilia on Roratonga, but obviously not.
Having hit the ATM earlier, we had $40 NZ to burn through before we sailed, so we were looking for something to spend our money on. As it turned out, we ended up buying refreshments for the cabin and using all but a few dollars before heading back to the ship to sail for Bora Bora.
PS - can’t believe it’s May already! Time just flies that’s for sure! We’ll be home now before you know it. It’s just pretty astonishing to think we only have 2 weeks left – and that we’ve been gone almost one whole month! Wow!