A week in Rarotonga

A week in Rarotonga

The waves crashed hugely on the reef as we looked out across the water, the sound always reaching my ears a few moments later. Nothing is more peaceful than this sound, a mixture of silence, wind flowing through the palm trees, roosters crowing and waves crashing. As soon as we landed I smelt the smell I didn’t realised I had missed – we were back in the Cook Islands!

The water here is so blue, even lighter than the sky on a beautiful summers day that you’ll find yourself asking numerous times ‘is this paradise?’

Our days are filled with snorkelling, swimming and sun baking on the beach while our boyfriends surf the waves on the Rarotongan reef and Rutaki passage, where the line up of bodyboarders consist of professionals from Australia, France & Brazil.

This was our third time on the island and each time we have stayed somewhere new; both accommodation & locations on the island. This time I think our choice was the best – a self contained apartment right on the waters edge where we could sun-bake on our deck whilst watching the bluest of waters float by. The sun set towards the right as we looked out at sea and the sky filled with beautiful colours consisting of blues and pinks. Snorkelling is also the best on this side of the island, not only right on our shore-step but to the left of us at The Fruits of Rarotonga and to the right of us at the Rarotongan Resort & Spa.

Back at the harbour side we were amazed at the power of the swell & the waves as they reached up to the sky higher than 8-foot before crashing down. One of our favourite swim spots from our previous holiday; Socials was filled with whitewash and lacked the blue we so dearly missed. Luckily you’re on an island where if it’s onshore one side you can drive to the other side.

It appears that most of the dogs on the island are still the same, they always seem vicious as they bark continuously but we met 5 of the cutest little puppies taking a walk along the beach. We stopped for cuddles & spoke to the owner before watching a great sunset from our verandah & the staircase that led to the beach beneath it.

We rode to the waterfall on a Sunday, filled with locals enjoying the icy waters. Back to the waterfall on a Monday & we had the place completely to ourselves except for the mosquitoes that seemed happy at our arrival as they landed all over our body – jumping in the water warded them off, at least from whatever was beneath natures pool of water.

We head to Avana waterfront to Captain Mokos for our booked fishing charter. The swell and waves were definitely around as we drove out the headlands praying the fish would be worth it. Trawling for only 10 minutes before getting onto our first fish, my turn was up. I tied the belt to my waste as Wade helped lift the rod up into the post. I could hardly turn the reel as the fish swam for its life – soon after Wade took over and we landed a beautiful Wahoo! which is the sound we all made as we realised. We got excited for more fish to come but poor Courtney was sea sick soon after as the waves beat the boat around – I surprised myself that I didn’t get sea sick as I usually do. We saw hundreds of flying fish skim along the water before they dived into waves but unfortunately we caught nothing else. Luckily the Wahoo was 12KG, 1.2 metres long and a beauty! Captain Moko cleaned, scaled and filleted one side of the Wahoo which gave us 12 generous steaks + more. We gave captain Moko the rest to enjoy as we had more than enough. Moko tossed the spine & left overs into the water and shortly after two massive giant trevally came to the surface, fighting over the pieces.

We departed Sydney on a Saturday at 9:00pm and arrived Rarotonga 6:30am the same day! Perfect timing to enjoy the markets that run every Saturday.

We checked out Matutu brewery for a $10 tour and tasting of 5 beers including red ale, pale ale, lager, wheat and Pilsner. A roadside shop worth the visit is the coconut candy guy who shaves, seasons and cooks the coconut with plenty of flavours on sample including raw sugar, chilli & lime, ginger, salt & pepper, cinnamon & honey and coffee.

Continuous sounds of rain & waterfalls filled the room as the rain had set in for our last days on the island, perfect weather to enjoy a day at the beautiful Rumours Luxury Villas and Waterfall Spa that has won the world luxury spa awards the past 4 years running. I enjoyed a vichy shower, body scrub and massage as I looked up through the glass roof at the rain & swaying palm trees.