Country Info
- Avarua
- Capital
- New Zealand Dollar (NZD)
- Currency
- 20,611
- Population
- CK
- Country Code
Cook Islands Slideshow
Travel Blogs from Cook Islands
Chapter 3: "I was caught in the rain..."
This is a top pick! Kia Orana! Greetings from Muri Beach on Rarotonga in the Cook Islands! I can't tell you how happy I am to be back to using a standard keyboard again! When I last left off (Thursday), I was wrapping things up on Mo'orea; the ferry ride back to Papeete, ...
Groundhog Day
This is a top pick! ... made the bus routes simpler, all two of them, clockwise or anti-clockwise. Wandering around the Saturday morning market the Cook Islands seemed better off than Fiji with a better overall infrastructure though not sure whether that is to do with more ...
Leaving Paradise
This is a top pick! Can you overdose on mangoes? Leaving Aitutaki behind this morning the flight back to Rarotonga was full but still getting a window seat to gaze out of at the lagoon below as we took off. Left my bag at the airport once we had touched down to take ...
Cyclones, Cyclones and more Cyclones
This is a top pick! ... the plane from Auckland to here it seemed a little odd that we were getting on a Jumbo Jet just for the short trip to the Cook Islands. It was only during the flight that we found out why. The guy sitting next to Liz on the flight explained that that all ...
Cook Islands
This is a top pick! ... are rare now. Don't buy them !! Ok enough preaching. A few days later we flew to Aitutaki the most photographed of the Cook islands ( it's the island that most of the holiday brochures show, with the huge lagoon ) we landed on the brand new runway to ...
Rainy Rarotonga
This is a top pick! ... of the other islands then I get back on the same day as I leave for Tahiti. Just before I go, I have to mention the Cook Islands currency. Basically they use New Zealand dollars but they have their own currency which they use alongside it too including a ...
Next Pacific Island Group = Next Dive Site!
This is a top pick! ... depart and miss the chance to get talking somehow. Ron from Canada, was a diver with some history of diving the islands. Oivand was a journalist (amonst a long varied history of other professions), from Norway, and was starting his open water dive ...
Wicked Island Time
This is a top pick! Nine and a half hour flight from LA and we found ourselves in the idyllic Cook Islands. Unfortunately it was cyclone season so our sunshine was brief and fleeting, but we had a comfortable place to sit our rucksacks and kick up our feet for five days at ...
Kia Orana (Hello, welcome)
... the weather is close to 30C above freezing). I've got the (thankfully minor) sunburn to prove it. We're sitting down to a traditional Cook Island dinner and show. Hula dancers or close to it. I'll video the swinging hips for you ...
Into the (Pacific) blue.
A warm welcome Rarotonga is the main island in the Cook Islands with the biggest population and the capital town. I stayed in a great hostel right on a perfect beach with lots of young travellers. Swimming in the lagoon with colourful fish and kayaking ...
Legal drivers
We are now legal to drive here. We picked up our drivers licenses from the Police Station in town this morning. It costs $20 for a license that is good for one year. They let you smile for your picture here and we actually like our DL pics. I guess ...
Raratonga. Not.
Rarotonga, west of Samoa and Tonga and East of Tahiti is the largest of the Cook Islands. The world has not spoiled this tropical paradise and neither has this cruiseship. We couldn't go ashore. The weather has been very rough and there were gale force 7 ...
Relaxing in Rarotonga
... So even after two weeks of searching for our South Pacific paradise I think we are still looking for perfection although the Cook Islands have been a very strong contender. We have found some pretty awesome spots with crystal clear waters amazing ...
Islands in the stream, that is what we are...
... the shop, and back, in one piece (albeit very, very wet). Quite how we survived I shall never know but I decided that after this the Cook Islands could only get better, and they did. The next day we got a lift (in a minibus this time, thank God) to the ...
First day in Paradise
Despite the fact that we didn't arrive here until 2 am. we were up at a reasonable hour and eager to start enjoying this beautiful island. We had a great breakfast that included fresh passionfruit, papaya, and watermelon. Picking up our rental car was ...
Raro weekend
... . It will be something she will always treasure. Today we went to church. We attended the CICC church which stands for Cook Islands Christian Church. As always the singing was amazing. And the sermon was in English instead of Maori which I have never ...
Rarotonga, Ohh Rarotonga
... so on. The lagoon is just that, inside a reef that's about 1,000 feet away from shore. We've kayaked around the little islands, called motus, that are the remnants of the volcano that Raro once was. The water is very calm, only a slight breeze from time ...
Just another day in paradise...
... went for a walk along the actual beach. I headed anti-clockwise around from Muri Beach going past 3 of the small islands in the Lagoon. Took a few photos and paddled in the water. I then encountered a rather enthusiastic Spaniard called ...
last day in Paradise
... there were huge waves crashing onto the reef that surrounds the lagoon. All the while we were serenaded by the crew, they sang all cook island tunes, even the captain played the drums while he was steering the boat. So it was a good last day on Aitutaki, ...
Wednesday again
We are doing Wednesday over because we crossed the International Dateline last night. This is to make up for the Sunday that we lost on our way over. Just a brief post to let you know we are here and we do have internet access so will be able to keep ...
Figuring things out in Rarotonga
... is not too tricky, you just have to keep thinking "left" as you turn and merge. I went to the police station and got a Cook Island driver's license, not the best picture of me but they never are anyway and hey, I'm legal and that's all that matters. ...
Cook Islands
Sat 29th Apr By flying from Fiji to Rarotonga, we had crossed the International Date Line which meant that we arrived a day before we took off, which seemed very strange and meant that we had the 29th all over again. We were now 11 hours behind GMT, ...
Cook Islands Part 2
We've come to the end of our week in the cook islands... just about in one piece!! We went to another "island night" where we saw lots of traditional dancing- Annabel was somewhat in the way of the dancers as the stage was just in the middle of the ...
Island in the Sun
... of business was to rent a moped which was the preferred method of transpo among locals and tourists alike. What's interesting about the Cook Islands is that in order to drive there you must pass a driver's test and follow up by getting a license at ...
The Rooster and the Needle.
... very multi-cultural meal: New Zealand steak and French creme brulee washed down with an Australian beer in an Italian restaurant in the Cook Islands. After a couple more days though, I felt the urge to move on again and headed northwards to the island of ...
Adopted
... trip, back in Iceland, it took me a long time to decide if I would go to Aitutaki or spend all my time on the Cook Islands on the "capital" island Rarotonga, as most people do. Aitutaki is advertised as a really beautiful place - a paradise on earth - ...
Little Britain abroad
My two last days on the Cooks were spent in Rarotonga, doing what I did not manage to do before going to Aitutaki, namely biking the 31 km around the island and hiking the cross island trail thru the forest, which was great (got lost a few times and fell ...
Tidal Waves and Black Pearls
... (mostly her, actually) squarely in the head. The second time, I was again an innocent passenger on a boat in the Cayman Islands. Suddenly, I found myself cast as a stunt double in a scene from a movie entitled "Tidal Wave Smackdown." This wave punched ...